Customers often highlight the XPS 13's compact size, fast performance, and long battery life. They appreciate its portability, speed, and ability to handle various tasks. However, some users have concerns about the limited number of ports and occasional overheating issues.
This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 290 reviews
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Processor speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Beauitful, Powerful, Unupgradable
|
|
Posted . Owned for 5 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I’ve had this laptop for a few months now which has given me some time to figure out its strengths and weaknesses. This laptop comes with Windows 11 Home which is ok. I’m not a fan of Windows 11 due to some of the features taken out of it (such as full screen start) and some of the bugs (mostly common on gaming computers) but overall, it’s been running well on this sassy little laptop. This machine came with 32GB of ram, 1TB SSD and the 10 core 12th gen i7 Processor by Intel which has done a great job for my needs so far. Some of you might be asking, what does all this mean? Flagship specs bro, flagship specs. With 32GB of ram I can have as many tabs in MS Edge open as I want while doing 3 and 4 other things in the background without missing a beat. When Dell was designing this machine, I can tell they put some thought and maybe even some care into the design of this computer because unlike the MacBook air, (which is great in its own right) this thing has a USB C port on EACH side of the laptop meaning I can charge this thing on either side. I can’t tell you how tired I am of having only one side to charge my laptop from. Having both sides makes it easier to use the machine at all times. I also enjoy the 3:2 display with very thin bezels (3:2 displays are more of a boxy display compared to the rectangle 16:9 seen on most laptops) which is great for typing documents and reading things on websites because it shows me more data. This display also shows accurate colors making this a good choice to edit videos, photos and to enjoy media off of. Did I also mention that this display is bright as well? At 500 nits you’ll be able use this laptop just about anywhere. I think really the only thing Dell could’ve done better with this display would’ve been adding a lip or indent to it. Doing so would make it a little bit easier to open one handed but besides that Dell did a great job. I was just a little thrown off by the weight of this laptop when I first got my hands on it. It comes in at about 3 pounds which is pretty light overall but again I just thought this would have been a little bit lighter. I think this laptop is just dense from all the good materials Dell chose to use when building this thing. Typing on here has been enjoyable, there’s no keyboard flex, the keys are easy enough to press and the key travel is adequate. Trackpad also works well, all the gestures and tracking are easy and fun to use. Battery life is another positive thing about this machine. I get about 6 to 9 hours of use off one charge depending on what I’m doing. For a windows laptop this is right up there with some of the best. One of the only things I don’t like about this computer is the fact that you CAN’T upgrade anything in this machine or downgrade to Windows 10 (I guess that’s actually 2 things I don’t like lol) due to the lack of driver support for the speakers. The ram and storage are soldiered on to the logic board. So, unless you REALLY know what you’re doing (have the soldiering skills) you won’t be able to upgrade anything in it. It’s a shame because as someone who likes to get the most out of their products if I decided to upgrade Id have to go out and buy a whole new system. So, if you decide to purchase this machine make sure to configure it with specifications that won’t only work for today’s needs but also for the needs of the future. Overall, I totally recommend this product!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality
Cons mentioned:
Fan noise
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
IT IS A GREAT LAPTOP HOWEVER......
