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Dell XPS 13 Plus Review

Dell XPS 13 Plus Review

The Dell XPS 13 has consistently represented the high point of Windows-based laptops, and the company hopes to boost the game with a new system based on the 12th Generation Intel Core.

When it comes to the Dell XPS 13 Plus, its comprehensive appearance, fit and finish, and performance in just such a convenient size factor have so far been extremely effective in attracting potential audience masses. 

This innovative XPS 13 Plus is by far the most sophisticated XPS 13 Plus ever and enhances the foundation of contemporary attractive XPS devices.

Dell is attempting to redefine the approach laptops appear with the XPS 13 Plus. It stands out in numerous aspects, with quality and durability at the top of the list.

Construction and Design

Construction and Design

Featuring a border-free display, carbon fiber keyboard decking, and a metal lid with a sleek design. Together, they create a quality, very compact experience. The architecture of the XPS 13 Plus is what stands out more than anything.

Crisp edges, round corners, and debossed Dell branding give everything a futuristic appearance. The laptop is not excessively big and bulky; it weighs 1.27 kg and features a 16 mm profile.

The matte chassis is good at preventing fingerprints. The “XPS” in the center and the rubber feet are the only elements on the bottom.

Construction and Design

Four audio loudspeakers are located on the bottom corners of the laptop, marking a first for the XPS 13. It has an excellent powerful sound, rich and crisp. 

Construction and Design

However, there seems to be no escaping the fact that top-notch loudspeakers would deliver a marginally superior audio quality because placing the laptop on your lap runs the risk of muffling the sound.

Dolby Atmos is supported and adds excellent spatial efficiency that performs incredibly well, especially for the more recent optimized media.

Through the use of a haptic processor, Dell was able to conceal the touchpad completely. The palm sits’ edges effortlessly meld with them. The entire thing is made up of a single Gorilla Glass 3 panel and feels good in your hands.

Touchpad and Keyboard 

Touchpad and Keyboard

A whole other aspect in which Dell has extended its boundaries relates to the zero-lattice keyboard found on the XPS 13 Plus, which features bigger keycaps without any gap between them. 

The keys feature good bounce-back as well as a solid sensation with 1mm of space. Not entirely plain, every key features a depression for your fingers.

The keyboard is considered one of the finest, according to individuals who have tried it, and it also has a revolutionary appearance. This will be simple for a touch-typist to get acquainted with the structure and experience.

The touchpad is housed in a continuous glass sheet extending the entire wrist rest. The real boundaries of the active region are not marked. 

The spacebar is almost just underneath the touchpad’s borders.

The capacitive feature row keys throughout the finished design certainly feel extremely sensitive.

Ports 

Ports

Dell XPS 13 Plus has only two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports in total. Since there is neither a headphone jack nor an SD card slot, individuals cannot use them.

Ports

Therefore, depending on the accessibility of the minimum available ports, users would essentially only connect just one item while the XPS 13 Plus is being charged.

The best part is that Dell ships the package with Type-C to Type-A and Type-C to 3.5mm connectors. These are tiny and easily misplaced if not cautious. 

Camera (Webcam)

Camera (Webcam)

The XPS 13 Plus features a biometric sensor integrated into the power button and a 720P camera featuring Windows Hello technology for visual recognition. 

This is a secondary IR sensor from the camera itself. The image quality significantly improved as a result, particularly in high-exposure and low-light scenarios.

Improved capabilities of the camera include human presence detection (Dell ExpressSign-in). It enables you to lock as well as unlock your laptop without pressing a single of the controls when configured through the program and combined with Windows Hello. While you’re not staring at the screen, it might darken it to conserve power. 

Display

Camera (Webcam)

The 13.4-inch 16:10 panel found in earlier XPS 13 generations is employed in the XPS 13 Plus, and it’s great. Mine is the OLED panel with a resolution of 3456 x 2160.

It boasts an absurdly high screen-to-body proportion of 91.9%, resulting in tiny margins across all four edges. The panel is glossy, but it contains a thick coat of anti-reflective covering that helps to block off any reflections from windows or lights.

With 100% sRGB, 96% AdobeRGB, and 100% DCI-P3 color grading, the OLED alternative is perfect for image and video production because of its superior adjustment. 

Dell advertises an intensity of 400 nits, but in personal experiments, it measured at 398 nits. The laptop’s minimum brightness, a pleasant 3.9 nits, makes it possible to operate without becoming blinded in or around a completely dark environment.

Dolby Vision significantly improves the contrast, particularly for films, and offers a fantastic entertainment experience. It comes preinstalled.

Battery Performance

Despite containing a P-series CPU, the 55Wh rechargeable battery offers 20 hours and 10 minutes of Internet browsing time or 11 hours and 40 minutes of streaming video time on a single charge.

You might add 90 to 120 minutes by switching the laptop onto Quiet or Cool, in which the CPU capacity is restricted.

Ongoing network browsing at a screen resolution of 150 nits was used to examine the battery performance. In conclusion, the laptop only provided a battery capacity of 7 hours and 34 minutes. 

It matches the 7-hour projection Dell provides for their own Netflix streaming experiment for this system, which is pretty bad. 

