Expert's Guide to the Best 13-Inch Notebook: Exceptional Endurance and Dynamic Design Unveiled Insights

Expert’s Guide to the Best 13-Inch Notebook: Exceptional Endurance and Dynamic Design Unveiled Insights

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

Dell’s XPS 13 Copilot+ PC is on sale now starting at $999, but upgrades to the storage or display will bring the price upwards of $1,600.
It features one of the sleekest builds of any laptop released in 2024, with a gorgeous display and an impressive battery life.
The two USB-C ports are limiting, the bold design choices aren’t for everyone, and it’s pricey.

Dell continues to round out its popular XPS line of laptops with machines that attempt to check the boxes for every use case. The latest addition: the XPS 13 (9345): an ultraportable Copilot+ PC with a future-forward design and cutting-edge hardware.

Dell has released multiple models in its Latitude and Inspiron lines, but only bestowed the 13-inch XPS model with the new ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite processor. The company called it out as a unique device in Dell’s catalog, despite all the different configurations the line offers.

Armed with the same high-end Snapdragon processor as Samsung’s Galaxy Book 4 Edge , this 13-inch, 2.6-pound laptop is a performance powerhouse in a sleek and well-designed form factor with all the hallmarks of XPS’s design: the invisible trackpad, the zero-lattice keyboard, and the brilliant display.

ZDNET RECOMMENDS Dell XPS 13 Dell’s 13-inch XPS laptop comes with the cutting-edge Snapdragon X Elite processor and a sleek, ultra-lightweight form factor. View at Dell

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

You also wouldn’t be the first to mistake this laptop for a 13-inch MacBook Air upon first glance, especially when it’s closed. The graphite colorway and minimalist USB-C ports take more than just a page from Apple’s design book. If, however, opening up the clamshell to reveal its iconic keyboard doesn’t dispel any doubt about its identity, the black-and-gold Snapdragon logo below the keyboard will.

I recently went hands-on with Dell’s XPS 13 for a few weeks, and I enjoyed using it. In fact, I’m inclined to say that this is one of the best 13-inch laptops I’ve tested this year, although it’s hard to commit to that statement given that the Snapdragon X Elite chips are still in the early adoption phase.

Also: This Dell Inspiron is one of the most versatile, well-rounded laptops I’ve tested

The Snapdragon processor gives this laptop some impressive raw performance, for sure. In my benchmarking, the Dell XPS 13 showed off its multitasking horsepower by running productivity apps and visual tasks with the dual-core boost on board the X1E-80 processor, something the other chips don’t have.

Boot times move at warp speed, and browsing behavior feels snappy and responsive. When paired with the brilliant tandem OLED display, it feels like a true high-end productivity device.

Copilot + PC	Cinebench Multi-Core	Geekbench Multi-Core
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge	860	1,562
Dell XPS 13	977	14,687
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x	1,004	13,677
Asus Vivobook S 15	969	14,384
HP Omnibook X 14	470	13,160

Unfortunately, all that power is held back by potential emulation issues in Windows’ Prism program, or even with some commonly-used apps that are still not fully optimized for Windows on Arm. This is something we’ve been talking about with all the new Copilot+ PCs we’ve tested this year, and the XPS 13 is not immune to the issue.

I ran DaVinci Resolve on this laptop and found it performed about the same as other Snapdragon PCs: fine, but the performance still doesn’t compare to something like a MacBook Pro. It’s the same story with Adobe’s suite of creator apps, despite the company’s statements committing to optimizing for ARM in the immediate future.

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The display is, unsurprisingly, one of the best parts of this laptop. The 13.4-inch screen comes as either a non-touch full-HD, or a touch-enabled 3K tandem OLED, and both look gorgeous. Colors are crisp with Dolby Vision and 100% DCI-P3 color support, and the matte display effectively mitigates glare.

There are, however, some quirks with the configurations. The FHD display, for example, is slightly brighter at 500 nits and comes with a faster 120Hz refresh rate than the OLED display, which maxes out at 400 nits and 60Hz, respectively. For a price jump of $400 for the OLED, I would expect to see some slightly higher end specs.

Also: How to pick a laptop for college: 4 big considerations (and 10 great options)

The battery life on this machine is, like all the other Copilot+ PCs, very good. Dell has a handful of different performance modes that will affect the battery life, and of course, the OLED screen is going to be a lot more power-hungry than the FHD, but overall, it’s impressive. In our testing , we got over 17 hours of battery life running a livestream video over Wi-Fi.

When it comes to everyday moderate use between home and the office, I got well over 20 hours before the battery tapered off. If you use your laptop solely for work-related tasks that don’t require a huge processing demand, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect three or more workdays in one charge.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

Regarding the illuminated touch Function row, I’m (still) not a fan. I discussed this in my review of Dell’s XPS 14 , and my opinion hasn’t really changed.

Yes, it looks good, and I get the idea: using the same physical space for double the amount of keys. Still, in all my time with the XPS 13, I never quite got used to having keys I use frequently (Home, End, Del, Insert) untethered from physical keys and relegated to a capacitive LED.

Also: One of the most premium Copilot+ PCs I’ve tested is also one of the most affordable

Also, I wouldn’t recommend this laptop as a dedicated gaming machine, even if it certainly can run games. Ask a gamer if they’d use a computer with LED lights for keys, though.

Like any design decision, this one comes with tradeoffs.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

The lack of robust port connectivity is also going to be a dealbreaker for some people. Dell seems to have doubled down on its decision to keep things as minimal as possible, offering just two USB-C ports on this laptop. Additionally, they aren’t Thunderbolts with the Snapdragon configuration.

They do support DisplayPort, and there’s one on each side, so… there’s that. If you want to do even the most basic connections on this laptop, you’ll be carrying around a dock.

Also: How we test laptops at ZDNET in 2024

The Copilot+ XPS 13 is new, but it doesn’t replace the Intel laptop. In fact, we went hands-on with that version back in May , and had a lot of the same praises and critiques as we do now. The fact is that there’s a case to be made for both versions, especially since the configurations and price points are similar.

So, which is better? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. A simplified way to look at it is:

Dell XPS 13 with the Snapdragon X Elite:

Pro: Way better battery
Pro: Overall faster speeds
Pro: Made for AI
Con: Some programs don’t run smoothly or at all

Dell XPS 13 Intel Core Ultra 7 155H:

Pro: Thunderbolt USB-C ports
Pro: You don’t have to contend with app integration issues
Con: Runs hotter, dies faster

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

In the end, both are solid choices, but the battery life on the unit with the Snapdragon is impossible to ignore. That, and the fact that this is a forward-looking device with AI functionality.

ZDNET’s buying advice

Dell’s XPS 13 embodies the ultraportable, fast, cool, and efficient laptop experience all Copilot+ PCs seek to deliver. It features a bold design that you either love or you don’t, but you have to give Dell credit for sticking to its vision. The minimalist approach isn’t for everyone, and users that need lots of connectivity won’t have much use for the spare port selection.

I’d recommend this laptop to freelancers, remote and hybrid workers, and anyone that needs battery life that extends multiple days. There’s an argument to be made for preferring the Intel version of this year’s XPS 13 , or the similarly-priced, similarly-sized Lenovo Slim 7x , which features a similar build but more utilitarian design approach.