Whether you are a graphics designer wanting to run programs like Lightroom, Photoshop, a professional programmer, or a video editor, the Dell XPS is the laptop for you.
With a 10th Gen i7-10710U processor, 4k display, 512GB SSD, and 16GB RAM the laptop is fast and powerful enough for pretty much anything and everything except hard-core gaming. Take a look at its pros and cons below in this brief review.
Note: You also get a Dell D6000 Universal Dock free with this variant which is great news if you work from home and prefer connecting your laptop to larger screens for better viewing.
[letsreviewunique title=”Dell XPS 13 Review” pros_title=”Pros” pros=”Immersive 4k display,Compact and light design,Good battery life,Excellent backlit keyboard for fast typing,Great laptop for watching movies/programming/graphics designing” cons_title=”Cons” cons=”Costs over $1000,Average Speakers,Not suitable for high-end gaming” criterias=”Display,95,Performance,95,Design,90,Portability,95,Battery Life,70,Durability,85″ accent=”#444″ final_score=”88″ format=”2″ skin=”1″ animation=”1″ design=”1″][/letsreviewunique]
Want more details about the new XPS 13? The in-depth review below covers it all for you.
In-Depth Dell XPS 13 Review
Whenever a new Dell XPS comes with, our emails are flooded with questions asking us whether it is better than the previous version or not. Let’s save you some time and tell you, THIS ONE DEFINITELY IS.
In fact, we’ll go as far as to say, it is almost perfect. C’mon, we can all agree that Dell has never brought about drastic changes and innovation across the XPS line but every year but tweak the laptop just enough to ensure it addresses issues faced by users bringing it as close to perfection as possible.
And one of the major changes with the Dell XPS 13, this year is the display. If you thought it was already awesome then you are in for a real surprise (yup, it just got a whole lot better). Let’s dig right into it.
Dell XPS 13 Display
One of the biggest changes with the display this year is the decreased bezel. Yup, XPS already came with small bezels but Dell has taken the NanoEdge Technology to the next level.
That means the bezels now measure at 0.15 and 0.2 inches on the side while the bottom bezel has been slimmed down to a mere 0.18 inches, in turn, giving you an aspect ratio of 16:10 (a display that is almost 6.8% larger than its predecessor).
This is great news for those looking for a laptop for programming and it reduces the need to scroll when you skim through thousands of lines of code as more lines will now be displayed on the screen.
The XPS 13 also produced around 110% of the sRGB color gamut and has a brightness of 416nits putting its display at par with some of the top laptops such as the Apple MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360, and so on.
That means whether you are watching a movie, going through codes, designing graphics, or editing photos and videos, the deep blacks, the brightest whites ensure you can view every pixel even in bright sunlight. Yes, we would have preferred a 500nit or higher brightness, but nonetheless, the display performs well in sunlight
I recently did an Avengers movie marathon during the Covid19 lockdown on the laptop and from Thor’s thunder strikes to Ironman’s lasers, repulsor lights to bumps and scars on Thano’s face, everything popped out making the whole experience surreal. RIP Ironman, you can rest now (cries slowly in the corner even though it is the 5th time I have watched Endgame).
But a gorgeous display is not the only thing that makes the Dell XPS such a fan favorite. There’s a lot more you need to know about the new Dell XPS 13 before you splash the cash on it.
Small, Yet Big
We all understand the need to look at the design of a machine before buying it. Well, when the manufacturer sat to craft the Dell XPS 13, it is without a doubt that the barely-there display bezel came out as its strongest point. This is the most prominent design trait in the machine.
Until you have used the machine, you may never believe that the gap between the screen edges and the lid edges is barely a quarter an inch thick.
Simply said, the machine has come closer to the real ‘edge-to-edge display – and none of its competitors has come any closer. To put this into perspective, the XPS laptop is one foot wide and eight inches deep.
Well, this is even half an inch narrower than the much-hyped MacBook Pro 13.
I can already tell that many might be concerned with the machine’s performance and durability considering the compact design as mentioned above. Well, it only takes a single touch on this classy deal and your worries will be wiped away.
