Publisher's Note:
In general, we do not recommend laptops older than 2 years. See our top picks below
Best Laptops
, or answer a few simple questions in our
Laptop Finder
to receive personalized recommendations
Our verdict
The Dell XPS 13 remains our favorite consumer notebook thanks to its impressive battery life, strong 8th Gen Core performance and attractive design.
To the
Blazing quad-core speed
Epic battery life
Extremely light
Attractive design
Large viewing angles
Against
Webcam looks you in the nose
TODAY'S BEST DEALS
$759
at Amazon
$799
at Amazon
$1,297.11
at Amazon
The Dell XPS 13 has been our favorite laptop overall for the past few years, thanks to its light weight, long battery life, beautiful InfinityEdge screen, and premium design. To keep up with the times, Dell has teamed its 13-inch flagship with Intels new 8th Gen Core (aka Kaby Lake R), a quad-core processor platform. Although the new $1,299 model is otherwise no different from the 7th Gen XPS 13
draft
Dell hasn't changed the design of the XPS 13 for a number of years, but the aesthetics have a lot going for them. The laptop's lid and base are made from CNC-machined aluminum, which is either silver or rose gold depending on the color you choose.
The side panels, rear hinge and deck are made from a luxurious soft-touch carbon fiber. I particularly like the deck, which has a subtle crosshatch pattern and a palm rest that's one of the softest and most comfortable I've used.
The screen uses Dell's famous InfinityEdge display, which has almost no bezel on the sides and top but places the webcam under the screen. The hinge that moves the lid is one of the strongest and tightest I've seen gives the laptop a premium feel but also requires two hands to open.
Dell XPS 13 (2017) (128GB 8GB RAM) at Amazon for $759
At 2.78 pounds and 11.98 x 7.88 x 0.6 inches, the XPS 13 is remarkably light and compact. Competitors like Apple's 12-inch
MacBook
(2.03 pounds, 0.52 inches thick) and
Asus ZenBook 3 Deluxe
(2 pounds, 0.47 inches thick) are even slimmer, but both have smaller screens and fewer ports.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
(2.49 pounds, 0.6 inches thick) has a larger footprint to accommodate its 14-inch screen, but it also weighs less than the XPS 13.
ports
Unlike competitors who prioritize slimness over functionality, Dell equips its lightweight laptop with a full range of
useful connections
.On the right side you will find a USB 3.0 port, an SD card reader and a Noble Lock slot.ON
Thunderbolt 3 port
, a second USB 3.0 port, a proprietary charging port, and a 3.5mm audio jack live on the left side. Next to the audio jack is a battery indicator and five lights to show you how much juice you have, even though the system is off.
The Thunderbolt 3 port is especially helpful because it lets you charge the laptop, output to multiple monitors, and connect to high-speed USB-C and Thunderbolt peripherals through a single cable.
Unfortunately, the XPS 13's Thunderbolt port only supports two PCI Express lanes instead of the four you get on other laptops, so Dell's system doesn't support eGPUs. (You can use some of them after bypassing a warning , but they run at slower speeds.)
Advertisement
The base version of the XPS 13
1080p, no touch screen
offers colourful, detailed images and extremely wide viewing angles. Watching a trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, shades like the purple in a statue and the mint green in Thor's armor really stood out. The matte finish of the panel made fine details like Bruce Banner's stubble really sharp. Also, the fact that there is almost no bezel on the sides and top of the screen helps improve the experience.
Because the panel doesn't reflect much ambient light and the screen is so bright, the viewing angles were some of the widest I've seen. Colors don't fade at all from 90 degrees left or right, and they stayed true even when I lifted the lid moved forward a bit. So if you're using the XPS 13 on an airplane tray and the person in front of you leans back and forces you to lower the screen, you can still watch a movie.
According to our colorimeter, the XPS 13 can a
living 112 percent
the sRGB color space, which is above the category average (101 percent), as well as what we saw in the Lenovo X1 Carbon (104 percent) and the 7th Gen XPS 13 reviewed last year (94 percent). The MacBook ( 117 percent) was slightly livelier, and the Asus ZenBook 3 (111 percent) was about the same.
The XPS 13 measured a whopping 368 nits of brightness on our light meter. That's significantly brighter than the category average (289 nits), the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (275 nits), the 2016 XPS 13 (302 nits), the ZenBook 3 (309 nits) and the MacBook (340 nits).
Audio
The XPS 13 put out rich audio that was loud enough to fill my living room. When I played AC/DC's "For They About to Rock (We Salute You)", the guitars and percussion were precise and layered without the distortion , which we experience when playing hard rock songs on many other laptops.
The included Waves Maxxudio software gives you fine control over the equalizer and comes with presets for over a dozen types of music.
keyboard and touchpad
Despite the short key travel of 1.22 millimeters (1.5 to 2 mm is typical for a normal laptop), the XPS 13 offers a good typing experience, thanks in part to one of the most comfortable palm rests I've tested.
