Dell XPS 13 review (2015): Meet the world's smallest 13-inch laptop

CES has come and gone; the holidays are long past; and now all we're left with are a few months of dreary weather. No fun, right? Right. Except if you're a tech writer. Now that most major companies have revealed their new lineups, we have the exciting job of testing all this stuff; seeing how it holds up in real life. The first product of the year to cross my desk: none other than the Dell XPS 13, a compact 13-inch laptop that ranked as a finalist for our annual Best of CES awards. In addition to being the first system we've tested with Intel's new fifth-generation Core processor, the redesigned XPS is notable for its nearly bezel-less display -- a design feat that allows it to have the footprint of an 11-inch machine. Particularly with a starting price of $800 (pretty reasonable for a flagship laptop), it seemed poised to become one of our new favorite Ultrabooks. And you know what? It actually is.

           Other than an update to the touchpad, there's very little we would change about Dell's redesigned XPS 13: It's compact and well-built, with a gorgeous screen, fast performance and surprisingly good audio quality.You'll pay dearly to get it with a touchscreen, but even then, it's priced in line with other flagship Ultrabooks -- and in some ways it's a better choice, too.

Hardware

I suspect many people will buy the XPS 13 purely because of that gorgeous screen, but personally, after using the laptop for a week, I'm more impressed with how small it is. To be fair, of course, I'm a little late to the game: Netbooks and 11-inch laptops have been around for years, but until now, I've avoided them precisely because I prefer the extra screen real estate. That said, with a display this big, the XPS 13 feels like the best of both worlds. Especially for frequent travelers like me. Take my recent cross-country flight to Seattle. The laptop took up less space in my backpack than my MacBook Air would have. It was easier to balance on a cramped airplane tray, even with the person in front of me leaning all the way back (thanks, dude). And for those moments when I had to put my laptop out of sight, it was small enough that I could stow it inside the seat-back compartment with room to spare. At the same time, I had enough space to juggle multiple browser tabs, as well as WordPad in a separate window. After a week with the XPS 13, I'm reminded that weight and thinness aren't everything, though it definitely helps that this thing starts at just 2.6 pounds. Not bad for a 13-inch laptop! (Even with the optional touchscreen, it's still 2.8 pounds.)

Other than the smaller footprint and nearly bezeless screen, the XPS 13 hews to the same design language as Dell's previous Ultrabooks. Which is to say, it features a smooth metal exterior, with details that include a metal plate on the bottom side to cover up all the required FCC fine print. On the inside, a soft carbon fiber finish stretches across the keyboard deck all the way from the hinge to the palm rest. It's a design that's both beautiful and practical, and I'm glad Dell didn't mess with a good thing just for the sake of shaking things up. For one thing, the carbon weave is nice to look at. Disagree with me if you like, but I think it instantly makes this $800 machine look more expensive than it actually is. It feels nice too, especially if you have the laptop on a flat surface and are letting your wrists hang off the palm rest. Also, thanks to that weave pattern, scratches are virtually a non-issue. Fingerprints too. (The keyboard is another story: I've got a big grease stain on the space bar, where my thumb keeps hitting it.)

Speaking of the keyboard, I really like it, even if it does require a bit of upkeep to keep the fingerprints away. Despite the XPS 13's compact footprint, this feels like a full-sized layout. Though there are a few shrunken buttons (backspace, for example), most of the backlit keys feel generously sized and well-spaced. Even the arrow keys are easy to find by feel, and those are usually the first things to get squeezed when space is an issue. The buttons also have a surprising amount of travel compared to some other Ultrabooks, with a springiness that made it easy for me to type at a fast clip. My only quibble is that the keyboard sometimes failed to register my button presses, forcing me to go back and re-type stuff. To be honest, though, this is an issue on many Ultrabooks; in fact, it's probably less of a problem here, what with those relatively cushy buttons.
I won't go so far as to say I hate the Microsoft-made Precision touchpad, but it's definitely not as well-engineered as the keyboard. There's just a little too much friction, to the point where I noticed some stuttering even while doing basic two-finger scrolling (that's not just in IE, but in apps like File Explorer and WordPad too). Pinch-to-zoom also didn't feel as controlled as on some other Windows PCs; it sometimes took me multiple attempts to scale text exactly the way I wanted. One time, I actually zoomed in on a webpage by accident when all I meant to do was scroll through. On the bright side, the trackpad does well at single-finger tracking -- an area where other laptop touchpads frequently fall short.

Though it's a smaller-than-average machine, the XPS 13 thankfully still includes all the usual ports. Well, most of them anyway. Over on the left side, we have a Mini DisplayPort, a headphone jack, one of two USB 3.0 connections and the all-important power socket. The right edge is less crowded, with a Kensington lock slot, a full-sized SD card reader and that second USB opening. There's also an HD webcam, nestled in the lower-left corner below the screen (clearly, Dell had to get creative to accommodate those skinny bezels). Really, of all the things you might reasonably expect to find on an Ultrabook, the only thing missing is an HDMI port. Even then, I suspect many of you will do just fine without it. I know I have.

Display and sound

Dell's marketing team has taken the liberty of calling the XPS 13's screen an "infinity display." While that's technically incorrect -- you can still make out the 5.2mm-thick bezels on either side -- this is perhaps the closest thing I've seen to a true edge-to-edge display, with pixels stretching all the way across. Also, the screen here has the tiniest bumper you ever did see, which also helps create the illusion of uninterrupted glass. In any case, it's all very pretty, as you'd expect, and it's practical too: You get the same real estate as any other 13-inch laptop, just with a smaller footprint.
Dell didn't skimp on the display quality either. The IPS Gorilla Glass screen (which starts at 1080p resolution, but goes up to 3,200 x 1,800) offers wide viewing angles, which came in handy during my six-hour flight from New York to Seattle. Even with the window open and sunlight pouring in, I could still make out the screen without issue. Also, given that I was trapped in economy, I didn't exactly have much space to work with. Still, whether I had the machine in my lap or balanced on the tray table with the lid dipped forward, I enjoyed bright colors and even contrasts. No washouts here. My only complaint? The XPS 13 doesn't come standard with a touchscreen; for that feature, you'll need to pay $1,300, not $800. Boo.
It's easy to miss the XPS 13's stereo speakers the first time you pick it up: They're nestled on either side of the laptop, toward the front where the chassis gets really narrow. While the audio might seem like an afterthought, it's actually surprisingly good -- among the best in its class, even. The volume is strong enough that I typically didn't need to push it much beyond the 30 out of 100 mark. And while this isn't the most bass-heavy setup you've ever heard (why would it be?), the speakers stand up well to a wide variety of musical genres, from classical to jazz to hip-hop and pop. All told, even when I needed to go back to my "real" laptop for certain things, I continued to use the XPS 13 as my music machine.