The aluminum chassis and the carbon fiber are truly rigid. For various reasons, our review team feels this machine is designed to handle abuse even better than its competition.
Finally, the design has to touch on the exteriors. This is a standard deal with a silver display lid when closed. Many have voiced their concern on differentiating the Dell XPS 13 and the Inspiron 700 series – as the model also backs on a silver metallic appeal.
To resolve the dissent, Dell came up with rose-gold and gold models. The subtle color change gave the Dell XPS 13 a distinction of its pedigree. Both come in a soft-touch carbon fiber interior that is uniquely textured to bring out a feel of its kind.
Dell XPS 13 Review: The Specs
It will be noted that the new XPS 13 comes in a design that is not entirely new. It has been around for a while, but no one has been able to replicate the ‘InfinityEdge’ trademark better than Dell XPS 13.
The carbon fiber on the palm rest makes it look awesome. The darker, metallic finish laptops have an issue with the palm rest – with age, it gets greasy. This is not the case with Dell’s design.
Weighing at 1.29kg, the touchscreen Dell XPS 13 version is a truly portable model. The non-touch, matte model weighs 1.2kg. While there are other lighter models in the market, Dell took its time to deliver a compact and light machine that will not strain your back at all. The design comes with a pack of useful ports.
It has 2 full-size USB 3.0 connectors and a single Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1-C combination port. For high-power, high-bandwidth devices that have a 40GB/s throughput, the USB 3.1-C port can come in handy. It works best with high-end monitors and storage arrays. Our review team found this to be a perfect match for videographers.
There is a CD slot and a 3.5mm headset jack. To check the battery charge level, there is a button on the left side. This is very useful when the machine is off. Unlike its rivals, there is a host of ports. For high-end users, MacBook Pro offers three more Thunderbolt 3 ports with Touch Bar.
The small, backlit, chiclet keys are very notable on the standard Dell keyboard. It is designed to bring out a feeling of class. It is not overly cramped even with the reduced design.
All the usual controls like the media playback, keyboard backlight, volume, and screen brightness among others are handled by the top row double up, as dedicated function keys. To be fair, the Dell XPS 13 touchpad is the best you can ever get on Windows laptops.
It is closely responsive but not as good as the MacBook Pro version. There are reliable gestures, and its surface is smooth. It has dependable palm rejection – you can be sure to type with your palms resting on the touchpad corner and not a single rogue swipe or click.
Performance
Our review comes in a backdrop of a handful of Dell XPS 13 reviews in recent years. The new editions come with a 7th generation Intel Core CPU, for the rose-gold option. This is a high-end model that packs a whopping Core i7-7500U. Other versions come with at most Core i5-7200U.
Dell XPS 13 is not the most performing neither is it the least powerful machine in the competition. It is notable that the newly released 7th generation Cores were not aimed at hyping the performance. Its nearest competitor, the Asus Zenbook 3 knocks the Core i7-7500U with the same chip, although by a nick.
It should be noted that the new Dell XPS 13 models have a better fold compared to their preceding Core i7-6560U. From our review teams, Dell XPS 13 made it to the favorite as compared to other rival models.
Majorly, the machine has a CPU in the tune of 3.1 GHz Intel Core i5-7200U, runs on Windows 10 Home, and has a system memory (RAM) of 8GB.
- 13.3” display size
- 1920 x 1080 native resolution
- 256GB SSD
- 802.11 AC WiFi adapter
- Bluetooth 4.1
- Kensington Lock
On Geekbench 3, the Core i5 model of the Dell XPS 13 scooped 7,159 while the overall performance for the Core i7 machine collected 7,915. The scores were solid enough as compared to the HP Spectre’s 6th generation Core i5 which scored 7,026.
Most notably, the Dell XPS 13 blew up the Core m5-powered MacBook whose score was 5,906. The 7th generation Core i7 Lenovo Yoga 910 scored 7,988 beating both Dell XPS 13 versions.
Conclusion
Many have opined that this machine is a true deal from the world’s top laptop manufacturer, Dell. As tested, the bar has even been raised higher since Dell’s update on its XPS 13.
With the machine being available for even less than $2,000, Dell XPS 13 has stamped its mark as one of the most favorite machines in the market today.
