Dell XPS 13: To infinity & beyond

Petite Dynamo

Dell’s XPS line represents the most cutting-edge devices that the Texas-based company has to offer and the XPS 13 is easily one of the most exciting new devices to come out from Dell in some time. And looking at the photo above, it is not hard to see why. When we first saw it earlier this year at CES 2015, we were stunned by its near bezel-less display and its extremely compact dimensions. It looks great, but does it have the brains to back it up? Well, that’s what we are going to find out.

The Hardware

The Dell XPS 13 is powered by Intel’s latest fifth generation “Broadwell” Core processors. If you don’t already know, Broadwell is the codename for the 14nm die-shrink of its Haswell microarchitecture. And according to Intel, Broadwell will bring about significant power savings and modest performance increases. The first Broadwell mobile processors were announced earlier this year at CES 2015.

The XPS 13 is available in a couple of variants and ours is the top-of-the-line model that comes with a dual-core Intel Core i7-5500U processor (2.4GHz, 4MB L3 cache). This is complemented by 8GB of DDR3-LS RAM and a decently sized 256GB SSD. DDR3-LS is a type of low-voltage memory designed to reduce power consumption when the system is idle or on stand-by. In terms of power savings, it sits somewhere between DDR3L and LPDDR3, and is favored for its relative affordability when compared to LPDDR3. And since the XPS 13 does not feature a discrete GPU, graphics duties are handled by the integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500 GPU.

This brings us to Dell’s odd choice of processor for the XPS 13. Though the choice was made likely for power saving reasons - the Core i7-5500U has a TDP of just 15W - the Intel HD Graphics 5500 integrated GPU that it has is a middling one. We would have gladly traded the the larger cache and lower TDP for another processor such as the more power hungry Core i5-5287U (28W TDP) that has Intel’s more competent Intel Iris Graphics 6100 integrated GPU, which, on paper can be twice as powerful. Perhaps this will play out in Dell’s favor in our battery and power consumption tests, we shall see.

Design & Features

The latest Dell XPS 13 is more than just a hardware update, it's an entirely new machine with a spanking new design. The previous XPS 13 from 2012 was compact, but it was also criticized for looking too much like Apple’s MacBook Air (like it’s a bad thing?). And the first thing about the new XPS 13 that catches your eye will most likely be its near bezel-less display. Dell calls this it an infinity display and we think it looks awesome. In case you are wondering, the bezel measures just 5.2mm.

The Dell XPS 13’s IGZO IPS display measures 13.3 inches across diagonally and is touch-enabled. It also has Corning Gorilla glass to prevent scuffs and scratches. Display resolution is a very modern 3,200 x 1,800 pixels, which gives the XPS 13 a pixel density count of 276 pixels per inch. This is about 20% greater than the Retina displays found on Apple’s MacBook Pro notebooks. The result is very sharp and fluid images; and viewing angles, both horizontal and vertical, are very good. Add all of this to the ultra-slim bezel and what you have is one of the nicest looking displays on a notebook.

There are, however, two problems with the display. The first problem plagues all glossy displays and that is reflections. The Dell XPS 13 has a glossy display and so reflection can be a problem, depending on your work environment. The other has to do with the position of the webcam. With the bezel being so slim, Dell has no choice but to position the webcam to the bottom left of the display, which is really odd, to say the least. The result of this is very unflattering videos of yourself whenever you need to do video conferencing. Additionally, if you need to type when video conferencing, your fingers will get in the way of the camera. Because of this, we would not mind adding a few millimeters to the bezel on the top of the display to accommodate the webcam in its more typical position.

That said, the slim bezel also translates to a smaller overall frame for the notebook. This also means that the Dell XPS 13 is extremely compact and Dell even claims that it is the smallest 13-inch notebook on the market. In fact, with a footprint that measures 304 x 200mm, it takes up substantially less real estate than anything else in the market. Furthermore, it measures just 15mm at its thickest point and tapers to just 9mm at its thinner end. And it only weighs 1.26kg.

