Dell is facing an uphill battle. It’s relaunching an already divisive laptop design with no significant changes. The new Dell 14 Premium retains the limited ports, touch-button function keys, and the invisible trackpad of its predecessor, none of which were particularly popular. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the XPS pedigree to lean on. The axing of the XPS name was one of the many casualties in the company’s new, “simplified” brand. So, with a new name and an old design, I've been testing the Dell 14 Premium to see if the XPS magic has been lost or if it can revive the glory days when Dell was at the top. New Name, Who Dis? Photograph: Luke Larsen This is a divisive laptop. Most people either love the forward-thinking aesthetics or detest the snooty, form-over-function nature of the design. I land somewhere in the middle. I love the invisible haptic feedback trackpad, for example. It gives the laptop a super sleek look, blending right into the palm rests. I also enjoy the edge-to-edge keyboard, filling out the space with extra-large keycaps. It’s one of my favorite laptop keyboards to type on. Until you get to the function keys. I love the look of the glowing touch buttons, but Dell hasn’t done anything to make them more usable. They still don’t have haptic feedback and don’t feel nearly as responsive as standard keys do. For me, they aren’t a deal-breaker, as I don’t use function keys as much as others. But if you’re a programmer or even just someone who uses lots of keyboard commands, this is not the laptop for you. It is for you, however, if you want something that feels undeniably slick. The trim bezels around the display are still unbeatable, especially without the need for an ugly notch. Even the simplified Dell logo on the lid gives a modern touch. It makes the MacBook Pro look downright dated.