Dell Pro 16 Plus 16" M78F5 Black 2025

The Dell Pro 16 Plus M78F5 scores 47.6 out of 100 overall, with a standout 95th percentile port selection that includes Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 7. The Ryzen 5 220 and 16GB of LPDDR5 handle productivity well, but the 256GB SSD at the 25th percentile and a 45Wh battery hold it back. At USD 756 it's a steal, at USD 2,214 it's a pass.

The Ryzen 5 220 is a 6-core chip running at 3.2GHz, and it handles everyday workloads without breaking a sweat. Our CPU percentile puts it at 62, which translates to above average but not a standout. For developers, the 57.9 out of 100 score makes sense. You get enough muscle for compiling, running containers, and multitasking across a few IDEs, but don't expect it to chew through heavy virtualization or massive builds without some patience.

The integrated Radeon 740M sits at the 58th percentile for GPU, which is about average for integrated graphics. Gaming is where this thing falls off a cliff, scoring 16.3 out of 100. That's one of the worst results we've seen for gaming workloads. The 16GB of LPDDR5 at 7500 MT/s is dual-channel and onboard, which helps the iGPU breathe a bit, but this is not a machine for anything beyond light indie titles or older games at low settings. The 256GB TLC SSD is the real bottleneck. At the 25th percentile for storage, you're getting bottom-quartile capacity. Windows 11 Pro plus a few dev tools will eat that up fast.

Stacked against the competition, the Dell Pro 16 Plus has a clear identity but some glaring gaps. The Apple MacBook Pro M5 Max absolutely destroys it on performance, display quality, and battery life, but you're paying a massive premium for that. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and Lenovo Legion 5i both have dedicated GPUs that make the Radeon 740M look like a toy for gaming, though they're heavier and pricier. The MSI Prestige and Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro both offer better displays and lighter builds, but neither matches the Dell's port selection. Where the Dell wins is connectivity and price floor. If you need Thunderbolt, Ethernet, and HDMI without a dongle, and you can find it near that USD 756 mark, it's a unique value. But the 256GB SSD and 45Wh battery put it behind nearly every competitor on storage and longevity.

Pricing on this thing is all over the place. US listings range from USD 756 to USD 2,214 across three vendors, which is a USD 1,458 spread. That's a massive gap for the same machine. At the low end, you're getting a lot of connectivity and a capable CPU for under USD 800, which is genuinely compelling. At the high end, you're paying MacBook Pro money for a laptop with a 256GB SSD and a 45Wh battery, which is a terrible deal. If you're shopping this model, the value proposition lives entirely at the bottom of that price range. The CAD listing at CAD 1,055 is the only Canadian option we're seeing, so cross-border shoppers don't have much room to comparison shop.

The Dell Pro 16 Plus M78F5 lands in our database with a total score of 47.6 out of 100, which puts it firmly in the middle of the pack. The port selection is the real headline here, sitting at the 95th percentile, which means this thing has better connectivity than almost anything else we've tested. Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7, and a pair of USB-C and USB-A ports all show up. That's rare at this price point.

But the rest of the package is a mixed bag. The AMD Ryzen 5 220 with 16GB of LPDDR5 running at 7500 MT/s is solid for productivity work, scoring 62nd percentile on CPU and 65th on RAM. The 256GB NVMe SSD is the weak link, landing at the 25th percentile for storage. And the 45Wh battery paired with a 16-inch 300-nit display means you're not getting a premium experience on the screen or the longevity front.

Gamers should absolutely skip this. The gaming score of 16.3 out of 100 is one of the worst we've seen, and the integrated Radeon 740M won't handle modern titles at anything resembling playable frame rates. Anyone who needs serious local storage should also look elsewhere, the 256GB SSD at the 25th percentile fills up fast with a few large projects or a modest game library. And if you're frequently away from outlets, the 45Wh battery paired with a 16-inch screen is a recipe for range anxiety. The reliability percentile of 33 is also below average, so if you need a machine that'll survive years of heavy daily use without hiccups, there are safer bets out there.

The Dell Pro 16 Plus M78F5 is a productivity workhorse with a connectivity suite that punches way above its weight class. The 95th percentile port selection is genuinely impressive, and the Ryzen 5 220 with 16GB of fast RAM handles dev work and office tasks without complaint. But the 256GB SSD is a real problem at the 25th percentile, and the 45Wh battery paired with a 16-inch display means you'll be hunting for outlets more than you'd like. If you can snag this near the USD 756 end of the price range and you value ports over everything else, it's a smart buy. At anything close to USD 2,214, walk away.