MONEY DELL SPENT - Dell XPS 13

The new version of the classic XPS 13 laptop has been downgraded. And that's not a bad thing: it remains the best value pick for ultra-portable computing

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SPECIFICATIONS

Display 13.4-inch, 60Hz, 500 nit, 1900 x 1200 / 3840 x 2400, non-touch / touch LCD

CPU Intel Core i5-1240U / i7-1250U

GPU Intel Iris Xe

RAM 8GB / 16GB / 36GB

Storage 256GB / 512GB / 1TB

Operating system Windows 11 Home / Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Connectivity 2x Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2

Dimensions 295.4x199.4x13.99mm

Weight 1.17kg

This year’s model of the Dell XPS 13 has been on a bit of a self-improvement kick – losing a little weight here, trimming a few millimetres there and getting the sort of internal upgrades that keep you up with the Joneses. The headlines are it’s slightly lighter, smaller and faster.

But it's more about evolution than revolution, and Dell isn't offering the first-class features, such as OLED screens, that it did before. Those are now reserved for the flagship XPS 13 Plus. You probably won't miss them, though, and the XPS 13 remains the ultralight model to beat.

The cosmetic changes in the new XPS 13 are minimal, but they make the whole thing a smidge smaller. The updated model is slightly lighter at 1.17kg, down from 1.27kg. It's slightly skinnier too, at just 13.99mm when closed, 1.27mm thinner than before.