One of the best 13-inch laptops I’ve tested has marathon battery life and a bold design

ZDNET Key Takeaways

• Dell’s XPS 13 Copilot+ PC It’s currently available starting at $999, but upgrading the storage or display can push the price up to more than $1,600.
• It features the sleekest build of any laptop released in 2024, with a beautiful display and great battery life.
• The two USB-C ports are limiting, the bold design choices won’t suit everyone, and it’s pricey.

Dell continues to expand its popular XPS laptop series with machines for every use case. The latest additions are: XPS13 (9345): Ultra-portable Copilot+ PC with a future-oriented design and cutting-edge hardware.

View on Dell

Dell has released multiple models in its Latitude and Inspiron series, but only the 13-inch XPS model features the new ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite processor. The series comes in a variety of configurations, but the company is positioning it as a unique device in Dell’s catalog.

Powered by the same high-end Snapdragon processor as Samsung’s Galaxy Book 4 Edge, this 13-inch, 2.6-pound laptop offers all of the XPS design hallmarks of invisible trackpad, zero-lattice keyboard, and vivid display, delivering strong performance in a sleekly designed form factor.

This laptop 13-inch MacBook Air At first glance, it’s striking how beautiful it is, especially when closed — the graphite colorway and minimalist USB-C port aren’t ripped straight from Apple’s design book — but if opening the clamshell to reveal the iconic keyboard doesn’t erase any doubt about its identity, the black-and-gold Snapdragon logo below it will.

I recently got hands-on time with Dell’s XPS 13 over the course of a few weeks, and I really liked it. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s one of the best 13-inch laptops I’ve tested this year, though it’s hard to say for sure given that the Snapdragon X Elite chip is still in its early stages of adoption.

This Dell Inspiron is also one of the most feature-rich and well-rounded laptops I’ve tested.

The Snapdragon processor gives this laptop great performance, and in my benchmarks, the Dell XPS 13 showed off its multitasking prowess by running productivity apps and visual tasks thanks to the dual-core boost that the X1E-80 processor offers that other chips don’t.

Boot times are lightning fast and browsing is snappy and responsive, and when combined with the vibrant tandem OLED displays it really feels like a high-end productivity device.

Unfortunately, all of that power is limited by potential emulation issues with Windows’ Prism program, or common apps that aren’t yet fully optimized for Windows on Arm. This is a topic that’s been talked about with all the new Copilot+ PCs we’ve tested this year, and the XPS 13 suffers from this issue too.

I ran DaVinci Resolve In my testing with this laptop, it performed about the same as other Snapdragon PCs, which is fine, but it still lags behind something like a MacBook Pro, and the same can be said for Adobe’s suite of creative apps. Committed to optimizing for ARM In the near future.

The display is, naturally, one of the best parts of this laptop. The 13.4-inch screen comes in either non-touch Full HD or touch-enabled 3K tandem OLED, and both look great. Colours are vibrant, thanks to Dolby Vision and 100% DCI-P3 colour support, and the matte display effectively reduces glare.

However, the configuration does have some quirks. For instance, the FHD display is slightly brighter at 500 nits and has a faster refresh rate of 120Hz than the OLED display, which maxes out at 400 nits and 60Hz, respectively. With the OLED costing $400 more, you’d expect slightly more high-end specs.

Plus: How to Choose a Laptop for College: 4 Key Considerations (Plus 10 Great Options)

Battery life on this machine, like all Copilot+ PCs, is very good. Dell has a few different performance modes that affect battery life, and of course the OLED screen uses a lot more power than FHD, but overall it’s impressive. In our testing, we got over 17 hours of battery life when live streaming video over Wi-Fi.

With moderate daily use between home and the office, I got over 20 hours of battery life before it ran out, and if you only use the laptop for work-related tasks that don’t require a lot of processing, it’s not unreasonable to expect to get more than three days out of a single charge.

As for the illuminated touch row, I’m not a fan (and I still am). I wrote about it in my review of Dell’s XPS 14, and my opinion hasn’t really changed.

Yes, it looks good, and I understand the idea of ​​using the same physical space to have twice the number of keys, but throughout my time with the XPS 13, I had a hard time getting used to the fact that the keys I use most often (Home, End, Del, Insert) have been detached from the physical keys and replaced with capacitive LEDs.

One of the most premium Copilot+ PCs I’ve tested is also one of the most affordable.

And even though this laptop can run games, we wouldn’t recommend it as a dedicated gaming machine — but ask any gamer if they’d use a computer with LED lights on the keys.

Like any design decision, this one involves tradeoffs.

The lack of robust port connectivity will also be a killer for some, and Dell seems to have doubled down on its decision to keep things as minimal as possible with just two USB-C ports on this laptop, plus no Thunderbolt in the Snapdragon configuration.

It supports DisplayPort, and there’s one on each side… and that’s it. To get the most basic connectivity with this laptop, you’ll need to carry a dock around with you.

Also, how to test laptops on ZDNET in 2024

The Copilot+ XPS 13 is a new product, but it’s not a replacement for Intel laptops. In fact, we went hands-on with that version back in May, and it was met with as much praise and criticism as it is now. In reality, both versions have their merits, especially since they’re in similar configurations and price ranges.

So which is better? It depends on what you’re looking for. The short answer is:

Dell XPS 13 with Snapdragon X Elite:

• Pros: Much better battery life
• Pros: Overall speed is fast
• Pro: Made for AI
• Cons: Some programs don’t run smoothly or at all

Dell XPS 13 Intel Core Ultra 7 155H:

• Pros: Thunderbolt USB-C port
• Pros: No need to deal with app integration issues
• Disadvantages: High heat generation and short life span

Ultimately, both are solid choices, but the battery life of the Snapdragon-powered unit can’t be ignored, as well as the fact that this is an advanced device with AI capabilities.

ZDNET BUYING ADVICE

Dell XPS 13 It embodies what the Copilot+ PC is trying to achieve: an ultra-portable, fast, cool, and efficient laptop experience. It’s a bold design, and you’ll either love it or hate it, but it’s good to see Dell sticking to its vision. The minimalist approach isn’t for everyone, and the spare port selection won’t do much for those who need lots of connections.

This laptop is great for freelancers, remote workers, hybrid workers, and anyone who needs multi-day battery life. There’s also an argument to be made that the Intel version of this year’s XPS 13, or any similarly priced, sized XPS 13, is better. Lenovo Slim 7xhas a similar structure but takes a more pragmatic design approach.