Dell XPS 13
The best ultraportable gets better with every year – and the XPS 13 is now even more attractive, too
SCORE PRICE £1,333 (£1,599 inc VAT) from dell.co.uk
Dell’s 13in thin-and-light laptop improves with each generation, and while our test sample’s colour scheme won’t be for everyone, it’s hard to grumble about the overall design. The wedge-shaped chassis has been redesigned to be even thinner, measuring under 8mm at the front-edge and 11.6mm at the rear.
The combination of metals and woven glass fibres looks and feels fantastic, with a coating that gives it a luxury car sheen. Even those of us who aren’t too keen on Rose Gold finishes have to admit that it looks superb with the Alpine White of the interior, while Dell’s Infinity Edge display looks as breathtaking as ever. Not to your taste? Then fear not: you can save a little cash by opting for the silver-machined aluminium version.
You have two screen options, with a 4K Ultra HD resolution or the Full HD 1080p display we’re looking at here. Even on the Full HD model, clarity is outstanding, helped by a frankly ludicrous high brightness level of 433cd/m2. Contrast levels reach an equally silly 1,288:1, and it’s only when we get to colour rendering that it doesn’t dazzle. Basically, the Dell has a superb screen for browsing the web or watching video, but only a decent one for colour-sensitive tasks such as editing video or photos. We measured the average Delta E at 2.7 – still far from bad – while sRGB gamut coverage is 90.5%, below the level of the Lenovo X380, Chillblast Helios and Acer Spin 5.
Physical connectivity is rather minimal. You get two USB-C ports on the left-hand side and another on the right, with the first two supporting Thunderbolt 3 and the latter covering DisplayPort. That’s it, with no USB Type-A ports whatsoever (an adapter is provided), let alone any HDMI or miniDisplayPort outputs. Arguably, that’s just the way high-end laptops are going and it’s not an issue now that the USB-C ecosystem is more developed. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a pain when you’re connecting your wireless mouse and you’ve left the Type-A adapter at the office, though.
Otherwise, it’s hard to fault the ergonomics. The keyboard is superb, with surprisingly large, flat keys, a standard layout and a light but positive feel. At times the action is so lightweight that you fail to notice that it didn’t register your keystroke, but it’s something you get used to quickly. The touchpad, meanwhile, is big, smooth and almost perfectly responsive, making easy work of multitouch gestures.
Dell has fitted a camera and infrared sensor combo for easy Windows Hello sign-in. It’s a whole lot more effective than many of these setups have proved in the past, recognising faces quickly and without any trouble. On the downside, the way the cameras are positioned below the screen makes for some odd angles when you’re using them in Skype. “Hello, please enjoy my nostrils” isn’t quite the conversation starter we were looking for.
Audio is one victim of the size reduction. It sounds constrained, resulting in dustbin lid drums, despite
“Where most thin-and-light models are struggling to get above ten hours, the Dell does so easily, then goes on for an hour’s victory lap”
some reasonable bass and good spatial detail. Generally speaking, we would hook some headphones up.
Battery life is nothing short of incredible. Where most other thin-and-light models are struggling to get above ten hours, the Dell does so easily, then goes on for an hour’s victory lap. If you’re looking for a laptop where you can work all day without reaching for the charger this is it; not that we have anything bad to say about the charger, which is tiny and works over USB-C.
With a Core i7-8550U processor, a 500GB NVMe SSD and 16GB of RAM, you already know performance won’t be an issue. It isn’t, and the XPS 13 delivered some of the strongest benchmark scores on test. Only in 3D performance does it lose out to rivals, as the integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics can’t keep up. Nor is there an option for discrete graphics, so if that matters plump for the HP Spectre or Envy or the Asus UX331 instead. Otherwise, this remains the ultimate 13.3in, thinand-light laptop – and something of a dream machine.