Dell XPS 13: Two-minute evaluate
Dell‘s XPS 13 laptop computer line has been kicking about for fairly some time now, and it is come a great distance. The XPS model debuted greater than twenty years in the past, with the very first XPS laptop computer launching again in 2007; evidently, the newest iteration of the Dell XPS 13 seems to be and feels much more fashionable, sharing little or no DNA with that first XPS laptop computer, and it is (virtually) flawless.
Sporting the identical modern design we noticed within the 2024 Dell XPS 13 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, the brand new mannequin principally takes every little thing that laptop computer did and does it higher, due to new Lunar Lake processors from Intel. In our evaluate mannequin, that is the Intel Core Extremely 7 258V, which delivers staggeringly good battery life and a common uptick in efficiency over the Snapdragon mannequin.
After I say staggeringly good, I do imply staggeringly good – I am going to get into the main points later on this evaluate, however in our video playback take a look at the Lunar Lake XPS 13 clocked in simply shy of 24 hours, beating a lot of the machines on our present checklist of the best laptops. When it comes to common use, it might probably actually go for days with out a cost for those who’re simply doing primary duties like phrase processing and answering emails. It appears like a large center finger from Dell and Intel to the MacBook Air‘s generational drops in battery life, and I am so right here for it.
Efficiency-wise, issues are a bit much less spectacular, however nonetheless principally glorious. The laptop computer ran easily it doesn’t matter what I threw at it, and total efficiency in my benchmarking assessments exceeded that provided by the earlier Snapdragon-powered XPS 13 – and lots of different laptops at this value level.
Talking of value, I ought to in all probability make clear proper now that this is not an affordable laptop computer; our evaluate unit is priced at $1,999.99 / £2,049 / AU$3,998.50, putting it squarely in ‘premium ultrabook’ territory. Nonetheless, it delivers nice worth for cash once you have a look at the specs and efficiency, with a fully beautiful OLED show
The one motive this is not a direct five-star evaluate is the truth that Dell hasn’t resolved some points with the design that I’ve seen in earlier fashions, courting again to the 2023 Dell XPS 13 Plus. These are primarily associated to usability and accessibility; whereas the design seems to be unbelievable, the edgeless touchpad and lack of bodily Fn keys damage the laptop computer’s performance a little bit, stopping it from reaching perfection.
Regardless of these niggling points, the brand new XPS 13 continues to be a fully incredible laptop computer that I would fortunately use for the subsequent 5 years or extra – how do you are feeling about letting me maintain this one, Dell?
Dell XPS 13: Value and availability
- How a lot does it value? Begins at $1,199.99 / £1,399 / AU$3,198.80
- When is it out there? Out there now
- The place are you able to get it? Out there within the US, UK, and Australia
There are a number of configurations of the 2nd-gen Intel Core Extremely model of the XPS 13, with costs beginning at $1,199.99 / £1,399 / AU$3,198.80 for the non-touchscreen mannequin. In an odd twist, the Core Extremely 5 configuration is definitely $50 extra costly within the US for no discernible motive; elsewhere, that is the most affordable mannequin.
You will seemingly at the very least need a touchscreen and a Core Extremely 7 processor to get the total expertise from this laptop computer, which is what our evaluate unit presents, and that mannequin checks in at a cool $1,999.99 / £2,049 / AU$3,998.50 – definitely not cheap, however about par for the course for premium ultrabooks. It’s notably dearer than the newest M3 MacBook Air, which is sort of a 12 months previous now – in different phrases, macOS followers seemingly will not be making the swap to Windows 11 primarily based on this evaluate.
The highest-end configuration of the Dell XPS 13 will value you $2,349.99 / £2,634 / AU$4,899.40, and presents an Intel Core Extremely 9 288V chip, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of SSD storage, and the identical beautiful 3K OLED touchscreen in my evaluate mannequin.
Dell XPS 13: Specs
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
ASUS Zenbook S 14 |
|---|---|
|
CPU |
As much as Intel Core Extremely 9 288V |
|
GPU |
Intel Arc Graphics |
|
RAM |
As much as 32GB LPDDR5X |
|
Show |
As much as 13.4-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED, 60Hz |
|
Storage |
As much as 2TB SSD |
|
Ports |
2x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C |
|
Wi-fi |
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 |
|
Weight |
2.70lbs / 1.21kg |
|
Dimension |
11.6 x 7.8 x 0.58 inches / 29.5 x 19.9 x 1.48cm |
Dell XPS 13: Design
- Light-weight however sturdy
- Appears to be like incredible
- Nonetheless has some accessibility points
Aesthetically talking, Dell did not want to vary a factor for this new iteration of the XPS 13: it is nonetheless rocking the identical modern chassis as final 12 months’s mannequin, combining a contemporary type with a sturdy conventional clamshell design in both Platinum (featured right here) or Graphite colorways.