|
|
Posted . Owned for 4 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I have owned this machine for about 4 months now. I bought this open box for $550 with all the high end specs of 32 GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. I am a very serious photo enthusiast and my main purpose of buying this laptop is for photo and video post-processing, uploading photos to Google photos and downloading photos from Amazon photos back to my laptop. As I was transferring photos from Amazon to save it on my laptop, I started having overheating issues and then the fan noise starts to get annoying. It came to a point where the zipping sound of the fan got too loud. Loud as in very loud that you wouldn't want to use it on public place (I typically do my stuff at a coffee shop) because it is so embarassing!!! I tried researching online if other people have the same issue and much to my surprise, this is a common problem of the xps 13. Maybe the reason why Dell discontinued this model and also why it was on clearance. I was so disappointed because it was a very good laptop - the design, the build is pretty solid, the specs and all. Everything is great except the fan! I wish I had researched about this before buying this laptop. Fast forward 4 months later, I went to a computer repair store and they were able to replace the fan of the laptop with a price tag of $160!!! After it has been repaired, I put it right to the test and was so impressed that it FIXED the very annoying noise issue. I started downloading and uploading large files and had never encountered that problem again. It has been about 3 weeks after it s repaired and still no issues. I have yet to process/create 4k videos using my video editing software before the repair warranty is over (90 days) and hopefully will not run into the same problem as before. At that point I will update this review.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Powerful performance
|
|
Posted . Owned for 7 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The Dell XPS 13 is an excellent choice if you need a powerful, portable, and premium laptop for professional or creative tasks. It offers a strong combination of performance, display quality, and build, although it may not be the best option for gaming or heavy graphical work due to its integrated graphics. If you’re looking for a versatile ultrabook with top-tier specs and don’t mind the price, the XPS 13 is a solid pick.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Weight
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Super light
|
|
Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Excellent machine, ultra light, and made with very good materials. I ultra recommend it!
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Good performance at decent price
|
|
Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I recently acquired this laptop for my work, and it has not disappointed me so far. Having previous experience with Dell XPS, I was already aware of its impressive performance. The keyboard's silver color can be somewhat challenging to see in daylight when the backlight is ON, but this issue is resolved when the backlight is OFF. Despite that, the laptop serves as a powerhouse for my work needs. Thank you!
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great laptop for work!
|
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This has been a great laptop for the last year a half. Only just now seeing some processing issues when updates are needed, but those are resolved quickly with the updates.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Love
|
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The best laptop ever. Beautiful and fast. Love it!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Processor speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Product is amazing
|
|
Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Beautiful laptop and fast. Easy to use for school and work.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Weight
Cons mentioned:
Ports
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Fast Lightweight Laptop With Everything You Need
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This laptop is perfect for your everyday user. This 13-inch laptop comes with 32 GB of RAM, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Intel Evo i7 chip, a 1 TB SSD hard drive and has Windows 11. I love the size of this hard drive and the fact that it is SSD for extremely fast startup. You can load all kinds of programs and have enough room for videos, pictures and so much more. In the box you will also find an audio to USB-C adapter and a USB-A to USB-C adapter. This would be absolutely perfect for a college student or a hobby gamer on the go.
This weighs in at 2 1/2 pounds so it is very lightweight and you can take it anywhere without being weighed down. I even have a purse that is big enough to carry it in, if I choose to do so. The keyboard is comfortable to use and is backlit for dim lighting. The webcam and the microphones built in are on par with what you usually get. When using Zoom, I could be heard well and I looked fine.
Audio speakers are average. Well, it is a small laptop and I wouldn’t expect anything above average. I usually wear Bluetooth earbuds, so this was no deal breaker for me. Graphics are good for gaming, watching movies, etc. Battery life is good and can last a good 8 hours if you keep the brightness at 50 percent.
One downfall is that you only get two USB-C port and one of those I use for the charger. If you have a full charge you can have two different things plugged into this laptop. Considering the size and weight of this computer, it is understandable but a bit of a disappointment.
In all this is a great laptop for an average user who is looking for something small but mighty, does gaming as a hobby or a business person who wants fast results with notes, etc. It would make a great second laptop for anyone on the go because of its size and weight. I would highly recommend this laptop because it has everything (and then some) that most people would want in a laptop.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Processor speed
Cons mentioned:
Ports
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
The Best PC Laptop for Daily Use!
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The Dell XPS 13 is one of the nicest laptops I have ever used, hands down. Even though it is extremely slim and lightweight, the hardware inside guarantees that it can handle just about any task thrown at it, and it has proven to be perfect as my main computer.
Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed about the XPS is how well-built it feels. Made almost entirely of beautiful aluminum, the build quality and fit and finish are top-notch. Also, this device has a very small footprint; it has been easy to use it around the house, and take it in my backpack when I’m headed out. On the underside are some rubberized grips for desktop use, and multiple vents to help with heat dissipation.
As for ports, it only has two USB-C ports, and no headphone jack. Included in the box are a headphone (3.5mm to USB-C) adapter, and an adapter for older USB devices. I’m not thrilled that they couldn’t include a headphone jack, but honestly, that’s about the only negative thing I can say about this laptop. The included ports are also used for charging, which is accomplished by a very nice power adapter that has an illuminated end on the cable.
Open up the XPS 13, and you are greeted with more aluminum, a sleek touchpad, and an illuminated keyboard. As for the screen, it is a gorgeous 13.4-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200, a 60 Hz refresh rate, and a maximum brightness of 500 nits. The screen itself is pushed nearly to the edges of the case, meaning it has very little bezel surrounding the display when you’re using it. On the upper bezel, there is a camera that is used for video calls, as well as unlocking device with facial recognition. I’ve been using this feature, and it works well; there is also a fingerprint reader on the keyboard if unlocking with your face is not your cup of tea.
The XPS 13 is equipped with a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor, 32 gigs of RAM, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and a 1 Tb SSD. While this is definitely not a gaming laptop, I found the performance to be amazingly quick for everyday tasks, and have no doubt I could push it much harder if needed. While testing it out, I did notice that it could sometimes get a bit warm on my lap, but thankfully the cooling system does a great job of keeping it from actually getting hot. Battery life was also pretty good, but if I used it for most of the day I would typically need to plug it in later in the evening to recharge.
Things I love about this laptop:
- Fast, fast, fast. Every program I used, all media I streamed, everything about this PC is lightning quick. The specs are pretty incredible!
- Portability! This is such a small laptop, and it’s perfect for taking to work or school.
- The screen is beautiful and is perfect for work, or play.
- Build quality. Sleek aluminum that feels high-end, doesn't show fingerprints, and seems like it can truly stand the test of time.
- Storage capacity. I’m not worried about massive files, due to the 1 Tb hard drive.
Things I think are just “average” with this laptop:
- The sound quality using the speakers is nothing amazing.
- 2 USB-C ports are fine, though I suspect this could be improved upon.
Things I don’t like about this laptop:
- No included headphone jack. Have to use a dongle, and if you lose it, you have to buy another.
Final Verdict:
If you are looking for the perfect laptop to be your new daily computer, the Dell XPS 13 should be at the top of your list. If you're looking for a laptop that can also play the newest games, then I would not recommend this particular model. I understood that this PC would be solely used for my work, school, and home use, and so it has been exceptional in those areas. Dell has created one of the finest PCs I've ever used, combining phenomenal build quality with high-end specs that ensure it will never be underpowered during daily use.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Good
|
|
Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Niceeeeeeee.i really love it. The battery's pretty good
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality
Cons mentioned:
Ports
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Great thin/portable premium device! (one caveat)
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
TLDR: This XPS will do about 80-90% of everyday computing, possibly on just one charge, and look and sound VERY good while doing it. It’s obviously not intended for gaming (but it can do some light gaming), and power users will be a bit wanting in the processor department.
Build/case + Display - Build quality is superb, near zero flex, it is all aluminum so it feels super premium also. The display isn’t mind blowing, but it's adequate, the 16:10 ratio definitely feeling more productivity oriented. 1920x1200 feels fine in this form factor, but I would recommend setting Windows scale to 100-125% if your eyes can handle it. Only having 2 ports is a bummer, but they at least include a C to A connector and C to 3.5mm for headphones. Luckily those ports are Thunderbolt 4, so there are a myriad of connectors/hubs/docks that will work with this unit.
