Dell XPS 13 Review (Introduction and design, Value, performance and verdict)

Dell has executed all of it yet again. the modern and finest dell xps thirteen lately arrived, and it’s frankly already been our favorite pc for the remaining years.

This time coming prepared with the latest, 7th era (kaby lake) intel processors at the back of that same eye-dropping display and punchy keyboard we’ve come to experience typing on – now all within an elective rose gold body – the brand new xps 13 has wowed us all all over again.

And, much of that isn’t way to loopy improvements or fresh additions, however some key refinements that assist the xps thirteen stand out among a sea of laptops which are possibly trying to alternate a bit too speedy. the xps 13 is a tortoise surrounded via hares … simplest it’s got a rocket strapped to its back.

Price and availability

Available now through its website and several retailers, Dell begins the bidding for the standard XPS 13 at $799 (£999, AU$1,899) to start. In the US, that gets you a Kaby Lake, dual-core Intel Core i3 processor with Intel HD Graphics 620, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of solid-state storage behind an FHD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), non-touch InfinityEdge display. (The UK and Australian versions come starting with an Intel Core i5.)

If you want the touchscreen at QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) resolution – and the two screen features only come as a pair – you’ll need to cough up at least $1,299 (£1,249, AU$2,499). That also nets you a dual-core Intel Core i5 chip, but sadly doesn’t up the storage or RAM capacity. Of course, you can choose to upgrade both of those components for extra cash.

SPEC SHEET

Here is the Dell XPS 13 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-7500U (dual-core, 4MB cache, up to 3.5GHz)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 620
RAM: 8GB LPDDR3 (1,866MHz)
Screen: 13.3-inch QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) InfinityEdge touch display
Storage: 256GB PCIe SSD
Ports: 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 3.0 w/PowerShare, 1 x USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), SD card reader, headset jack
Connectivity: Killer 1535 802.11ac (2.4 & 5GHz); Bluetooth 4.1
Camera: 720p widescreen HD webcam with dual array digital microphones
Weight: 2.9 pounds (1.29kg)
Size: 11.98 x 7.88 x 0.33 – 0.6 inches (W x D x H) (304 x 200 x 9 – 15mm)

Design

Frankly, there isn’t a ton to be said of the XPS 13’s design this time around, as very little, if anything, has changed. You still have the 13.3-inch display as sharp as QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800 pixels) with optional touch controls squeezed inside an 11-inch-wide frame.

And, you still have the gorgeous, machined aluminum lid and base that beset a comfy, carbon fiber keyboard deck coated in soft-touch paint. Only this time, the lid and base come in rose gold – the salmon shade that’s all the rage in tech products these days – as well as the traditional silver option.

The machine somehow measures even thinner than the previous generation, though only by a hair: 0.33 inches (9mm) at its thinnest point to 0.6 inches (15mm) at its thickest. For those keeping score, the previous model came in at two hundredths of an inch thicker at the nose.

Dell has also reduced the weight of its leading laptop, but by such a small degree it would be impossible to notice: from 2.93 pounds (1.32kg) to now just 2.9 pounds (1.29kg) even for the touchscreen model. Short of a major breakthrough in the materials used to construct the XPS 13, we’re likely looking at the thinnest and lightest Ultrabook from Dell for a while. (Please, prove us wrong.)

All told, we’re still smitten by the XPS 13 design, and frankly we’re happy it hasn’t changed much, because it doesn’t have to. One small request: if Dell could at least center that bottom bezel-oriented webcam like it has on the new Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, that would be clutch.

Greater ‘pro’ than the macbook seasoned?

At some stage in our time with the new xps 13, we found out an vital factor: this laptop can match or even surpass the brand new, access-level thirteen-inch macbook pro part-for-component. for a hundred dollars less than apple’s modern day pc, the xps 13 gives a sharper display, a stronger processor and the same quantity of ram and storage.

Oh, and this man has a sizable sd card slot.

The macbook pro? you’ll get one greater thunderbolt 3 port – one among which needs to be used for charging – and little else for its starting fee. on paper, it looks as if the xps 13 will come up with a better time enhancing photographs and video than its archnemesis. nicely performed, dell.

We’ve already touched on how the xps thirteen stacks up in opposition to the macbook seasoned – rather nicely, without a doubt. but how about some preference competition strolling windows 10?

The razer blade stealth, for example, starts offevolved at $899 (approximately £736, au$1,206) for a qhd (2,560 x 1,440 pixels), non-contact display with the same seventh technology intel processor and quantity of ram in addition to garage. it’s a piece higher off in visuals and offer greater ports universal, however lacks that sd card reader. from there, the blade stealth profits a beefier center i7 processor and extra ram and garage for much much less than dell can presently provide, however will usually lack an sd card reader. that stated, the blade stealth can more without difficulty play video games the usage of razer’s core photos card field.

