How to open Dell Pro 16 (PC16250) – disassembly and upgrade options

Shut down the laptop and place it on a flat surface.
Undo the nine captive Phillips-head screws holding the bottom panel in place.
Gently pry around the edges with a plastic tool until the aluminium plate pops free.

Battery Removal

The Dell Pro 16 is equipped with a 55Wh lithium-ion battery.
Detach the battery cable from the mainboard.
Undo the five screws (four captive, one removable) and lift the battery out.

Memory Upgrades

The RAM is upgradeable via two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots on the right-hand side of the board.
Our unit ships with a single 16GB SK Hynix 5600 MT/s module, leaving the second slot available for dual-channel configuration.

You can buy DDR5 RAM modules here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Storage Upgrade and Wireless Module

There is one M.2 2230 slot compatible with PCIe Gen 4 SSDs.
Our unit comes with a Micron 2500-series 512GB drive.
Note that 2280-length drives are not supported, so capacity planning is important.
The laptop uses an Intel AX211 Wi-Fi 6E module in an M.2 2230 slot.
This can be swapped for a Wi-Fi 7 card such as the Intel BE200 for future-proofing.

Hint: Consider reviewing our Top M.2 SSDs Performance Rankings to select the best storage solution for your needs.

You can buy Gen 4 2230 NVMe SSDs here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Speakers and Other Components

The stereo speakers and bottom-firing woofer housings are fixed with standard screws and can be easily replaced.
The single cooling fan is also user-serviceable.

Cooling System

The thermal design includes one blower fan and a wide fin stack at the rear.
A single heat pipe links the CPU and VRM zone.
Performance will largely depend on Dell’s fan curve tuning rather than heavy heatsinking.

Dell Pro 16 (PC16250) in-depth review

The Dell Pro 16 (PC16250) isn’t trying to win any beauty contests. It’s a classic, no-nonsense business machine, built from the ground up for practicality and productivity. Its spec sheet is a dream for any IT manager, boasting good upgradeability (for a compact machine) and a full suite of business-ready ports. However, this focus on function comes with some truly baffling compromises, especially on the base model we purchased. The result is a laptop that could be a perfect long-term investment or a source of daily frustration, depending entirely on the configuration you choose and wh[...]

Read the full review