Laptop XPS 13 Review

Laptop xps 13

The Dell XPS line is known for its refinement and high quality, but this new model takes things even further. It slims down what was already one of the thinnest laptops on the market, adds a stunning new color option and delivers even better battery life than its predecessor.

Dell’s XPS 13 is the kind of laptop that you’d buy if you’re looking for something to do serious work with in your home office or at the coffee shop, and want to use an OS that’s easy to get used to and can support many types of apps.

It’s also a great option for anyone with accessibility needs, as it has built-in support for speech recognition and the Windows Narrator screen reader. This is complemented by the optional NVDA or Jaws from Freedom Scientific, which allow for more customized control of the device.

The laptop’s screen is another strong point. It has a 3:2 aspect ratio, like the Surface Pro’s, and is rated for 500 nits of brightness. It’s not quite as bold and rich in colors as the OLED panel on the XPS 13 Plus, but it still looks great, and works well with the included stylus.

As with previous XPS models, the keyboard and trackpad are great, and the battery life is good enough for most working sessions. The only drawback is that the XPS is so thin that it can feel flimsy and like it’s about to break in two at any moment, even when using a flat surface.

A few other niggles: The UI on the touchscreen is a bit confusing, and I found it difficult to find the right settings to get everything the way I wanted. And the IO is as minimalistic as possible, with only two USB-C ports and no audio jack. Dell took some heat for this on the XPS 13 Plus, and it’s not an ideal move for the standard XPS.

The XPS 13’s main competitors are the MacBook Air, the Surface Pro, and the Asus Zenbook UX330UA. All are thinner and lighter than the XPS, but the Asus and the MacBook offer higher-quality displays and better keyboards. And the Dell has the advantage of running on an Intel Core processor, which is generally considered to be the gold standard for laptops. That’s particularly true with the 12th-generation chips that power the XPS, which offer a nice mix of big performance cores and efficiency ones. It’s not quite as powerful as the XPS 13 Plus, but it’s close. It’s also much less expensive. That makes this the best XPS yet.