5 / 10 Pros Thin and light design Excellent battery life Solid screen Decent battery life Cons 8GB of RAM just can’t cut it Mediocre mechanical trackpad Needs more ports Intel chips are slower than last gen After reviewing the MacBook Neo , I've been eager to see which PC maker could match Apple's difficult balance of low cost and high quality hardware. The source signal from Engadget should be placed in context firs.
What happened
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget RATING : 7. 5 / 10 Pros Thin and light design Excellent battery life Solid screen Decent battery life Cons 8GB of RAM just can’t cut it Mediocre mechanical trackpad Needs more ports Intel chips are slower than last gen After reviewing the MacBook Neo , I've been eager to see which PC maker could match Apple's difficult balance of low cost and high quality hardware. Could anyone actually deliver a Windows laptop that works well with just 8GB of RAM? Dell's latest XPS 13 comes close. The company touts it as the thinnest and lightest XPS yet, weighing in at 2. 2 pounds and 12. 7 millimeters thick.
Practical impact for readers
To reach that price point, though, Dell inevitably had to make some compromises. The new XPS 13 still features an all metal case, but its more basic design resembles the company's mainstream Inspiron line instead of the premium XPS family. Its Intel Core hardware is more efficient than before, but significantly slower than the last generation of XPS 13. And the more I use it, the more frustrated I am with its mechanical trackpad, which feels like a major step back from Dell's recent haptic trackpads.
Details worth verifying
And perhaps the biggest issue? I still don't think 8GB of RAM is enough to comfortably use Windows 11, especially if you plan to keep the XPS 13 for more than a few years. All that being said, if you're hyper-focused on getting a new $700 Windows PC that can vaguely compare to the MacBook Neo, then the XPS 13 is currently your best option.
Who should act or wait
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget Dell got the basics right with this XPS 13. Its aluminum case feels smooth and sturdy, with none of the case flex we typically see on $700 laptops. It doesn't feel as high-end as the XPS 14 and 16's aluminum finishes, but it's similar to the MacBook Neo. The XPS 13 is also a half-pound lighter than the 2. 7-pound Neo, and it has a faster 120Hz display, both decent feathers in Dell's cap.
What is still unclear
Stylistically, the XPS 13 is a step back from the last generation, which sported the same invisible trackpad and edge-to-edge keyboard as the current XPS 14 and 16. But the last few XPS 13 models also started at $1,300 and $1,400, so it's hard to expect the same level of quality on a $700 laptop. The real downside of this redesign, though, is that it looks more basic than the XPS 13 I reviewed in 2019 .
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