Dell XPS 13 (Late 2015) review

Dell boldly called last year’s XPS 13 the 'smallest 13.3in laptop on the planet' and that remains true of the latest model. The chassis hasn't even changed for 2015 - this is more of a specification refresh - but rivals haven't managed to slim down to the svelte levels attained by the XPS 13. Elegant and sophisticated, with truly wonderful build quality, it easily holds its own against other flagship laptops like the MacBook Air.

The slightly tapered design goes from 9mm to 15mm at its thickest point. The touchscreen model weighs an inconsequential 1.29kg, which is lighter than Apple’s MacBook Air; choose the non-touch model and this drops even further to 1.2kg.

Not quite what you need? Check out our best laptops from 2015

InfinityEdge display

It feels refined in the hand and looks stunning to boot, thanks to the virtually borderless ‘InfinityEdge’ display. The bezels have been reduced to mere millimetres in order to squeeze a 13.3in screen into a far smaller chassis. It still remains an amazing feat of engineering, but it helps that the 3,200x1,800 touchscreen panel is simply gorgeous. The high resolution makes working on multiple documents a real joy, with Windows 10’s improved scaling options coping admirably with the extra pixels.

With 93.3% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut, the screen is also very accurate – beating last year’s equivalent model. A contrast ratio of 1,052:1 was also excellent, giving colours plenty of pop. It means that the XPS 13 is still a reasonable choice for the photographers. Very deep 0.17cd/m2 peak blacks help give darker images plenty of definition, with none of the backlight bleed that spoiled last year’s model.

Reflections are a slight issue, due to the glossy coating, but a bit of angle adjustment usually overcame it. The returning dynamic contrast adjustment is more irritating; this forces the brightness levels to jump around erratically based on what’s onscreen. Finally, the webcam is again placed below the screen. It’s unorthodox, but a side effect of those super-thin bezels.

Keyboard and Touchpad

A carbon fibre keyboard surround adds some variety to the inside of the laptop, contrasting nicely with the gunmetal grey exterior. It’s got a slight grippy quality to it and doesn’t conduct heat through the palm rests when you’re typing, which is always a positive.

The keys themselves are nicely spaced and don’t feel cramped as you type. They have a good degree of tactility, which leads to better accuracy as you can really feel when a key actuates. We had no problems typing for long periods and missed keystrokes were an infrequent occurrence. The keys are backlit, so typing in dimly lit conditions isn’t a problem.

The touchpad is great too. It’s large, at least in the context of the XPS 13’s slimmed down chassis, and is responsive and accurate. Windows 10 multi-touch gestures were all activated without a hitch, making swiping around a joy. You can also use the touchscreen; the hinge held firmly to prods and pokes, so we weren’t concerned the entire laptop would tilt back. Fingerprints do begin to mar the beautiful display, though, so you might want to carry around a microfiber cloth to keep it looking its best.

Performance

This version of the XPS 13 has a dual-core, 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U, which can Turbo Boost to 3.1GHz with the right thermal conditions. It’s paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of PCI-express SSD storage. Performance was exactly what we would expect from the low voltage CPU, managing an overall score of 46 in our application benchmarks. You wouldn’t expect a svelte, ultra-portable laptop to be a processing powerhouse, but the i7-6500U is going to be able to handle most tasks without issue.

Some light gaming is even possible, with Intel’s HD 520 integrated GPU managing 31.9fps in Dirt Showdown at 1,280x720 resolution, High quality settings and 4x anti-aliasing. You’ll need to tone down the quality settings and resolution to obtain playable framerates for most games, but it’s a nice option to have.

In our battery test, the XPS 13 lasted 11 hours and 30 minutes, which is an improvement on the older model. This is easily enough for a full working day away from the mains, and the charger isn’t too cumbersome to carry around either.

Connections

Two USB3 ports, an SD card reader and a 3.5mm headset jack would be generous enough for a laptop so thin, but the XPS 13 also has a Thunderbolt 3 port. It uses the USB Type-C connector, but allows for faster 40Gbps transfer rates (as opposed to USB 3.1’s 10Gbps). It replaces the mini DisplayPort found on the old model, meaning there’s no way to output to an external display without buying an adaptor; Dell sells VGA and HDMI dongles, plus one for wired Ethernet. There’s also a useful battery gauge indicator for checking your remaining charge at a glance.

Conclusion

The new XPS 13 might be more refresh than complete overhaul, but the upgraded components and the addition of Thunderbolt 3 bring it right up to date. It remains visually stunning, and that gorgeous display means it’s still one of the most portable laptops around. Windows 10’s display scaling makes working on the high resolution display a joy, and image quality is improved over last year’s model. The XPS 13 is one of the best ultra-portables around, and holds its own against the likes of Apple’s MacBook Air.