As the CES tech fest continues to gain momentum, Dell has unveiled its latest XPS laptop. This model is not a gaming laptop. However, it is equipped with an Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU and is absolutely gorgeous.

With its new XPS laptops, Dell has extended the minimalist design philosophy first seen in last year's XPS 13 Plus to the entire series. Most obvious are the "invisible" glass trackpad driven by tactile feedback, the distinctive ultra-flat keyboard with narrow spacing between keys, and clever backlit function keys that disappear into the panel above the keyboard.

Add to that the ultra-slim bezels that have been central to the XPS design language for the past few years, and you have arguably the sleekest, most futuristic looking laptop on the market. [The 16-inch model with up to RTX 4070 graphics is the most interesting. There is also a new 14-inch model with discrete graphics, but this one is limited to the RTX 4050 GPU.

The 13-inch XPS cannot be equipped with a discrete GPU, but like the others, it is powered by Intel's new Meteor Lake chip.

Returning to the XPS 16, the Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU is a 60W version, which falls somewhere in the middle of the 35W to 115W range that Nvidia has specified for the 4070. In other words, this is not the fastest of the 4070 laptops; the XPS 16 is only 18.7 mm thick and weighs 2.2 kg in its most powerful configuration.

As for the screen, the XPS 16 comes in two options, both 16.3 inches. The base 1,920 x 1,200 LCD panel operates at 120 Hz and up to 500 nits. More interesting is the 4K+ (3,840 x 2,400 pixels) OLED touch panel. The refresh rate is 90 Hz, a reasonable compromise for a laptop. It is probably quite attractive.

It also has a 99.5 Whr battery. It will be interesting to see what kind of battery life is possible with the new Meteor Lake CPU.

Speaking of which, the XPS 16 can currently be equipped with up to 185H Intel Core Ultra 9 processors, the top Intel Meteor Lake chip. The new XPS 14, like the XPS 13, has a Core Ultra 7 processor 165H. The two models also have the option of an OLED screen, with the XPS 14 running at 120 Hz and the XPS 13 at 60 Hz.

And all of these new XPSs come with a new dedicated Microsoft Copilot key for quick access to various AI features. These Intel Meteor Lake chips, of course, have dedicated NPUs to accelerate so-called AI tasks.

How useful that will be in practice remains to be seen. But since CES 2024 is likely to be an avalanche of AI messages, it is inevitable that AI capabilities will be a major part of the sales pitch for these new XPS laptops.

But what has us excited is the ultra-slick styling, compact form factor, and promising combo of 90Hz OLED panels and RTX 4070 graphics. Pricing has yet to be announced, but we doubt these XPS machines will be cheaply priced.

_____________________________________ PC Gamer's CES 2024 coverage is courtesy of Asus Republic of Gamers.