The best laptop is now even better. Dell has given the XPS 13 ($799 to start, $1,399 with touch) a brighter screen, longer battery life, a new USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 and your choice of Intel's latest 6th-generation Core Series CPUs. Dell also kept all the features we liked on the previous model, including the sexy aluminum and carbon-fiber body, optional quad-HD infinity display, and comfy backlit keyboard. While the location of the webcam still feels out of place, this latest XPS 13 continues to reign supreme.
Design
Like the previous version, from early 2015, the current XPS 13 features a carbon-fiber deck sandwiched between a brushed-metal lid and bottom, which creates an appealing and modern two-toned look.
I really like Dell's attention to detail, which is best seen in the bottom-mounted aluminum flap, whose sole purpose is to cover up the ugly service stickers and labels required by the Federal Communications Commission.
When you open the lid, you're treated to Dell's infinity display (pictured above), which features an almost nonexistent bezel that seems to just disappear into the background. It's intimate and engaging, and when you watch movies, it's feels like the video player is just hovering in midair.
The Infinity display isn't just for looks either, as the smaller lid means the XPS 13 also has a small footprint. Measuring 12 x 7.9 x 0.33-0.6-inches and weighing 2.7 pounds (2.9 pounds for the touch-screen version) this notebook is even smaller than some of the tiniest 13-inch systems, incl (12.75 x 8.86 x 0.59 inches, 2.8 pounds).
Specs
| CPU | 2.3-GHz Intel Core i5-6200U |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Hard Drive Size | 128GB |
Keyboard and Touchpad
The XPS 13 features a backlit keyboard with two levels of lighting.
Dell makes up for the keyboard's somewhat shallow 1.2 mm of travel by adding a good spring at the bottom of the stroke, so even though there's not a lot of room to work with, it's not painful when you bottom out while typing.
On my first attempt at 10fastfingers.com's typing test, I recorded 85 words per minute, which is 5 more words per minute than my typical pace.
MORE: Best Laptops
The 4.1 x 2.3-inch touchpad features a seductively smooth, matte-black surface that my fingers simply couldn't get enough of. Mouse movement and multifinger gestures, such as pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling, responded quickly and accurately.
Even better is the feeling of the touchpad's mouse click, which offers a really satisfying snap every time you press down.
Audio
Even though size is at a premium, the XPS 13 still puts out a lot of sound. When I listened to DJ Mehdi's "I Am Somebody," I was surprised by the Dell's better-than-average bass and overall volume (which was more than enough to fill our testing lab), although I would have liked more crispness from the percussion.
Heat
The touch version of the XPS 13 ran hotter than the nontouch model. After streaming HD video for 15 minutes, a section near the vent on the bottom of the touch XPS 13 registered a disturbing 112 degrees Fahrenheit, far above our typical 95-degree threshold.
Other areas, such as the touchpad and space between the G and H keys, were much less worrisome, at 87.5 and 98.5 degrees, respectively.
The nontouch version of the XPS 13 stayed cooler. The hottest spot on the notebook after our video test was the bottom right corner, at 97 degrees.
Ports and Webcam
New on this year's XPS 13 is a reversible USB Type-C port with support for Thunderbolt 3. Though it doesn't charge the laptop, this Type-C connection transfers data at up to 40 Gbps, or outputs video to multiple 4K displays over a single cord.
The XPS 13 also includes two traditional USB 3.1 ports, an SD card reader and a combo headphone/mic jack.
Due to the laptop's slim bezel, the XPS 13's webcam is located beneath the display.
The 1280 x 720 camera features dual mics for better audio during video calls, although it's a little awkward to always be looking down at the bottom-left corner. This can often cause shadows to fall on your face. Despite the good detail and sharp focus I saw in a selfie I took in our office, the picture ended up looking a little dark.
Graphics
The Intel HD Graphics 520 in the XPS 13 can handle mainstream games. On World of Warcraft, the Dell averaged a playable 40 frames per second with the effects on Good, and the resolution at its native 1080p. At these same settings, the Yoga 900, which has the same GPU, averaged a slightly better 49 fps. When we increased the eye candy to max, the Dell and the Lenovo performed about the same, at 21 and 18 fps, respectively.
On 3DMark's Fire Strike graphics test, the XPS 13 posted a score of 783, which was a bit worse than the scores of the Yoga 900 (840) and the Surface Book (854 without discrete graphics).
Battery Life
The nontouch version of the Dell XPS 13 lasted an awesome 11 hours and 54 minutes on the Laptop Battery Test (Web surfing via Wi-Fi with the screen at 100 nits). The Dell's endurance is much better than that of the Yoga 900 (7:57) and the ultraportable average of 8:10. The MacBook Air continues to dominate, with an excellent time of 14 hours, but it also has a lower-resolution display.
The touch-screen version of the XPS 13 provides a small but insignificant increase in battery life over its immediate predecessor. On the Laptop Mag Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi at 100 nits), the quad-HD XPS 13 lasted 8 hours and 8 minutes. That's a 44-minute increase from the early 2015 model, which featured a similar configuration.
No comments:
Post a Comment