Dell XPS 13 Plus: Design, Features, Performance, And More!

The Dell XPS 13 Plus clearly shows something remarkable! Dell’s Premium XPS laptops are intended to represent the pinnacle of style and quality.

The XPS 13 Plus challenges traditional laptop style with its dynamic touch bar, edgeless keyboard, and borderless touchpad. Not everything works flawlessly, but Dell deserves credit for pushing beyond the box. 

Dell XPS 13 Plus Design

Dell XPS 13 Plus
Dell

The XPS 13 Plus upholds the XPS brand’s high standards of elegance and quality. From its practically bezel-less display to its edge-to-edge keyboard, its ultra-chic layout exudes innovation.

The aluminum and glass chassis and lid are extremely strong. Picking it up one-handed does not put any strain on the laptop.

The XPS 13 Plus’s port selection is a severe flaw: it only has two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) connectors and nothing more, not even a headphone jack. Worse, the accompanying power adaptor will occupy one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Dell offers USB-C to USB-A and USB-C to headphone port adapters, but they’re a little convenient; remembering to bring them is a bother, and they’re easily misplaced.

For password-free Windows Hello logins, the XPS 13 Plus includes a fingerprint sensor embedded into the power button as well as a facial recognition camera.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Tab S9: Design, Price, Specifications, And More!

Price

Dell XPS 13 Plus
Dell

The starting price for the Dell XPS 13 Plus is $1,299, which includes a 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD in the base configuration. You additionally get a non-touch 1080p display. 

Also Read: OnePlus 12: Design, Features, Specifications, And More!

Keyboard

Dell XPS 13 Plus
Dell

Not only is there no space between the keys (Dell refers to this as “zero lattices”), but the topmost row (F1 through F12 and related functions) is a touch bar rather than genuine keys.

The primary issue with the keyboard’s layout is the half-sized up and down arrows sandwiched between full-size left and right arrows.

The other issue is visibility; white lighting in the sunlight made it difficult to distinguish key symbols on the platinum keys, therefore turning off the backlighting made it easier to view the key symbols. 

Also Read: iPhone 15 Launch Date Has Been Delayed.

Display

Dell XPS 13 Plus
Dell

The XPS 13 Plus has the same 13.4-inch 16:10 display as previous XPS 13 models, and it’s amazing.  On the plus side, if you’re ready to spend on the 3.5K OLED touch screen, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a visual feast. 

The blacks are completely dark, as you’d expect from an OLED display, and the viewing angles are really broad. The image also becomes quite bright, albeit not as bright as the competitors. 

Also Read: iPhone 15 Pro Max: Design, Price, Specifications, And More! 

Performance

Dell XPS 13 Plus
Dell

The Dell XPS 13 Plus is intended to give a pro-level performance in a compact size, and it basically succeeds.

Dell highlights the accessible Performance option in the My Dell application, which has been designed to unleash significantly greater performance. 

The internals of the XPS 13 Plus are quite similar to earlier entrants in the lineup because it employs a 28-watt processor. It makes use of two fans, heat pipes, and tiny vents in the bottom lid and at the hinge.

Overall, the XPS 13 Plus’ approach to managing heat and performance is great, despite the fact that the bottom of the laptop becomes rather warm. 

Also Read: New iPhone 15 Leak Colors: Every Rumored Shade Of The iPhone 15

Battery life

Dell XPS 13 Plus
HotHardware

Devices powered by Intel’s 12th-generation processors aren’t exactly battery powerhouses. The majority observed a decrease from prior generations, which is unfortunate. With its 55-watt-hour battery, the XPS 13 Plus matches this trend.

So far in 2023, Intel’s 13th-generation processors haven’t seemed to make a significant difference, and the newest XPS 13 Plus actually lost battery life.

While performing online surfing macros that cycle among pages in Google Chrome, the laptop last just 5.25 hours on a single charge. With its lower-quality screen, the basic model should last a few hours longer. 

Also Read: Xiaomi Pad 6 Review: Budget-Friendly Creativity And Productivity!

Verdict

Dell XPS 13 Plus
Dell

The Dell XPS 13 Plus stands as one of the most efficient ultraportables ever made, and Dell deserves respect for delivering such power in such a small size. The new Dell also has a very ergonomic keyboard and an excellent OLED display. 

The XPS 13 Plus does not receive a higher grade due to its short battery life and capacitive function row, which appears to be a little chintzy for a $1,200 laptop. 

The XPS 13 Plus seems less like a crazy experiment and more like a subtle shove in a new direction to the rest of the industry.