Dell xps 13 oled 9310 review beautiful design topped with frosting dell xps 13 oled 9310 review beautiful design topped with cheese dell xps 13 oled 9310 review beautiful design topped synonym dell xps 13 oled 9310 review beautiful design topped trees dell xps 13 oled 9310 review beautiful designer dell xps 13 oled 9310 review of optometry dell xps 13 oled 9310 review in spanish dell xps 13 oled 9310 dell xps 13 9360 dell xps 13 dell xps 8930

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310) review: Beautiful design topped with a gorgeous display

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310) review: Beautiful design topped with a gorgeous display

The Dell XPS 13 9310 is an undeniably impressive laptop. Dell has whittled down the size of this 13.4-inch laptop to the point where it's roughly the same size as an 11.6-inch model and it still has spritely performance and relatively long battery life. Dell added the option to configure the XPS 13 with an OLED display (organic light-emitting diode) that is the cherry on top of this premium little laptop. The display looks stellar and while it hurts battery life some, it's not as horrific as past OLED laptops we've tested. It's a worthwhile upgrade if you're looking for the ultimate ultraportable. 

Like

• Stunning, sturdy design
• Snappy performance
• Gorgeous OLED display

Don't Like

• No camera, mic privacy features
• Middling webcam
• Optional OLED display shortens battery life

Although the XPS 13's price starts at $950, that configuration's Core i3 CPU doesn't offer the same capabilities as the Core i5 and i7 configurations that are Intel Evo-certified. The Evo label means the system is tested to hit certain mobile performance requirements such as getting at least 9 hours of battery life with normal use, recharging quickly and being just as responsive on battery power as it is plugged in. You also can't get the OLED display without an i7-1185G7 or i7-1195G7 processor. 

The base configurations vary by region. In Australia, the new XPS 13 starts at AU$2,499 and in the UK it's £1,099 but includes a Core i5 processor. Both sites sell older, less expensive configurations of the XPS 13, so if your priority is having a small, lightweight, well-constructed laptop and not the fastest possible CPU or an OLED display, you aren't locked into these higher starting prices. The same goes for US buyers with prices starting at $882. But again, you're paying primarily for the design at that point, though you'll get better battery life with these lower-end configurations as well. 

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310)

Price as reviewed	$1,570
Display size/resolution	13.4-inch 3,456 x 2,160 OLED touch display
CPU	3GHz Intel Core i7-1185G7
Memory	16GB 4266MHz LPDDR4X (onboard)
Graphics	128MB Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Storage	512GB NVMe PCIe SSD
Networking	802.11ax wireless, Bluetooth 5.0
Connections	Thunderbolt 4 USB-C (x2), 3.5mm audio jack, microSD card slot
Operating system	Windows 10 Home 64-bit (21H2)

Dell shaved off as much of the body around the keyboard as possible. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Nothing but screen and keyboard

With slim bezels on all four sides of the XPS 13's 13.4-inch, 16:10-aspect-ratio display, Dell wasn't left with a lot of room to play with for the keyboard and touchpad. Still, Dell managed to increase the size of the keycaps and touchpad. The keyboard is surprisingly comfortable to work all day on, especially given how little room there is for key travel. Dell even integrated a fingerprint reader into the power button in the top right corner of the keyboard. 

Dell offers four display choices with the XPS 13: A FHD plus 1,920x1,200-pixel LCD with or without touch, a UHD plus 3,840x2,400-pixel LCD touch display and the 3,456x2,160-pixel OLED touch display. The LCDs all have 100% sRGB and 90% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage and are rated at 500 nits peak brightness. The OLED's brightness is rated at 400 nits (it hit 394 nits in my testing) and its color gamut coverage tested at 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 and 98% Adobe RGB, so if you need to do color-critical work on the go, the OLED is what you'll want. 

Again, the OLED panel comes with a battery life penalty. For the FHD plus display, Dell says you'll get up to 14 hours, 11 minutes of streaming video and 8 hours, 12 minutes with the UHD plus panel. On our streaming video test, the OLED reached 7 hours, 38 minutes. That's actually pretty good and it's going to vary depending on what you're doing of course, but if your goal is the longest possible battery life, go with the FHD plus display. 

The XPS 13 has two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports (one on each side), a headphone jack and a microSD card reader.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Growth potential

One of the few shortcomings of the XPS 13 is its webcam. While Dell moved it from below the display (boo!) to above the display (yay!), it had to use a tiny camera with a minuscule sensor. It really needs a lot of light to get a good image regardless of Dell's advanced noise reduction. Also, although 720p is still the industry standard webcam resolution for video, on a premium laptop like this we've come to expect 1080p. 