Speakers - Usually I would bundle this with the build/display, but it is SO much better than expected that it needs to be addressed separately. I have NEVER heard a laptop this thin and small outside of Apple with such solid sound! There is even a bit of bass in there, and it can get loud enough to fill a small room easily without getting distorted!
CPU - I’m a techy guy, so I’m possibly going to dive a bit more in this section than an average review. The 12th gen Core i7 1250U isn’t a terrible chip, but it's not as fast as I expected. A big issue I found was that it was underperforming vs other 1250U systems that I found online while I was doing a few Cinebench R23 runs. What I found out was that Dell is running these with a very aggressive dynamic power limit. They are limited to 15w out of the box, Intel specifies a range of 9-29w, which means I only scored about 55-65% of what other similar systems I found online. My single run was only 4590 multi core score. Using HWINFO, during a looped test, I watched the system continue to drop the allowed power limit as the test was running. I dove into the UEFI (BIOS) settings and found that there were different power settings, so I set it to ultra performance. That instantly brought a single run of cinebench up to 7135 points! One setting increased the performance 55%, but it did increase the power limit 66.67% to 25w. (this obviously will decrease the battery performance) That puts it more in line with others, so just be aware that you’ll need to dig into settings to increase performance. Also Dell doesn’t allow very high temps, probably to keep the user comfortable and the fans quiet.
GPU - At either stock or high performance mode, you’re not going to be playing any recent games. I tested Rocket League, and it will run fine (mid 70ish fps) at 1200p at medium/settings. DoTA2 was also playable (60-80fps) at 1200p lowest settings, if you really fine tuned them, you could probably run some settings higher. Normal computing won’t run into any issues in the graphics department.
Ram/SSD - The system includes a surprising amount of system memory 32GB, and it's the fastest this processor supports at 5200 MT/s. The 1TB of storage is adequate, but considering this is a premium device, the PCIE3.0-like peak speeds are oddly slow to me. (3.3GB/s reads and 3.0GB/s writes peak according to crystal disk mark) Neither are upgradeable in this chassis, which isn’t surprising considering the size, and at least they give you more RAM than most users will require.
Battery - The stock battery life on this unit is crazy good. You are definitely trading some performance for power savings. If you choose stock performance, you’re going to easily get an entire day's work at 50-60% brightness, with power to spare (estimating 9-10ish usable hours). Even at the higher power setting, I’m getting around 5-6 usable hours of straight usage around 60% brightness.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Processor speed, Size
Cons mentioned:
Ports
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Blown Away as soon as I Unboxed!
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Dell has really made moves in the laptop world lately that puts them at the top of the line when it comes to Windows laptops. I was excited to see what this latest XPS had to offer and I was truly amazed as soon as I opened the box!
PROS:
- As soon as I opened this box, I was amazed at the size and style of this laptop. It is very light, very modern, and opening the laptop lid its like the bezels are non-existent. Seriously this is a very appealing laptop and I think they did a great job packing in a screen this size into the portable size of this laptop.
- Setup was very easy, as Windows 11 has come a long way to make this smooth. So you should not worry about anything there!
- From a spec perspective, I once again could not believe they fit 32 GB of memory and 1 TB of storage into this small of a package! I know that storage does not take up as much space as it used to, but some companies leave those type of specs for their larger models so I was happy to see this small of a laptop had a lot of power.
- The laptop itself is very fast and can handle anything! I had a number of applications running at the same time with no issue at all and no worries of overheating.
- The screen is gorgeous too! Love the quality of the images, very sharp, and is a great size. Along with that I really liked the webcam as well, looked very nice for personal or business calls.
- The keyboard and trackpad made for a fantastic experience! The keyboard is precise and fluid to use, and the trackpad is a nice large size with very nice ease of use.
- I also love how it charges on USB-C! Very forward thinking as more devices move to USB-C charging, makes it easy to charge everything using one chord.
