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Not every piece of technology can be bold or exciting. Sometimes, tech is boring; boring can be good, and boring can be cheap. That’s exactly what a lot of people want, and you’ll find a whole lot of “boring” in budget and mid-range Windows laptops.
Out of all the laptops I’ve used recently, the Dell 14 Plus (DB14255) is one of the best… at being boring — the design, the display, the features, even the boring name that has spread across Dell’s entire portfolio to simplify (overly so, in my opinion) branding.
Dell famously plays it safe with a lot of its hardware, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Dell 14 Plus gets the job done without fuss or flair, and its reasonable pricing makes it a solid choice for those who just need a tool (or for those who want to equip a fleet with an army of indistinguishable gray laptops).
My Dell 14 Plus (DB14255) review
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Design ⭐⭐⭐½
At a glance, the Dell 14 Plus meets the minimum for a mid-range Windows laptop with its metal-clad design, but it only takes a second to see that it doesn’t do much more. This aluminum chassis is just a little on the thick side (around 17mm), a little on the heavy side (around 1.52kg), and definitely sticks with the basics design-wise.
Build quality is also average. There’s a decent amount of flex in the panels and the laptop itself, but I still have confidence it could take a beating and withstand years of use.
For I/O, you’re looking at one HDMI 1.4 port, two USB Type-C (10GBps with DisplayPort/Power Delivery) ports, one USB Type-A (5GBps) port, and one 3.5mm audio jack. There’s no USB4 or HDMI 2.0/2.1, but the basics are (once again) covered.
Display ⭐⭐⭐
The biggest disappointment with the Dell Plus 14 is easily its display. It’s not because it’s IPS LCD instead of OLED (there are some really nice IPS LCD displays). It’s not because it’s only 60Hz. It’s not because it’s just 1200p (although text can still be pretty choppy on this 14-inch panel).
The Dell Plus 14’s screen just doesn’t look good. Contrast is average, brightness is low, colors are inaccurate and washed out, and the backlight bleed is egregious — unless you’re browsing the web, checking your email, or writing in documents, you probably won’t want to use this display.
This feels like the screen of a sub-$500 laptop, not something that starts from $799.99 at Dell.com.
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Performance ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Dell 14 Plus comes in Intel and AMD variants, but I chose to review the model powered by the 6-core AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 and its integrated AMD Radeon 840M graphics.
You can upgrade that chipset or increase the RAM and storage, but this laptop will never be the powerhouse — and it doesn’t need to be. For casual computing (lots of web browsing, email, Microsoft Office, light photo editing, etc.), performance was always consistent and smooth for me.
Try to go beyond the casual workload, though, and you’ll quickly find the limits — especially with graphics. Anything but the lightest games aren’t likely to run well on the Dell Plus 14, but I honestly expected that. This laptop runs as well as it needs to.
Battery life ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
A low-resolution/refresh rate display, a medium-sized battery, and a high-efficiency chipset are a recipe for fantastic battery life, and the Dell Plus 14 does deliver here. A full day of work isn’t cause for concern, especially since the display physically can’t get bright enough to properly stress the battery.
I drained 6% of the battery after looping a generic Microsoft Office workload, and another 6% after looping an HD video at 50% volume. Running a Windows Battery Report showed me hitting around 7 hours of screen-on usage even with performance cranked up to the highest settings for my testing.
Charging is easy through either of the USB Type-C ports, but both ports are aligned on the left side.
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Keyboard & touchpad ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Continuing with the positives, I actually really like the Dell Plus 14’s keyboard. The individual keys are on the small side, but the layout itself is spacious and intuitive, the key action is consistently tactile, and the keycaps are textured nicely. You also get backlighting, which isn’t always a given at this price point and below.
The touchpad is less impressive. Its size is fine, the button action is clicky, and you do get Microsoft Precision drivers, but the rough texture and shallow buttons knock a few points off. It gets the job done, but it’s no comparison to a premium laptop touchpad.
Software & AI ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“AI PC” is thrown around a lot these days, but the Dell 14 Plus is actually a full-fledged Copilot+ PC thanks to the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) attached to its AMD chipset. That means all the latest and greatest Windows 11 features, and futureproofing for any updates released down the line.
Windows is slowly adding more useful artificial intelligence features, so even if there’s nothing you care about right now (that’s mostly true for me), the Dell 14 Plus is set up to get even better down the line. There’s no Human Presence Detection (HPD) feature, though.
Dell didn’t bury this laptop in its own bloatware, either, although the Dell Optimizer app for managing your PC settings is a little on the slow and useless side.
Everything else ⭐⭐⭐½
As expected for a laptop of this caliber, everything else about the Dell 14 Plus is perfectly average at best. The webcam and microphones will get you through video calls, there’s a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello biometric authentication that works most of the time, and you get Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth wireless connectivity on board with solid stability and performance.
The one area that somehow manages to fall below average? The speakers. Windows laptops aren’t known for great audio experiences anyway, but these recessed, bottom-firing speakers are metallic and hollow-sounding, only suitable for casual listening. I like to have music playing while I work, but I did not do that with this laptop’s speakers.
Dell 14 Plus review: My final thoughts
✅You should buy this if …
- You want a simple, no-frills work laptop with good performance.
- You want a more affordable PC that still supports Windows AI features.
- You find it on sale and want to save some cash.
❌You should not buy this if …
- You plan to do more than work, like play games or watch movies.
- You care a lot about having a bright, colorful display.
With all that said, the Dell 14 Plus (DB14255) is a boring laptop — but that’s largely okay. Plenty of people want a boring laptop, and this PC is bound to attract a whole lot of tasty sales to make it an easier pill to swallow than it is at full price.
This is a workhorse, so it drops the frills and extraneous features to deliver good performance, solid battery life, enough ports, and a comfortable keyboard. Sure, the display is dim and washed out, and the speakers are tinny, but that won’t prevent you from getting the job done.
You can configure your own Dell 14 Plus (DB14255) from $799.99 at Dell.com. This one won’t be landing on our list of best Windows laptops any time soon, but the Dell 14 Plus is a decent machine.
The average has to be decided somewhere, and it looks like the Dell 14 Plus is stepping up to be the poster child. This is a solid laptop for staying productive, and it’s bound to enjoy frequent discounts, but the lackluster display will definitely be a sore point for some.
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