Dell has given its popular premium notebook XPS 13 an upgrade. The upcoming “Plus” model not only relies on new Intel processors, but also on newly designed input devices with small gaps, a hidden touchpad and capacitive function keys. If you are looking for a suitable counterpart to the Apple MacBook (Air) in the Windows segment, you will often come across the Dell XPS 13 family, which only benefited from a new design last year. Now, on the occasion of CES 2020, the annual upgrade is on the program, which not only focuses on the most common updates of processors, graphics units and the like. The US manufacturer is placing great emphasis on revised, minimalist input devices this year.
Similar to the recently introduced Concept Luna, the new Dell XPS 13 Plus (9320) uses an almost gap-free keyboard that is distributed down to the last millimeter on the edge of the metal case. The company describes the abandonment of the usual keyboard bed or grid as a “zero-lattice” design. With this, Dell was able to enlarge the individual keys and slightly expand the hub. In addition, the XPS 13 relies on capacitive (touch) function keys this year, which at least partially evoke memories of Apple’s former Touch Bar. The touchpad of the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which is integrated into the palm rest with no visible restrictions, has also been heavily redesigned. Since the manufacturer has not yet published any information about the size of the sensitive area, the usable area is currently still unknown. Only an improved haptic feedback was confirmed, which was implemented with the help of piezomotors.
In terms of performance, Dell relies on Intel’s 12th generation Alder Lake-P processors, of which the Intel Core i5-1240P, Core i7-1260P, -1270P and -1280P are available. A maximum of 14 cores, consisting of six performance and eight efficiency cores, are used in the top model. In addition, there are the Intel Iris Xe Graphics, up to 32 GB DDR5 RAM and up to 2 TB PCIe 4.0 SSDs. In the 13.4-inch format, various LCD and OLED display options with resolutions from FullHD to 4K and, for the most part, touchscreens are offered. The additional features of the approximately 1.3 kilograms and only 15 millimeters high Dell XPS 13 Plus (9320) include two Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and an improved audio system consisting of four speakers. The battery is rated at 55 watt hours (Wh) and should be charged to 80 percent in less than an hour using Express Charge 2.0 with up to 60 watts. The webcam, however, has not been improved, it still only delivers a 720p resolution.
In the US, the new Dell XPS 13 will be sold this spring at a price of 1199 US dollars before taxes. In Germany, prices from 1399 euros would be realistic. An official statement from the German Dell subsidiary is still pending.
Technical data for the Dell XPS 13 Plus (9320)
| operating system | Windows 11 or Ubuntu 20.04 (Developer Edition) |
| Display | 13.4 inch LCD, optionally 1920 x 1080 pixels non-touch, matt or touch, glossy, 500 cd / m, 2000: 1, 100% sRGB 13.4 inch LCD, 3840 x 2400 pixels, touch, glossy, 500 cd / m, 1650: 1, 90% DCI-P3 13.4 inch OLED, 3456 x 2160 pixels, touch, glossy, 400 cd / m, 100,000: 1, 100% DCI-P3 |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-1240P, Intel Core i7-1260P, Intel Core i7-1270P, Intel Core i7-1280P |
| GPU | Intel Iris Xe Graphics |
| R.A.M. | 8, 16 or 32 GB LPDDR5-5200 |
| SSD | 256 GB PCIe 3.0, 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB PCIe 4.0 |
| Others | 4 speakers, fingerprint sensor, 720p webcam, IR camera (Windows Hello) |
| connection | 2 Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type C), Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Mae | 295.3 199.04 15.28 mm |
| Weight | from 1.24 kg |
| battery pack | 55 Wh |
| price | starting at $ 1199 pretax |
| Release | Spring 2022 |
OLED, Dell, notebooks, laptops, Ces 2022, Intel Alder Lake-P, XPS 13 2022 Dell
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