It’s hard to imagine that the Dell XPS 13 2020 Review will get any better now. This near-perfect laptop has been a leading brand for many years due to its high performance and incredibly slim design, which is why Dell continues to get thinner and neater with each release.
However, notebook processors are constantly evolving, making the latest Dell XPS 13 2020 Review even faster than 11th Gen Intel processors with integrated Xe graphics. Combine this with this year’s stunning 4-sided InfinityEdge display, impressive portable design, comfortable keyboard, and touchpad for the ultimate laptop that’s unbeatable.
Dell XPS 13 9380 13.3″ Laptop
As you can see from our Dell XPS 13 2020 Review, there are a few drawbacks to consider before purchasing the latest version of Dell’s flagship laptop. And with the incredible competition from the MacBook Air M1, the battle for the best laptop has never been more difficult.
Dell XPS 13 Pricing
The new Dell XPS 13 is now available for $979. For that money, you get an 11th generation Intel Core i3-1115G4 processor, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD and Intel UHD graphics.
Dell XPS 13 Design
The Dell XPS 13 and Tiger Lake is the modern XPS room I tested this year and there are still no hands on finding the best model from Dell. The case is as solid, light and impressive as a high-end notebook, with an elegant aluminum body and a beautiful arctic white interior that makes most of its competitors look gray.
The Tiger Lake XPS 13 has the same redesigned design as Dell earlier this year, which is great. Dell’s latest InfinityEdge monitor is far from framed because the company has an XPS and the correct webcam is connected.
The new XPS 13 is incredibly small and light at 11.7 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches and 2.9 pounds – almost as light and light as the new MacBook Air M1.
Dell XPS 13 Display
The 13.4-inch (1920 x 1200) display on the new XPS 13 looks better than ever, thanks to Dell’s latest InfinityEdge design, which shortens the thick bottom bezel of the 2019 model. Truly immersive and virtually limitless viewing experience with a rich screen-to-body ratio of 91.5%.
When I watched The Witcher on Netflix, I saw pop-up screens in dark green, yellow, and pink as the magician Geralt Stregobor performed in a lush street jacket. I also saw many small details, from the cruel beds of Henry Cavill’s ridiculously sculpted face to the fine lines of his leather armor.
Dell’s latest laptop is very bright and has a high brightness on our 469 light meter. It outperforms Apple’s Asus ZenBook Flip S (375 nits) and Apple’s latest MacBook Air (365 nits).
Our tests show that the new XPS 13 reproduces true colors completely, masking the high color level of 97.9% sRGB. ZenBook (160%) and MacBook Air (114%) are better.
Dell XPS 13 Port
The slim design of the XPS 13 will be priced at a handful of ports consisting of two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Get a USB-C to USB-A adapter to connect older accessories, but you will probably need to use a USB-C adapter or hub if you plan to use multiple devices and monitors on your laptop.
Dell XPS 13 Audio System
The XPS 13’s speakers can be loud enough to fill a small room, but you’ll need a separate audio device to listen to some serious music or watch wishes. The spinning guitars, the soft heavy drums, and the alluring “Faith Healer” songs all have a clean sound in the middle, but the music has a nasty root when I spin it.
Tiger’s Jaws lively pop rock “Warn Me” sounds a bit better at full volume than hot, twisted guitars, hiss of drums and consistent vocal harmonies. But then again, the music sounded dirtier than I absolutely wanted.
The MaxxAudioPro XPS 13 application is enabled by default and enhances the audio output of the entire laptop. At the same time, it offers features like adjustable equalizer and head tracking for optimal sound positioning. The app greatly improves what you listen to. Turning them off makes your portable voice lower and louder. But you still want the best speakers or headphones if you want to listen to your favorite music and high-quality performance.
Dell XPS 13 Performance
Featuring 11th Generation Intel Tiger Lake processors, the new XPS 13 delivers the best performance ever seen on a Dell laptop, with no burns. The latest XPS 13 consumes a standard multifunctional charge without one, though I’ve found a dozen Chrome guides listening to music on Spotify and chatting for hours on Discord and Slack.
