Dell XPS 13 review: Tiny tweaks to a long-time favorite

Obtaining viewed the Dell XPS thirteen evolve in excess of the past numerous many years, I truly imagined we experienced arrived at the close of the line in conditions of feasible enhancements. The 2019 variation experienced a super-slim bezel, great general performance at a decent price tag, 4K monitor alternatives, and was far more of a big step ahead, fixing a very long-time engineering difficulty by putting a super-small webcam up on leading of the monitor, in its place of underneath it. 

And although I could no lengthier make jokes about the infamous up-the-nose webcam shot, I really a lot didn’t have any big structure problems about the program any more. So, where by do you go from there? 

You start off by tweaking the monitor, shaving down that bezel a small little bit far more and shaping the lid, so you can fit a thirteen.four-inch screen in there, in its place of a thirteen.three-inch one. That seems like a really small tweak, and it is, but I like that it now has a extremely contemporary-sensation sixteen:ten component ratio monitor. Not rather as Television-like as the sixteen:9 ones virtually just about everywhere else. 

The entire body has misplaced a number of fractions of a millimeter, much too, with a a little smaller footprint. But the smaller entire body also usually means it feels dense when you pick it up, and a little heavier than you assume, even even though it basically weighs the similar one pound, thirteen ounces as the newest MacBook Air (without ability bricks, and heading by the actual examination configurations I experienced of each individual). The larger footprint of the MacBook will make the weight truly feel far more evenly dispersed, but it also takes up a little far more space on your desk, so there is a trade-off. 

The incredible monitor-to-entire body ratio on the XPS thirteen is a actual eye-catching promoting stage right here. For some people, the white woven glass palm rest space — a $fifty upsell in excess of black carbon fiber —  is also a huge attraction. I in no way imagined the white palmrest and aluminum decrease entire body felt part of an natural complete, the way some other laptops truly feel like they are carved from a single slab of metal (even if they are not). But my son — hey, we’re all doing the job from property workplaces now, remember? — looked at each the new XPS thirteen and new MacBook Air aspect by aspect and declared the XPS to be a lot fancier. 

In some means, the new XPS thirteen has the terrible luck to get there ideal about the similar time as the new Apple MacBook Air, a in the same way priced thirteen-inch laptop that covers a good deal of the similar ground. The new MacBook Air upgraded by itself by moving to a new keyboard fashion, closer in truth to what is actually on the XPS thirteen. It also jumped to quad-main tenth-gen Main i5 CPUs, yet again, also provided in the XPS thirteen. 

Digging into the costs and pieces 

These two are identical in so a lot of means, like some confusing pricing alternatives to dig through. Both have been at first pitched as starting off at $999 in the US. The MacBook Air has without a doubt moved back again to $999, but that drops you down to a dual-main Intel Main i3 CPU, which doesn’t audio like a $one,000 part to me. The new XPS thirteen, as at first observed all through its CES 2020 rollout, started at $999 with — yes — a Main i3 CPU. But as of this creating, I’m looking at $one,249 as the the very least-high priced possibility (more mature styles are even now offered for noticeably significantly less) on Dell’s web site. That receives you a new Main i5 with Intel Iris graphics, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, identical to the specs on a $one,099 2020 MacBook Air (which also has a better-resolution monitor). 

My examination unit was perfectly-geared up, with a Main i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a one,920x,one,080 touchscreen screen, for $one,749. To be truthful, Apple did the similar, sending me a better-close Main i7/16GB/512GB establish that charges $one,649. 

Tiny surprises 

When the XPS thirteen at first felt like the best thirteen-inch Windows laptop to get if you required a MacBook-Air-like experience, but for whichever motive essential to operate Windows in its place of MacOS. But it’s very long given that progressed past that. The part specs may match up really perfectly, but the XPS is also total of nice subtle surprises. 

The two USB-C ports (which are also total Thunderbolt three ports) are break up up, one on each individual aspect, offering you far more alternatives for plugging in ability or accessories. The MacBook Air shoves each on one aspect, leaving you significantly less flexibility. The XPS thirteen also contains a microSD card reader, a rare inclusion in a world where by Pc makers are racing to drop ports as immediately as feasible. 

And finally, you are unable to conquer that approximately edge-to-edge monitor. Future to it, the MacBook’s screen bezels glance huge. Even with the one,920×1,080 possibility, the 500-nit screen seems good. Of course, there is a 4K possibility, for $two hundred far more than the FHD touchscreen, but on a monitor this measurement that feels like overkill, and would no doubt knock numerous several hours off the spectacular eleven-hour-and-26-minute battery existence we received for the XPS thirteen in our video-streaming battery existence examination. 

Some premium Windows laptops target on chopping weight, like the LG Gram, or measurement, like the Acer Swift seven, but Dell has managed to make some subtle enhancements to a established winner and maintain its title as one of the best all-about common-intent thirteen-inch Windows laptops you can buy.