The laptop landscape in 2025 is probably the best it’s looked in years. For the first time, in a long time, there are multiple devices that are outstanding, the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 being one of them. The most interesting thing about this new batch of Windows PCs are the processors inside. Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm are all nearly all on equal footing. The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 takes advantage of the performance and stability of the new Intel Core Ultra 7 258V and Intel Arc Graphics, making this laptop yet another that should be on your shopping list.
Estimated reading time: 16 minutes
From the display, to the versatility of the 2-in-1 design, this Dell has a little something for everyone. There are a few things to consider, though, that may be a negative. The new Dell Plus branding lays to rest the Inspiron name plate, and that’s not a bad thing. Let’s get into the full review of the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1.
The Quick Take
The last 16″ 2-in-1 laptop I reviewed was the Lenovo Yoga 7i, and while that laptop was wonderful, the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 kicks it up a notch. My pick would be the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 due to the nicer and brighter display and nicer looking design. The new-look Dell has going on is sleek and simple, I think it looks great. This laptop is a great all-around laptop for most users and provides a ton of flexibility. If you’re looking for a 16″ 2-in-1 with pen support, this one needs to be on the short list.
Score and Bottom Line
Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1
Starting at $999 | $1,449 as configured
Nailed it
- Great looking new design
- Comfortable keyboard expeerience
- Outstanding mini-LED display
- Great in the brightness department
- Decent battery life, could be better, but not awful
- Competitive price point
Needs work
- Could use a few more ports, it’s bit, they could fit more
- Chunky boy is heavy
- Trackpad could be better
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 buries the Inspiron nameplate and resurrects itself in a fresh design that looks clean and simple. Though, I will say, this is a chunky boy and has some heft to it. A lot of this has to do with the 2-in-1 design and the hinges needed for such a design. It’s not heavier than the competition, so it’s not an issue when it comes to comparing. But for those who want light and portable, this boy may be a bit hefty. Maybe a 14″ would be better for portability.
The new keyboard is comfortable, backlit, and has decent key travel. The trackpad is OK but could be improved. I suggest you shell out for the mini-LED display because it is fantastic. It’s bright with great color reproduction and the blacks are great as are the whites.
Battery life is good, not stellar, but good enough. Should it be improved? Of course, battery life should always be improved, but I think this performs on par with the competition. The starting price point is great and the price as configured here is excellent. Overall, the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is an excellent all-around laptop I think most users looking at this segment will enjoy.
Affiliate Link Disclosure
In some of our articles and especially in our reviews, you will find Amazon or other affiliate links. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Any other purchases you make through these links often result in a small amount being earned for the site and/or our writers. Techaeris often covers brand press releases. Doing this does not constitute an endorsement of any product or service by Techaeris. We provide the press release information for our audience to be informed and make their own decision on a purchase or not. Only our reviews are an endorsement or lack thereof. For more information, you can read our full disclaimer.
Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 Specifications
- Processor: Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 258V (47 TOPS NPU, 8 cores, up to 4.8 GHz)
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home, Copilot+ PC
- Graphics Card: Intel® ARC™ Graphics
- Display: 16.0″ 2.5K (2560 x 1600) Mini-LED Touch HDR 600 90Hz Display with ComfortView Plus
- Memory: 32GB, LPDDR5X, 8533MT/s, Memory on Package, onboard
- Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid-State Drive
- Ports:
- 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gbps)
- 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C® port with DisplayPort™1.4 and Power Delivery
- 1 Thunderbolt™ 4 (40 Gbps) with DisplayPort™ 2.1 and Power Delivery
- 1 HDMI 2.1 port
- 1 Universal Audio jack
- Dimensions & Weight:
- Height: 0.67 in. (16.99 mm)
- Width: 14.05 in. (356.78 mm)
- Depth: 9.87 in. (250.60 mm)
- Starting weight : 4.52 lb (2.05 kg)
- Touchpad: Precision touchpad
- Camera: 1080p at 30 fps FHD camera, Dual-array microphones
- Audio and Speakers: Stereo speakers with Realtek ALC3329 Audio Controller, 2.5W x 2 = 5W total peak
- Wireless: Intel® Wi-Fi 7 BE201, 2×2, 802.11be, Bluetooth® wireless card
- Primary Battery: 4 Cell, 64 Whr
- Power: 65W Type-C Adapter
- Color: Midnight Blue, with Fingerprint Reader
- Model: DB06250
What’s In The Box
- Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1
- Dell Pen PN512W (Optional)
- Power Supply and Power Cable
- Manuals and Documentation
Design
The first thing I noticed about the new Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is this Midnight Blue colorway. There’s another color called Ice Blue, which is lighter and looks great as well. This Midnight Blue color does pick up some fingerprints, so be aware of that.
