Dell XPS 13 Review and Prices

What Is the Dell XPS 13?

The Dell XPS 13 ties for No. 5 in our Best Laptops of 2022 rating. It’s a small laptop with a quick processor, making it a solid choice for the office or taking on the go. While the processor and video card aren’t equipped to handle intense gaming or photo and video editing, it works well for casual games, business tasks, and streaming videos, all thanks to the InfinityEdge screen display and bright picture.

Dell XPS 13 Review

Ranked #5 in Best Laptops of 2022 (tie)
Ranked #3 in Best Laptops for College of 2022
Ranked #3 in Best Business Laptops of 2022

The Dell XPS 13, Dell’s 13.4-inch touch-screen laptop, is a sleek, reliable, sturdy machine that’s well-liked among professional reviewers. It’s powered by Intel’s Tiger Lake processor – the 11th Gen core – making it even faster and more seamless than laptops running the 10th Gen processors, plus it comes with either Windows 10 or Windows 11 already installed. You can also fully customize these computers, including the processor, memory storage, hard drive, screen resolution, and even the color. This computer doesn’t just come in a silver and black combo, it also comes in an icy white shade that will stand out on your desk.

The laptop is small and weighs under 3 pounds. That's due in part to the small bezel, which owes its size to Dell’s InfinityEdge design. Professional reviewers praise Dell for the computer’s design and performance, saying the processors are reliable and quick and the screen provides a bright, beautiful picture – especially the OLED model – but say the computer falls short when it comes to the webcam. Not only is it just 720p, but it produces a sometimes blurry or washed out picture. Reviewers also would have liked to see more ports available on these laptops. But where this computer also succeeds is with its battery life. Though some reviewers found that the OLED models went through their batteries faster, overall the Dell XPS 13 battery life was impressive. This computer is an overall good pick to do a little bit of everything, from your business tasks to casual gaming.

Dell XPS 13: The Bottom Line

The XPS 13 is a reliable little laptop that’s great for business use. It’s light enough to carry around and has a fast processor to work with. You’ll have no problem doing a little bit of everything, like building presentations, streaming video, and playing simple games. If you want a true gaming laptop, though, try one of the options from our Best Gaming Laptops of 2022 list, like the Razer Blade 14.

Dell XPS 13: Price

If you’re looking just at the newest XPS 13 – conveniently called the New Dell XPS 13 – the price starts at $1,119.99. This base model comes with the 11th Gen Intel Core i3 processor, Intel UHD Graphics Card, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, 13.4-inch UHD+ touchscreen display, and in either platinum silver exterior with a black interior or frost exterior and arctic white interior.

The laptop is fully customizable. The processor options include 11th Gen Intel Core i5, i7, and i7-1185G7, with up to 4.8 GHz Turbo. The graphics card options also include the Intel Iris Xe Graphics card. You can also upgrade to 16 GB RAM. The hard drive can be upgraded to 512 GB SSD or 1 TB SSD. And you can also get the 13.4-inch OLED touchscreen display. If you upgrade to the maximum capability, you’re looking at a price tag of $1,719.99.

The previous Dell XPS 13 model has a lower starting price point of $849.99.

Dell XPS 13: Design

The XPS 13 is a compact machine at just 7.82 x 11.64 x 0.58 inches and 2.8 pounds. It’s one of the smallest laptops in our ratings. Though the laptop comes in a black and platinum silver version, professional reviewers were awed by the frost and arctic white model, thanks to its sleek design. The keyboard deck has a textured surface for your hands to rest on, which may not be for everyone. Professional reviewers note that despite the slim size of the laptop, it feels sturdy. It’s also built with a twin-coil hinge that makes the lid easy to open with one hand in a pinch.

What makes this laptop stand out from many others is the InfinityEdge screen display. The bezels on the screen are nearly nonexistent, allowing your picture to appear as large as possible. The webcam is nudged into the top bezel, but it’s kept extra small so as to not create a notch. It’s also powered by Killer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality.

Dell XPS 13: Performance

The XPS 13 has four different Tiger Lake processor options: the Intel Core i3, the Intel Core i5, the Intel Core i7, and the Intel Core i7-1185G7, with up to 4.8 GHz Turbo. As for the hard drive, your options are a 256 GB SSD, 512 GB SSD, or 1 TB SSD. Professional reviewers are impressed with the Tiger Lake processors (11th Gen), saying they’re a large improvement over the 10th Gen Intel Core processors.

This computer performed simple tasks well when put to the test, with professional reviewers saying surfing the web, streaming video, making video calls, and listening to music (sometimes at the same time), didn’t lead to any slowdowns. However, when compared to other laptops in certain performance tests, it sometimes didn’t stack up. It was outperformed by MacBooks in photo editing, video editing, and data transfer. Professional reviewers also found that the battery life didn’t measure up to some other competitive models. All in all, though, it is a mid-level reliable machine that has the capability to do your standard business functions, light photo editing, downloading, uploading, and video playback.

