00:00There's a lot of hype around Intel's new Panther Lake chips, no doubt fueled by Intel claiming
00:04laptops like the 2026 Dell XPS 14 I have here are capable of up to 31 hours of battery life.
00:11So of course we ran it through our Tom's Guide battery test and today I'm going to talk about
00:15what we found. Spoiler, it's not quite as straightforward as the title of this video
00:18may suggest. In case you're new here, at Tom's Guide we run a standardized battery test across
00:26every laptop. For the Tom's Guide battery test, the screen is locked to 150 nits, the laptop is
00:32connected to Wi-Fi and it just keeps surfing the web until it dies. This way our battery life test
00:37results are consistent and easy to compare. We even keep a running list of the best laptops for
00:42battery life which I'll link below. So does the Dell XPS 14 earn a spot on that list? The short
00:48answer
00:48is yes but there's also a very important caveat. Dell is offering the XPS 14 with two different
00:53display specs. We actually got both in for testing and they provided drastically different results.
00:58The Dell XPS 14 with a 1200p LED display had a runtime of 20 hours and 41 minutes. Even though
01:05that doesn't quite match the big claims for Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 machines, it honestly doesn't
01:10matter. That result is absolutely insane. This is officially one of the longest lasting Windows
01:15laptops we've ever tested. In our top three in fact. But the XPS 14's battery life is significantly
01:20less impressive for the OLED model that actually cost a couple hundred dollars more. It only lasted 12
01:26hours to 23 minutes which is by no means bad but it kind of seems bad considering the LED version
01:32lasts
01:32over eight hours longer. It doesn't help that other Panther Lake laptops outlasted the OLED XPS 14.
01:39The Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro lasted 15 hours and 17 minutes while the ASUS ZenBook Duo lasted 14 hours
01:45and 23 minutes.
01:46But stepping away for a sec from Dell, if I'm Intel, everything about all these battery life scores I'm
01:52rattling off is actually amazing news. Windows laptops have historically not been the best for battery life,
01:58especially compared to MacBooks. When it comes to stamina, this new Panther Lake chip is the real deal.
02:04And not only are the results now keeping up with Apple laptops, in the case of the non OLED XPS
02:1014,
02:10it also blows past the current-gen 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 in terms of battery life.
02:16We did a video here on the channel about the MacBook Pro M5 battery life around the time when it
02:21launched.
02:21And I'll remind you that in that video, the battery lasted for 18 hours and 14 minutes.
02:26After running more tests and prepping for this comparison, the battery life averaged a still epic 18 hours.
02:32MacBook Pros have generally been the best laptops for battery life for several years now,
02:35but by lasting over 20 hours, the Dell XPS 14 is seriously trying to switch up the script.
02:41This budding Windows laptop versus MacBook battery life battle is going to be a fun one to follow.
02:45So now's a good time to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already.
02:49Going back to the OLED XPS 14, I need to make sure it's very clear that a result of over
02:5412 hours is still impressive.
02:56And it's even better when we look at it next to the previous-gen Dell 14 Premium.
03:01This 2026 Dell lasted exactly 4 hours and 7 minutes longer than last year's model.
03:06The 14 Premium tapped out at 8 hours and 16 minutes running Intel's Lunar Lake chip.
03:11That's the kind of jump that makes me almost forgive Dell for trying to switch up the Dell XPS branding.
03:16Almost.
03:17If you want my full 2026 Dell XPS 14 review, that's linked down in the description,
03:22alongside links for both the OLED and LED configurations in case you're interested in checking them out.
03:27I think the story here is pretty simple.
03:29If battery life is your top priority, the LED version of the Dell XPS 14 is an absolute monster
03:34and one of the longest lasting Windows laptops we've ever tested.
03:38But if you're eyeing the OLED model, you'd be trading off a lot of endurance for that nicer screen.
03:43So let me know in the comments what matters more to you, longer battery life or a nicer display.
03:47Either way, we'll keep running these benchmarks on every major machine that comes through.
03:52So make sure to like, subscribe, and don't miss the next battery life test.
03:59Alright.
04:09We'll see you next time!
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