Review Dell Xps 13 Touchscreen Laptop - Intel Core I7 - 4k Ultra Hd
Dell'southward XPS xiii squeezes more than screen, more than power and fifty-fifty Windows Hello face recognition into a tiny frame, but trips upwards over software issues.
The XPS 13 is Dell's tiptop-of-the-line compact laptop and starts at £1,349. Various models with different processors, storage and screen resolutions are available.
The XPS line is where Dell shows off its design chops. Information technology is a premium Windows x rival to Apple's MacBook Pro and more recently Microsoft'southward Surface Laptop line.
Dell's standout characteristic has been squeezing the biggest screen possible into as small a frame equally possible by shrinking everything in the lid section of the laptop that isn't screen – much like the modern all-screen smartphone pattern. The 2020 XPS 13 has the biggest brandish however, at xiii.4in with a 16:10 ratio, and tiny bezels all the manner around the edges.
That means you get a relatively large display in the trunk of what would traditionally accept been a laptop with just an 11in screen. And what a screen it is. The version tested had the 4K touchscreen option, which is crisper than practically anything else, super vivid, colour accurate and all-circular gorgeous. It supports HDR video, including Dolby Vision. Models are bachelor with either bear on or non-touch FHD+ screens also.
The body of the laptop is fabricated from aluminium, with your selection of black carbon fibre or white glass fibre on the laptop'south deck. Information technology feels solid, sleek and unique. The wedge-shaped laptop weighs but ane.27kg and is merely xiv.8mm thick, with a smaller footprint than most of its contest.
The new, slightly larger keyboard is bang-up. Well spaced, stable, fairly serenity, with 1mm of key travel and good feedback when pressed. The large precision trackpad is responsive, with a tactile but muted click that hopefully shouldn't annoy those effectually you.
Windows Hello
The XPS 13 ships with not one but ii biometric systems for securely logging yous into Windows without a countersign.
The new design has a Windows Hullo infrared face recognition camera squeezed into the bezel at the top of the screen and a fingerprint scanner built into the ability button. That means y'all can either log in with a printing of the ability button or simply by looking at the screen when y'all open the hat. Both are fast, accurate and work brilliantly.
Specifications
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Screen: 13.4in LCD 4K (3840 10 2400) or FHD+ (1920 x 1200)
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Processor: 10th-generation Intel Core i5 or i7
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RAM: 8 or 16GB
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Storage: 512GB or 1TB
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Graphics: Intel UHD or Iris Plus
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Operating system: Windows 10 Home or Pro, Ubuntu 18.04
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Photographic camera: 720p widescreen HD with Windows Hello
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Connectivity: Wifi six, Bluetooth 5.one, 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt 3, microSD, headphone
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Dimensions: 198.7 ten 295.7 x xiv.8mm
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Weight: 1.27kg
Hot hardware, but USB-C bug
The 2020 XPS 13 ships with your choice of 10th-generation Intel cadre chips. Well-nigh models have the Core i7 common to all pinnacle-spec computers, including the new MacBook Pro, Surface Laptop 3 and Huawei MateBook Ten Pro. The model tested for this review had a Cadre i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a 4K screen.
As such the XPS xiii has lots of power on tap, making it capable of just nearly anything, short of high-end gaming. Intel's Iris Plus graphics are a step up from the previous Hd integrated graphics, which you immediately detect when you commencement editing images on a 4K external screen.
Used on battery the XPS 13 is most silent, with only depression-level fans aural when pushed a lilliputian. Connect the machine to ability and start doing demanding things and information technology will get a bit hot, with the fans going fairly stiff. Even with fans at maximum, they're not quite as loud equally some competitors.
The deck of the laptop doesn't get overly warm, just y'all could feel some heat behind the R, T, Y, U and I keys. The vents on the bottom of the laptop are easily blocked by soft effects, significant the machine really needs to be used on a hard table, desk or lap.
The XPS 13 has two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, a headphones socket and a microSD carte slot, which is very welcome. When i USB-C port is taken upward by the charger, that but leaves ane port for connecting accessories, such as a monitor, meaning y'all might need a dock or like if using home-working tools.
A bug in a BIOS update for the XPS 13 broke compatibility with some USB-C to HDMI adaptors while I was reviewing the automobile. The laptop threw up errors for two adaptors subsequently the update, merely continued to piece of work with a USB-C to HDMI cablevision and a USB-C to DisplayPort dock. The bug remained until the end of the review period.
A Dell spokesperson said: "Nosotros're investigating the issue and will update on our findings. Nosotros thank customers for sharing their experience on the Dell Customs."
Battery life wasn't great, averaging only five and half hours of work betwixt charges, including ninety minutes of photograph editing, lots of browsing and word processing, with the screen brightness set up to 70%. The 2020 MacBook Pro and Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 each lasted vii.5 hours nether similar weather. Lighter use saw closer to seven hours betwixt charges. Models with the lower-resolution FHD+ screen, rather than 4K, will are likely to last significantly longer as the screen is 1 of the biggest power drains.
