Thanks to Intel, the Ultrabook enabled powerful computing in a very sleek form factor. We should also be thanking the internet for making optical drives near obsolete too.
Over the years, companies like Asus, Acer, HP and others took turns iterating the Ultrabook, continuing to improve on the concept, and while some came close to the perfect balance of performance and portability, Dell’s new XPS 13 has pretty much hit the sweet spot.
The device is one of many recently updated models unveiled at CES 2015 and comes with a stunning edge-to-edge 13” touchscreen display with a resolution of 3200 x 1800. There is very little bezel, in fact, not even enough to fit a camera at the top-center of the display. It’s still there though, but at the bottom left of the screen, likely angled. Dell have basically squeezed a 13” display into an 11-inch sized laptop.
That gorgeous display blends into the durable machined aluminum and carbon fiber enclosure that XPS customers have come to appreciate, and it also houses up to a 5th generation Intel Core i7 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of solid state storage, wireless AC, Bluetooth 4.0 and a bevy of connectivity ports. The included battery will last for 11 hours according to Dell and a 12,000mAh external battery will also be available to extend the battery for up to 7 more hours.
(Size comparison of the 13-inch XPS 13 compared to the 13-inch Macbook Air)
Dell has taken Microsoft’s advice and included a glass precision trackpad that allows for buttery smooth multi-touch gestures on Windows 8.1. The laptop also comes with a well-designed island-style keyboard. We’ll have to review unit to tell you how well the trackpad and keyboard perform but initial impressions were good.
The XPS 13 is configurable of course, so prices range from $799 for a Core i3 model with a 1080p display, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, to $1899 for the highest-end model as detailed above. Available starting today on Dell.com. And if a 13″ screen is too small for your liking, you could opt for the newly updated XPS 15 with a 15″ 4K Ultra HD touchscreen display!
