The Best Dell Laptops for 2025

PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Dell, one of the most trusted American laptop manufacturers, has been delivering good-value PCs since its founding in 1987. And PCMag has been testing and reviewing laptops since before Michael Dell began building and selling computers out of his dorm room. (We've benchmarked and rated thousands of laptops since our founding in 1982.) Our analysts have collective decades of experience and expertise in evaluating laptops. We use rigorous, repeatable tests for each model and assess raw performance, build and display quality, ease of use, special features, and overall value. Our current best Dell laptop for most buyers is the Snapdragon X-based version of the Dell XPS 13. Read on for all the details on that model and more vetted recommendations from the Texas PC giant, plus a detailed buying guide and a handy spec comparison to help you make sense of the current Dell line.

What Are the Differences Among Dell's Laptop Lines?

When looking for the best Dell laptop, you'll want to concentrate on which of its six main laptop families best meets your needs. The ones to familiarize yourself with are Inspiron, XPS, Alienware, G Series, Latitude, and Precision. Apart from the two gaming-oriented ones, you'll find clamshell and 2-in-1 convertible entries in all these families.

Inspiron: The Mainstream Choice

Dell's Inspiron brand comprises consumer laptops of every stripe for use at home or in school: power machines, inexpensive "just enough" systems, big displays, and ultra-compacts. Whether editing photos or managing your home finances, Inspiron's copious options fit most buyers' screen size and budget needs. These machines are mostly Windows models; if you want something less expensive for simple tasks and browsing online, consider Dell's Chromebooks, which put basic functionality into affordable packages that work great for kids and students.

Dell used to break its Inspiron line into three gradations or levels: 3000, 5000, and 7000 series. As you went up that stack, you tended to see more premium features and higher relative pricing. The number between the word "Inspiron" and the series number was typically the laptop's screen size; an Inspiron 13 5000, for example, would be a 13-inch-screened laptop with middle-field characteristics.

However, today, Dell names its Inspiron systems according to their rough screen sizes, which now include 14-inch and 16-inch laptop varieties. This creates more significant ambiguity around what each laptop is capable of; you'll want to look at detailed reviews with testing results to get an idea of relative potency.

Want to ensure you're saving the most cash possible, even on one of the best Dell laptops? Check out our article with 15 money-saving tips for buying laptops.

XPS: The Power-User Class

Successive versions of the Dell XPS 13 were our "near-perfect" ultraportable for several years. Refresh after refresh, Dell keeps tuning to keep this hardy machine on top. XPS signifies a premium-design, fully decked-out machine that bridges demanding consumers and business users on both the desktop and laptop sides of the fence. Dell's line of power tools is equally at home in a home office, coffee shop, conference room, or high-stakes business meeting.

XPS-class laptops also sometimes serve as guinea pigs for introducing futuristic features, such as in the XPS 13 Plus, which ditched a physical touchpad in favor of a haptic feedback mechanism integrated into the palm rest. Traditionally, you didn't find much variety in the XPS laptop line regarding screen size or stratification, just configurable versions of the 13-inch-screened XPS 13 and 15-inch XPS 15 as both clamshells and swiveling-screen 2-in-1s. The XPS 17, the biggest model, has a 17-inch screen and is only available in a clamshell form factor.

This changed with the debut of the 14-inch and 16-inch Dell XPS models, which feature Intel's Core Ultra AI-equipped processors. All of the existing odd-number screen sizes (13, 15, 17) are sold alongside these new even-number sizes (14 and 16 inches), but some may be phased out.

Alienware and G Series: Full-Spectrum Gaming

If gaming is more your style, Dell's Alienware brand delivers if you're on the market for a serious, blinged-out gaming cruiser. The latest components combine with premium construction and design, earning Alienware a well-deserved reputation as an aspirational brand among PC gamers. The Alienware machines tend to be big, brawny models with heavy graphics, firepower, and prices to match. However, the brand known for its classic Area-51m bruiser has made forays into leaner machines with its m16 and m18 series models and the even leaner Alienware X series, which goes down to 14 inches.

Dell also sells gaming laptops under its G Series brand, introduced in 2018. Before this new sub-brand's introduction, this aggressively priced, lower-end line was part of the Inspiron family. Dell spun it out as its own animal, and now the G Series is aimed at mainstream and budget-constrained gamers. It has more modest designs than the Alienware models and component load-outs that are humbler but still workable for the latest games.

The G Series models hover above and below the $1,000 mark, while the Alienware models start north of that. The G Series models are gradated into G3, G5, and G7 classes, with the higher numbers indicating higher-grade builds and feature sets.

Latitude: The Umbrella for Business Machines

Then we have the business machines. Dell's Latitude brand is the mainstay for its business laptops, competing with options from Lenovo (the ThinkPad series) and HP (the various EliteBooks). Latitude offers options for workers in the office or out in the field, with a mix of thin-yet-powerful laptops and durable systems that can take a beating.

Like the Inspirons once did, the Latitudes use a 3000, 5000, and 7000 terminology, plus a top-of-the-line 9000 series. The second number in the four-digit model number signifies the screen size. So a Dell Latitude 7390 is in the second from the top of the four lines, with a 13.3-inch screen; a Latitude 9500 would be a top-grade machine with a 15.6-inch screen.

Beyond the "simply" durable units, the Latitude line also includes a few costly, highly ruggedized models designed for use in hostile environments: doused in water, clipped onto an ATV, exposed to cold and wind, or carried into harm's way by first responders. These are branded under the Latitude Rugged Extreme moniker.

Precision: Workstation Laptops for Demanding Professionals

Mobile workstations are a breed of machines that share some traits with business models. Still, they stand apart for their independent software vendor (ISV) certifications and, in some cases, specialized CPU and GPU options and support for precise error-correcting-code (ECC) memory. ISV certifications give users of demanding professional business apps (in areas such as scientific computing, architecture, and engineering) assurances that the workstation will run up to snuff with a given application. Companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, Avid, Dassault Systemes, and Siemens tend to be the ISVs involved.

Dell's line of mobile workstations is its Precision line, which comprises laptop and desktop models. On the laptop side, Precision uses the same 3000, 5000, and 7000 series lingo as the Latitudes, with the screen size indicated within the model number.

A workstation might make use of consumer- or business-grade Intel CPUs. Still, the mark of a high-end workstation is the presence of a dedicated workstation-grade graphics processor from Nvidia (RTX and A-series, formerly Quadro) or AMD (Radeon Pro, much less common). The latter contrasts consumer-GPU counterparts (GeForce RTX and Radeon RX, respectively) and are designed specifically for the heavy-duty calculations that ISV-class applications require.

Ready to Buy the Best Dell Laptop for You?

You'll find plenty of solid Dell systems, but don't be overwhelmed by the options. We've combed through our many reviews and singled out the best Dell systems in multiple categories in the lists and summaries above. For more Dell and non-Dell options, check out our best laptops overall (updated constantly) and our lists of the best Chromebooks, budget laptops, and gaming laptops.