Dell XPS 13 Review

The XPS 13 9370’s integrated Intel UHD 620 GPU is adequate for light video editing and playing games at low settings. Its Core i7 and Core i5 versions scored 85,616 and 77,584 in 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, a simulated graphics test, respectively.

The XPS 13 9370 is a pleasant everyday companion, with a brilliant display – sluggish response times notwithstanding – and overall outstanding ergonomics. The fan management, in particular, is flawless, as the surface temperatures stay nice during regular use and low to medium loads, and the system noise is much more constant and less intrusive than we’ve come to anticipate from a thin-and-light.

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Let’s have a detailed review.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS:

PROS

CONS

Display

The Dell XPS 13 9370 with i7-8550U features the same 4K UHD display panel (Sharp SHP148B LQ133D1) as the i5 variant. The brightness readings of our XPS 13 are extremely close to those of its i5, at around 470 nits on average; the very modest variances may be attributable to panel fluctuation and measurement uncertainty. The Dell panel does admirably here; however, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2018 is somewhat brighter.

As previously, we experienced Pulse-Width Modulation at brightness levels of 20% and below, even though the frequency is high enough (3760 Hz) to cause it.

Keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard is fantastic, with a high amount of physical resistance for extended typing periods. The keys are properly spaced and have a tactile feel, as well as a two-level illumination.

The trackpad is smaller than we’re used to seeing on a MacBook, but aside from Apple’s excellent control input, it’s the greatest Windows trackpad we’ve ever seen — responsive, smooth, and accurate. Its centre placement is desirable because the carbon fibre texture on each side provides a pleasant palm rest. The pointer does not wobble randomly or fire in the wrong direction, as it happens with other computers.

Connectivity

There are two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C connectors and one USB-C 3.1 port for communication. PowerShare, DC-In, and DisplayPort are all shared duties. The entire specs sheet may be found in the drop-down specs box lower down this page.

Dell has eliminated the SD card slot as well as all USB-A ports. We’ll all have to get used to USB-C as it appears on phones in our pockets and PCs on our desks. One day, ideally, it will be so thoroughly standardised that we will just need one charger for all of our devices.

Unlike Apple, Dell included a USB-A adaptor in the package, recognising the inconvenient shift.

However, there is a microSD card reader built-in, so if you have an Android phone with expandable storage, this is the device for you.

GPU Performance

While other rivals rely on dedicated graphics, such as Nvidia’s entry-level Pascal-based offering GeForce MX150, the Dell XPS 13 can only be purchased with the integrated Graphics 620(Intel UHD ), putting it well behind the Nvidia competition while doing graphics-intensive activities.

Everyday tasks such as surfing or video streaming are unaffected, but 3D apps quickly strain the integrated graphics hardware to its limitations. Depending on the benchmark, PCs equipped with the Nvidia MX150 can be up to twice as quick.

Processor

The 8th-generation Kaby Lake R quad-core i7-8550U( Intel Core) works adequately for the most part, but it doesn’t always outperform the i5-8250U by a huge margin: in our case, the XPS 13 with the “lesser” CPU produced nearly equal CineBench R15 Multi-score results (636 vs 639 points).

We should note that even after activating other profiles in the registry, the high-performance power profile is not an option; thus, we conducted all of our tests and benchmarks using the usually balanced profile. Other systems with the same i5 CPU perform less well, while the performance gap between the i5 and i7 CPUs is often less than 20%.

Systems with prior dual-core CPUs, such as the Razer Blade Stealth QHD with i7-7500U processor, appear hopelessly old since they are up to 50% slower when all cores function in tandem. Sustained performance is good: after a little decline of roughly 8%, consecutive scores settle around 600 points.

Battery Life

Even though the two laptops’ power consumption is nearly comparable, the i7 model lasted an hour longer than its i5 model.  Variations in WLAN and background activity/downloads might be to blame for the discrepancies. Because of its larger 60 Wh battery and lower power minimums, the preceding Dell XPS 13 9360 with the identical i7 CPU lasted over 10 hours.

So, if you are looking for an amazing gaming laptop, then this is going to be your favourite.