Specifications 

Operating systemWindows 11 (Recommended by Dell)
ProcessorCore i5-1240P from Intel’s 12th generation (up to 4.4 GHz, 12MB cache)Core i7-1260P from Intel’s 12th generation (up to 4.7 GHz, 18MB cache)Core i7-1270P from Intel’s 12th generation (up to 4.8 GHz, 18MB cache)Intel Core i7-1280P from the 12th generation (up to 4.8 GHz, 24MB Cache)
GraphicsIntel Iris Xe graphics (up to 96 EUs)
RAM8GB dual-channel DDR5 at 5200 MHz, 16GB at 5200 MHz, and 32GB at 5200 MHz
Storage256GB PCIe 4 SSD512GB PCIe 4 SSD1TB PCIe 4 SSD2TB PCIe 4 SSD8GB, LPDDR5, 5200 MHz, integrated, dual-channel 
Pricestarting at about $1200 USD
DisplayFHD+ 13.4-inch (1920 x 1200) Non-touch, 500-nit, anti-reflective InfinityEdge.FHD+ 13.4-inch (1920 x 1200) 500-nit InfinityEdge touch, anti-reflectiveUHD+ 13.4-inch (3840 x 2400) 500-nit InfinityEdge touch, anti-reflective13.4-inch 3.5K (3456 x 2160) Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, InfinityEdge OLED touch, DisplayHDR 500, 400 nits, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut
Audio and Speakers Stereo speakers in fours (8W total output).microphones that have a double array.Realtek ALC1319D dual stereo speakers (tweeter and woofer), 2 W x 2 = 4 W total.
Camera and WebcamDual-array microphones, a 720p at 30 fps HD RGB camera, and a 400p at 30 fps IR camera
Biometric Authentication8GB dual-channel DDR5 5200MHz, 16GB dual-channel DDR5 5200MHz, Fingerprint reader, and an IR camera.
Battery pack60Whr battery pack with 3 Cell, and provide 55 Wh, while being integrated.
Ports2 Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB Type-C) (with DisplayPort and Power Delivery).connector for USB-C to USB-A 3.0.connector for 3.5mm headsets to USB-C. 
ConnectivityIntel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (2×2), with Bluetooth 5.2
ColoursPlatinum and Graphite.
Dimensions and WeightDimensions & WeightHeight = 0.60 in. (15.28 mm)Width = 11.63 in. (295.30 mm)Depth = 7.84 in. (199.04 mm)Starting weight = 2.71 lbs. (1.23 kg)* for FHD+ or 4K+, and 2.77 lbs. (1.26 kg)* with OLED

The laptop’s 13-inch display has an illumination grade of 500 nits and 90 % DCI-PC color gamut compatibility. Each of the four edges has a thin bezel.

An Intel CoreTM i7-1260P CPU and Intel Iris Xe Graphics are available for the laptop. Up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of PCIe 4 SSD storage are available to consumers. 

Further innovations also provide a touch-sensitive component row for rapid shifting across multimedia and operational buttons, a glass touchpad, an edge-to-edge illuminated keyboard without key spaces, and all of the above.

The XPS 13 Plus includes:

  • A fingerprint scanner.
  • A dual sensor HD HD webcam.
  • Quad loudspeakers with Waves Nx 3D Audio Speaker and MaxxAudio Pro.

55Whr is the battery capacity. The laptop’s bundled USB-C to 3.5mm headphone adapter, and USB-C to USB-A 3.0 adapter are connection options.

Pros

  • It has a stunning new design featuring to-the-edge construction of a keyboard with an LED control row.
  • The laptop has a metal construction that is ultra-thin, lightweight, and portable.
  • Our device has a gorgeous 3.5K OLED touchscreen interface.
  • Core i7-1280P CPU efficiency is swift throughout.
  • An outstanding screen and camera have been built into this laptop.
  • Top-notch keyboard, touchpad, as well as speakers, are featured.

Cons

  • The laptop can get hot while in ultra mode.
  • Battery capacity is not very long.
  • Touchpads are sometimes too sensitive.

FAQs

Should you buy the Dell XPS 13 Plus?

You should buy Dell XPS 13 Plus if you fall into one of the following categories:

  • Individuals seeking the most fashionable, cutting-edge Windows laptop accessible.
  • A user who requires the additional power delivered by the Intel P-Series processing unit.
  • The ones who favor a 13-inch, compact, and lightweight Computer system.
  • Information specialists, learners, as well as creators.
  • Those who enjoy watching videos and films when they’re on the move.
  • People who are willing and ready for high-end prices.

While if the following conditions apply to you, then this isn’t the laptop for you:

  • Anyone who needs a long-lasting charge.
  • Someone worried about a more delicate high, priced laptop.
  • Those who favor a convertible 2-in-1 layout.
  • Users require a precisely defined NVIDIA GPU, such as video game players or 4K videographers.

Is the Dell XPS 13 Plus good for gaming?

For gamers requiring a specific discrete NVIDIA GPU, Dell XPS 13 Plus would not be your choice. 

How to connect your Dell XPS 13 Plus to your TV?

Just about a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 to HDMI connection is needed. Put this same USB-C end of the cord into the laptop’s Thunderbolt 3 connector. The HDMI end of the specimen should be connected to a free HDMI port on the television. Therefore you may view Windows 10 on the television screen after turning on the laptop.

How much does the Dell XPS 13 Plus cost?

Dell XPS 13 Plus is available at $1,949.

Conclusion 

Setting the standard for cutting-edge laptop innovation, the Dell XPS 13 Plus offers reliable as well as exciting computer performance. It features an excellent keyboard, fantastic sound, a brilliant display, and plenty of efficiencies. 

But the battery life falls short of expectations while also becoming hot under ultra mode. The XPS 13 Plus appears less like uncontrolled experimentation. Still, instead, it seems more about a moderate push to more than just the regular laptops marketplace as a whole towards a different innovative direction.