Dell finally redesigns its flagship laptop and makes some unfortunate changes along the way.

The Good | The new XPS 13 body is smaller, with better internal cooling and a sharp-looking all-white interior. The nearly bezel-free screen still looks great and there’s a fingerprint reader hidden under the power button.

The Bad | The system’s biggest quirk, a below-the-screen webcam, remains. Touch isn’t standard, and most of the ports have been replaced by USB-C.

The Bottom Line | With a new design that catches up to the competition, Dell’s XPS 13 remains one of the best all-around 13-inch laptops, but everyone’s biggest gripe remains unchanged.

Update: Summer 2018

The redesigned 2018 Dell XPS 13 was unveiled in January 2018 and released that same month. Pricing is unchanged since its launch, starting at NPR. 114930. Although mid range configurations have seen temporary price cuts around NPR. 11800, the top-end configuration keeps its price of NPR. 236000.

Touted as “the world’s smallest 13-inch laptop,” the XPS 13 is our top choice for a premium Windows ultra portable laptop at its size, due in part to its speedy performance and 12-hour battery life. That’s not to say it’s without competition, though.

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The full review of the Dell XPS 13, originally posted March 7, 2018 and last updated Nov 16, 2018, follows.

Long a favorite in the CNET Labs, the Dell XPS 13 was one of the first laptops to challenge the tyranny of the screen bezel. At least in a PC. Big-screen TVs have been shaving away at the thick borders around screens for years now, but for laptops, it was something of a revelation.

It also helped that the XPS 13 was a great all-around computer, with a slim, sharp-looking body, good performance and battery life, and a wide set of configuration options.

In the couple of years since then, the XPS 13, always a bit on the heavy side, had started to feel a little dated.

For 2018, Dell has issued a substantial reworking of the XPS 13, with a new design that cuts down on overall size, adds new CPU options, and improves cooling and efficiency with more heat pipes and thermal insulation.

Overall, it’s a solid evolutionary step for a storied laptop. Most of the changes are for the good, a few feel like step back, and a couple of the system’s most irritating quirks remain, annoyingly, unchanged.

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