Dell XPS 13 review

There's no doubt among many that, so far, the Asus Zenbook UX31 13.3-inch has been the best of the Ultrabook bunch. Despite the detestable trackpad, it offers Core-i7 goodness and a fantastic design for £999, while you can get the 11.6-inch Asus Zenbook UX21 version for £800. Dell hasn't been quick to get into the market, but it has waited for rivals to make their move - something that could play to its advantage.

The sample we're looking at here was sent to us before the XPS 13 was formally launched this week - and although our unit seemed pretty final to us, Dell says it will send us another one once full production units are out and about. Like many Ultrabooks, the XPS 13 certainly turns heads. From the outside, it looks like a smaller version of the Dell XPS 15z and Dell XPS 14z – which is no bad thing. A curvaceous silver aluminium shell clocks in at feather-weight 1.4Kg.

While that's lighter than a great many ultraportables, it's not as floaty as some the Toshiba Z830 weighs in at 1.12kg for example - and there is a sturdiness to it that makes it feel solid. Conforming to the design restrictions laid out by Intel for the Ultrabook format, the XPS 13 measures 7mm at its thinnest point and 18mm at its thickest.

The first thing that strikes you about the XPS 13 is how compact it is. Despite it being a 13-inch display, the 31.6 x 20.5 cm footprint is narrow and Dell makes no secret of its desire to be smaller than the 13-inch MacBook Air but with a similar screen size.

It really is a gorgeous-looking device. Our previous Ultrabook design best has to be the Asus Zenbook but the Dell XPS 13 really cuts it. It looks the part and feels it too at 1.4Kg.

While the XPS 13 will undeniably appeal to the consumer, Dell also hopes to capture a large part of the business market for Ultrabooks there are enterprise friendly features such as a Trusted Platform Module for BitLocker Data Encryption and after-sales ProSupport service.