Dell XPS 13: Displays

The XPS 13 9305 only has one display option: a 13.3-inch 1,920 x 1,080 LCD touch screen with InfinityEdge. The New Dell XPS 13 9310, however, has two options to choose from and a slightly bigger screen. You can opt for a 13.4-inch 3,456 x 2,160 OLED touch screen with anti-reflection technology and InfinityEdge that has a 400-nit capacity or a 13.4-inch UHD+ 3,840 x 2,400 LCD touch screen with anti-reflection technology and InfinityEdge with a 500-nit capacity. All the displays have a 16:10 aspect ratio. The InfinityEdge means the screen feels even larger than its 13-inch size, with bezels that are virtually nonexistent. The older model Dell XPS 13 starts at $849.99, whereas the New Dell XPS 13 starts at $1,169.99 for the OLED screen and the UHD+ model starts at $1,119.99.

Professional reviewers praise the optional OLED display, saying it makes colors on the screen very crisp and defined, though they note that this improved display comes with a penalty to the battery life. They also point out that the OLED on the Dell XPS 13 screen produces bright pictures. As for the UHD+ display, it’s unique in that it has slightly larger dimensions than a standard 4K screen. Professional reviewers generally like that this screen has a 500-nit maximum, which means you could easily view your screen even outdoors, though they still prefer the OLED display.

Dell XPS 13: Ports and Audio

An XPS 13 only has two USB-C ports (Thunderbolt 4 ports), a microSD card slot, and a headphone jack. This means you're stuck using USB-C peripherals or adapters. It's bit of a drawback for anyone who hopes to use an HDMI cable or needs a USB-A port.

Despite being a small machine, most professional reviewers like the sound on the Dell XPS 13. The laptop has two 2.5-watt speakers on the bottom that are tuned with Waves MaxxAudio Pro. Though the speakers are on the bottom of the machine, professional reviewers say the sound never seemed muffled. In fact, they agree that the sound quality was excellent considering the location of the speakers and the small size of the laptop. They also note that the Waves MaxxAudio Pro made for a strong bass sound while listening to music and watching movies. While you would still want studio-quality headphones for doing something like mixing audio on this machine, the built-in speakers are great for casual listening.

Dell XPS 13: Keyboard, Touchpad, and Webcam

The edge-to-edge keyboard on the Dell XPS 13 is backlit and comes with a fingerprint reader in the power button. The New Dell XPS 13 comes with either a black or a silver keyboard. Professional reviewers overall like the keyboard for its large keys and comfortability in typing.

The large touchpad on this laptop is actually 17% larger than previous models, giving your fingers plenty of room to work. Professional reviewers note that the touchpad is smooth, responsive, and responds well to gestures like pinching to zoom and scrolling.

The 2.25-mm infrared webcam on this machine has a 720p resolution. It’s incredibly small to fit within the top bezel of the screen. Professional reviewers call this one of the main shortcomings of an otherwise great machine. The picture quality is washed out, fuzzy, blurry, and overall not great quality. For capturing photo or video without much detail, the camera works fine, but you won’t get precision detail without a higher resolution. There’s also no shutter to block the webcam or a quick key to mute the mic.

Dell XPS 13: Security 

The keyboard on the Dell XPS 13 comes with a fingerprint reader to log you into your machine using Windows Hello. You can also log on to your laptop with facial recognition. The computer’s camera uses facial recognition technology to scan your face to securely log in with Windows Hello.

Dell XPS 13: Battery Life

Dell says the XPS 13's battery lasts up to about 14 hours when streaming video on the FHD model and up to about eight hours on the 4K+ models. Professional reviewers found that the battery could last even longer than advertised. Many noted that it could easily get you through a workday without being plugged in.

Dell XPS 13 vs. the Competition

Dell XPS 13 vs. HP Envy x360

While both the XPS 13 and the HP Envy x360 are good choices for business laptops, the HP Envy x360 is actually a 2-in-1 laptop. That means you get a computer and tablet in one (just like the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, which differs from the standard Dell XPS 13). Both computers have touch screens, though the Dell is a more compact machine that weighs less and is a bit more portable. However, the HP Envy x360 comes in at a lower price point, making it a superior choice if you’re looking for a laptop that doubles as a tablet that you can use at work for a budget-friendly price.

Learn more in our HP Envy x360 review.

Dell XPS 13 vs. Acer Nitro 5 

The Acer Nitro 5 is our best-rated gaming laptop and should be your go-to choice if you need a machine for seamless gaming. Though you can use your XPS 13 for gaming, it doesn’t have the graphics card and processor needed for gameplay with no lagging or pixelated screens. The Acer Nitro 5 is also a bigger machine with a larger screen for gaming. If a gaming laptop isn’t what you’re after, though, the Dell XPS 13 can easily handle your day-to-day work tasks, as well as video streaming and light photo editing.

Learn more in our Acer Nitro 5 review.

Dell XPS 13 FAQ

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