The Dell XPS 13 9315 certainly has some limitations in terms of connectivity and screen but, for its target market of mobile (office) workers, it’s an excellent choice.
Literally the most portable laptop we’ve seen for a long time
Only two USB-C ports
Ultimately, the screen is good for office work, but is mediocre for everything else.
Dell XPS 13 9315 review
There are few more desirable laptops than the Dell XPS 13. It’s so well proportioned, solidly built and easy to interact with that, even if you were eyeing up a dreamy powerful beast, you’d want one of these to go with it. It almost fits in your pocket. But, what are the compromises? Having only two USB-C ports makes us instantly nervous. Can this be overlooked? Or is opening this laptop an allegory for a can of worms?
Design and build quality
The slight, aluminium chassis is divine. It’s thin, tough and very light. We do rather prefer the XPS logo (which is hidden away on the base) than the circled Dell moniker on the lid, but we do appreciate that this needs to fit into the stuffiest boardrooms without raising any eyebrows.
Features
When you open the XPS 13, you’re greeted with the 13.4-inch, matte, IPS screen and its thin, black bezel. It has a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution which renders a crisp and sharp Windows Desktop. Colours are generally vibrant although, when brightness is ramped up, they can start to get washed out. While colour gradients can be smooth, we frequently found banding in transitions when viewing multimedia. Monochromatic transitions and gradients turn into a blocky mess way too easily. Contrast is acceptable but details can get lost in bright and dark areas.
If you want to try any fast and frantic gaming, you’ll be disappointed, as the standard, 60Hz refresh rate is paired with a slow pixel-response time which means that fast-moving objects turn into a smeary mess very quickly. Ultimately, the screen is good for office work, but is mediocre for everything else.
The white-backlit, touch-type keyboard is surprisingly firm. Nonetheless, we found it very accurate and comfortable to type upon for extended periods. Our only gripe is the squished, up-and-down arrow keys. The trackpad is smooth and accurate and its buttons feel good when clicking.
Above the screen is an HD webcam. It offers acceptable quality and can fend off the worst grain when in low light. The dual-microphone array captures crisp and clear audio, even in noisy environments. It also supports Windows Hello facial login as does a small fingerprint reader at the top-right of the keyboard.
We didn’t have high hopes for the speakers as the chassis is only 14mm thick. But, Dell has done it again. Somehow, the XPS 13’s twin, 2-Watt, stereo speakers get incredibly loud while offering great treble and even great bass performance. We don’t know how.
Performance
Our XPS 13 review unit had an Intel Core i7-1250U ‘power-efficient’ processor which forges along at 3.5GHz and has a Turbo Boost speed of 4.7GHz. It has two Performance cores and 10 Efficiency cores. It’s partnered by 16GB of fast-but-low-power, LPDDR5-5200 RAM and a 512GB SSD.
It’s naturally not the fastest laptop but its easily brisk enough to keep all Office and basic graphical apps ticking along nicely. You’ll be waiting around for a while with hardcore rendering tasks though. The integrated Intel Xe graphics aren’t up to much. You’ll be able to play some basic, casual and competitive games… just.
Note that the fans can ramp up to a not-quiet, low whirr periodically, even when it’s not obviously under load.
Ports and connections
The Dell XPS 13 has a solitary Thunderbolt 4 port on each side. What’s worse is that one of them is used by the charger. Dell provides a small USB-A adapter plus one for a 3.5mm audio jack (both of which are easy to lose), but that’s it. Inside, there’s speedy Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity.
It’s all a bit minimalist. We get that Dell et al want to push everyone onto using USB-C for everything, but reality dictates that this is not going to happen for a long time yet.
How portable is the Dell XPS 13 9315?
The XPS 13 has a smallish 51WHr battery but it still ran our PCMark 10 Modern Office battery test for an impressive 14 hours 13 minutes. That’s approaching two days out of the office and sets the tone for what this laptop is good at.
Then there’s the weight. At 1.16KG it’s barely there and the reduced-size power brick and cables only add another 242g.
Factor in the robust chassis, strong hinge and that it can fast-charge to 80 per cent capacity in 60 minutes and it’s literally the most portable laptop we’ve seen for a long time.
Overall
The Dell XPS 13 9315 certainly has some limitations in terms of connectivity and screen but, for its target market of mobile (office) workers, it’s an excellent choice. At $2,398 it’s also reasonably priced although many business buyers will be paying whatever their MSP is charging them.
If you want more grunt and multimedia prowess, it’s worth checking out Asus’ desirable and dearer OLED-sporting ZenBooks. If you want more features while remaining corporate, HP’s Envy is an excellent alternative that’s also significantly cheaper. However, for a straight-up ultraportable that is designed to live away from walk sockets while impressing whoever you meet on the road or in the boardroom, the Dell XPS 13 is it.
The Dell XPS 13 9315 certainly has some limitations in terms of connectivity and screen but, for its target market of mobile (office) workers, it’s an excellent choice.
Literally the most portable laptop we’ve seen for a long time
Only two USB-C ports
Ultimately, the screen is good for office work, but is mediocre for everything else.