Still, despite its lithe frame, the Dell XPS 13 feels well built. The entire chassis feels strong and sturdy despite its thinness. This can be attributed to Dell’s decision to employ premium materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber. The lid of the XPS 13 as well as the base are aluminum, whereas the entire palm rest is made using carbon fiber and coated with soft touch paint, giving it a very tactile feel.

The Dell XPS 13 has a chiclet-style keyboard and has backlights. According to Dell, the keys have 1.3mm of travel, which is less than the recently reviewed ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi’s 1.55mm, and it showed. The keys feel light too and require little force to actuate. Overall, we found ourselves being neutral to the keyboard and would say that it is adequate and does the job well enough. The trackpad is well-sized and responsive to use, but a little vague when it comes to accuracy.

In terms of connectivity, the Dell XPS 13 has all the bare necessities covered, offering two USB 3.0 ports, a Mini-Displayport for video output, an SD card reader and a 3.5mm audio output jack. There’s no Ethernet port, but the XPS 13 supports the wireless 802.11ac standard and Bluetooth 4.0. Under Device Manager, we found that the Wi-Fi card is listed as “Dell Wireless 1560” and supports up to two spatial streams, meaning speeds of up to 867Mbps is possible if you have a compatible 802.11ac wireless router.

The Dell XPS 13 also features two stereo speakers with a rated power output of 1W each and they are surprisingly loud. Unfortunately, the XPS 13's sound system suffers from the same problems as most notebooks and that is non-existent bass and very little in the way of definition and clarity. On the flip side, the speakers were fairly clear and could handle high volumes quite steadily with little sign of cracking and distortion.

Performance Benchmarking

We will be testing the Dell XPS 13 using our usual suite of benchmarks. And as for comparison, we will be including results from some recently tested 13-inch notebooks including the Acer Aspire R13 and Dell Inspiron 13 7000. We will also be including results from recently tested 2-in-1 convertible devices including the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi, Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro and Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

• PCMark 8
• 3DMark 2013
• Tomb Raider
• Far Cry 2

And here is a quick look at how the Dell XPS 13 compares against its key rivals in this segment.

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PCMark 8

Looking at the graph, the Dell XPS 13 was very competitive in all scenarios. It’s clearly faster than the Core M-powered duo from ASUS and Lenovo, and scored appreciably higher than the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 hybrid notebook that was using a previous generation processor. Its score was closely matched with the Acer Aspire R13, but lost out in some instances thanks to the Aspire R13’s very fast storage system - it has two SSDs in RAID 0.

3DMark 2013

Despite our concerns with the Dell XPS 13’s integrated graphics, it managed the highest scores on 3DMark 2013. Its score on Cloud Gate was about 13% better than the next-in-line Acer Aspire R13. On Fire Strike, its advantage increased to a very significant 36% over the Acer machine. The increase in scores is a definitely a good sign as Intel's efforts to improve the integrated graphics on the Broadwell processors is paying off.

Still, this is only a synthetic benchmark and it will be interesting to see how it fares in real world gaming scenarios.

Far Cry 2

Despite Far Cry 2 being almost seven years old, the Dell XPS 13 still struggled somewhat and only managed a slightly playable 31.81 frames per second on the lower “Medium” settings. When we upped the intensity to “Very High”, frame rates took a significant dip and was a frustrating 20.85 frames per second. On the plus side, its performance was markedly better than its rivals here as it was around 30% faster than the next fastest notebooks - the Acer Aspire R13 and Microsoft Surface Pro 3. The improvement in performance certainly matches the claims made by Intel. The real test would however be how it handles a newer game title.

Tomb Raider

As you might have already guessed, performance on the newer and more demanding Tomb Raider was abysmal. If it was any consolation, the Dell XPS 13 at least managed double-digit figures on both graphics settings. But its highest score of 15.8 frames per second on "Normal" was still a long way from playable. Comparing against its rivals, it was a good 25% faster. And if you dial the resolution all the way down to 1280 x 800, you can hit the magic 30 frames per second mark and we found it quite playable. It’s not ideal, of course, but if you really want to play a certain title, the XPS 13 can get it done if you dial the resolution and graphical settings down.

