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Looking for an early Black Friday laptop deal? Dell has some solid deals live right now before the big sales launch on Nov. 28. We've gone hands-on with a handful of Dell's laptops, from the new Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1, to tried-and-true, reliable laptops like the Dell Inspiron 14, and now's the time to snag a few hundred bucks off the regular price.
Also: Black Friday 2025: Everything to know to save (including when sales actually start)
We've applied our rigorous testing methodology on all of these Dell laptops, evaluating performance relative to price, hardware such as RAM, storage, and battery life, as well as how they handle everyday use. With that in mind, we only recommend laptops we've tested or are familiar with.
Here are the best Dell laptop deals we've found ahead of Black Friday.
Best early Black Friday Dell deals
- Current price: $899
- Original price: $1,099
The new Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 is a laptop/tablet hybrid that Dell calls "an upscale, mainstream offering" comparable to the former Inspiron Plus product line. It features a diverse stack of hardware, including an Intel Core Ultra 5, 7, or 9, 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.
Review: Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1
The result? Fantastic performance in a gorgeous build. In terms of battery life, regular use in balanced mode yielded approximately a full workday's worth of battery life. More intensive use, however, reduced it notably. In that sense, this is a laptop designed to flex its muscles when it needs to, but not as optimized for intense, unplugged workloads as some of the more lightweight options.
- Current price: $449
- Original price: $779
As one of the most reliable all-around laptops on the market, the Inspiron 14 convertible laptop/tablet has an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, AMD Radeon 780M graphics card, and 16GB of memory. This configuration is geared to handle office-related tasks like multitasking with documents or hosting video calls with ease.
Review: Inspiron 14 2-in-1
If you travel or commute with your laptop for work, you won't be encumbered with this machine, as it only weighs 3.77 pounds. It's also made of aluminum, which gives it the sturdiness it needs to survive frequent travel.
- Current price: $1,869
- Original price: $2,199
The 16-inch version from Dell's XPS line is packed with solid hardware, allowing it to easily handle demanding workloads like video editing, graphical rendering, or gaming. The sale model has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU -- a loadout from last year that's still absolutely competitive.
Review: Dell XPS 16
There are also lots of customizations available, allowing you to spend a little more if you want a stunning 4K display, a feature that pairs nicely with the laptop's iconic zero-lattice keyboard and overall future-forward design.
- Current price: $1,249
- Original price: $1,549
From the zero-lattice keyboard to the edge-to-edge OLED display and invisible trackpad, the Dell 14 Premium lives up to its name with a sleek, high-design build. Appearances aside, Dell wants to emphasize that this laptop is not an XPS, but rather an evolution of the line into something new: taking what worked on its high-end machines and improve on the things that users saw as pain points.
Review: Dell 14 Premium
It succeeds on this front, and it starts with the hardware. The Intel Core Ultra 7 255H "Arrow Lake" processor, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X, 8400MT/s dual-channel RAM, and either an Intel Arc Graphics or Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU paint a picture of a powerful, versatile machine for demanding workloads like gaming and creative tasks.
- Current price: $749
- Original price: $1,099
If you're looking for a reliable jack-of-all-trades laptop, Dell's new 14 Plus is well-equipped to multitask across several use cases at once. Released earlier this year, the 14 Plus features competitive hardware: an eight-core Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
Review: Dell 14 Plus
This laptop earned our Editor's Choice award for its fantastic bang-for-buck, impressive performance, and nice display. The 14-inch 2.5K (2,540 x 1,600) display that delivered impressive image detail. The display's anti-glare coating helps maintain clarity under bright conditions.
More early Black Friday Dell laptop deals
- Dell Latitude 5450: $1,184 (save $355): The Latitude line consists of high-performance laptops for business and enterprise, and this one is no exception. You've got 16GB of RAM and an Intel Core Ultra 7 155U for almost $400 off.
- Dell Laptop (15-inch): $584 (save $65): Looking for a powerful laptop that won't break the bank? This 15-inch from Dell's core laptop line has a full 32GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor from 2023 -- powerful at the time and still competitive now.
- Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640: $699 (save 100): The Inspiron 16 from 2023 is heavily discounted, featuring an Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 2.5K display for everyday use at home or the office.
- Dell Pro 16 Plus: $799 (save $200): Featuring an AMD Ryzen AI 5 Pro 340 and 16GB of RAM, this 16-inch is a reboot from Dell's business-focused Latitude line with a full-sized keyboard, lots of ports, and backward compatibility.
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday is Friday, Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving. While it's typically associated with general retail sales, we're seeing a lot more online deals, as well. Cyber Monday, the traditional online shopping sale day, is Monday, Dec. 1. Both of these days will have some great deals, and there will be some overlap.
Are Dell laptops really cheaper during Black Friday?
Absolutely. Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday see price drops that are often better than regular sales. Online retailers feel the pressure to deliver significant deals during the holiday, and consumers expect to find exclusive deals that are better than regular sales.
Dell also has one of the best price-matching policies out there, with guarantees both before and after purchase that they'll match sale prices found at third-party retailers.
How did we choose these early Black Friday deals?
ZDNET focuses on products we've either covered personally or can vouch for through personal use. We've tested and reviewed almost all of the products on this list, linking to our reviews wherever possible to help provide context around each individual product.
Our experts looked for deals that were at least 20% off (or are hardly ever on sale), using established price comparison tools and trackers to determine whether the deal is actually on sale and how frequently it drops.
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