The XPS 13 has also fallen behind in terms of webcam privacy features. Unlike premium models from HP and Lenovo, Dell doesn't include a physical webcam shutter or a quick way to mute its mics. With so many more people using video chat to keep up with friends, family and coworkers, these features have quickly become essentials. One positive, however, is that the laptop does have an IR camera. That, combined with the laptop's instant-on performance, lets you use facial recognition to sign in and start working fast. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Based on what's happening with Dell's Latitude business laptops, there's a good chance these features will come to the next version of the XPS 13. Models like the Latitude 7320 Detachable and Latitude 9420 already have them and I would expect them to make the jump to the XPS line. So, if those features matter to you, you may want to wait for the next-gen version. And who knows, maybe Dell will decide to have more than just a couple of Thunderbolt 4 ports on board, too. 

Otherwise, the Dell XPS 13 is still a beautiful laptop made a little more so with the option for a gorgeous OLED display. 

Geekbench 5 (multicore)

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

HP Pavilion Aero 13 (13-be0097nr)

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

Cinebench R23 CPU (multicore)

HP Pavilion Aero 13 (13-be0097nr)

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

PCMark 10 Pro Edition

HP Pavilion Aero 13 (13-be0097nr)

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310)

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

Streaming video playback battery drain test (minutes)

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

HP Pavilion Aero 13 (13-be0097nr)

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

System Configurations

Dell XPS 13 OLED (9310)	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit); 3GHz Intel Core i7-1185G7; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 4.27GHz; 128MB Intel Iris Xe; 512GB SSD
Framework Laptop	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit); 3GHz Intel Core i7-1185G7; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 3.2GHz; 128MB Intel Iris Xe; 512GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2GHz AMD Ryzen 7 4980U; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 4.27GHz; 512MB AMD Radeon Vega 8; 512GB SSD
Razer Book 13	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-1155G7; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 4.27GHz; 128MB Intel Iris Xe; 256GB SSD
HP Pavilion Aero 13 (13-be0097nr)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.9GHz AMD Ryzen 7 5800U; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 3.2GHz;512MB AMD Radeon; 512GB SSD

---

Source

Dell's thin, high-res XPS 13 laptop does Linux

Dell's thin, high-res XPS 13 laptop does Linux

Ubuntu just went 1080p on Dell's sleekest laptop.

The 2.99-pound XPS 13 Developer Edition -- started as a project to create an open source developer laptop -- is now available on Dell's site for $1,549.

Those specifications, with the critical exception of the Ubuntu Linux, are identical to the 1080p XPS 13 for Windows 8.

Here are the specs:

• Operating system: Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS
  
• Display: 13.3-inch 1,920x1,080 panel
  
• Processor: 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3537U
  
• Memory: 8GB2 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
  
• Storage: 256GB solid-state drive
  
• Graphics: Intel HD 4000
  
• Price: $1,549
  

In addition to the U.S., Dell will also start to roll it out in select countries in Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Finland.

The XPS 13 is one of the better ultrabook designs to emerge from a top-tier PC vendor. It squeezes a 13.3-inch screen into a footprint more typical of 12-inch laptops, boasts Gorilla Glass, and is constructed from aluminum and carbon fiber, allowing Dell to keep the weight to just under three pounds.

The upgraded display is also brighter and has wider viewing angles than the original 1,366x768 XPS 13 model.

---

Source

Tags:

• Dell Xps 13 Linux
• Reddit Dell Xps 13
• Reddit Dell Xps 13 2 In 1
• Dell Xps Review 13
• Dell Xps 13 Reviews
• Dell Xps Review Desktop
• Dell Xps Desktop Ratings
• Dell Small Desktop Review
• Dell Thin And Light
• Dells Thinking About You
• Dell Stinson Obituary
• Dell Supportassist Download

Dell xps 13 plus review this slim premium laptop computers dell xps 13 plus review this slim premium laptop cases dell xps 13 plus review this thing dell xps 13 plus reviews dell xps 13 9370 dell xps 13 price dell xps 8940

Dell XPS 13 Plus Review: This Slim Premium Laptop Isn't Afraid to Shake Things Up

Dell XPS 13 Plus Review: This Slim Premium Laptop Isn't Afraid to Shake Things Up

When you open up the XPS 13 Plus, three things will immediately strike you as... unusual. Those design choices make the XPS 13 Plus stand out so much visually, but they also make for an unconventional experience. Not necessarily a bad one, but certainly one that fights years of laptop design muscle memory. 

