Dell XPS 13 Plus | Best Ultra-book 2023

The Dell XPS 13 has been my favorite ultra-book for longest time. From its sleek design to the exceptional performance that it offers. This year is no different. At CES, Dell show cased its latest update to the XPS 13. The updates are subtle but it’s still the same great machine.

Some of the updates include an infinity touchpad with haptic feedback instead of physical buttons, a new LED capacitive touch bar, a larger edge to edge keyboard with larger keys and the CPUs are now available in 28-Watt options unlike 15 Watts in previous models. In this article we are going to discuss all the new features, some which need an improvement (like the 720P webcam which is still on this new model) and I will finally give you my thoughts on this machine.

Specs.

Design Language.

The new Dell XPS 13 Plus is definitely a bit more stunning than its predecessors. When the lid is shut, it almost looks the same as the old ones. The magic begins when you flip the lid open. Its almost impossible not to spot a change from the previous models. From the Capacitive touch bar to the larger keycaps, this is definitely an upgrade that we never knew we needed.

This year, Dell has decided to go down the MacBook Lane. What I mean is that they got rid of the physical buttons on the touchpad. Instead, they replaced it with a vibrating motor which produces haptic feedback. This gives you the sense that you are clicking but it’s actually the vibrating motor working. The reason they decided to go down this route is mainly due to how thin the XPS 13 has gotten over time. It also gives the machine a premium touch.

In addition to this, the touchpad is now “borderless”. This simply means that the traditional touchpad has been replaced by a seamless glass touchpad. Since it is seamlessly embedded into the chassis, you will have to develop some muscle memory to detect its borders. Dell claims that it starts from the edge of one Alt key to the next.

Enough of touchpads, lets discuss they new Capacitive touch bar. Dell decided to get rid of the Function row just like Apple did a while back. Unlike Apple’s which flopped, this one looks much more promising. For starters it is not a touchscreen like in the previous MacBooks. It is just an LED strip with actual mappings of the keys. There are two modes with this new touch bar. The first one is the function keys and the second one is the media keys. You can switch between the two by pressing Fn and Esc keys simultaneously.

The display is available in various options but the most striking of them all is the 3.5K OLED option. Anyone familiar with displays will tell you that OLED is the king of displays. This is because of the rich and dark blacks that it produces. In addition to this, the colors are punchier and much more vibrant. But there is a catch. This OLED model has the worst battery life of all the display options. It’s bad compared to the other models but its definitely bearable.

You can expect approximately 7Hrs 30min on normal usage and probably lower on heavy usage. With the other display options, you can get as high as 14 Hours of battery life. When choosing, you better make a wise decision. Furthermore, the OLED version is way pricier.

The keyboard also got a slight upgrade this year. It’s now edge to edge with no space being left unutilized. The keycaps have gotten relatively larger making it easier to type. The overall aesthetic of this layout is just splendid. Elegance at its finest!

Processor and the webcam.

The processors have obviously been upgraded to the 12^th generation of Intel CPUs which look very promising. In addition to this, Dell is finally upgrading the wattage of these processors from 15W to 28W. This is obviously a lot of power especially for a thin Ultrabook. One of the worrying issues is thermal throttling. For that we will just have to wait and see since they will be released in the spring of this year.

Sadly, Dell did not bump up their webcam to 1080p like we had been expecting. The quality on the 720P one is fine but it needs some refinement. Hope Dell improves it in the next XPS update. The Dell XPS 13 Plus also comes with an IR Scanner for Windows hello. This makes logging in much simpler.

Storage and RAM.

One of the things that I absolutely love about the Dell XPS 13 is the Storage and RAM options that they offer. The storage starts from 256GB and goes all the way up to a 2TB option. As for the RAM, it starts from 8GB and goes all the way to 32GB.

Someone may be wondering why on earth one would need this much RAM and storage in such a thin and light machine. Well, it all boils down to your workflow. Guys who frequently travel a lot and are constantly using creative apps such as Adobe premiere pro definitely need this much memory and performance.

Final thoughts.

The Dell XPS 13 Plus provides the perfect balance of performance and portability. The changes this year are obviously impressive but if you had the 2021 model there is no need to upgrade. This year they really went hard on the hardware side which is commendable. These changes build over time so that guys with older version can finally upgrade.

This machine is perfect for students and Vloggers who are constantly on the move due to its portable nature. The only thing Dell needs to work on is the webcam. We need a 1080P webcam in the next model. Apart from this, the Dell XPS 13 Plus remains the best Ultrabook.