Dell XPS 13 review round up

The Dell XPS 13 is said to be the world's smallest 13-inch laptop with the first ever InfinityEdge display. The Microsoft Surface Pro killer is also one of most well-accepted and highly appreciated devices of 2015.

In the New Year, the company has gone one step further, upgrading its XPS 13 which will apparently enhance the product's graphics performance by 40 percent as compared to its counterparts. Moreover the company has also added a Gold colour variant to the laptop lineup, making it a potential rival to most of the laptops in the market.

Display and design

Weighing only 2.7 pounds, the metal clad Dell XPS 13 boasts a dimension of 11.9 x 7.87 x 0.59 inches. Its sleek and premium design makes it exceptionally thin and light - even lighter than the MacBook Air 13 which weighs 2.96 pounds, reports Laptop.

Perfectly balancing size and resolution, the Dell XPS 13 touts a 13.3-inch touch display resulting in a resolution of 3,200 x 1,800 pixels. Dell offers two variants, either Full HD or an UltraSharp Quad HD Infinity display.

The QHD variant also comes with touchscreen functionality. With a colour gamut of 72 percent and a contrast ratio of 1000:1, the laptop is amazingly bright and displays gorgeous colours.

Dell has also opted for very thin bezels with an aluminium exterior build, which is expected to protect it from fingerprints and scratches. As compared to competing notebooks such as the Lenovo Yoga 900, the Dell XPS 13 is also more travel friendly.

Processor

Like the Surface Pro 4, the XPS 13 is powered by 6th-generation Intel Skylake processors. Dell offers a choice of processors including Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7. One can choose from various RAM configurations (4GB, 8GB and 16GB) coupled with 128GB, 256GB and 512GB of internal storage.

Dell recently bumped the graphics of the variant powered by Intel Core i7 with Intel Iris graphics. The company has also added a new colour option to its high-end variant of XPS 13. The new Gold version of the device will start shipping from Feb. 2 in the US at US$1,699 (AU$2,472). According to Trusted Reviews, it is one of the best portable ultrabooks around .

Operating System and battery life

The Dell XPS 13 is now available with pre-installed Windows 10 Home, clarified Dell . The device boasts Thunderbolt 3 multi-use port which enables the laptop to transfer data up to 40 Gbps. On a Laptop battery test, following a BIOS update, the latest version of the Dell XPS 13 lasted for 11 hours and 54 minutes.

Price

The base model which is powered by Intel Core i3 with 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage is priced at US$799.99 (AU$1,165). It is worth mentioning that the Surface Pro 4 with similar configuration comes with price tag of US$899 (AU$1,309). The top end Intel Core i7 powered variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB native memory comes with a price tag of US$1,649.99 (AU$2,403).