TL; DR: The Dell 14S is a new affordable Windows laptop aimed at students and young professionals, with an aluminum build, up to 2.8K 120Hz display, all-day battery life, and four colorful finishes.
At IFA 2026 in Berlin, Dell unveiled a new version of the Dell 14S aimed at students, young adults, and anyone who wants a solid everyday Windows laptop without paying for a premium model. It comes in four colors, has an aluminum body, weighs just 1.15kg, and promises up to 21 hours of Netflix streaming on a single charge.
Sound familiar? It should.
Dell already launched a 14S earlier this year, and we liked it. A lot. Mashable has named the existing Dell 14S a top choice for battery life, a top mid-range Windows laptop, and the best battery-life laptop for students. Our testing found that the model lasted 34 hours and 29 minutes in our battery benchmark, making it the second-longest-lasting laptop we’ve tested.
The new 14S isn’t really a replacement for that laptop. It’s more like a lower-spec version of the same idea, with a bigger focus on affordability and design. Dell hasn’t announced pricing yet, but the positioning makes it pretty clear that the company wants this machine in the same conversation as Apple’s MacBook Neo. So, what’s actually different?
It’s the 14S you already know, but with more color
It’s still a slim aluminum laptop designed to be easy to carry around. It’s just 13.5mm thick, and Dell is putting much more emphasis on looks this time.
The new 14S comes in four finishes:
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Linen
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Dusty rose
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Washed denim
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Velvet green
The existing 14S we tested came in celestial blue, which looked nice but, as our review noted, was “a fingerprint magnet.” More importantly, we really liked how the original 14S was built. Mashable called its build quality “impeccable” and said it felt “just as well-made” as Dell’s much pricier XPS 14. Its keyboard, webcam, and microphone also got high marks.
So the new 14S is starting from a pretty good place.
The main difference is what’s inside
The new 14S uses Intel Core 5 and Core 7 Series 3 processors. That’s a step down from the configuration we tested in the existing 14S, which used a mid-range Intel Core Ultra 7 355 chip.
Still, the 14S was plenty good for everyday use like browsing, writing, streaming, and general productivity. Its big strengths were battery life and build quality. Dell says the new model can deliver up to 21 hours of Netflix streaming on a single charge.
You get two display options
The new 14S has a 16:10 display, which gives you a little more vertical space for documents, websites, and schoolwork.
There are two options:
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2.8K, 120Hz for sharper images and smoother motion
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2K, 60Hz for shoppers who care more about battery life and value
Both are supposed to be bright and offer vibrant, accurate colors.
Is the new Dell 14S worth buying?
Dell already has a formula that works: strong battery life, a nice aluminum build, a good keyboard, and a practical design. The question is whether Dell can make that formula cheap enough to compete with the MacBook Neo without cutting too much elsewhere.
For now, we don’t know. Dell says the new 14S is coming to the U.S. this fall, with pricing to be announced closer to launch. So until we get that number — and until we test the new hardware ourselves — the original 14S is still the one we know works.
