Dell 16" LDB16250-9555BLU-PUS

The Dell 16 Plus is a niche productivity laptop with a standout 2TB SSD and 32GB of RAM, paired with a new Intel Core Ultra 9 chip. It's a multitasking beast for developers, but the integrated graphics make it useless for gaming and the screen quality is disappointing. Only buy it if you find it for around $1700 and your work never touches a GPU.

The Core Ultra 9 288V is a new chip from Intel, and it's built for efficiency and AI tasks more than raw, benchmark-crushing power. In our database, its CPU performance lands in the 68th percentile. That's solid, above-average performance for getting real work done. It'll chew through code compiles, data analysis, and heavy multitasking without breaking a sweat. The 32GB of fast LPDDR5X memory is a big help here, sitting in the 81st percentile, which means you can keep a frankly irresponsible number of Chrome tabs open without things grinding to a halt.

The integrated Arc Graphics are where things get interesting. They're in the 65th percentile overall, which is actually pretty impressive for integrated graphics. You can do some light photo and video editing, and it'll handle the AI features in Windows 11 and Copilot+ smoothly. But let's be clear: the gaming score is a dismal 16.7 out of 100. This is not a gaming laptop. You can play older titles or indie games at lower settings, but don't expect to run Cyberpunk 2077 on this thing. The 2TB SSD is a standout, landing in the 89th percentile for storage. That's a ton of space for projects, media, and VMs, and it's one of the best features of this config.

The most obvious competitor is the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max. For similar money at the high end of this Dell's price range, the MacBook Pro gives you a vastly superior screen, best-in-class battery life, and a GPU that can actually handle professional creative work. The Dell's only real advantage there is the 2TB of storage at a potentially lower price. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is another strong alternative. It's more compact, has a gorgeous OLED screen, and packs a dedicated RTX GPU that makes it a genuine gaming and creative powerhouse, though you'll likely get less storage for the price.

Then there's the Lenovo Legion 5i and HP OMEN Transcend 14. Both are gaming-focused machines with dedicated graphics that will obliterate the Dell in any 3D task. They're better all-rounders if you have even a passing interest in gaming or GPU-accelerated work. The MSI Prestige is a closer cousin, another productivity-focused laptop, but it often comes with a weaker GPU as well. The Dell's main differentiator is that massive 2TB SSD and 32GB of RAM out of the box, which is a combo you don't often see at the lower end of its price spectrum.

Value is a tricky conversation with this Dell because the price swings wildly. We've seen it listed between $1730 and $2800. If you can snag it closer to the $1700 mark, you're getting a unique combo of a huge 2TB SSD, 32GB of RAM, and a brand-new efficient Intel chip in a big-screen laptop. That's a fair deal for a specialized productivity workhorse. But if you're paying anywhere near $2800, you need to stop and look at a MacBook Pro or a Zephyrus G14, which will run circles around it in display quality, GPU performance, and overall polish for the same money. The best deal in our data is currently on Amazon, so that's the first place to check.

The Dell 16 Plus is a bit of an odd duck, and I mean that in the most interesting way. It's a big 16-inch laptop built around Intel's new Core Ultra 9 288V, packing 32GB of RAM and a massive 2TB SSD. But it skips the dedicated graphics card entirely, leaning on integrated Arc Graphics. That makes it a very specific tool for a very specific person. If you're a developer who lives in spreadsheets, code editors, and a dozen browser tabs, and you want a large, sharp 2.5K display to spread out on, this machine is laser-focused on you. For everyone else, especially gamers, it's a tougher sell.

The build is a sleek aluminum affair, and it's been put through some durability testing, which is nice. It also comes with on-site service for a year, so if something goes wrong, a tech comes to you. That's a solid perk for a work machine. The 16:10 screen gives you a bit more vertical real estate than a standard 16:9 panel, which is genuinely useful when you're staring at long documents or code. But the port selection is a real weak spot, and at 1.87kg, it's not exactly a featherweight you'd want to lug around campus all day.

Pricing is all over the map, from about $1730 to $2800 depending on the vendor. That's a huge spread, so shopping around is non-negotiable. At the lower end, it's a compelling big-screen productivity laptop. At the higher end, you're wandering into territory occupied by some seriously powerful machines with dedicated GPUs, and the value proposition starts to crumble.

Skip the Dell 16 Plus if you do any gaming, creative work involving a GPU, or just want a great screen for watching content. The integrated graphics are a dealbreaker for 3D work, and the display quality is a weak spot. Students who need to carry their laptop all day should also look elsewhere, as it's on the heavier side and the battery life is an unknown. If you need a powerful all-rounder, check out the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or a MacBook Pro instead.

Should you buy the Dell 16 Plus? If you're a developer, a data analyst, or a writer who needs a big, sharp screen and a mountain of fast storage and RAM for pure productivity, and you find it for around $1700, then yes, it's a uniquely well-equipped machine for that niche. The on-site service is a nice safety net for a work-critical device. It's a code-compiling, spreadsheet-crushing, multitasking monster that won't let you down for CPU-heavy tasks.

But for almost anyone else, the answer is no. The weak screen, terrible port selection, and complete lack of gaming ability make it a poor choice for students, creatives, or anyone who wants a well-rounded laptop. The unknown battery life is also a major gamble for a machine marketed for all-day use. If your workflow touches a GPU at all, or you just want a better screen for watching movies, you have much better options from Apple, ASUS, and Lenovo at this price.