The woven carbon fiber deck felt like a cushioned, soft-touch mattress, cradling my wrists as I clicked at a very strong 106 words per minute and an error rate of 1.3 percent on the 10FastFingers.com typing test. The snappy tactile Feedback and the required actuation force of 71 grams (60 to 70 grams is typical) also helped me achieve this score, which is at the high end of my usual range.
The 4.1 x 2.3-inch buttonless touchpad has a comfortable slate-black surface that's extremely smooth but has just enough friction to keep fingers from slipping. While navigating the desktop and interacting with apps, the pad was extremely accurate and responded instantly to gestures like pinch-to-zoom and three-finger swiping.
perfomance
The XPS 13 is one of the first laptops with Intel's new
8th generation Core processor
Platform (aka "Kaby Lake Refresh"). And, wow, what a difference these new chips make! Jumping from the 7th to the 8th generation, Intel has matched the processing core count of its mainstream U-series processors doubled it from two to four, increased its turbo clock rates, added some optimizations and even made it more power efficient.
Its Core i7-8550U CPU made our XPS 13 review unit significantly faster than an XPS 13 with the same specs other than a Core i7-7500U, and extended battery life by over 2 hours. It also doesn't hurt that Dell added its own Dynamic Power Mode that boosts performance even further by balancing system temperature with clock speeds.
With the new CPU, a 256 GB PCIe solid state drive and 8 GB RAM, our XPS 13 configuration was extremely fast in everyday life. Even with over a dozen tabs open and a 4K video playing, there was no lag when switching between windows and sites switched.
When I converted a 4K video to 1080p with the HandBrake video transcoder, the old XPS 13 took 31 minutes and 36 seconds, while the new one finished in just 19 minutes and 35 seconds. That's a 62 percent performance gain, which is probably the extra cores because the task used all eight CPU threads (two threads per core).
Single-threaded tasks, like the spreadsheet macro test, were still faster, but not by as much. The 8th gen XPS 13 took just 3 minutes and 9 seconds to complete the spreadsheet macro test, which matched 20,000 names with their addresses using OpenOffice Calc. That's much faster than the category average (5:49) and about 10 percent faster than the XPS 13 with 7th Gen Core power (3:29). Also the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon ( Core i7-7600U, 3:22) and the Asus ZenBook 3 Deluxe (Core i7-7500U, 3:34) were slower.
The new XPS 13 scored an impressive 14,158 on Geekbench 4, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall performance. That's more than double the category average (6,801) and over 60 percent better than the 7th Gen XPS 13 (8,735 ), the X1 Carbon (8,571), the ZenBook 3 (7,449), and the MacBook (6,853). The Yoga 920, with the same 8th Gen Core i7-8550U CPU but without Dell's Dynamic Power Mode, achieved a score of 13,306 (6 percent down).
Having a fast processor is great, but combining that CPU with a blistering one
PCIe SSD
is even better. The XPS 13's 256GB drive took just 10 seconds to copy 4.97GB of files at a speed of 508MB/s. That's more than double the category average (219MB/s) and the rate of the X1 Carbon (242 Mbps). The ZenBook 3 (508 Mbps) offered the same speed.
graphic
The integrated
Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPU
on the new XPS 13 isn't powerful enough to play high-end games, but it can run more casual titles and play videos with aplomb. The racing game Dirt 3 delivers the notebook at a strong 56 frames per second, which is well above the Class average (40 fps) is, as are the scores of the Asus ZenBook 3 (47 fps), Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (28 fps), Apple MacBook (24 fps), and last year's XPS 13 (28 fps). The Lenovo Yoga 920 delivered a rate of 35 fps.
On 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, a synthetic graphics test, the XPS 13 scored 8th gen powered XPS (72,507).
battery life
The XPS 13 with 8th Gen Core lasts an entire flight from New York to Taiwan without needing to be charged. The laptop lasted an epic 16 hours and 5 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing This time is over 2 hours longer than the 7th Gen XPS 13 (13:49) with 1080p screen, so the 8th Gen CPU is not only more powerful but also more energy efficient.
MORE:
Laptops with the longest battery life
Both XPS 13 models exceed the average for the ultraportable laptop class (8:29), as do the runtimes of the Asus Zenbook 3 Deluxe (7:05) and the Apple MacBook (9:29). The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon ( 12:21) and the Lenovo Yoga 920 (12:22) offer strong times, but are still hours behind.
While we didn't test the 8th gen XPS 13 with the optional 3200 x 1800 touchscreen, we expect the battery life to be far worse. A 7th gen XPS 13 with this screen only lasted 9 hours and 11 minutes, huh 4.5 hours behind the configuration with a non-touchscreen 1080p display.
cam
Don't video call the XPS 13 if you have a double chin or any other feature that isn't flattering when viewed from below.