Battery Life & Power Consumption

In our battery life test, the Dell XPS 13 managed 220 minutes, a good deal longer than other comparable notebooks with Intel Core processors, and loses out only to the two slower Core M-powered hybrid notebooks. Examining the power consumption figures, we can see that the XPS 13 comes in at just 14.18W, a good deal lower than the Acer Aspire R13, which is powered by a comparable Core i7-4510U processor. This is quite impressive considering that the XPS 13 also has an ultra-high resolution QHD+ display. 

Portability Index

Our Portability Index factors in battery life, weight and volume so you can see which notebook is the most worthwhile to carry around. Thanks to its compact frame and lightweight, the Dell XPS 13 achieved a very admirable portability ratio of 3.191, far surpassing the Acer Aspire R13 and Dell Inspiron 13 7000. In fact, its score was more comparable to ultraportable hybrid devices like the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro. This is a testament to the XPS 13’s fantastic design and the efficiency of the new fifth generation Core processors from Intel.

On the way up

Dell was once one of the world’s most promising and brightest PC brands, but at the turn of the millennium, faced with declining PC sales due to a maturing market and alternative devices such as smartphones and tablets along with increased competition from manufacturers based in Asia such as Lenovo and Acer, Dell’s fortunes took a turn. In the past couple of the years, Dell underwent dramatic restructuring and its founder and CEO Michael Dell even took the company private.

Fortunately, if Dell’s recent products are anything to go by, it seems like the company is on the up and up. Most recently, we saw Dell’s new Venue 8 7000 tablet and came away impressed by its awesome design, good build quality and also its RealSense 3D camera. And now, we have the stunning XPS 13 notebook.

As part of Dell’s restructuring, there is a clear emphasis on design now and the Dell XPS 13 is easily one of the best-looking notebooks around now. The "infinity display" looks gorgeous thanks to the almost non-existent bezel and the high resolution and pixel density count. The use of premium materials such as as aluminum and carbon fiber also means that the notebook looks and feels like a premium device. The keyboard is also pleasant to type on. Furthermore, the fact that the XPS 13 is also more compact than contemporary 13-inch notebooks is really the icing on the cake. Really, the problem with the design is the unorthodox positioning of the webcam and the somewhat inaccurate trackpad, which are not deal breakers, in our opinion.

On the performance front, the Dell XPS 13 performs well up to our expectations. Broadwell is all about power efficiency and there is no doubt that the Core i5-5500U processor in the XPS 13 provides more punch per watt than the Haswell processors that come before it. Graphics performance remains to be a sore point for Intel, but it is encouraging to see that the integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500 GPU giving it its all in our benchmarks. It’s not quite up there with discrete mobile GPUs, but it is markedly better than last generations’ solutions.

Finally, the Dell XPS 13 is also priced quite reasonably. Our review model, which also happens to be the top-of-the-line version, comes in at S$2,199. This is reasonable considering its ultra-high resolution display, Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. The Surface Pro 3, its closest competitor in terms of portability and performance, with similar specifications will set you back S$2,281 (with Type Cover). The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is slightly pricier at S$2298, but doesn’t offer as much performance and is not any more portable. And while the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi is more affordable, it doesn’t offer the same level of performance and has its own limitations especially with ports and connectivity.

Furthermore, Dell offers the XPS 13 in three different flavors to suit various budgets. If you really like the XPS 13's design but feel that S$2,000 is a lot of money to spend on a notebook, the entry-level model is worthy of consideration, though we are a bit reluctant to recommend a system with just 4GB of RAM at a price of S$1,699. Between the "mid-range" model and our review unit, our review unit is the obvious choice, because for just a hundred dollars more, you get a gorgeous ultra-high resolution QHD+ touch-enabled display. As such, in our opinion, the highest specced machine (the reviewed version), is the best option of the lot, even if it costs more.

On a whole, the Dell XPS 13 is easily one of the best 13-inch ultraportable notebooks in the market right now, packing decent performance in an extremely compact and sexy package. Could it mark the beginning of a reversal of fortunes for Dell? We would like to think so.

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