Dell XPS 13
The best Windows ultrabook
ULTRABOOKS have carried a stigma since their inception. Arguably, the only acceptably powerful one for a long time was Apple’s MacBook Air—yes, we said that. Spec-wise, it was more powerful than any Ultrabook, especially with Apple offering PCIe SSD way before others did. But things have changed. Companies have caught on; they’ve realized that people want a powerful, svelte notebook, with great design and performance. And Dell has delivered just that, plus so much more.
The new XPS 13 is the smaller brother of the XPS 15, but it’s certainly not smaller in terms of performance, and it also takes on the beautiful and striking design of the XPS 15. Right off the bat, you get a superthin machine wrapped in aluminum that can compete with anything Apple has to offer. Then you open the unit and realize Dell has one up on the fruity company: the screen. The XPS 13’s screen adopts the same ultra-thin bezel design seen in the XPS 15, and it sports an eyeopeningly beautiful 3200x1800 IGZO panel. In case you were wondering, 3200x1800 in a 13.3-inch screen is just crazy. Windows has got substantially better at handling high-resolution displays, but it’s not allencompassing. Adobe programs, for example, still don’t scale well. But hey— you get more real estate than a Columbian drug lord.
Dell hasn’t let us down with other physical aspects of the XPS 13 either. The keyboard is a pleasure to use, and feels mechanical enough that you’re not reaching for an external model, and for once, we can give the same praise to the trackpad. For some, the keyboard may feel soft, as do most notebook keyboards, but relative to other notebooks and ultrabooks, the XPS 13’s keyboard has enough tactile response to feel good. We’re also happy to report that the XPS 13’s trackpad is head and shoulders above every other Windows notebook, which generally don’t get trackpads right: They’re usually either too sensitive or not sensitive enough; they tend not to feel good; they don’t track well; and they almost always seem like an afterthought. The XPS 13’s trackpad is still not quite as good as Apple’s, but we never felt we needed to grab an external mouse—and that’s a darn fine compliment.
THIN SIZE, BIG PERFORMANCE It’s easy to write off the Dell XPS 13 in terms of performance, due to its size, but don’t let its slim design fool you. The Core i7-6500U is exceptionally fast for everyday computing. It’s unlikely that you’re going to be playing high-intensity games, on the XPS 13, especially not at its full native screen resolution, but for day-to-day tasks, it’s got plenty of oomph.
Dell’s use of Samsung’s PM951 NVMe drive also helps to keep the XPS 13 feeling zippy. We’re approaching the end of life for SATA-based SSDs, especially in notebooks, and thankfully so—NVMe drives, while currently not as large in capacity, absolutely destroy SATA drives when it comes to performance. Kudos to Dell for the choice of drive.
Graphics performance is acceptable. Depending on what you want to do, it may even be great. But for the most part, the 520 could use a bit more pixel-pushing power. At 3200x1800, things can sometimes slow down. The XPS 13 definitely could have used Intel’s HD5500 instead of the 520, and it could have done with a bit more RAM, too. In terms of gaming performance, let’s just say you’ll be relegated to using low settings in most games, and playing at 1080p or less. We can’t fault the XPS 13 for its gaming performance, though— it wasn’t designed for gaming, after all. While you will be able to play, we think Dell wants you to use the XPS 13 for business and content conception. Unfortunately, if you’re planning to take business video calls, be prepared to show your nostrils, because the webcam is positioned in the most awkward of places. Due to the thin bezel on the display, Dell was forced to use the lower-left corner of the screen for the location of the webcam.
Unflattering video chats aside, you’ll be doing business all day long. The XPS 13 kept going through an entire work day with us, before begging to slurp some juice from a wall outlet. In fact, if you were to take the XPS 13 to a Starbucks, the store would close up before the battery. That’s impressive. In normal use, the XPS 13 managed 12 hours and 47 minutes.
At the time of writing, the Dell XPS 13 is going for roughly $1,400 online. That’s a good deal for what you get. If you care not for serious gaming, the XPS 13 is talk of the town for good looks and smarts. You get the best of the XPS 15 but in a lighter, easier-tohandle package. There’s a Core i5 version with a 1080p screen and no touch, but we think the screen on this model puts the other out of consideration.