Dell XPS 13 (Intel Lunar Lake) overview: out with a whimper

The Dell XPS 13 was as soon as the most effective thin-and-light Windows laptop computer you possibly can get, with superb construct high quality, good battery life, and respectable port choice (and finally, a serviceable webcam). But it peaked in 2020 and it’s been slipping since. It bought OLED display choices that tanked the battery life. Then there was a baffling redesign that made the keyboard, trackpad, and port choice worse, paired with power-hungry twelfth Gen Intel chips, so it nonetheless had dangerous battery life, and it ran too sizzling.

The new Intel Lunar Lake mannequin fixes a few of these points, however improved efficiency and a fantastic OLED display can’t make up for the flawed design. With a spongy keyboard, awkward perform row, and paltry ports, this laptop computer is extremely irritating to make use of — a tragic sendoff for the once-admired XPS identify.

The Dell XPS 13 (mannequin 9350), launched in late 2024, is the x86 counterpart to the Snapdragon X Elite model we examined final summer time. It begins at $1,399 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V CPU (Lunar Lake), 16GB of RAM, user-replaceable 512GB NVMe SSD, and a 13.4-inch non-touch 1920 x 1200 IPS show with as much as 120Hz refresh price. My $1,699 overview unit has a 60Hz 4K tandem OLED touchscreen however is in any other case similar to the bottom mannequin.

That tandem OLED display is by far the XPS 13’s greatest spotlight. It’s tremendous sharp at its native 2880 x 1800 decision, and its colours and distinction are extremely punchy. The most 400 nits of brightness with HDR (I measured 455 nits on my overview unit) is sufficient to be usable exterior in all however the harshest of direct daylight, and since it’s an OLED, it maintains distinctive distinction even when cranked up. It’s positively well worth the $300 upcharge.

The construct high quality and modern design of this laptop computer are actually one thing else. At 2.7 kilos, it’s bought a bit heft for its compact dimension, and it feels sturdy with no flex or creaking even should you apply strain to its essential deck or lid. The 1080p webcam can also be a pleasant improve, rendering a pointy picture (although it lacks a privateness cowl). But the brand new XPS 13’s main accomplishment is what’s inside: an Intel processor that threads the needle of battery life and efficiency. Battery life has been an actual problem on previous-gen XPS 13s, however the Lunar Lake 256V chip’s eight cores (4 efficiency cores / 4 effectivity cores) actually ship. It sips energy when it may, simply lasting via eight- to 10-hour work days crammed with dozens of open and energetic Chrome tabs, the occasional video name or Slack huddle, and typing up paperwork. It lasted over twelve hours in our battery rundown check.

That’s not as power-efficient because the M3 MacBook Air, which is able to get you thru a bit of your second day of labor earlier than you need to plug it in. And it’s not as long-lasting because the Arm model of the XPS 13 with a Snapdragon X Elite processor, which lasted over 15 and a half hours in our battery rundown check. But it’s an enormous enchancment on previous fashions (and with an OLED display, no much less). It’s been 5 years since we’ve seen an Intel XPS 13 last more than seven hours, and the OLED fashions we examined in 2021 and 2022 lower that to 5 hours. But to be honest to Dell, the pitiful battery lifetime of Windows laptops from that period was principally because of the shortcomings of Intel’s twelfth and thirteenth Gen processors.

Performance-wise, the XPS 13’s Core Ultra 7 256V feels snappy — even whereas multitasking round apps unfold throughout three digital desktops. Its benchmark scores are near these of different Lunar Lake laptops we’ve examined, just like the bigger Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition and Acer Swift 14 AI. In single-core benchmarks, it’s about as quick because the Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100 within the Arm XPS 13 and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX370 in Asus’ Zenbook S 16. It can’t sustain with both the Snapdragon or Ryzen chips in multicore benchmarks, however these are each 12-core CPUs; the 256V has eight. Part of me at all times craves extra energy and extra cores, however I’ve used Lunar Lake throughout a couple of completely different thin-and-light laptops at this level, and it’s completely fantastic.

