Dell XPS 13 2020 review

Dell has been making ultraportables in a variety of sizes under the Dell XPS brand for years now. The 2020 iteration adds tenth-generation Intel processors into the mix, further entrenching its positions as one of the very best ultraportable laptops you can buy. There are some concessions to that portability, especially if you have lots of peripherals, but for anyone needing a truly mobile office laptop, this is an easy recommendation.

Design

Design

• Very thin and light
• Minimal bezels make for a great viewing experience
• Responsive keyboard
• Very limited ports

• Read more about the Dell XPS 13 2020's design

  When closed, the Dell XPS 13 2020 looks much like any other ultrabook laptop. Think silver finish, small and light, vendor logo on the top and you've got the design recipe for just about any ultraportable, really.

  However, this ultraportable is slightly smaller than you might think, measuring in at a scant 15.8x302x199mm. It's only when you open it up that you work out how Dell keeps the XPS 13 so svelte, and that's because the 13-inch display has extremely minimal bezels around it. Smaller bezels allow you to create a smaller laptop overall, which makes the Dell XPS 13 2020 easy to carry around or sling into a bag as needs be.

  That smaller design isn't wasted when it comes to the keyboard either, which extends to much the same bezel position as the screen, so it really makes the most of its space. Key travel is quite good for an ultrabook, although I wasn't as much a fan of the separated cursor key design on the XPS 13. Possibly I just like having regular-sized up and down cursor keys more than most folks, but beyond that, the Dell XPS 13's keyboard performs well.

  As with most of Dell's range, there's a degree of customisation when it comes to the display on the Dell XPS 13 2020. The top tier models ship with a 4K-capable 13.4-inch touch display, but the review model as tested was the more moderately priced non-touch-capable 13.4-inch Full HD display. At this kind of size, 4K might be overkill for many folks, although if you're a fan of touchscreen iteration, it's the way you'd have to go. Still, the display on the regular model was nicely sharp and bright, and the lack of prominent bezels really does draw your eye into the display whether you're working or taking a sneaky Netflix binge break.

  At just 15.8mm high, there's only so much space for external ports on the Dell XPS 13 2020, and it's one notable weak point if you do need to plug in a lot of external devices. The right side of the Dell XPS 13 2020 houses a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port with DisplayPort and Power Delivery capabilities as well as a microSD card reader. The left-hand side mirrors that Thunderbolt USB-C port, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack, and that's your lot. The dual ports do mean that you can charge the Dell XPS 13 2020 from either side, but if your workflow encompasses a lot of peripherals, or you need features like wired Ethernet access, it could get clunky with USB docks and adaptors.

  One great little design note that I genuinely didn't even spot at first is the location of the Dell XPS 13 2020's integrated webcam. In an era of endless Zoom meetings, a webcam is something of a must, but at first, you might assume the Dell XPS 13 2020 is lacking when it comes to an integrated video camera. It's located in the top bezel, almost imperceptibly hidden in the very small black strip at the top. It's not the best webcam I've ever tested, but it's OK for basic use.

Performance

Performance

• Tenth-gen Intel Core i7 delivers good results
• Iris Plus graphics remain basic

• Read more about the Dell XPS 13 2020's performance

  The latest generation of the Dell XPS 13 brings with it Intel's latest generation of processors, with the model tested running on a tenth-gen ("Ice Lake") Core i7-1065G7 processor with 16GB of installed RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. Again, this is Dell, so you can tweak some of those parameters up and down depending on the model as chosen. By default – and for the review unit – the Dell XPS 13 2020 ships with Windows 10 Home 64-bit preinstalled.

  The Dell XPS 13 2020 benchmarks well, especially given its price point. As with all things Dell, the exact price you'll pay depends on seemingly daily specials and configuration, but at the time of writing, the model as tested could be bought for around $2,800. Here's how the Dell XPS 13 compares across a range of benchmarks for CPU and graphics performance:

  The XPS 13 2020 is clearly more of a mobile office productivity machine as configured than a graphics rendering powerhouse, thanks to its use of Intel's integrated Iris Plus GPU. That's the common choice for most ultrabooks, and if you want a gaming laptop, you'll need to look elsewhere. Of course, Dell would be happy to take your money via its Alienware brand for that purpose.

  In real-world use, the XPS 13 2020 is a pleasure to use for those essential productivity tasks. While my standard daily laptop is a MacBook, switching over to the XPS 13 2020 saw no dips in performance even when I was abusing Chrome by leaving too many tabs open or crunching through audio production for my weekly podcast duties. Thankfully, the range of preinstalled apps is quite moderate, so you won't have to hunt down too many unwanted apps.

Battery life

Battery life

• Exceptionally good battery life

• Read more about the Dell XPS 13 2020's battery life

  Battery life on ultraportables is always a function of what workloads you place on them. To test this, our standard for laptops is to run two separate tests. Firstly, a Full HD locally stored video is run with all battery-saving measures disabled at maximum brightness to the point of battery exhaustion. Video rendering was at one time a heavy task for many laptops, but it's now very much assumed. To give laptops more of a stress test, we also run them through PC Mark's Gaming Battery test. The Dell XPS 13 2020 isn't a gaming laptop, but by pushing it, we can get a picture of a likely worst-case scenario.

  The XPS 13 2020's battery life figures were good for the video test and exceptional for the gaming battery test. Here's how the Dell XPS 13 2020 compares:

  There's some fair variance there because laptops that managed more than the Dell when it came to video processing fell far earlier on the gaming test. Anecdotally, the Dell XPS 13 2020 had no issues making it through a day's hefty writing and editing work for my purposes, and I was impressed by the smaller than usual USB-C charger too. However, if you do opt for the fancier 4K touchscreen models, you can expect to see a little less battery life. Those extra pixels don't come without a power cost.

Should you buy the Dell XPS 13 2020?

The Dell XPS 13 2020 pitches itself at a very specific market. This is a laptop for mobile professionals or for anyone who needs a highly portable powerful laptop. It won't work so well if you need more than its two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports can provide or if you do a lot of heavy video rendering thanks to that Iris Plus GPU, but for those who live from place to place but want a solid and very nicely designed ultraportable, it's highly recommended.

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Specifications

Finder score: 4

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