Dell must have known early last year that its laptop rebranding efforts weren't working because after only a year away, the XPS name is back.
At last year's CES, Dell overhauled its laptop branding and did away with many of its familiar names, including XPS and Inspiron. And now, only 12 months later, the computer maker has pulled an about-face and brought back the XPS name. (If there are any Inspiron fans out there, you'll be sad to know that the Inspiron name remains retired.)
Dell's mainstream consumer laptops will still simply be labeled as Dell, but its premium models will again fall under the XPS name. To restart the XPS line, Dell has announced two models today at CES 2026: the XPS 14 and XPS 16. A smaller and cheaper XPS 13 will follow later this year.
Watch this: The Dell XPS Is Back! Hands-On With the Revamped XPS 14 and XPS 16 Laptops 05:02
While the XPS was away
Dell replaced the XPS 14 and 16 with the Dell 14 Premium and 16 Premium, and while they boasted sleek looks, they were shockingly heavy. And I wasn't alone in deriding the function row being made up of touch-sensitive icons instead of, you know, actual physical keys, which you can press and receive tactile confirmation that you pressed a key to perform an action.
These Dell Premium models also featured polarizing design elements, including a latticeless keyboard and a borderless touchpad. I didn't miss having spaces between the keys and liked typing on the keyboard more than I thought I would. And I liked the lively, customizable click response of the touchpad and rarely lost track of where its edges were.
Really, my biggest gripes with the Del 14 Premium and 16 Premium were their ponderous heft and the lack of physical keys in the function row.
The XPS name is back, and Dell has slapped it on the lid of the XPS 14 and XPS 16 to prove it. Dell
Return of the XPS
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