Dell XPS 13: Two and a half years later.
I’ve always wanted to review this laptop but just never got around doing it. After two and a half years, it’s finally time.
Huh, why read this review then?
Yeah, I know. You’re probably not gonna buy the exact model I have, but Dell is still selling XPS 13s with the same chassis design as mine but with newer specifications alongside the latest 2020 and 2021 models, which you may wanna consider. And, maybe you’re interested to see how well an XPS 13 holds up. If that could be you, please read on!
The Model
I own the Dell XPS 13 9370, with a 1920 x 1080 13.3-inch Full HD Display, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. It’s pretty much the base model (if you ignore the Core i3 version with 4GB RAM). This laptop sported the 2nd generation Infinity-Edge design, which was only superseded by the latest design launched last year.
I got it 8 months before entering university, in which I was going to pursue computer science. At that time, I wanted to try a more high-end laptop, since I had bad experiences with my previous budget laptops. I was deciding between it and its bigger brother, the XPS 15, but the newer design of the XPS 13 and the much higher price of the XPS 15 sealed the deal for me.
And so, the Dell XPS 13 had been with me since then, and now, 2 years into my computer science course.
Initial Experience
I still remember first opening the box and properly holding the laptop. It was a WOW moment. The laptop just felt so premium and pristine, by which I mean the luxurious materials, solid construction, and breath-taking design. Yes, this is definitely a luxury good — I knew I could have gotten laptops with a better processor, RAM and storage for the price.
The keyboard was sturdy and snappy. The hinge had a good resistance to it. There was no wobble in the screen. The carbon fibre palm rest was the best. It was the smallest 13.3-inch laptop… You get the idea.
Not just that, the laptop simply flew, which I think was because of the SSD. But yes, SSD transfer speeds and the speed of the ports and microSD card reader were also high-end.
Oh, and did I mention the screen? It was very bright, vibrant and had no Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) flickering except under 20% brightness. It was simply amazing. This caused me to have some regrets experiencing some games like Hollow Knight on my old laptop which had a very washed-out screen.
What I used it for
The XPS 13 is my only computer. Hence I use it for every computer task.
For web browsing, video watching and Microsoft office kind of work, this laptop is simply overkill. It blazes through those tasks. The speakers are good and battery life is better than average (which is way better than my older laptop). The fans only turn on occasionally, and even so they are usually very quiet and low-pitched. Not annoying at all.
I tried playing some games in this laptop. First was the Life is Strange series. This was the first time I felt that the laptop was out of its element. With just an Intel UHD-620 integrated graphics card, I had to lower a lot of the settings and even so, the game still stuttered. In addition, the fans were on full blast and were definitely audible. The laptop also got very hot, especially on the base, and the top left of the keyboard. Nevertheless, I finished Life is Strange on this laptop (good game btw). I also tried GTA V, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and CSGO. While playable, the experience was worse because these games required quicker response times. Overall, gaming, as expected, is not good on this laptop. Furthermore, the constant high temperatures while gaming might have damaged the battery.
For university and coding, this laptop performed very well. The compact size was beneficial on the shallow table in class, leaving room for writing materials. The solid keyboard, accurate trackpad, great screen and low fan-noise made the experience better and less distracting. The low weight and better than average battery life made it portable. On the flipside, I find that the screen size was too small for comfortable coding, and the small footprint of the laptop meant that the keyboard width was slightly narrower, and the trackpad was shorter than I would have liked. This is an issue when I have long-hours projects in school, where I don’t have access to a monitor which I find so valuable in coding.
For more heavy-duty programming, this laptop is not the best bang for your buck. Firstly, the 256GB SSD makes it hard to find space to run virtual machines (the SSD is replaceable though, so it is possible to upgrade it), although Windows Subsystem for Linux is solving this problem to a certain extent. Note that the SSD is replaceable though. Secondly, the soldered-on 8GB RAM shows its limits sometimes when many programs and web browsers are open. It also makes it hard to run virtual machines. Running Android Studio with the emulator also maximises the RAM usage. Finally, the limited amount of SSD makes it hard for dual booting of Linux. Having said that, the pricier 512GB, 16GB RAM configuration would solve these issues.
Forget video editing too. The integrated graphics card is simply too weak to provide a good experience. Da Vinci Resolve crashes when exporting videos too.
Issues
There were a few issues with this laptop.
Firstly, the battery had deteriorated a lot in 1 year (battery health dropped to 45%). I believe it was due to the constant high temperatures when I played games and me using the laptop unplugged, charging it frequently (instead of leaving it plugged in), and not being careful in making sure the battery doesn’t go down past 20%. I ordered a replacement and have been using it plugged in whenever possible. After half a year, the battery health is at 100%. So with good care, the battery issue shouldn’t be too major, or at least, it would be a normal deterioration. My brother’s MacBook Pro 13 had seen the battery health drop to 87% after 9 months. Still, I would have hoped for a better battery. The XPS battery is rated at 300 charge cycles before deterioration, while Apple’s MacBooks have theirs rated at 1000 charge cycles. Hopefully, Dell can improve on the longevity of their batteries.
Secondly, there had been driver issues. The audio and Windows Hello (face unlock and fingerprint scanner) sometimes refused to work. These issues were fixed when I factory reset computer. Still, I feel like they should not have happened in the first place on such a high-end laptop. I remember being very frustrated whenever audio wouldn’t play when I wanted to watch a video and when Windows Hello stopped working randomly.
Dell should strive to minimise these issues if they don’t want frustrated customers. These can seriously drive a boy insane. Anyway, the lesson learnt is to factory reset the laptop once you get it. Somehow things won’t randomly break anymore.
Long Term Durability
Other than the battery issue mentioned, I have no complaints on the long-term performance. As for the build, there is only a few scuffs on the aluminium lid. There black paint on the right speaker grill has half-peeled, but the left one looks good as new. The carbon fibre palm rests held up really well too, just with some slight scuffs as well.
Defining Features of this Laptop
To me, this laptop is defined by its premium industrial design, high quality components, compactness, weak graphical performance and low self-upgradability. It really is an “Ultrabook”. Personally, what I would like most in the future is 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and a bigger screen with 16:10 or 3:2 aspect ratio.
Are you looking for a laptop like this?
Hope that this was helpful in some way. And if I may: use this powerful tool to help you realise your ideas! Use it to create new music, art, software and experiences!
Thanks for reading!