An the meantime, the hp spectre x360 is a convertible 2-in-1 that doesn’t start for almost as reasonably-priced as the xps 13 at $1,049 or au$2,199 (about £859) for the same processor and ram capacity, but it offers double the storage behind an fhd touch show. from there, the spectre x360 also receives more powerful innards for less and tops it off with a sharper uhd (three,840 x 2,a hundred and sixty pixels) display screen for much less than the best-give up xps 13. this machine additionally lacks the sd card reader.

All advised, the new xps 13 can suit the mildew of both a creative expert and the casual consumer’s existence more without difficulty than those two aforementioned laptops. however, that comes at the value of a price curve that isn’t as beneficiant as its opponents.

All of it comes down to what you want out of your subsequent pc. if that’s versatility between professional and private use, then the xps 13 is tough to overcome.

Performance

The xps 13 despatched to us for evaluation got here packing the two.7ghz, twin-core intel center i7-7500u processor powering the three,2 hundred x 1,800 decision touchscreen with 8gb of ram behind it. as you can see from the benchmarks, this chip has no problem gobbling up the various tests thrown its way.

That is, keep for snap shots output. you might be capable of squeeze some hearthstone or primary indie games out of this computer, but if it’s gaming you want, take a look at out some thing just like the alienware 13.

Getting lower back to wellknown performance, we encountered 0 troubles with the xps 13 throughout our typical workload. that’s 10-plus google chrome browser tabs with various spreadsheets, documents and webpages therein along the slack chat purchaser.

And, speakme of photo modifying, the xps 13 dealt with lightroom with nary a trouble. in fact, modifying snap shots thru a qhd+ screen enables take a long way better gain of the uncooked image documents than even a qhd display. exports have a tendency to choke the gadget barely, but that’s to be anticipated on maximum devices short of those with gobs of reminiscence and laptop-grade processors.

All in all, anticipate some pinnacle-notch overall performance from this almost top-quit, $1,599 (£1,179, au$2,499) version of the xps 13. even though, we wouldn’t assume significantly worse output from the middle i5 variety.

Battery life

Dell, like all of the different laptop makers, guarantees a few insane longevity from the xps thirteen, to the track of up to 22 hours from the fhd model (center i3) and thirteen hours from the qhd+ model (middle i5) in the mobilemark 14 take a look at. on the grounds that we’re checking out the center i7 variety with the qhd+ display, we haven’t loved nearly as lengthy of battery existence from the xps 13.

Of path, that’s now not to say the numbers we’ve recorded aren’t stunning. a score of four hours and 3 minutes is honestly more than ideal from the notoriously unforgiving pcmark 8 battery take a look at. higher but, the xps 13 lasted a groovy 7 hours and 13 minutes playing guardians of the galaxy at 1080p on loop. that’s simply minutes from the thirteen-inch macbook seasoned’s figure of 7 hours and 24 mins at the equal test.

Both checks are conducted with the screen and quantity at 50% with all radios but wi-fi deactivated in addition to keyboard backlighting disabled.

If you were to use the windows 10 battery saver mode throughout your use of the xps thirteen while faraway from an outlet, clearly you could squeeze at the least another hour out of the device. at that point, you’re looking at all-day battery life, the gold fashionable for laptops today.

All in all, the new XPS 13 does exactly what it needed to do to remain king of the hill in the laptop world in our eyes: improve and refine. By virtue of sticking to some old guns in an SD card slot and barrel connector for power, while adopting fresher tech at a slower pace (Thunderbolt 3 USB-C), the XPS 13 is better suited for a wider swathe of individuals than most of today’s top laptops.

We liked

The fact that the XPS 13 hasn’t changed all that much in a sea of laptops, which can’t seem to stop going thinner and adopting the newest tech wholecloth, and it actually works to its benefit. Dell is clearly aware that, frankly, some legacy features are still more attractive than the new hotness, like SD card slots and dedicated power ports. Couple that with the latest processor and a seriously sharp screen for one of, if not, the laptop to beat.

We disliked

There isn’t much that left us sour regarding the XPS 13, save for one feature that sorely needs a change: the webcam. For at least the past two iterations now, the XPS 13 webcam has been relegated to the far bottom-left end of the screen bezel. Frankly, holding video meetings or just calling friends or family over Skype is neither a productive or fun experience with the webcam oriented this way. We can only hope the XP 13 2-in-1 webcam design will bleed over into this model in the next revision.

Final verdict

Despite that singular flaw, the Dell XPS 13 continues to be a thoroughly impressive piece of computing machinery. Better yet, Dell didn’t have to change much to maintain that image.

With this update, Dell manages to either meet or beat the new MacBook Pro, spec-for-spec, for 100 bucks less. If you’re torn between this laptop and Apple’s latest, we hope we’ve now made that decision easier for you.

But, even against the spate of Windows-bound laptops that have adopted burgeoning technologies whole cloth, the XPS 13 stands out with a healthy balance of old and new tech inside a device that’s comfortable to use for as long as it can last – a long time. For that reason, the Dell XPS 13 wins our Best in Class award.