First is the touchpad, which sits, disguised, along the edge-to-edge palm rest. It's there, but you can't actually see it. The touch-sensitive part of that front area is indistinguishable from the part you just rest your hands on. 

Apple laptops still have a distinct panel for touch, some laptops from Dell's own Alienware line have touchpads that literally glow in different colors, but here it's guesswork. In practice, however, I found the touch-sensitive area relatively easy to use. It runs from the left edge of the spacebar on one side to the right edge of the Alt key on the other. Sure, it would be cool to have the touchpad run the entire length of the body, but that would be a nightmare for palm rejection AI and probably not as useful as you'd think.

Like

• Inventive new design
• Very slim and light
• Excellent performance
• Great OLED display
• Included USB-C dongles

Don't Like

• You might not love the new touchpad, keyboard and function keys
• Underwhelming battery life
• Heat and fan noise
• Low-resolution webcam
• No headphone port

But the larger point remains -- people are used to how touchpads work and what they look like, so you mess with that shared experience at your own peril. In this case, the touchpad's overall feel is good for a Windows laptop, but it could also feel either too sensitive or not sensitive enough, depending on what I was doing. The best word for an overall vibe would be "floaty," and it suffers in comparison by landing on my desk immediately after the latest MacBook Air, which is the platonic ideal of touchpad feel and functionality. 

Dell makes a big deal of the haptics of the touchpad. It feels like you can click it down, but it's not actually depressing. MacBook touchpads have worked the same way for years. Personally, I'm a tapper, not a clicker, so it didn't make a huge difference to me. 

The invisible touchpad. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Next is the keyboard, which ditches the standard island-style keys -- flat with a modest space between each one -- for an edge-to-edge design, where each key brushes up against its neighbor. It's a style that popped up occasionally in the 2010s, but one I haven't seen in a while. It lets you offer a larger top surface for each key and in some cases, helps make a laptop thinner. I got used to it quickly but, again, my muscle memory fought it. It also lacks the satisfying snap of a good island-style keyboard. 

The last big change is to the Function key row. It reminds me of the now-deprecated Apple Touch Bar, as it's a backlit row of touch-sensitive icons. The media and system commands are lit by default -- brightness, volume, keyboard backlight and so on. Hold the Fn key and you see the typical F1 to F12 keys. You can swap the behavior the other way if you prefer. 

Why do this? Again, I believe it's to shave some thickness from the system and allow for its hinge mechanism. I'm not against the idea in principle, but the MacBook Pro's rough go of it shows that people aren't itching to swap physical buttons for virtual ones. And this isn't a full-color user-assignable OLED screen strip like Apple's version, either. But in the end, the only thing I think you'll miss is having a physical Esc key, which can be important in your day to day use. I liked how clear the icons were and how they were boldly backlit. 

Function keys are replaced by a touch strip. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Configuration and performance

Once you put aside those three breaks with laptop design orthodoxy, the rest of the XPS 13 Plus is a conventional and mostly excellent premium 13-inch laptop experience. The XPS 13 line has always been one of my favorite Windows laptops, and this looks and feels like a high-end machine that will be a conversation piece whenever you whip it out. 

The XPS 13 Plus starts at $1,299 and the model I tested is currently $1,949. It includes an upgraded CPU, RAM and display. I liked that there are four 13.4-inch screen options, both OLED and LCD, ranging from a 1,920x1,080 non-touch screen to a 3,840x2,400 touchscreen.

Inside, the version here has a 12th-gen Intel Core i7-1280P, and all the engineering to squeeze it into this 15mm-thick body is impressive. That said, the fans spin up audibly, sometimes sounding like a little white noise machine in the background, and even then, the system got very warm, especially on the bottom panel. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Performance with that 12th-gen Core i7 is a highlight, and it's nice to have this much raw horsepower in a high-design, executive-class laptop. I've compared it to Apple's latest mainstream and Pro laptops, as well as comparable Windows systems. It's part of Intel's Evo program, which is a designation for premium slim laptop designs with good performance. If you go with the least expensive configuration, you get a Core i5 from the same generation. 

In the preloaded My Dell app, you can switch between performance presets (navigate from My Dell > Power > Thermal). The Performance mode was indeed faster, but also cranked the fans up even more, created a lot of heat, and certainly didn't help the already limp battery life. 