The display screen is the star of the present right here: my evaluate unit has the top-spec 3K (2880 x 1800) InfinityEdge OLED contact show, and it is superb. Colours are brilliant and vivid, distinction is deep, and film high quality is mostly very sharp and detailed. Even in additional demanding assessments that battered the body price a bit (like 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark), it seemed magnificent.
The keyboard feels nice to sort on, with a good quantity of key journey and a satisfying bounce regardless of the super-thin chassis (it measures simply 1.48cm in whole thickness), and the cool backlighting makes it straightforward to make use of in low-light situations. Naturally, it incorporates a devoted Copilot key in addition to a fingerprint scanner built-in into the facility button.
Sadly, I’ve the aforementioned beef with facets of the keyboard and touchpad format. The touchpad is ‘invisible’, built-in edgelessly into the palm relaxation, and whereas it’s totally responsive, and the palm rejection works completely, the dearth of tactile edges is definitely a little bit irritating in observe. Whereas testing the XPS 13, I’d generally unknowingly slide my fingertip previous the sting of the pad’s sensor vary and attempt to click on, to no avail.
These frustrations proceed with the operate bar above the keyboard, which is definitely an LED-backlit contact bar that may swap seamlessly between conventional Fn keys and media keys once you maintain down the Fn button. Whereas this can be a intelligent (and moderately visually satisfying) answer, the dearth of bodily suggestions is annoying, and in brightly-lit situations – like working outdoors on a sunny day – these backlit ‘keys’ develop into just about not possible to truly see. It is annoying, and each of those issues pose accessibility points for sight-impaired customers; not having the ability to really feel a button or the sting of the touchpad together with your finger would make utilizing this laptop computer extraordinarily tough for a blind or partially-sighted individual, even with display screen reader instruments.
The quad-array audio system and 1080p webcam are each excellent – not the most effective I’ve ever seen, however completely able to dealing with high-quality video calls and even enjoying music or movies out loud. I do usually advocate utilizing a headset over built-in audio system relating to laptops (particularly for gaming), however these do the job effectively. The webcam array additionally options an IR digicam for facial recognition logins, though it lacks any type of privateness shutter or kill swap, which might have been a pleasant inclusion for security-conscious customers.
When it comes to total development, that is one very sturdy laptop computer regardless of its thin-and-light design. The outer metallic shell is scratch-resistant machined aluminum with a matte end (although it does decide up fingerprints), and the interior plastic of the keyboard and palm relaxation feels sturdy too.
One draw back to the general design is the dearth of bodily ports: you get two Thunderbolt 4 USB-Cs, and that is actually it. No USB-A, no Ethernet or video output (though these USB-C ports do help DisplayPort video), no microSD slot, not even a humble 3.5mm audio jack. I get it; USB-C is a good multipurpose connection normal, and this type of port format is more and more frequent in fashionable ultrabooks, but when you’ll want to use the laptop computer whereas it is plugged in, you are restricted to only a single Thunderbolt port, which is a disgrace. Put together to purchase a USB-C hub for those who’re planning to attach a whole lot of gadgets to your XPS 13, principally.
Dell XPS 13: Efficiency
- Lunar Lake performs excellently
- Copilot+ works as marketed
As anticipated, the Intel Core Extremely 7 258V in my XPS 13 evaluate unit performs admirably, delivering sturdy efficiency in just about each division, helped alongside by its hefty 32GB of DDR5 reminiscence. It is really mind-blowing to me how quickly laptops have improved previously decade. Talking as somebody who’s been testing them for years, having the ability to play fashionable video games on an ultralight compact laptop computer like this simply feels unreal.
That stated, this is not a gaming laptop computer – although I am going to talk about the graphical efficiency in a bit – so let’s deal with what the XPS 13 is admittedly for: on a regular basis productiveness. Throughout virtually all of our artificial benchmarks, it beats final 12 months’s Snapdragon X Elite mannequin handily by a good margin. Multi-core efficiency in Geekbench 6.4 was notably a bit weaker, however nonetheless good, whereas single-core efficiency was stronger.
Dell XPS 13 evaluate: Benchmarks
Here is how the Dell XPS 13 (Intel Core Extremely 7 258V, 2024) carried out in our suite of benchmark assessments:
3DMark: Evening Raid: 34,618; Fireplace Strike: 9,058; Time Spy: 4,407; Metal Nomad: 889
Cinebench R23: Multi-core: 8,494; Single-core: 1,874
Geekbench 6.4: Multicore: 11,001; Single-core: 2,716
Geekbench AI: Single Precision Rating: 2,359; Half Precision Rating: 1,217; Quantized Rating: 4,811
PCMark 10: 6,827
Crossmark: Total: 1,839; Productiveness: 1,684; Creativity: 2,174; Responsiveness: 1,467
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: (1080p, Extremely): 65fps; (1080p, Low): 155fps
Battery Life (TechRadar film take a look at): 23 hours, 26 minutes
In any case, when it got here to real-world use, I had zero issues. Opening 20 Chrome tabs and multitasking between them induced no slowdown, and the laptop computer boots up and wakes from sleep mode extremely quick. Normal responsiveness and performance had been glorious. Dell’s personal pre-installed software program is right here, naturally, however it’s mercifully fairly unobtrusive – no bloatware right here, moreover the same old Home windows 11 stuff.
