A tandem OLED display like the one on the new Dell XPS 13 is one of the latest panel technologies to come to the laptop market.
But what are they, exactly? Are tandem OLED laptops worth using? And how do these screens compare to OLED, IPS LCD, miniLED, QDEL, and other panel types?
I was curious about tandem OLED displays, so I did some research and reached out to Dell to answer my questions.
Here’s everything I discovered and everything you need to know about tandem OLED displays.
Each display’s capabilities will be different based on the specific technologies used in its production as well as the intended use case it was designed for. As such, the information on this page focuses on generalizations and tendencies for various display types, but individual panels may differ.
OLED vs QDEL vs miniLED: A quick display explainer
Before we dive into tandem OLEDs, it’s important to cover OLED basics.
As I explained in my display comparison guide, OLED, or Organic Light-Emitting Diode, is a display technology that “doesn’t require backlighting like older displays did, thanks to the use of an organic compound that emits light when it receives an electric current.”
In addition to not being backlit, OLEDs have largely been able to stand out from previous panel types due to their ability to change the light and color of each individual pixel, as well as turn pixels off independently.
This design allows OLEDs to produce wider viewing angles, greater color gamuts, TrueBlack, and excellent contrast compared with many other panel types.
OLED displays have a few different layers to them, and these can differ depending on the technologies a company uses to create the screen as a whole.
The first OLEDs had some screen burn-in issues, but these degradation risks have been greatly reduced over the years. Otherwise, the biggest problem with OLEDs is that they tend not to get as bright as other display types.
Some adamantly argue that OLEDs are the best displays out there. Just remember, each display type has its pros and cons, and each type can be better suited to different use cases.
Really, it depends on what a consumer wants most from their display.
For instance, you could argue that tandem OLEDs, with their amazing color gamuts and contrast, are ideal for creatives, while TN (twisted nematic) displays are best for competitive gaming since they offer higher refresh rates. It really just depends.
Each display type has its pros and cons and might be better suited to different use cases.
Still, OLEDs have largely been considered one of the best laptop displays for some time now.
However, panel technology has continued to advance, bringing forward alternative solutions to challenge OLED’s throne. For instance, QDEL (Quantum Dot Electroluminescent) displays tend to be far brighter than OLED. Meanwhile, mini LED panels tend to be more affordable and offer better battery life, but often don’t produce as good color accuracy as OLEDs.
As a side note, some are saying that it’s possible that QDEL could replace OLED in the future. But to be clear, we’re probably a few years off from seeing QDEL panels on laptops, TVs, and monitors.
In the meantime, we have brand-new tandem OLED panels that have hit the laptop market for the first time in 2025, and they are typically better than traditional single-panel OLEDs, allowing the general category of OLED to still offer one of the best viewing experiences.
What are tandem OLEDs and why are they so good?
The concept of tandem OLEDs isn’t new, but it was only with the launch of the Apple iPad Pro (M4) that the first mainstream tandem OLED device hit store shelves. Now, we’re seeing this display technology in laptops.
As the name implies, tandem OLED means that there are two OLED panels, one on top of the other. This can result in a display that can produce an even better color range and better HDR TrueBlack visuals than a single-panel OLED, while also being able to get much brighter than a basic OLED.
As contradictory as it might sound at first, some of these new tandem OLED panels consume less power than a traditional single-panel OLED when producing the same brightness level.
That’s because the two panels don’t have to be at as high of a brightness level on their own to achieve a desired brightness level together.
Because the dual panels don’t have to get as individually bright, well-designed tandem OLED displays might not drain a laptop battery as quickly as a single-panel OLED, and well-designed tandem OLEDs aren’t as at risk for screen burn-in.
So, how much brighter are we talking? In general, OLEDs usually can get between 200 and 300 nits at SDR but can sometimes jump up to around 500 nits in peak HDR.
Meanwhile, tandem OLEDs have been known to get up to around 1,000 nits in SDR and up to 1,600 nits in peak HDR brightness. That’s quite a jump.
This all said, some tandem OLEDs, like the one on the Dell XPS 13, will still only produce 400 to 500 nits max but will also offer better HDR TrueBlack, improved contrast, and a wider color range than typically seen on single-panel OLEDs.
In other words, a company might design its tandem OLEDs to focus on other features that improve the visual experience rather than just increasing brightness.
The thing is, tandem OLED technology is so new to the market that there are only a few laptops that actually have these displays, but more are coming.
Which laptops use tandem OLED displays?
Tandem OLED laptops include the Dell XPS 13 (Lunar Lake), Dell Pro Premium, and Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition Gen 10.
Right now, there are only a small number of laptops with tandem OLED displays. , but more will come to the market as time goes on.
The thing is, spec pages for laptops with these displays don’t always make it clear that they feature this new dual-stack OLED design, so it’s not something you can easily search for at present.
