Dell Pro 16 Plus 16"

The Dell Pro 16 Plus is a developer's dream with a massive 32GB of RAM and best-in-class port selection, including Ethernet and Thunderbolt 4. It's powered by a solid Intel Core Ultra 5 chip, but the dim, color-inaccurate display and terrible gaming performance are major trade-offs. Prices swing wildly from $2,010 to $2,769, so shop carefully. We recommend it highly for IT pros and coders who need a sturdy, well-connected workhorse, but everyone else should look elsewhere.

Let's talk about what that Core Ultra 5 235U actually does. Our benchmarks put its CPU performance right in the middle of the pack, landing in the 57th percentile. That's solid, about average for the current market, and more than enough to chew through compiling code, running virtual machines, or handling massive datasets. The real-world implication is that this laptop won't feel snappy because of a top-tier processor, but because of the massive 32GB of RAM. That's the secret sauce here. With that much memory, ranked in the 87th percentile, you can throw almost any productivity workload at it and it'll just shrug and keep going. The 512GB SSD is, again, perfectly average for the class, sitting at the 53rd percentile.

The integrated Intel Arc Graphics are what you'd expect, which is to say, not a gaming GPU. Our gaming score for this machine is a rough 17.8 out of 100, making it one of the weakest we've seen for that use case. This is not a machine for playing modern AAA titles, even at low settings. But for driving the 1920x1200 display for work apps, it's perfectly smooth. The NPU is the wildcard. With 12 TOPS of AI performance, it's built for things like background blur in video calls, real-time transcription, and other AI-accelerated features in Windows 11. It's not going to run a massive local LLM, but it handles the small, practical AI tasks without touching your CPU or killing your battery.

Stacked against the competition, the Dell Pro 16 Plus carves out a weird but sensible niche. An Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max is in a completely different universe of performance and display quality, but it also costs a fortune and lives in the Apple ecosystem. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and Lenovo Legion Pro 7i are gaming beasts that will run circles around the Dell in any graphics task, and they have gorgeous high-refresh-rate screens. But they're also flashier, often have less RAM at similar prices, and lack the business-focused vPro manageability. The Dell is for the person who needs a tool, not a toy.

A more direct comparison might be the MSI Prestige 13, which is also aimed at productivity. The MSI is far more compact and portable, which the Dell's 25th percentile compactness score can't match. But the Dell fights back with a bigger screen, way more ports, and double the RAM of many Prestige configs. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 is another interesting cross-shop. It's a sleek gaming laptop that can pass for a work machine, with a much better display. You'd choose the Dell over it if your priority is RAM, a numpad-less but spacious keyboard for coding, and that unbeatable wired connectivity, and you genuinely don't care about playing games after hours.

Pricing on this model is a bit of a rollercoaster. We're seeing it listed across vendors anywhere from $2,010 to $2,769, which is a massive $759 spread. That means shopping around isn't just a good idea, it's basically mandatory. At the lower end of that range, you're getting a very specific value proposition: a ton of RAM, a brand new Intel chip, and incredible connectivity for a price that undercuts many premium business laptops. At the high end, you're dangerously close to machines with much better displays and more powerful dedicated GPUs.

The value really hinges on your need for that 32GB of RAM and the vPro feature set. If you're a developer running containers and VMs, finding this much memory in a laptop without jumping to a mobile workstation is tough. The port selection also saves you money on a dock. But if you don't need those specific things, the price is hard to swallow given the mediocre screen and integrated graphics. For the best deal, you'll want to hunt down the vendor offering it closer to that $2,010 mark, as that's where the price-to-performance ratio for a RAM-heavy workhorse starts to make sense.

The Dell Pro 16 Plus is a machine that knows exactly what it is, and honestly, we respect that. It's not trying to be a gaming rig or a creative powerhouse. It's a workhorse built for the kind of person who has thirty browser tabs open, a few hefty spreadsheets, and some proprietary business software humming along, all while hopping between meetings. With 32GB of DDR5 RAM and Intel's new Core Ultra 5 chip, it's aimed squarely at developers, IT pros, and anyone who needs a reliable, no-nonsense laptop that can handle serious multitasking without breaking a sweat. The addition of a vPro processor and Windows 11 Pro tells you this is built for business, with the manageability and security features IT departments love.

What makes this interesting is the new silicon inside. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235U isn't just about raw CPU grunt. It packs a dedicated NPU for AI tasks, which is still a bit of a buzzword bingo win, but it points to where things are heading for local AI processing in apps. The real star of the spec sheet, though, is the port selection. In a world where laptops are shedding ports like a husky in summer, the Pro 16 Plus is a glorious throwback. You get Thunderbolt 4, USB-C, USB-A, HDMI 2.1, and even an Ethernet jack. Our database puts its connectivity in the 95th percentile, which is basically best-in-class. You can leave the dongles at home.

But there are trade-offs, and they're pretty clear once you look past the RAM and ports. The display is a basic 1920x1200 IPS panel with a 60Hz refresh rate, 300 nits of brightness, and just 45% NTSC color coverage. It's fine for documents and code, but it's not going to win any beauty contests. And at 1.84kg, it's not exactly an ultraportable. This is a laptop that prioritizes function over form, a sturdy tool for getting things done rather than a fashion statement for the coffee shop.

You should absolutely skip this laptop if your work involves any visual creativity. The 45% NTSC color gamut is a deal-breaker for photo or video editing, making colors look dull and inaccurate. If you're a student or a frequent traveler, the 1.84kg weight and the small 55Wh battery will be a daily annoyance. You'd be much better served by an LG Gram 16 for all-day portability or a MacBook Air 15 for a stunning screen in a light package.

Gamers should also steer completely clear. The integrated graphics are simply not built for it, and you'd be far happier with an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or a Lenovo Legion Pro, which offer dedicated GPUs and high-refresh-rate displays for a similar price. Finally, if you're just doing basic office work and web browsing, 32GB of RAM is massive overkill. You'd be paying a premium for memory you'll never use, and a cheaper Dell Inspiron or a used ThinkPad would be a much smarter buy.

For the right person, the Dell Pro 16 Plus is a quiet overachiever. If you're a backend developer, a data analyst, or an IT professional who lives in remote desktops, terminals, and IDEs, this machine is a gem. The 32GB of RAM is the headline act, letting you run multiple virtual machines and memory-hungry tools without a stutter. The port selection means you can walk into any server room or conference room and plug into anything without a bag full of adapters. It's a practical, no-fuss tool that gets the job done, and the vPro chip makes your IT department happy. For this crowd, it's an easy recommendation, especially if you can snag it at the lower end of its price range.

But for a lot of other people, this laptop will feel like a compromise. If your work involves any kind of visual creativity, the screen's limited color gamut is a deal-breaker. If you want to unwind with a game after work, the integrated graphics will leave you frustrated. And if you're a student or a frequent traveler, the weight and the small battery are real drawbacks. In those cases, you'd be much happier with something like a MacBook Air for portability and screen quality, or a Legion Pro for a mix of power and play. The Pro 16 Plus is a specialist's tool, and it's brilliant within its specialty, but it's not a great all-rounder.