On condition that the Core Extremely 7 258V packs an Intel AI Increase neural processing unit (NPU), I put that to the take a look at as effectively. Within the Geekbench AI benchmark, it produced a quantized rating of 4,811; an affordable exhibiting, however weak in comparison with a system with a discrete GPU for superior AI processing. Nevertheless, in observe, Home windows Copilot labored rapidly and successfully on the XPS 13.
The Dell XPS 13 dealt with every little thing I threw at it with relative calm, solely spinning up its followers to any noticeable quantity throughout the 3DMark rendering assessments. In most assessments, I heard barely a whisper from the followers, and common use was fully silent more often than not.
Intel’s deal with energy effectivity and thermal efficiency for the 2nd-gen Core Extremely chips has clearly paid off. The laptop computer barely received heat all through my whole testing course of – choosing a rear exhaust vent moderately than the underside vents I typically see on ultrabooks was a smart transfer from Dell, because it means utilizing the laptop computer on a smooth floor (like a quilt, or your individual thighs) will not block any warmth output.
In relation to gaming, it is surprisingly viable on the XPS 13: toss in options like Intel XeSS upscaling (or AMD‘s open-source FSR 3.1), and you may moderately play the overwhelming majority of PC video games on this laptop computer, even fashionable titles – simply bear in mind that you’re going to in all probability have to tweak down a few of the graphical settings as a way to get a good body price. This definitely is not one of many best gaming laptops, however it’ll fortunately stand as much as a little bit of informal gaming when the workday is completed.
Dell XPS 13: Battery
You in all probability received this from me raving concerning the battery additional up on this evaluate, however wowzers. Yeah, by no means saying that once more. Severely although, the battery life on this factor is absurd, beating out just about each different laptop computer I’ve examined. Dell promised 24-hour battery life, and I will be damned if it did not ship.
Our battery take a look at includes working a looped 1080p video clip with the laptop computer set to plain energy effectivity mode in Home windows 11, with Bluetooth off, the amount at zero, and brightness at 50%. Working on battery energy, the XPS 13 shut down after 23 hours and 26 minutes of playback – for those who had been utilizing it at minimal brightness with extra low-power modes enabled, you may in all probability stretch it even additional.
Granted, this is not indicative of on a regular basis use; many individuals will need brightness set to most or Bluetooth turned on to help a mouse or headset (as a result of, you realize… not sufficient ports on this unhealthy boy). Nonetheless, it is a phenomenal exhibiting that batters a lot of the competitors, and just about ensures that this laptop computer will see you thru a full workday.
One factor I actually worth in a laptop computer battery is its capacity to carry cost when turned off or in sleep mode, and the XPS 13 additionally excels on this space. After sitting on a desk for a number of days, unplugged and unused, I cracked it open and located it nonetheless had greater than 50% battery. Because of Thunderbolt 4 energy supply, it additionally expenses very quick, going from empty to 80%-plus in a single hour when not in use.
Do you have to purchase the Dell XPS 13?
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Notes |
Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Worth |
Undeniably a moderately costly laptop computer, however it delivers your cash’s value with sturdy efficiency and design that appears and feels premium. |
4/5 |
|
Design |
Smooth, compact, and visually interesting, the XPS 13 seems to be good and is aware of it. I simply want Dell would type out the accessibility points with the ‘invisible’ touchpad. |
4/5 |
|
Efficiency |
Robust productiveness efficiency throughout the board is coupled with surprisingly first rate gaming chops, even when multi-core efficiency in artificial assessments was a little bit slower than I would hoped to see. |
4.5/5 |
|
Battery |
With really all-day battery life off a single cost, the XPS 13 with Intel Lunar Lake proves that it might probably go the space. |
5/5 |
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
Additionally Take into account
How I examined the Asus Zenbook S 14
- I used the Dell XPS 13 for every week, each for work and private tasks
- I ran it by means of our full suite of benchmarks
- I examined the battery utilizing the TechRadar film take a look at in addition to common use
As traditional with laptops, my course of for reviewing the Dell XPS 13 concerned changing my each day driver with it for every week (normally I would like a little bit longer, however deadlines are deadlines). This helps me get a really feel for the way the laptop computer handles on a regular basis workloads, in addition to giving me quantity of perception into the construct high quality and consumer expertise.
As soon as I would used the XPS 13 for a short while, I ran it by means of our grueling gauntlet of artificial and real-world benchmarking assessments, working each take a look at at the very least 3 times to supply correct averages.
Lastly, I at all times attempt to play some video games on each laptop computer I evaluate, and the XPS 13’s efficiency genuinely stunned me – I used to be capable of play Warframe and Elite Harmful with few to no hiccups after a little bit of tweaking within the graphical settings, though the demanding Black Fable: Wukong proved a bit a lot for the built-in graphics on this laptop computer.
First reviewed January 2025