CONS:
- Only two total ports being two USB-C ports. Do I need more? Not necessarily, but it also means I will have to buy an adapter/dock if I want to connect more of my devices at once.
BOTTOM LINE:
- Dell's XPS line has been one of the best Windows laptops you can buy for awhile now, and this one does not let you down! The laptop is beautiful, very light and portable, but packs a lot of power with its impressive specs and fast interface. This will easily be your daily driver for work and play, and will last for years to come!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Weight
Cons mentioned:
Ports
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A Premium Laptop Lacking Ports
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The Dell XPS is a very attractive laptop that will catch anyone's eye. The look and feel of it is top-notch. The build quality is all aluminum. It is lightweight and can be a nice portable laptop. The CPU that it comes with is a nice package since it is not a power-hungry CPU. Which grants all-day battery life. I was getting over 12 hours of on-and-off use with just web searching. With the 32 GB of Ram, you will not get stutters loading apps and watching videos. I would not put this as a content creator laptop since the CPU is more efficient and not much for multicore.
You get a 1920x1200 screen which looks almost as good as O-LED. It has great contrast and gets very Bright. You only get two Thunderbolt 4 ports. One on each side. Which grants charging from either side. You do get a USB-C to USB-A connector and audio. The keyboard took a while to get used to. It's decent and fine for my liking. The mousepad is accurate and works. The speakers are nice as well, not much bass but I've heard worse. This is a great personal laptop. It has a great professional business-like feel to it. Many great positives with a small negative of lack of ports.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
College Laptop
|
|
Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I really like it. One thing that I don’t like is that they told me it would do great with multiple tabs open at a time but it seems to work slower and some times overheat but other than that works fine for school and the basics.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Dell
|
|
Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I like it has plenty of memory. Graphics are good. I still need to try using it for video editing which is my goal.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Processor speed
Cons mentioned:
Ports
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Strong performance, tiny size
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
## Design
The Dell XPS 13 13.4” laptop (12th Gen Intel Evo i7, released in 2022) is thin, light, and super portable. It only weighs 2.59 pounds and is 0.55 inches thick. The screen has barely any bezel around it, giving you a 13.4” display without any extra bulk around the screen.
You’ll only find 2 ports on this laptop: two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports that can be used for charging, Thunderbolt docks, or peripherals. There is no headphone jack, but a USB-C to headphone adapter is included, as well as a USB-A (the “normal” USB plug) to USB-C adapter.
The particular model I’m reviewing is the “Sky Blue” color variant, with an aluminum shell with a subtle baby blue tint. The keys on the keyboard also have a similar blue tint as well, but the color is so subtle that you may not notice it as first and may just think it is a traditional silver laptop.
## Performance
This model uses a 12th Gen Intel Evo i7 processor which isn’t the very latest, but it is still zippy and provides great performance for rendering even complex websites instantly. Applications load fast and the 32GB of RAM gives you plenty of memory for running multiple applications or opening dozens of Chrome tabs without an issue.
The Geekbench 6 score for this laptop came is as follows in the “Optimized” power setting while connected to power:
- Single-Core score: 1663
- Multi-Core score: 5896
- OpenCL score: 11119
I’ve used this laptop for web development and found that my Next.js apps render very fast when running the development server through WSL and found it to be more than sufficient for my development needs.
While you won’t be able to do any serious PC gaming on this laptop like you would with a dedicated gaming rig, this laptop would be fine for casual games.
Only one issue has cropped up while using this laptop: in one instance, I couldn’t get the laptop to easily wake from a “sleep” state after closing the lid. I had to hold down the power button, which took me to “XPS” screen for about 5 minutes, after which point it rebooted to a BIOS screen stating that the system time was not set. I ignored it and it continued to load Windows successfully after that (and the time was indeed set on subsequent reboots). I’m not sure what caused this “hard” crash, but it has only happened once so far so I’ll chalk it up to some update not being installed yet (as it has taken several days to get through all the Windows and Dell updates). I’m just glad it recovered without needing to reinstall the operating system and without losing any data.
