Dell Pro Max 16 Plus mobile workstation review: Backpack-friendly desktop-class power with a beautiful display
· TechRadarTechRadar Verdict
The Dell Pro Max 16 Plus is a spectacular mobile workstation that checks all the right boxes for those who need a high-powered portable machine that can tackle whatever you throw at it. It's portable enough to take around the building or to clients' offices, yet large enough to fit all your content on one screen.
Pros
- +Desktop Performance
- +Portable enough to put in a backpack
- +Dual Thunderbolt 5
- +Gorgeous OLED Panel (3860x2400)
- +Great Ports
- +280W Fast Charging
Cons
- -High Price
- -Fast charger adds a lot of weight
- -"Portable" yet hefty
- -Only 500 nits
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The Dell Pro Max 16 Plus is a little brother to the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus I previously reviewed. It trades a bit of screen real estate for a higher-quality display and the ability to be tucked away in a backpack for on-the-go use. While it may not fit in the tighter laptop bags, it will fit in larger, more robust backpacks.
The Pro Max 16 Plus delivers powerful performance, featuring an Intel Core Ultra 9 chip, an NVIDIA RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell GPU, and up to 128GB of RAM. Simply put, this is one of the best mobile workstations of its class.
The two Thunderbolt 5 ports showcase the drive for speed, power, and forward thinking for the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus. Dell knows that at this price point and with this power, not everyone can swap them out as quickly as cheaper laptops. So, they have made sure to future-proof this one as much as possible.
The Dell team also found a way to pack in an SD Card, a Smart Card reader, an RJ45 port, and a 280W power adapter to power up this beast of a machine. It's a compelling option for developers, engineers, data professionals, and generalists who need a single machine that serves as their all-in-one tool to handle all their workloads without breaking a sweat.
Dell Pro Max 16 Plus: Price and availability
The Dell Pro Max 16 Plus has a base price of around $4000, available from both the Dell US and Dell UK websites. I'm also seeing it available from some online retailers.
As ever with Dell laptops, there are a huge number of configurations available, so prices will vary. In this review, I'm testing a model with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (16 Cores, 24 Threads, 5.5 GHz Turbo, 55W), 128GB RAM, an NVIDIA RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell GPU, and 2TB SSD. All alongside the 16-inch OLED 3860x2400 with 500 nits max.
Dell Pro Max 16 Plus: Unboxing and First Impressions
After just reviewing the Dell | Pro Max 18 Plus, I knew this 16-inch model was going to be very similar. It's essentially 98% as good as the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus in a smaller shell, with an upgraded Tandem OLED 120Hz Display.
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