A full charge took ii.5 hours with the included 45W USB-C charger in optimised mode, just well under two if using Dell'southward fast-accuse setting with the laptop off.
Sustainability
The XPS 13 is ane of the virtually recyclable laptops y'all tin can buy, and is generally repairable. It is designed to enable repairs by authorised service personnel in the field, not just in a service center, including replacement of the battery.
An out-of-warranty screen repair costs £299.41, while a battery replacement costs £171.66. Dell also has an advanced power-direction utility that tin can extend the useful lifespan of a battery by altering when, how and how much it is charged, either automatically by learning from your usage and charging habits or manually via various profiles.
Dell offers costless recycling schemes, even for products from other brands, while its packaging is made from recycled materials. The firm has a number of sustainability and environmental affect schemes under way for 2030, including the recycling or reuse an equivalent product per purchase and use of recycled material. Dell publishes the carbon footprint of its products.
Windows 10 Habitation
The XPS 13 ships with a pick of Windows x Home or Pro, and information technology is one of the few laptops that can be bought with Linux instead of Windows, with Ubuntu xviii.04 models.
Equally tested with Window 10 Home, the XPS 13 ships with a lot of Dell utility apps, most of which are useful, such as the avant-garde Dell Ability Manager. Many can exist safely ignored or removed, simply one particular utility for the included wifi chips acquired no end of problem.
The Killer Networking utilities, which are advanced software components for the gaming wifi bit Dell chose to use here, prevented the machine from going to sleep when the chapeau was close, which is a primal sin for a laptop as it tin lead to information technology turning on in a bag and cooking itself.
No update, make clean install or troubleshooting could fix the sleeping effect. Disabling the Killer utilities with the manufacturer-provided tool was the only way to fix it. Killer Networking fries, made by Rivet Networks (recently acquired by Intel), are aimed at gamers and allow traffic prioritisation and other advanced features, merely are notorious for causing these sorts of software problems, which makes it a puzzling inclusion in the XPS 13, which is past no means a gaming laptop.
Observations
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Occasionally the laptop would come up back from slumber with Bluetooth disabled, requiring a reboot.
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The mics were poor for video conferencing at a distance, but the camera was pretty good.
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The down-firing speakers could get very loud indeed, but lacked any bass and were pretty shrill.
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At that place's an choice to turn on the laptop when the lid is opened, even if the XPS 13 is fully powered off.
Cost
The Dell XPS xiii (9300) 2020 with Windows 10 Home, a FHD+ not-touchscreen, 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD costs £1,399 with a Core i5 processor or £1,549 with a Cadre i7 processor.
The models with a FHD+ non-touchscreen, Cadre i7 and 16GB of RAM price £1,599 with 512GB SSD or £1,699 with 1TB SSD. The model with a FHD+ touchscreen, Core i7, 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD costs £1,749.
The models with a 4K touchscreen, Cadre i7, 16GB of RAM toll £one,749 with 512GB SSD (as reviewed) and £1,799 with 1TB SSD. Some models are likewise available in white.
Ubuntu Linux models cost £1,349 with a FHD+ non-touchscreen, Core i5, 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD, £1,699 with a 4K touchscreen, Core i7, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD, or £1,749 with 1TB SSD.
For comparison, the Microsoft'south Surface Laptop 3 starts at an RRP of £999, the Huawei MateBook X Pro costs from £1,299.99 and the 13in MacBook Pro starts at £1,299.
Verdict
The Dell XPS 13 is a fantastic laptop held back past a few failures, nigh of which are issues traditionally associated with Dell and others.
The design, build, look and physical function of the laptop is top-course. The 4K screen is simply gorgeous, with tiny bezels all around. At 13.4in on the diagonal with a 16:10 ratio, it has a surprisingly big amount of real estate for getting piece of work washed, while videos patently look stunning. It really is a very large screen for such a minor laptop.
The keyboard and trackpad are great, and so is having Windows Hello in both an IR confront recognition photographic camera and a fingerprint sensor.
At that place'south enough of power on tap for doing everything you could want from a 13in laptop outside of gaming. Two Thunderbolt ports, a headphones socket and a microSD card slot are very welcome. It could do with one more USB-C or USB-A port, but not many machines have more than two USB-C ports these days. Battery life could also be better, but if you want information technology to last longer so buy the 1 without the 4K screen.
The big issues are the fights I've had to have with the improver Killer Networking utilities, which required disabling to get the laptop to sleep properly, and the bug in the BIOS update that bedridden a few of my USB-C to HDMI adaptors. These are things that should not happen in a premium laptop costing this much.
The Dell XPS 13 is a five-star laptop hampered by bug traditionally associated with Dell and other third-party manufacturers that give Windows computers a bad proper noun, which is a real shame.
Pros: fantastic screen, great design, good keyboard, practiced trackpad, Thunderbolt iii, USB-C, microSD card slot, 10th-gen Intel chips.
Cons: short battery life, but two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, software/BIOS bug, expensive, mics non bully for video conferencing at a altitude, speakers are shrill.
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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/09/dell-xps-13-2020-review-a-fantastic-but-flawed-laptop
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