I Thought the Dell 14 Plus Was Mid Until the Price Dropped This Much

When I first reviewed the Dell 14 Plus (6/10, WIRED Review), my main criticism was over the price. At the time, the only configuration available had a terabyte of storage and cost $1,099. That hurt its appeal to me, especially since it would be a more attractive sub-$1,000 laptop if Dell were selling a 512-GB option.

But what if that 1-TB model was significantly discounted? Well, that changes everything. The 14 Plus is just $700 right now, directly from Dell, down $400 from its retail price. It dipped down to $850 briefly during Amazon Prime Day last week before shooting right back up.

What you get for $700 is a stacked laptop with 1 TB of storage and 16 GB of RAM. It also has a 2,560 x 1,600-pixel resolution display, plenty sharp for the 14-inch size. If you prefer a larger screen to work on, Dell offers the same laptop in a 16-inch size at the same price and specs.

The Dell 14 Plus Deal

Compare this deal to my current recommendation for the best cheap laptop, the Asus Vivobook 14 (Snapdragon), which is selling for $750. The Dell 14 Plus blows that laptop away at its $700 sale price. Battery life is just as long, but the display is better, and the touchpad is more responsive. These are two areas where laptop manufacturers tend to compromise to bring the price down, and the Dell 14 Plus uses high-quality parts in both.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 256V is the key to the laptop’s success. It’s a very efficient CPU. It also supplies the best integrated graphics I’ve tested on a laptop. Don’t expect AAA gaming at max settings, but for lighter stuff, the Core Ultra 7 256V may surprise you. It held up surprisingly well at a recent casual LAN party, with Counter-Strike 2, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft, and a few other lightweight titles.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

If you’re buying a laptop right now, there’s only one other laptop that would make me question buying the Dell 14 Plus. That’s the M1 MacBook Air. It got a price cut last week at Walmart, dropping the price to $599, and that sale is still going strong. That’s $100 cheaper than the Dell and nets you a proper MacBook, with its unmatched build quality, touchpad, and speakers. It’s a pitiful amount of RAM and storage, yes, but for the right person, that MacBook is still probably the way to go.

You can also find higher-quality Windows laptops out there, such as the Surface Laptop, which has a faster screen-refresh rate and a haptic feedback trackpad. But you’ll be paying extra for it and getting less storage. At its sale price, the Dell 14 Plus is nearly impossible to beat.