CES has come and gone; the holidays are long past; and now all we’re left with are a few months of dreary weather. No fun, right? Right. Except if you’re a tech writer. Now that most major companies have revealed their new lineups, we have the exciting job of testing all this stuff; seeing how it holds up in real life. The first product of the year to cross my desk: none other than the Dell XPS 13, a compact 13-inch laptop that ranked as afinalist for our annual Best of CES awards. In addition to being the first system we’ve tested with Intel’s new fifth-generation Core processor, the redesigned XPS is notable for its nearly bezel-less display — a design feat that allows it to have the footprint of an 11-inch machine. Particularly with a starting price of $800 (pretty reasonable for a flagship laptop), it seemed poised to become one of our new favorite Ultrabooks. And you know what? It actually is.
PROS
- Nearly bezel-less display allows it to be more compact than other 13-inchers
- Vibrant screen, strong audio to match
- Attractive design, well-built
- Comfortable keyboard
- Fast performance
- Lots of configuration options
CONS
- Merely average battery life, at least on the touchscreen model
- Touchpad could use some fine-tuning
- Doesn’t come standard with a touchscreen — and is expensive if you do opt for that feature
SUMMARY Other than an update to the touchpad, there’s very little we would change about Dell’s redesigned XPS 13: It’s compact and well-built, with a gorgeous screen, fast performance and surprisingly good audio quality. You’ll pay dearly to get it with a touchscreen, but even then, it’s priced in line with other flagship Ultrabooks — and in some ways it’s a better choice, too.
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https://www.engadget.com/2015-01-28-dell-xps-13-review-2015.html
