I tested Dell's latest 2-in-1 laptop, and it's a big-screen powerhouse (that's on sale)

ZDNET's key takeaways

• The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is on sale now for $1,199.
• It's a versatile laptop that can handle a variety of use cases, its mini-LED display is bright and vivid, it comes with a stylus, and it's very competitively priced on sale.
• It's on the bulky side and can run warm.

Dell's recent decision to ditch its familiar laptop naming convention left some consumers upset over the fact that there won't be any new XPS or Inspiron computers, and others confused about how exactly to break down the new names (Dell even wrote a blog post explaining it). 

I, too, scratched my head at the decision to do away with the familiar names we've used for years, but then thought maybe we should let Dell cook here, and my hesitation turned to excitement for all-new devices untethered from the constraints of previous model lines. 

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I recently spent a few weeks testing the new Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1, a convertible that Dell calls "an upscale, mainstream offering" comparable to the former Inspiron Plus. The Dell 16 Plus certainly looks more premium, with the "Midnight Blue" colorway (a nice dark blue) and full-size keyboard exuding a capable, professional look. 

Under the hood, the device backs up this good first impression with a diverse stack of hardware, including an Intel Core Ultra 5, 7, or 9 "Lunar Lake" processor, up to 32GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD. The display is just as nice, with a mini-LED option at 90Hz refresh rate and 1660p resolution. 

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First, let me say that this is not exactly a thin and lightweight laptop. Ultrathin laptops with long-lasting batteries were prevalent last year, but the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 boasts solid hardware and a sturdy chassis, weighing in at 4.52 pounds -- nearly a pound and a half more than the LG Gram 17. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

Some of that weight comes from the display, which looks great. I tested the version with the mini-LED, and it's bright and crisp -- not quite at the level of an OLED, but incredibly close, especially for this price point. 

The mini-LED also benefits from a particularly bright display at 600 nits, which holds up well outdoors and in offices with lots of glare and natural light. It also looks more premium while in tablet mode, especially considering its size. 

I ran some games on this laptop, and it can certainly support titles that have lighter hardware demands, but the Intel Arc 140V graphics card won't be fully optimized for high-end gaming. Regarding content creation workflows such as video editing, I encountered surprisingly good performance in DaVinci Resolve, albeit with some stuttering when pushing the device to its limits. 

On that note, this is a laptop that is unafraid to crank the fan. The computer warms up while gaming or running demanding tasks. That being said, there is almost zero heat transmission to the front-facing components of the laptop; it's efficiently routed out the vents on the back. 

The laptop's physical form, although on the heavy side, is sleek and sturdy, with a hinge design that stays secure regardless of configuration. Using the stylus (included with the 32GB configuration) results in a standard amount of screen wobble, but the display stays locked in place. 

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In that sense, this is a laptop that is better suited to stay put on a desk or move around the office workspace while shifting between different configurations than living in the backpack of a hybrid commuter. 

In typical Dell fashion, the trackpad is not in the center of the laptop, but slightly left-aligned to provide wrist room for the number pad. This setup is one of those things that takes some getting used to. If you're used to a centered trackpad, you'll find yourself constantly left-clicking until you can adjust. In terms of operability, the trackpad is standard -- it's responsive enough, but feels on the shallow side. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

Similarly, the keyboard itself is nice, with bright backlighting that complements the dark blue colorway and tactile keys that are comfortable to type on for long periods. 

The downward-firing speakers sound pretty good in laptop mode: the audio gets quite loud, and it's a focused sound. In tent mode, however, it's a little more muffled, with the sound bouncing off the back of the display hinge. 

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In terms of performance, the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 achieved almost identical benchmarking numbers as the Dell XPS 13, with half the RAM and a similar chip: the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V (versus the 258V in the Dell 16 Plus). These two laptops couldn't be more different in a practical sense, but I wanted to show the similarities in raw performance. 

In terms of battery life, I got mixed results from the Dell 16 Plus. The 64WHr battery is certainly standard fare for a laptop of this caliber. However, I found battery life to be dynamic, especially when the display is at full brightness or the device is running demanding tasks. 

Regular use of the device in balanced mode yielded approximately a full workday's worth of battery life. In tablet mode, I managed several hours of video playback without problems. More intensive use, however, reduced battery life to a handful of hours or less. 

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In that sense, this is a laptop that can certainly flex its muscles when it needs to -- the hardware makes sure of that. However, I wouldn't say this device is designed for intense, sustained workloads while unplugged. 

ZDNET's buying advice

The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is a responsive machine in ways that users care about: fast boot times, nice multitasking abilities, and pretty good battery life, with a large, brilliant display in a convertible form factor.

The device is competitively priced when it's on sale -- like right now -- for $1,199, which is an asking price that's hard to beat for any laptop with this processor and 32GB of RAM. If you're looking for a big-screen laptop/tablet hybrid with a stylus and brilliant display, and don't need something exceedingly thin and lightweight, the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is a fantastic option.