Display and webcam 

The display is also a highlight. I tested the 3,456x2,160-pixel touchscreen version, which is an impressive-looking OLED panel. Dell calls this 3.5K and you can also get a true 4K version, but that's no OLED panel. Either one is a $300 upgrade from the base non-touch Full HD 1,920x1,080-pixel model. There's also a FHD touch panel for $100 more, and if you're looking to cut costs, it's probably where I'd go. On a relatively small laptop, you can get away with FHD resolution, but adding touch is going to be valuable. 

I'm less pleased with the 720p webcam. Premium laptops have made a major switch to FHD cameras in the past couple of years, even dragging long-time holdout Apple in with the latest MacBook Air Dell says the lower-res camera here benefits from image processing help on the software side, but I found it to be merely ok. Jumping into a Zoom meeting in low light, I had a distinct orange hue. Adding a higher-resolution camera would likely mean a thicker lid, so I get that there's a size-versus-functionality tradeoff. 

A great webcam, this is not. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

The camera is also used for Dell's presence-detection features, which I find interesting. It can wake from sleep mode when the camera detects your face, or it can lock itself when you walk away. But the feature I liked most was called Look Away Detect, which will dim the screen if it sees you looking away. That's good for both battery life and privacy, and worked so well that I think more laptops should have a feature like that. 

It has just two Thunderbolt USB-C ports, which is frankly fine for most people these days, and it matches the most recent 13-inch MacBook Pro. But, Dell kills the headphone jack, which might be rarely used, but is a notable exclusion nonetheless. A USB-C-to-audio dongle is included in the box, as is a USB-C-to-USB-A one. That's a nice bonus, and one that some companies (ahem, Apple...) would probably make you pay extra for. The downside is, if you keep it plugged into power and use the headphone adaptor at the same time, you're out of ports. 

Battery life and roadworthiness 

Despite focusing on some of the unusual design choices and limitations, there's a lot I love about the XPS 13 Plus. I love a sharp, original design and am willing to trade a little familiarity to push the edges a bit. This level of performance in a slim, light laptop like this is enviable (as long as we're sticking on the non-dedicated GPU side of things), and the hidden performance modes offer more flexibility than I'm used to seeing in similar laptops. 

But there's one more wrinkle in the formula. Battery life. In benchmark testing, the XPS 13 Plus ran on the short side, at about 4 hours while streaming online video, which is far from the most strenuous thing you might ask it to do. In hands-on use, it felt a little better depending on what I was doing, but it also dropped from almost 70% to under 30% in less than 2 hours while I was writing this review. 

Ports are limited, but dongles are included. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Use the optimized performance preset, turn down the screen brightness, close unused apps and you can likely push the battery life to a better place. But I don't feel confident that I could pick up this laptop in the morning and work on it all day without charging. It helps that there's an express charging preset for powering up part of the battery quickly. 

The nearly 4K screen doesn't do the battery any favors, although the fact that it's an OLED panel should help. That's one reason I'm cautious about recommending 4K laptops -- higher-resolution screens are a battery killer. 

The XPS 13 Plus has a lot of innovative ideas -- some of which are important, while others seem like change for the sake of change. We may even disagree on which is which. If I were working on the next generation of this laptop, I'd keep the design updates but suggest sacrificing a little thickness for a bigger battery so this could be a more travel-ready companion. 

Geekbench 5 (multicore)

Acer Swift 5 (SF514-56T-797T)

Lenovo Yoga 9i (14-inch, Gen 7)

Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022)

Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

Cinebench R23 (multicore)

Acer Swift 5 (SF514-56T-797T)

Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED

Lenovo Yoga 9i (14-inch, Gen 7)

Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

3DMark Wild Life Extreme

Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022)

Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320

Lenovo Yoga 9i (14-inch, Gen 7)

Acer Swift 5 (SF514-56T-797T)

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

Online streaming battery drain test

Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022)

Lenovo Yoga 9i (14-inch, Gen 7)

Acer Swift 5 (SF514-56T-797T)

Note:

Longer bars indicate better performance

System Configurations

Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320	Windows 11 Home; 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-1280P; 16GB DDR5 6,400MHz RAM; 128MB Intel Iris Xe Graphics; 512GB SSD
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022)	MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M2 8-core chip; 8GB RAM; Apple 10-core GPU; 256GB SSD
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED	Windows 11 Pro; 2.7 AMD Ryzen 7 6800U; 16GB DDR5 ; 6,400MHz; 512MB AMD Radeon Graphics; 1TB SSD
Acer Swift 5 (SF514-56T-797T)	Windows 11 Home; 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-1280P; 16GB DDR5 6,400MHz RAM; 128MB Intel Iris Xe Graphics; 512GB SSD
Lenovo Yoga 9i (14-inch, Gen 7)	Windows 11 Home; 2.1GHz Intel Core i7-1260P; 16GB DDR5 5.200GHz RAM; 128MB Intel Iris Xe Graphics; 512GB SSD

How we test computers

The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computer-like devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device's aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both those objective and subjective judgments. 

