Dell XPS 13 9310 2-in-1
Quality bursts from this gorgeous convertible, and it’s easy to negotiate a chunk off the list price
SCORE
PRICE £1,066 (£1,279 inc VAT) from dell.co.uk
As its name makes clear, this isn’t a run-of-the-mill laptop: it’s a 2-in-1 convertible, capable of transforming from laptop to tablet with one smooth swing of the hinge. As with every aspect of the XPS 13’s engineering, it does so with grace and finesse; you can only compare Dell’s 2-in-1 to the GeoFlex 340 in the same way that you can describe both Liverpool FC and Accrington Stanley as football teams.
The bigger question is whether a convertible design makes sense for you over the non-convertible XPS 13 or a rival such as the HP Pavilion 14. It certainly opens up your options. For instance, flip this laptop into tent mode and it becomes a superb mini TV. Or perhaps you need to read and sign a PDF. Here, tablet mode makes most sense.
Then there’s the traditional laptop format, where the keyboard comes to the fore. Dell stretches the keys across almost the full width of the chassis, ensuring they’re large and easy to hit. To add some extra class, a two-level backlight shines through the keys rather than around them, and the glass-coated trackpad is supersmooth. There is little travel to the action, however, which is one area where the standard XPS 13 is superior.
Dell integrates an effective fingerprint printer into the power button, just above the Backspace key, but you’ll probably use the infrared webcam more frequently. Again, this works excellently, but we were less impressed by the quality of the webcam itself: noise-heavy images fail to bring out any detail.
We have fewer criticisms of the 13.4in screen, which offers 120 more vertical pixels than standard 1,920 x 1,080 panels to produce a 16:10 aspect ratio rather than 16:9. This also makes the panel a fraction sharper.
The screen holds a couple of potential irritations. The first is its glossy finish, although anti-glare technology reduces reflections of overhead lights. The second is that it isn’t a perfect 6500K colour temperature; we measured 6365K, which lent whites a subtle warm hue. Other than this, it’s a tough display to criticise. It covers 96% of the sRGB gamut with an average Delta E of 0.57 (less than one is basically perfect), with a peak brightness of 564cd/m2 and a superb contrast ratio of 1,825:1. Even though it isn’t tuned to the DCI-P3 space favoured by Netflix and its ilk, covering 70% of that colour gamut, we enjoyed watching films on it. It helps that the speakers are among the best you’ll find on a laptop.
What truly impresses, however, is the balance between power and longevity. Despite the aluminium alloy chassis measuring just 14.4mm, minimising opportunities for cooling, Dell makes good use of Intel’s Core i51135G7 processor in both standard tasks and gaming. This laptop was one of the best performers in all our gaming tests, with a 50fps average in Metro: Last Light at 1080p. That’s a superb result for a laptop with integrated graphics.
Then consider its results in our battery life tests, where it kept going for around 11 hours in our office and video playback scenarios. At 1.3kg, it’s a brilliant choice for people on the move. The sole sacrifice you make is physical connectivity, with one USB-C port on either side (both output to monitors and support power delivery) along with a 3.5mm jack and microSD card slot. The lack of a USB-A port is potentially irritating, despite Dell providing a USB-C to USB-A travel adapter.
A final word on price. Dell often offers flash sales on its website, and we saw this specification (part code cn93101sc) for £1,049 at one point during our tests. This rose to £1,279 soon afterwards, but it’s always worth asking the online assistants for savings. We chatted to Georgina and she offered a price of £1,100.
Note that the memory and SSD are both integrated onto the system board, so there’s no way to upgrade yourself (Dell provides an excellent service manual for repairs, such as replacing the screen). If you want a 512GB SSD then your only option is to double the RAM to 16GB, upgrade to a Core i7 and switch to a 3,840 x 2,400 display. All of this pushes the list price to £1,829.
As such, our five-star rating is on the assumption you’re happy with the lower spec and can persuade Ge orgina or her colleagues to sell you the Dell XPS 13 2- in-1 for £1,100 rather than £1,279. At that lower price, it’s a superb buy.