## Features
- Great display: The 13.4” Full High Definition display has a matte finish, which I greatly appreciate as it helps prevent glare. All matte finishes reduce the sharpness of images by some degree, but images and movies still look great on this display.
- Fingerprint reader: The power button also serves as a fingerprint reader for Windows, allowing you to login to Windows quickly and authenticate into apps like 1Password. I’ve found the fingerprint reader to be fast a responses, but occasionally requires me to tap two or three times to be recognized.
- Windows Hello camera: If you prefer to authenticate with facial recognition, the webcam on this laptop is also Windows Hello compatible so you can login quickly with it instead of the fingerprint reader if you so desire.
- Dock and charge via USB-C: The Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports on this laptop allow you to “dock” it and use it as a desktop and charge it using a single connection.
## Battery Life
I’ve easily gotten through a day of on and off usage with this laptop, although the power management features can sometimes hamper the processing power this machine is capable of. You can change the performance in the settings if you want more oomph instead of battery life.
I also like that Dell allows you to set a custom charging limit. I often set this to stop charging at 80% as I’ve ready this can help with battery longevity if you primarily use the laptop while it is plugged in (being at 100% all the time can stress the battery).
## Summary
Overall, I really like the thin design and fast performance of this laptop. While it may not have the latest and greatest processor, with the 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, it has enough processing power, memory and storage for me to easily do my web development work, yet it is small enough to slip into my bag without hardly taking up any space. The USB-C ports allow for docking and charging with one connection.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Size
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Compact and Powerful
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The XPS line from Dell, I think has always been the benchmark in the Thin & Light, Road Warrior, Laptop lineup and I think the XPS 13.4 carriers on with that tradition very well.
I have to speak to the packaging because Dell did a great job of protecting the laptop and unfortunately for FedEx, they took a page out of Ace Venture Pet Detective’s package delivery service and crushed the box pretty good.
Dell utilized an exterior box and then an interior tub for the laptop to sit in. While both the outer box and tub received damage the laptop and accessories where untouched.
This is definitely a first for me to comment on the integrity of the shipping container. That attention to detail carriers through into the device itself thankfully!
Ever since the days of “Dude, you’re getting a Dell!” Christmas campaigns, Dell has been a brand I have consistently turned to for my computing needs.
Out-of-the-box there are quite a few software updates to run, so settle in for a bit as I found I had to babysit the laptop to get through all of them. That is not so much a Dell issue as it is a WinOS.
After all these updates, I did find that the laptop was not running optimally, which worried me for a bit. The laptop was running on a low CPU ~1.1GHZ-1.3GHZ which translated to 99% CPU usage and around 70%-80% RAM usage, this was plugged-in not battery power. All of this translated into the laptop running the fan on high.
However, once I got through the 2ish hours of updates and started using the machine it settled in. While the fan is probably going to always run due to the compactness of the machine, I don’t find it loud when just doing simple tasks. I did go into Task Manager to Disable a lot of Startup Programs as there did seem an abnormally high amount of them without having installed any of my own software yet. This also helped with startup and processing acclimating quicker.
During setup I did opt to use the Face Unlock, and while it is nowhere near as fast as a smartphone, it still only takes about 5 seconds to unlock. This definitely comes down to the orientation of the screen/camera to your face. There are 2 red lights on either side of the camera that flicker letting you know that the Face Unlock is being accessed.
The screen is a matte finish which is nice for glare reduction, but it is a trade off for brightness. I’m not one to use a laptop outside, but I don’t see this screen offering a quality experience in bright outside lighting conditions. That is not to say it is bad, but a limitation. Even in sub 15”/16” laptops I require the screens to be no less than Full HD, having the 16:10 aspect ratio is a plus. While for some it may seem redundant to have a higher resolution on a small screen, WinOS has always had the option to change the scale. I prefer running at 100% vs the 150% that usually is default to maximize screen real estate.