The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we're currently running on every compatible computer include: Primate Labs Geekbench 5, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra. 

A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found in our How We Test Computers page. 

---

Source

Dell xps 13 review 2012 dell xps 13 review reddit dell xps 12 2 in 1 buy dell xps 12 dell xps 13 review 2012 dell xps 12th gen review dell xps 12 plus review dell xps 12 2 in 1 laptop review dell xps 13 review 2021 dell xps 12 9250 review dell xps 12 specs

Dell XPS 12 review: A unique take on the convertible laptop/tablet

Dell XPS 12 review: A unique take on the convertible laptop/tablet

If you're one of the few who remember the original Dell Inspiron Duo from 2010, pat yourself on the back. Like that Duo, the new XPS 12 has a screen that swivels at the middle of the lid's sides, so it can rotate 180 degrees along its horizontal axis and end up facing out from the back of the lid's frame. This allows you to display the screen in what some call a "stand" mode, or else fold the clamshell shut to form a slate-style tablet.

While inventive, the original Duo was hobbled by a low-power Intel Atom processor and never lived up to its potential. Dell walked away from the Duo, which seemed doomed to be another too-early hardware leap, much like Dell's long-lost proto-ultrabook Adamo laptops.

Imagine my surprise when Dell announced that the Duo was back, originally showing us the system behind closed doors this summer. The new version, now part of the high-end XPS line, has gotten a massive physical upgrade. Now it's ultrabook-thin, with a slim metal frame around its screen, and a button-free clickpad. The new version trades up to current-gen Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors, along with solid-state-drive (SSD) storage, meaning that in terms of hardware it can stand toe-to-toe any mainstream ultrathin laptop.

Between our preview this summer and now, the biggest change has been in the name. Dell has decided to drop the "Duo" branding altogether (perhaps it still has negative connotations) and simply call this the XPS 12. That's certainly apt for a laptop with 12-inch display, but I do miss the descriptive nature of the Duo moniker -- now there's nothing in the name to indicate this laptop's special physical features.

The XPS 12 starts at $1,199 for a Core i5 CPU and 128GB SSD, and goes up to $1,699 for the hardware we tested, with a Core i7 CPU and a 256GB SSD.

This is one of the first laptops with Windows 8, the new touch- and tablet-friendly OS, and it's meant to be used as both a traditional laptop and a tablet. But when evaluating new hardware and new software at the same time, the question is: how much of the user experience in the XPS 12 comes from Dell, and how much from Microsoft? In an Apple laptop, it's fair to consider software and hardware together, as a single company is responsible for both. For Windows-based systems, it's sometimes hard to tell on which side of the fence the faults lie.

And, there are faults. Even though the XPS 12 is a slim, well-built, and frankly ambitious convertible, it works better as a laptop than as a tablet. In the closed, slate mode, it's obvious that the Windows 8 operating system still doesn't always know what to do with your apps and fingers. The not-Metro interface (my own shorthand name for the Windows 8 tile-based UI) works fine, but jumping into apps, even Windows 8-specific ones such as Internet Explorer 10, can yield unpredictable results.

For example, at this point, nearly everyone in the universe uses some form of Web-based e-mail, but Gmail navigation on the small screen in IE10 is tough. Shift the screen just a bit and the orientation changes, with just enough lag to be annoying. Tapping on a text field sometimes brings up the Windows 8 onscreen keyboard, sometimes not (and it takes several steps to call it up otherwise).

That onscreen keyboard is miles ahead of previous Windows ones, but the layout of some keys is counterintuitive, and I ran into just enough lag to make using the Shift and Caps Lock keys especially troublesome.