How many cones does Tiger Lake have? The new XPS 13 scored 5254 in the Geébench 5 overall performance test, a significant improvement over the 10.84 model we achieved on our 10th generation model and outperformed the Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371 (3880) with the 11th generation machine … … The Dell laptop does not match the 5896 we saw on Apple’s new M1 chip on the latest MacBook Air.
The 512GB XPS 13 SSD performed well in our file transfer test, copying around 5GB of files at 806MB per second. However, our 1TB Zenbook Flip S is faster at 1296Mbps.
Dell laptop is not the fastest video editing test with Handbrake. It takes about 18 minutes to convert a 4K video to 1080p. It’s 22 minutes faster than the ZenBook, but the MacBook Air completed the test twice as fast in 7 minutes and 44 seconds.
A similar story happened during Photoshop testing at PugetBench. The latest XPS 13 has grown to an impressive 588 in image processing, but has reached the 10th generation (656.7) and 652 we saw on the new MacBook Air.
Dell XPS 13 Keyboard & Touchpad
I love typing on the latest XPS 13 keyboard with soft, bouncy keys that comfort me for hours. I pressed the Dell keyboard at 104 words per minute with near full precision typing 10FastFingers, and I wasn’t confused.
The XPS 13 4.7 x 3.2 touchpad is so intuitive that you can easily scroll, zoom and gesture with multiple fingers on web pages without resistance. Dell’s latest laptop has 9% more buttons and 17% more touchpads than the previous generation, giving you more space to write and send emails throughout the day.
Dell XPS 13 Graphics
The new Dell XPS 13 features a newly integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics card, a significant improvement over the Iris Plus graphics card built into previous generation laptops.
The Xe attack produced interesting results from the 3598’s 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark compared to the 2837 we saw on the 10th-gen XPS 13 with standard Iris Plus graphics. This is in line with the 3351 we got from our ZenBook S Tiger Lake, with similar improvements to the 10th gen engine.
However, other results are contradictory. The XPS 13 ran at 15.7 frames per second in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, which is actually less than the 18.7 frames per second and roughly 36 frames per second that we achieved in our 10th gen model. what we saw in Apple’s new MacBook Air M1.
Dell XPS 13 Battery
The latest Dell XPS 13 required 11 hours and 7 minutes of battery testing from the user, including endless internet browsing over Wi-Fi using the new Microsoft Edge browser.
This allows you to spend an entire day working and more, but it is less time than we found in the XPS 13 10 Gen test (12:39) with a trial version. And the incredible 14 hours and 40 minutes of battery life we have in the new MacBook Air M1 are brilliant.
Dell XPS 13 Webcam
The quality of the XPS 13 webcam is average for a portable webcam, which means it is frustrating and colorful. I was impressed that Dell was able to mount a 720p camera on the laptop’s small top panel and provide infrared support for instant face-to-face communication via Windows Hello. However, if you want a clear view during ongoing video calls, it is best to choose one of the best webcams and not rely on the XPS 13’s built-in camera.
Verdict
Dell XPS 13 (11th Gen) is a better laptop offering faster speeds and better graphics performance in most situations. This is in addition to the many subtle improvements Dell made to the XPS 13 earlier this year, including a bezel-less InfinityEdge display and a more comfortable keyboard and trackpad.
However, there are some performance imperfections that prevent the XPS 13 from being truly perfect. While most people will need an 11-hour battery, the 10th-gen XPS 13 will last even longer. And our tests showed areas where Tiger Lake has yet to live up to next-generation expectations.
If you want better performance and battery life (and don’t want to worry about upgrading to macOS), check out the new MacBook Air with the amazing Apple M1 processor. However, the latest XPS 13 is still brilliant every day and is still the best Windows laptop you can buy today.