The overall footprint and look of the design is not crazy different from the Inspiron line, but it is different enough. The top of the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is sleek and clean and the dell branding is here, but subtle. I like it! The bottom panel is typical with fan venting, two speakers, the rubber feet, and seven screws holding it on.
Along the right side is the USB-A port and headphone jack. Along the left side, the HDMI port and Thunderbolt 4 ports round out the port selection. This laptop is heavier than some, but it does stay about average weight compared to the competition. The back edge has those 360 hinges and more venting.
Like with other 2-in-1 laptops, you can’t open the lid with one finger, this is mostly due to the hinges needing to be a bit stiffer and is normal. But those hinges provide all the different
Opening the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1, you’re greeted with the 16″ mini-LED display. One of the things I love about this display is the gasket around the display that keeps it from touching the keyboard. It’s made really well, and I think better than most. The webcam has a manual privacy shutter and I appreciate that.
The keyboard here is fantastic and backlit. It has good travel and I found it comfortable to use. They key’;s themselves are very square and I love the look. There is a number pad, for those who need that. The power button is at the top right and doubles as a fingerprint sensor, and it works great.
The trackpad is a diving board style, and it works fine, I would rather have haptic, but it is what it is. I do think the trackpad could be a bit larger and maybe improve the feel a bit more. It’s not bad, but I guess I need something to complain about. I am mostly salty because I think all laptops should just come with haptic trackpads. LOL.
The overall build quality is excellent, and the whole laptop feels premium. Overall, this is a nice redesign and rebrand from Dell.
Display
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 mini-LED display is the star of this show. I recommend the upgrade to the WVA display, I think most users will be happier with this than the less bright WVA display. It is worth the upgrade price.
This 16″ QHD+ mini-LED display is a large and a touch panel with 600 nits brightness, 100% DCI-P3, 10000:1 CR, 90hz, 8-bit colors and HDR600. This is really a treat of a display and just looks fantastic. The bezels are not huge but also not razor-thin, they look fine. No, this isn’t an OLED display, but mini-LED tech has come a long way and this panel is excellent in terms of color accuracy, brightness, black levels, clean whites, and crisp text.
The 2-in-1 features are also one of the better features of the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1. Having the ability to use this in tablet, tent, stand, and notebook modes. There’s a massive amount of versatility and options in the way you use this laptop. Many users love these features and the versatility. The Dell Pen is optional, but it works very well on this display and those users who need to utilize a pen will love this.
The refresh rate is 90Hz, and while that’s not a preferred 120Hz, it is better than lower end displays at 60Hz. This is a good middle ground and will be perfectly fine for most users. My biggest praise is the 600 nits of brightness, this panel does very well in brightly lit areas. Direct sunlight does give reflection, but overall, it performs well in bright areas.
Overall, huge praise to Dell for having this mini-LED display as an option, and it is most certainly the display users should opt for.
Software
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is running Windows 11 Home, and there’s not a lot to say about Windows in general. It’s gotten better over the years, and I actually now prefer it over macOS. I actually think macOS has gone backwards and Windows is going forwards. I am a broken record in this, and I may just end up making this section much shorter in future reviews.
There are some AI-centric and Co-Pilot sorts of software that are worth noting.
- AI Integration: The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is among the army of AI-focused laptops that feature CoPilot. Microsoft believes that its AI-powered companion enhances productivity by assisting with tasks, providing helpful suggestions, and improving user interaction with the device.
- Better App Performance: This new chipset, with an integrated GPU and NPU, is supposed to improve battery efficiency but also performance, and app performance.
- AI Creative Tools: The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 features AI-powered enhancements in its software toolkit. Apps like Microsoft Paint have been upgraded with AI capabilities, which give the app more power in image manipulation and creation.
- Battery Optimization: New software helps the Lunar Lake chipset enhance the battery life of the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1. This includes efficient power management that complements the hardware design for prolonged use without needing a charge.
- Incredible on device AI experiences with Copilot+ like Cocreator to inspire or enhance creative projects and advanced productivity with intelligent real-time assistance alongside other AI experiences like Recall, Live captions and Windows Studio Effects.
Overall, great software experience with Windows 11. There are a huge number of options for the AI software, much of it I don’t think most users will bother even trying. At least yet, maybe as AI gets better, more users will dive into those options.
Performance
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 I have for review is sporting the new Lunar Lake processor from Intel, now called Intel Core Ultra 7 (258V). I have used these processors now for the past 7 to 8 months on different laptops, and they are fantastic. These new Intel processors really do a lot to boost performance and battery life, with these new batches of Lenovo laptops really benefitting from them. Here’s a bit more background on the new Intel Core Processors, as provided by Intel.
The Intel® Core™ Ultra-mobile processors deliver the next generation of performance to the laptop experience. They are optimized for premium, thin, and powerful laptops, featuring 3D performance hybrid architecture, advanced AI capabilities, and available with up to Intel Arc graphics. These processors also support advanced features such as Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and PCIe 5.0, enabling faster data transfer speeds and improved connectivity (hardware support varies by configuration).
Intel Core Ultra Processors also feature accelerated AI capabilities. Whether you’re working, collaborating, creating, or playing, these processors deliver three dedicated engines (CPU, GPU, and NPU) to help unlock the power of AI and enable high-performance low-power processing. Intel® AI Boost is an integrated AI engine for low-power AI acceleration and CPU/GPU off-load, while Intel® Gaussian & Neural Accelerator processes AI speech and audio applications while simultaneously freeing up CPU resources for overall system performance and responsiveness.
CPU Explained: Ideal for real-time multitasking and AI workload such as noise cancellation and instant transcription.
GPU Explained: Ideal for AI-accelerated digital content creation and video editing with creation apps like Adobe.
NPU Explained: Ideal for running AI features like Microsoft Studio Effects during video calls. Supports up to 48 TOPS.
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 (I have) comes with 32GB, LPDDR5X, 8533MT/s RAM, that is the max you can configure this with and I suggest you do. Combined with Intel’s new Core Ultra series, Intel Arc Graphics, and LPDDR5X RAM, the 16 Plus does an impressive job in performance for daily tasks and use.
I didn’t push the system with DaVinci Resolve video editing or heavy Affinity Photo editing, but I suspect the buyer of this laptop isn’t using many of those graphic intensive programs. I would certainly not recommend the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 for heavy gaming. Some light gaming would be fine, and the 90Hz refresh rate is certainly better than the Yoga’s 60Hz.
One thing to note, the RAM is not upgradeable, so be sure to choose wisely. I’d recommend just getting the 32GB option. The SSD can be upgraded later if you wish.
Overall, the performance is what I would expect from a midrange-laptop. It’s great for normal everyday users, but heavy users of heavy programs should look into a different SKU from Dell.
Battery Life
Battery life will be highly dependent on your battery settings and energy settings. It will also depend on how you use your laptop, screen brightness, and the content being consumed. So battery life is highly subjective. That being said.
I always leave my settings on Windows at Balanced, and I suspect most users will as well. and I always have my brightness to full, not adaptive. This is mostly doing work related things, email, light photo editing, writing on WordPress, social media, YouTube content, and web browsing. I didn’t do anything heavy like video editing, but I did do some light photo editing and some AI photo creation.
This mini-LED display is bright and excellent, but it probably does take more battery than the lower end WVA display, which only has 300 nits of brightness and was running the lower spec processor. So the battery life on the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is less than that of the Yoga with the cheaper display. This Dell was giving me a little over 8.5 hours of battery with normal use. I think that’s enough for most users to get a day out of. Battery life could be improved, but I think this performs just about the same as the competition.
Speakers/Audio/Camera
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 speakers sound decent. They’re not going to get you through a movie if you value surround sound, but they sound decent. Speakers have improved over the years, and these speakers are at least better than what we’ve seen in the past. Still, a good pair of headphones or external speakers will be better. The speakers do have Waves Maxx Audio Pro and spatial audio with Dolby Atmos.
These speakers do sound great for video and conference calling though, but probably too thin for a good home theater sound. Even with the spatial sound and Dolby, I would use something external for entertainment. That might just be the audiophile coming out in me.
The 1080p webcam is also decent, not the best, and I’m not sure what sensor Dell is using here. But it is better than what we have seen in the past. There are better 1080p webcams out there, but this one isn’t horrible. I actually think most users will like it just fine. Overall, the speaker/audio and camera setup on the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is decent. It’s not outstanding, and it’s not going to win awards, but it does well enough.
Price/Value
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 comes in various configurations, and I highly recommend you get one with the mini-LED display. It will cost you a bit more, but worth it. If you cheap out on the display, you’ll end up with the less impressive WVA display, with only 300 nits of brightness. That would compare more to the Yoga I reviewed last month. It is worth the upgrade and if you get that display, the value is here, and I’d recommend this laptop over the Yoga.
Wrap Up
The Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 buries the Inspiron nameplate and resurrects itself in a fresh design that looks clean and simple. Though, I will say, this is a chunky boy and has some heft to it. A lot of this has to do with the 2-in-1 design and the hinges needed for such a design. It’s not heavier than the competition, so it’s not an issue when it comes to comparing. But for those who want light and portable, this boy may be a bit hefty. Maybe a 14″ would be better for portability.
The new keyboard is comfortable, backlit, and has decent key travel. The trackpad is OK but could be improved. I suggest you shell out for the mini-LED display because it is fantastic. It’s bright with great color reproduction and the blacks are great as are the whites.
Battery life is good, not stellar, but good enough. Should it be improved? Of course, battery life should always be improved, but I think this performs on par with the competition. The starting price point is great and the price as configured here is excellent. Overall, the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is an excellent all-around laptop I think most users looking at this segment will enjoy.