But, these are the same problems I've found on other Windows 8 systems, so is it fair to lay them at Dell's feet? On the excellent Acer Aspire S7, the touch screen was a secondary experience, mainly used for finger-swiping and scrolling. On the XPS 12, you're expected to use touch much more. And as a touch-screen laptop, the XPS 12 works well. Folded up as a slate, it's still not an entirely satisfying tablet experience.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$1,699 / $1,199
Processor	1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U
Memory	4GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	256GB SSD
Chipset	Intel QS77
Graphics	Intel HD 4000
Operating system	Windows 8
Dimensions (WD)	8.5x12.5 inches
Height	0.6-0.8 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	12.5 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.4 pounds / 4 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

Design and features
Aside from the swiveling lid, the XPS 12 shares an overall design with Dell's other recent high-end laptops, such as the XPS 14 and XPS 15. All are thin, with full or partial metal construction and dark accents. When closed, the XPS 12 looks like any small ultrabook, although at nearly 3.5 pounds, it feels dense and sturdy.

The interior is minimalist, with only the keyboard and touch pad. A power button, in the uncommon form of a slider switch, is located along the left edge, and most other functions, from the Wi-Fi antenna switch to volume control, are mapped to the row of Function keys. The wrist rest, keyboard, and keys are all matte black, with a powdery finish that resists fingerprints and nicely offsets the metal trim along the outer edge.

The XPS 12's island-style keyboard is similar to the ones found on most current laptops. In Dell's version, the keys have more-rounded corners than most, and the top row of Function keys is half-height. Typing was comfortable and accurate, and the keyboard is backlit.

The buttonless clickpad is only used when the system is set up as a traditional clamshell laptop. It's a good size, considering this is a small laptop, and works well for general pointing and navigation. But, again, Windows 8 sometimes seems to not know what to do with touch-pad gestures. With some apps and Web pages, two-finger scrolling works well, other times it's too fast and jumpy, and still other times, it's very slow. Trying to execute Windows 8 moves such as displaying the Charms bar or calling up the Taskbar is a pain on a touch pad, and I usually found myself performing these tasks via the touch screen.

The biggest feature here, as previously described, is the rotating screen. Unlike other convertible laptops with rotating screens that swivel along the vertical axis via a central hinge, the XPS 12 rotates along the horizontal axis, flipping end over end. This is possible because the screen is placed inside a thin metal all-around frame, hinged in the center of the left and right sides.

The screen mechanism feels well-designed, and it stays in the traditional laptop position without slipping. Dell says the mechanism has been tested to 20,000 cycles, and it certainly feels sturdy enough.

When you want to flip the screen, a gentle push pops it out of the frame, and it rotates freely, locking in again at 180 degrees; this leaves the screen pointing out from the back of the lid, making it easy to show your screen to someone sitting opposite you (the motion sensor automatically flips the screen image over, so everything appears right-side-up). From there, you can push the lid all the way closed, so the keyboard and touch pad are inside the clamshell but the display is pointing up, making this a slate-style tablet.

When the XPS 12 is folded down as a tablet, you can access the onscreen keyboard built into Windows 8. As I mentioned above, it's thankfully better than the onscreen keyboards in previous Microsoft operating systems, with responsive, well-spaced keys. I found the Shift key would lag a little occasionally, leading to some typing mistakes, and you'll have to spend some time getting used to the layout, which is slightly different from that of the iPad's familiar onscreen keyboard. Besides the standard keyboard layout, there are also split-key and handwriting options.

The biggest difficulty I encountered was the onscreen keyboard not popping up when it should have, in Google Docs, for example. If you need to call up the onscreen keyboard manually, it's an unintuitive procedure, requiring too many steps (slide out the Charms bar from the right side of the screen; tap Settings, tap Keyboard, then pick the style of keyboard you need).

The 12.5-inch screen has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, which is incredibly high for an ultraportable laptop. The Windows 8 not-Metro interface scales nicely to it, but Web pages and the traditional Windows desktop view can look very shrunken. Fortunately, the display's pinch-to-zoom feature works great, much as it does on an iPad or Android tablet. That said, I found some Web sites didn't render correctly after pinching to zoom, and in Google Docs, for example, the onscreen cursor and the zoomed view didn't quite match up.

Audio was predictably thin, but fine for basic online video watching. Interestingly, the original Dell Duo had a sold-separately docking stand with bigger speakers built in.

	Dell XPS 12	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	DisplayPort	HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 3.0, SD card reader	2 USB 3.0, SD card reader
Networking	802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet (via dongle), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

Expandability, performance, and battery life
With such a small body, the port selection on the Dell XPS 12 is likewise slim. The most notable deviation from the norm is the video output -- you get a DisplayPort output, rather than the more common HDMI.