RELATED: Dell’s latest laptops use tandem OLEDs | Lenovo’s flagship laptop offers a bright screen
Best tandem OLED laptops
Here’s what Dell says about the tandem OLED in its XPS 13 (Lunar Lake) laptop
Remember how I said tandem OLED capabilities will be different based on how a company designs them? Well, this is what Dell told me about its tandem-OLED-toting XPS 13 9530:
“XPS 13 uses a tandem OLED design co-developed with one of our display partners. By using tandem technology, which stacks multiple emissive layers on top of each other, it increased the efficiency of our OLED display. This design allows for higher brightness and a longer lifespan with the same power input. Multiple layers enable these new tandem OLEDs to achieve higher luminous efficiency, meaning the display can produce more light compared to single-stack OLEDs currently on the market using the same amount of electrical power.
“Because OLEDs generally consume more power than traditional LCD (IPS) panels, minimizing power consumption is crucial. The XPS 13’s new tandem OLED design lowers power consumption for the same brightness compared to the older single-stack OLED, which helps extend battery life. This new design, combined with tandem technology, improves battery runtime by about 10% while also being thinner and lighter. As a result, the new XPS 13 is approximately 3% thinner and 5% lighter than the previous generation with its older OLED.
“We list our spec for XPS 13’s OLED at 400 nits due to its inherently better contrast ratios compared to LCDs, which are spec’d at 500 nits. The new OLED design and tandem technology not only achieves lower power consumption but also features HDR TrueBlack 500, with 1,000,000:1 contrast ratios and 1.07 billion colors.”
So once again, Dell XPS 13’s tandem OLED display might not get as bright as some other tandem OLEDs on the market, but Dell says it still offers better power consumption and a better visual experience than a single-panel OLED.
Tandem OLED FAQ
Hopefully, I was able to answer any questions you have about tandem OLEDs, but just in case you have further queries, I’ve embedded this video from Snazzy Labs and also included this FAQ section.
What is tandem OLED?
As implied by the name, tandem OLED is a display technology that layers two OLED panels over each other rather than just having one OLED layer.
This stacked design can allow these screens to get brighter and offer better color and contrast than single-layer OLEDs. Additionally, tandem OLEDs can draw less power than traditional OLEDs and thus offer better laptop battery life.
How new are tandem OLEDs?
Many people hadn’t heard about tandem OLEDs until 2024 when the Apple iPad Pro (M4) brought this display technology to the market. However, these displays, or at least the idea of them, have been around for a while.
It turns out that the concept for this dual-stacked OLED design is at least 15 years old, as seen in this paper from 2009 (thanks Digital Trends).
But, as I previously mentioned, it wasn’t until 2025 that we saw the first tandem OLED laptops hit the market, so they are very new from a purchasable standpoint.
What is the difference between OLED and tandem OLED?
Since a tandem OLED is literally two OLED panels stacked on each other, the main differences are that tandem OLEDs tend to get much brighter than OLED panels, which historically are pretty dim compared to other display technologies.
Depending on how they were designed and made, tandem OLEDs can also produce more colors, better contrast, and consume less power than OLEDs.
Do tandem OLEDs have burn-in issues?
It is possible for tandem OLEDs to experience burn-in, depending on how a company designed them, but the risk of screen degradation is typically lower than with OLEDs.
That’s because having two OLED panels in tandem OLEDs means that neither layer has to get as bright as a basic OLED’s individual panel layer to reach the same brightness level.
How does tandem OLED affect laptop battery life?
Depending on how a company designs its tandem OLED, double-stacking OLED panels can allow the overall display to produce a specific level of brightness without requiring as much power as a single-panel OLED to do so.
However, the amount of power drawn from an OLED layer also depends on what is being displayed.
Remember, OLEDs and tandem OLEDs have the ability to turn pixels off when they’re supposed to show black. As such, a screen draws less power if it’s showing darker imagery (like those ridiculously dark Game of Thrones scenes).
So, a tandem OLED might allow for better battery life on a laptop than a basic OLED, but a direct comparison might only show this to be true if the two tandem OLEDs are displaying the same visuals.
What is the efficiency of tandem OLED?
The exact efficiency of tandem OLEDs will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
In general, well-designed tandem OLEDs are more efficient than OLED panels.
Are tandem OLED displays good?
Yes. Tandem OLED displays aren’t perfect, but they are a very competitive technology among panel types.
Depending on the manufacturer, they can offer better power draw efficiency, produce more colors, provide improved contrast, and get a lot brighter than other display types, all while having a lower risk of screen burn-in than basic, single-panel OLEDs.
Are there any downsides to tandem OLEDs?
The biggest things going against tandem OLEDs right now are two-fold.
Firstly, there are fewer of them on the market, so it can be hard to find a device that has a tandem OLED display.
Secondly, tandem OLED laptops tend to cost more than other display options. So, it can be more expensive to get one.
As with most new display technologies, the price for tandem OLEDs could go down as time goes on, depending on manufacturer advances and how much demand there is for this technology.