The rest of the design and build quality is as you would expect. I hear no creaking from chassis when using as a “lap” top. Opening the laptop is a bit difficult as it fits very tightly and doesn’t have an edge to really grasp. Once open it easy to move and the hinge is very sturdy.
The 1TB storage and 32GB RAM included out of the box means I don’t have to open the chassis out-of-the-box to make upgrades. 512GB should be the standard minimum for any laptop these days and 16GB RAM.
I am still putting it through its paces, but I can easily recommend this for anyone needing a compact yet powerful laptop with great battery life.
Pros mentioned:
Weight
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Excellent Highly Portable General Use Laptop
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The title really sums it up... The Dell XPS 13 13.4" FHD+ Laptop is truly an excellent highly portable general use laptop. And I have to say, great sound for it's size as well!
I'm not going to too deep into the tech specs because you can look at the items specs on the BB site and know what you have. And I assume other reviewers will post their experience as well. That said, this machine comes with a capable 12th Gen Intel Evo i7 processor, a very impressive 32GB Memory, a decent Intel Iris Xe Graphics chip and a very nice (and fast) 1TB SSD.
Is this a robust gaming machine? Is this laptop you'd want to run advanced engineering software? No, but it's more than capable of being a great general-use laptop. It's excellent for using office applications, watching on-line streaming programs and using the Internet.
Two things that stuck out to me were the portablity of the laptop and to be honest, it's a beautiful laptop. The contrast between the keys and the shell is gorgeous. The backlit keyboard is bright without being overbearing. As for the portability, it's incredibly lightweight and even my wife and daughters smaller hands can easily handle it with one hand all over the house and up and down all staircases.
And one final note, as mentioned in my openeing paragraph, the sound is very good for a laptop of this size.
In all, an impressive unit and I would reccomend to a friendd.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Processor speed
Cons mentioned:
Fan noise
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A little beast of a laptop
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
When unboxing this awesome laptop, I have to admit that the size really caught me off guard. It is small. I added a photo with it side by side with my Samsung S6 tablet. But if you are looking at this particular unit, then you probably have a specific use in mind. I personally think this has to be a great travel laptop for anyone looking for a light portable and very powerful laptop. After setting up the laptop, approximately 5 minutes or so, I was able to check up some of the features. First off, there is no added software that I noticed which was nice. I love how quick the facial recognition is on this unit is. Literally, open the laptop up and almost instantly, it unlocks. No lag. The keyboards are lighted which is an absolute must for me. Although it's not as bright as my other laptop, in a darker room, it will definitely help. The touchpad is pretty much centered of the laptop and is a decent size, not large, but with the size of this laptop, totally understandable. The touchpad has good feel and tracking and a satisfying pressure when pressing on it. Because the trackpad is in the center, both my palms can rest on the side of the keyboard nicely so that make typing easy. The keys themselves was very nice to use and very quiet at that. The screen was awesome but note, it is not a touchscreen. I'm ok with this because the size of laptop, I don't find myself having to try to press anything in particular. There are speakers on the bottom of both sides which sounds perfectly fine but could be a problem in a noisy atmosphere. Speaking of noise, the fan is definitely noticeable and comes on quite often, but with this size and this much power, I can't be mad at it. I had not real heating issues, even after prolong use. The laptop got warm, but not hot. I open a lot of tabs and did a bunch of multitasking and the computer didn't hesitate. Ate it up. There is 1 usb-c input on either side of the laptop and the unit comes with a usb-c charger, usb-c to usb-a plug, and usb-c to 3.5 for headphones or mic. On that note, I found it weird that when you plug it in to charge there is no indicator light that I could find to show it was charging. I gotta say, if you are looking for a light, compact laptop that is imo, ultra portable. This is it. It is a beast and perfect to take anywhere.