In fact, you might want to sign up for a . decide
good external webcam
instead of this.
The awkwardly placed lens sits under the bottom left corner of the screen, staring at you. Worse, the pictures I took with it around my house during the day were both dark and fraught with visual clutter. That's the compromise you make to get an almost invisible top bezel.
WiFi performance
The Dell XPS 13 comes with a Killer 1535 AC Wi-Fi card that promises better connections than the Intel or Broadcom radios that most laptops come with. The Killer card prioritizes certain forms of internet traffic over others, so your streaming video or Skype call, for example, gets more bandwidth than the Windows update running in the background.
At my house, I didn't notice any difference in connectivity between the 8th gen XPS 13 and an old ThinkPad T440s that I was using at the same time and in the same places. Both laptops did their fair share of buffering when I tried to stream a 4K video while I ran the Speedtest.net benchmark in a different window. However, Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer found significantly better connectivity on last year's XPS 13, which has the same wireless card, than on an Apple MacBook.
software and warranty
The XPS 13 ships with some Dell-included bloatware, some helpful first-party utilities, and the standard set of
windows 10
preloads.
Dell includes its Help and Support app along with the Waves MaxxAudio control panel for sound, but also adds trial versions of McAfee SecurityCenter, Microsoft Office, and Dropbox. Microsoft forgoes its regular pack of unwanted apps, including Candy Crush, Soda Saga, Bubble Witch Saga, Asphalt 8 and Freemium versions of AutoDesk SketchBook and Keeper Password Manager.
Dell backs the XPS 13 with a standard one-year mail-in warranty. See how Dell does on our
Best and worst brand ratings
and
Technical support
show down
.
configurations
The Dell XPS 13 with 8th Gen Core CPU starts at $1,299, although at the time of publication (October 2017) it was on sale for $1,149 and XPS laptops are often discounted. For that price, you get our test configuration, which includes a 1080p non-touchscreen, Core i7-8550U CPU, 256GB PCIe SSD and 8GB RAM. You can also choose a model with a 3200 x 1800 touchscreen and 16GB RAM for Get $1,749 ($1,549 on sale).
If you want a less expensive XPS 13 with a Core i5 or Core i3 processor, you can get one.
Dell continues to sell these configurations
with 7th Gen CPUs (see our review of the 7th Gen version here). For $799 you get an XPS 13 with a Core i3-7100U CPU, 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD, and for $999 Dollars ($899 on sale), you can buy a model with a Core i5-7200U CPU and 8GB of RAM.
At some point, Dell will start selling versions of the XPS 13 with 8th Gen Core i5 chips, but these weren't available at press time. The company will eventually also ship units with SSDs up to 1TB and Intel's enterprise-friendly vPro have function.
bottom line
The Dell XPS 13 remains our favorite laptop overall, thanks to its epic battery life; blazing-fast performance; attractive, lightweight design; and beautiful screen. While the company has retained the exterior design of this laptop, it's on a model with an 8th Core processor .generation a huge improvement inside.
If you're bored with the XPS 13's metallic aesthetic but otherwise like the laptop, you might want to wait until next year when Dell will have a
new white model
that promises to be slimmer but forgoes standard USB ports. And if you're looking for a business and productivity laptop with a superior typing feel, consider Lenovo's ThinkPad
X1 carbon
.But if you're looking for the best clamshell consumer laptop you can buy right now, look no further than the XPS 13.
Best 2-in-1s (Laptop/Tablet Hybrids)
10 tablets with the longest battery life
Best Dell and Alienware Laptops
TODAY'S BEST DEALS
$759
at Amazon
$799
at Amazon
$1,297.11
at Amazon
Dell XPS 13 9360 specifications
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.1
brand
Dell
CPU
Intel Core i7-8550U
corporate website
http://www.dell.com
screen size
13.3
graphic card
Intel UHD Graphics 620
disk size
256GB SSD
hard drive speed
n / A
disk type
SSD
Highest resolution available
3200x1800
native resolution
1920x1080
operating system
windows 10
optical drive
none
Optical drive speed
n / A
Connections (except USB)
USB Type-C, USB 3.0, Headphones
R.A.M.
8GB
RAM upgradeable to
16 GIGABYTES
size
11.98 x 7.88 x 0.6 inches
touchpad size
4.1 x 2.3 inches
video memory
Divided
Warranty/Support
a year
Weight
2.78 pounds
Wireless Internet access
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
WiFi model
Killer 1535 Wireless AC 2x2
Fewer
Avram Piltch
As the official Geeks Geek, as his weekly column is called, Avram Piltch has led the editing and production of Laptopmag.com since 2007. With his technical knowledge and passion for testing, Avram programmed several of LAPTOP's real-world benchmarks, including the LAPTOP Battery Check. He holds a master's degree in English from NYU.