Intel’s Arc 140V built-in graphics aren’t almost pretty much as good because the Radeon 890M within the AMD chip, however the brand new XPS 13 can play some trendy video games. In Helldivers 2, at respectable low-to-mid graphical settings and 1920 x 1200 decision, body charges averaged a decent 40fps, although they often dipped into the low 30s throughout hectic moments. A single-player sport like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle fared barely higher — within the 50fps vary with dynamic decision scaling, although it had a lot of display tearing with out Vsync activated. (Remember, of us, it is a thin-and-light productiveness laptop computer, so even the tiniest gaming prowess is a bonus.)

Good battery life, strong efficiency, and an incredible display are an enormous a part of the battle. Unfortunately, they’re within the incorrect laptop computer. If Dell had solely caught with the design it was utilizing as late as 2023, this might have been an incredible laptop computer. Instead, the XPS 13 suffers from the redesigned keyboard and capacitive perform row Dell launched with the XPS 13 Plus in 2022 and dropped at your complete XPS line in 2024.

First off: the goddamned keyboard. Its gapless structure and springy keys really feel so crummy it truly makes work tougher. I don’t need to kind on this factor. My fingers typically really feel misplaced, my typing stream is stilted, and I make extra typos than traditional.

And then there’s the capacitive perform row. It provides no bodily suggestions when pressed, and that’s the place the escape secret is. It’s bizarre as hell to must look down or blindly hunt each time you wish to use one of many capabilities there, particularly together with these springy bodily keys. It’s as participating as typing on a plank of wooden.

This keyboard was dangerous in 2022, and it ought to have been left for useless when Dell lower the 13 Plus mannequin. There are a lot better laptop computer keyboards on the market, on MacBooks and Windows laptops alike. I cherished the typing really feel of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i and the varied Asus Zephyrus gaming laptops I’ve used. Even the removable keyboard cowl of the Asus ROG Flow Z13 is extra satisfying to kind on.

The seamless haptic trackpad nonetheless seems stealthy and funky, but it surely’s inconsistent and overly delicate, typically registering unintended / additional clicks after I’m transferring the cursor shortly or clicking and dragging. It’s a disappointment, particularly since I desire haptic trackpads. This one is oh-so-close to being good, however there are higher examples elsewhere.

The XPS 13 nonetheless has only one USB-C port on the left and one on the fitting. At least they’re Thunderbolt 4, however this nonetheless appears like an outdated try at chasing Apple — from years in the past, earlier than Apple introduced MagSafe again to the MacBook Air. The XPS doesn’t even provide a headphone jack. Apple by no means stooped that low on its MacBooks, not even within the Jony Ive thinness-over-everything period. It provides one much less methodology of overcoming the XPS 13’s crappy audio system, which have barely any backside finish. (Yes, Bluetooth exists, or you possibly can use USB-C headphones, however keep in mind — solely two ports.) Dell’s XPS 14 commits the identical keyboard and performance row crimes because the XPS 13, however no less than it provides three USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 ports, a headphone jack, and a microSD slot. At this time, it’s nonetheless on older Meteor Lake chips and sure gained’t be refreshed.

With the Lunar Lake mannequin, Dell has achieved job of fixing key shortcomings like battery life, efficiency, and thermal design — although that has extra to do with Intel making up for the issues in its earlier chips than something Dell did. And the OLED display is superb. But it’s not sufficient to make up for the shortage of ports or for a keyboard and performance row which might be actively disagreeable to make use of.

The XPS 13 was as soon as the most effective Windows different to the MacBook Air. If Dell had merely caught the Lunar Lake chipset and OLED display into the identical chassis it used for the 2022 XPS 13, it will nonetheless be within the operating. As it’s, the Microsoft Surface Laptop seventh Edition is an effective possibility, except you depend on software program that doesn’t but work with Windows on Arm. Asus’ Zenbook A14 and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X9 each appear like they’re gunning immediately for the MacBook Air’s type. And in fact, there’s the upcoming M4 MacBook Air itself.

This is probably going the final XPS 13, and it may have been an incredible swan music. But Dell selected to meddle with a design that labored, identical to it’s selecting to interchange its long-standing manufacturers like XPS, Latitude, and Precision with generic, uninspired names like Dell Plus and Dell Pro Max Premium. These unforced errors are a tragic farewell to the XPS line, which, on the very least, was at all times worthy of consideration. Will anybody take note of a Dell Premium?

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge