Dell XPS 13

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Had late Apple CEO Steve Jobs been in charge of designing a Windows PC it probably would have ended up looking a lot like Dell’s latest XPS 13 – a laptop whose use of woven glass fibre looks set to revolutionise the way laptops are made going forward.

But there’s more to this laptop than just a sleek design. It also comes with a near bezel-less InfinityEdge display boasting 4K Ultra HD resolution at the top end, and it uses the same cooling system as the Mars Rover – and there aren’t a lot of laptops you can say that about.

Price and availability

One of the drawbacks of the new design and increased specs is that the Dell XPS 13 is now more expensive than it used to be – and there’s no longer an Intel Core i3 option at the baseline.

The most affordable option at £1,269 ($999) features a 1.6GHz IntelCore i5-8250U, a 1080p non-touch display, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. Should you crave a faster processor, there are two models featuring a 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U to choose from.

However, the model we were sent for testing features the aforementioned 4K display, a 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM and costs a cool £1,899 ($2,349).

All new XPS 13 models include three USB-C ports (two of which are Thunderbolt 3), a microSD card reader and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The only flagship laptop that can price match the new XPS 13 is the Google Pixelbook. Both the latest MacBook Pro and 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 are more expensive for comparable or inferior hardware.

Design

2018 marks a tangible shift in the design of the XPS 13. Its chassis is now 30 percent slimmer at just 3.4mm at its narrowest point and a touch lighter at 1.21kg than its immediate predecessor.