Dell offers four base configurations of the XPS 12 (the unit I reviewed is the most expensive one). The entry-level model starts at $1,199 for a Core i5 CPU and 128GB SSD, and by adding either a Core i7 CPU, a larger 256GB SSD, or both, you can take it all the way up to $1,699. Several of the more design-heavy Windows 8 laptops we've seen have targeted that premium price range, but a $1,600 laptop is still a very tough sell, no matter how clever its engineering.

With an Intel Core i7 low-voltage CPU and 8GB of RAM, the XPS 12 was predictably fast in our benchmark tests. Honestly, if you're interested in this system, the lower-end Core i5 configurations will be more than fine for everyday Web surfing, productivity, and media playback tasks.

Battery life was, unfortunately, not the strongest in this laptop. That's a shame, as this is a slim system clearly intended for travel or use as an untethered tablet. In our video playback battery drain test, the XPS 12 ran for 4 hours and 43 minutes, which is on the low side for an ultraportable laptop -- especially one with a power-efficient SSD hard drive. Anecdotally, while using this laptop I found myself reaching for the A/C adapter more often than I'd expected.

Conclusion
The Dell XPS 12 is unique among the Windows 8 laptops we've previewed and reviewed, offering a different take on the convertible laptop/tablet concept. At the same time, it's not exactly an original idea, being based on one of Dell's previous high-concept designs, the Inspiron Duo.

The flip-screen construction is surprisingly practical for sharing your screen with others, and using a touch screen with a keyboard and touch pad works well in Windows 8. But it's hard to justify spending $1,699 when the XPS 12 doesn't entirely satisfy as a slate-style tablet, even if Microsoft shoulders most of the responsibility for that. If you're in love with the XPS 12's design, I'd suggest sticking to the less expensive configurations.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations:

Dell XPS 12
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 32MB (Shared) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Lite-On IT SSD

Sony Vaio Duo 11
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 6GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Toshiba SSD

Toshiba Satellite U925t
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Samsung SSD

Asus Zenbook Prime UX32VD
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620M / 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Vizio Thin and Light CT14-A2
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Toshiba SSD

---

Source

Asus ZenBook S UX391UA review: A more comfortable premium ultraportable

Asus ZenBook S UX391UA review: A more comfortable premium ultraportable

The Asus ZenBook S UX391U looks every bit the part of a premium ultraportable. Clad in deep blue or burgundy metal with rose gold edges, the 13.3-inch laptop is only 13mm thick (0.51 inch) and 2.4 pounds (1.1 kg). It's the right size if you spend more time working in tight spaces such as coffee shops and airport lounges than at a desk. 

Open it up and you'll notice the key design feature that separates it from most of the others in this category: The lid's hinge lifts the back of the keyboard up for a more comfortable typing angle. It also helps keep your legs and the laptop's eighth-gen Intel Core i7 processor from getting too hot. This isn't the first time this design's been done -- HP's latest 13-inch Envy laptop has a similar feature -- but it's still a cool touch. 

The current configuration in the US is priced at $1,499 and includes a 4K UHD-resolution touchscreen, 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD. In the UK, you'll currently find it with a Core i5 or i7, but with half the memory and storage, for £1,199 or £1,299, and in Australia it'll set you back AU$2,699 with a Core i7, 16GB of memory and a 256GB SSD. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Asus ZenBook S UX391UA

Price as reviewed	$1,499
Display size/resolution	13.3-inch, 3,840x2,160-pixel touchscreen
CPU	1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U
Memory	16GB DDR3 SDRAM 2,133MHz
Graphics	128MB (shared) Intel UHD Graphics 620
Storage	512GB PCIe SSD
Networking	802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.2
Operating system	Windows 10 Professional (64-bit)

Those prices are competitive for the category, but models such as Dell's XPS 13, HP's Spectre and Acer's 14-inch Swift 7 offer designs that potentially make them better choices depending on your needs. Even Asus' own ZenBook 13 might be a better choice because of its discrete graphics. 

Rising above the competition

The biggest hurdle for the ZenBook S is that it has plenty of competition including from its stablemates at Asus, and with its ErgoLift hinge as the main design feature, it's not an easy recommendation. The Dell XPS 13, for example, is the world's smallest 13.3-inch laptop, comes in multiple configurations starting at less than $1,000 and is just a generally excellent laptop. The same goes for the HP Spectre, which along with being thin and light, has a unique privacy screen feature to give you more peace of mind while working in public. Then there's the regular 13-inch Asus ZenBook that looks similar -- minus the ErgoLift hinge -- but is less expensive and has better graphics performance.  

