Dell Pro 16 Plus 2025, Core Ultra 7 265U, 32GB, 512GB SSD, Platinum Silver

The Dell Pro 16 Plus packs 32GB of RAM and a 12.6-hour battery into a portable aluminum chassis, which sounds great for office work. But the 2.3-star customer rating and below-average reliability score are major red flags. If you can snag it at the low end of the USD 2,144 to USD 4,181 range, it might be worth it. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

The Core Ultra 7 265U handles everyday multitasking without breaking a sweat. 32GB of DDR5 is a standout, landing in the 87th percentile for RAM, so you can run a pile of browser tabs, Slack, and a couple of VMs without hitting a wall. The integrated Intel Arc Graphics sit at the 69th percentile, which means light photo editing and video playback are fine, but gaming is a non-starter at 19.5 out of 100. The 512GB SSD is middle of the pack, and the 55Wh battery is rated for 12.6 hours, which users seem to appreciate. The display is where things get meh. 300 nits and 45% NTSC color coverage is dim and washed out by modern standards.

Stacked against the competition, the Pro 16 Plus is in a weird spot. The Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max absolutely destroys it on performance and display quality, but that's a much pricier machine aimed at creative pros. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus and Lenovo Legion Pro 7i are gaming laptops that trade battery life for raw GPU power, so they're not really direct competitors. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 is closer in spirit, a portable machine with a better screen and more graphics punch. The MSI Raider is a desktop replacement that weighs a ton. For pure office work, the Dell holds its own on RAM and battery, but the screen and reliability concerns make it a tougher sell against the HP.

Pricing is all over the place. In the US, you'll see this listed anywhere from USD 2,144 to USD 4,181 across three listings. That's a USD 2,037 spread for the same machine, which is absurd. The best US deal we found is at the lower end of that range. In Canada, prices run from CAD 3,002 to CAD 3,553, with the lower CAD price being the one to look for. At the low end, you're getting a capable business laptop with tons of RAM. At the high end, you're getting fleeced. Shop around before you commit.

The Dell Pro 16 Plus is a business laptop that tries to do a little bit of everything. You get a 12-core Intel Core Ultra 7 265U, 32GB of DDR5, and a 512GB SSD in a 1.84kg aluminum chassis. On paper, that's a solid productivity setup. The 16-inch 1920x1200 display gives you a bit more vertical room than a standard 1080p panel, which is nice for spreadsheets and code.

But here's the thing. The customer rating sits at 2.3 out of 5 across 11 reviews, and our reliability percentile lands at 33rd. That's a red flag for a machine aimed at professionals. The specs look decent, but the real-world reception has been rough. We dug into the data to figure out what's going on.

Skip this if you need a color-accurate display for design or photo work. The 45% NTSC panel will drive you crazy. Gamers should also look elsewhere, since the integrated graphics are a dead end for anything beyond casual titles. And if reliability is your top priority, the 33rd percentile score and 2.3-star customer rating suggest you might be better off with a ThinkPad or a MacBook Air.

This is a machine for office workers and developers who need lots of RAM and all-day battery life, and who don't care about gaming or color-accurate displays. If you live in Excel, VS Code, and a browser with 40 tabs open, the 32GB of DDR5 will serve you well. The vPro support is a nice bonus for IT departments. But that 2.3-star customer rating is hard to ignore. Something about this laptop is rubbing people the wrong way, and our reliability data backs that up. Buy it if you find a good price and don't need a pretty screen.