The hinge is definitely nice to have because, combined with the excellent backlit keyboard, it does make typing more comfortable. Also, since the bottom hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 Celcius) under load in my testing, it keeps the heat up off your lap and allows for better air circulation. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

There are other things to like about the ZenBook S's design, too. There's a glass Windows Precision touchpad that's smooth and responsive, and has a built-in fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello sign-ins. Far-field mics let you use Cortana and eventually Amazon Alexa from up to 4 meters (13 feet) away. And it meets MIL-STD 810G military standard for reliability and durability. This doesn't mean you should go tossing it around, but it is built with durability in mind. The body does collect fingerprints like crazy, though, and it is hard to get them off completely. 

The 4K UHD-resolution touchscreen is bright with good color performance and it's surrounded by thin bezels to make it look more elegant. As for ports, all you'll find are three USB-C ports and a headphone and mic jack. Two of the USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 3, however, and Asus includes adapters for HDMI output and a USB-A port as well as a padded laptop sleeve. 

Ready to run

This laptop will keep up with your average on-the-go business needs. The ZenBook S's eighth-gen quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, 512GB PCIe SSD and integrated graphics didn't disappoint. I zipped through everyday activities such as streaming videos and music while running Google Chrome with a dozen or more tabs open. 

With its integrated graphics, you're not going to be doing demanding video or photo edits. Anything more than casual gaming won't be fun. Still, if you need to cut up clips or crop an image for a PowerPoint presentation, you'll be fine. On our benchmark tests, it was on par with its competition. 

That hinge.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Where the ZenBook S lagged a little was on battery life. On our video streaming test it ran for 8 hours, 26 minutes, which isn't a bad run considering the size of the laptop and its 4K touchscreen. But if you're looking for all-day battery life, you probably won't get there from here with this configuration. On the bright side, the USB-C port can quick charge to 60 percent in less than an hour. 

Executive decision

All in all, Asus put together a strong premium ultrabook with the ZenBook S UX391U. It isn't quite the standout as other ZenBooks we've reviewed this year, and there are a lot of equally good or better options that might better suit your needs or style. Still, if you're looking for a little laptop that'll get noticed when you take out at a cafe, an airport lounge or conference room, this should do the trick. 

Geekbench 4 (multicore)

Asus ZenBook S UX391U 13619 Dell XPS 13 9370 (i7) 12961 HP Spectre 13 (2017) 12941 Microsoft Surface Laptop 7176 Acer Swift 7 6027 LG Gram 15 4756

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Cinebench R15 CPU (multicore)

Dell XPS 13 9370 (i7) 568 LG Gram 15 522 Asus ZenBook S UX391U 519 HP Spectre 13 (2017) 517 Microsoft Surface Laptop 328 Acer Swift 7 263

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Video playback battery drain test (streaming)

LG Gram 15 838 Microsoft Surface Laptop 610 Acer Swift 7 561 Dell XPS 13 9370 (i7) 548 Asus ZenBook S UX391U 506 HP Spectre 13 (2017) 490

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance (in minutes)

System configurations

Asus ZenBook S UX391U	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U; 16GB DDR3 SDRAM 2,133MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel UHD Graphics 620; 512GB SSD
Acer Swift 7	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.3GHz Intel Core i7-7Y75; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,866MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel HD Graphics 615; 256GB SSD
LG Gram 15	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,133MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel HD Grpahics 620; (2) 512GB SSD
Dell XPS 13 9370 (i7)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U; 16GB DDR3 SDRAM 2,133MHz; 128MB (dedicated) Intel UHD Graphics 620; 512GB SSD
HP Spectre 13 (2017)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U; 8GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,133MHz; 128MB (dedicated) Intel HD Graphics 620; 256GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit); 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-7200U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1866MHz; 128MB (dedicated) Intel HD Graphics 620; 256GB SSD

---

Source

Tags:

• Asus Zenbook S Ux393ea Review
• Asus Zenbook Ux390 Price
• Asus Zenbook S Ux393 Review
• Asus Zenbook S Ux393
• Asus Zenbook 3 Ux390ua
• Asus Zenbook S Ux391ua
• Asus Zenbook 3 Ux390u
• Asus Zenbook Stylus
• Asus Zenbook S Ux393
• Asus Zenbook 14
• Asus Zenbook Fold
• Asus Zenbook 14x