Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 Laptop Review: Almost a Surface
The XPS lacks the Surface’s kickstand-style design, which allows you to rest the screen at any angle you like. The XPS 13 is held up by the folio, which slides down the back of the tablet, locking in place with magnets. That means it’s limited to only those angles where there are magnets. The most obvious is the first, the angle you’d want for typing at a desk. After that, you have to slowly slide the folio down until you feel it lock in place. There are three possible angles (that I could find, anyway), but switching between them is not as simple as it is with the Surface.
As with any folio-style keyboard, typing in your lap is awkward, but possible. I wrote most of this review with it balanced in my lap. That said, if you primarily want to type with this in your lap, I have a device for you. It’s called a laptop.
Typing on the Dell folio keyboard is not unlike typing on the XPS 13 Plus. The keypress is shallower than an ordinary laptop, but still deep enough to feel like you pressed something, and the response is springy in a satisfying way. One thing to note is that this keyboard does not tilt like the Surface Pro.
Weighty Decisions
The other thing to consider is that, given that most of us do want a keyboard, pairing a 1.6-pound tablet with a 1.26-pound keyboard gives you a 2.8-pound device. The Dell XPS 13 laptop weighs 2.6 pounds and has a screen that can be adjusted to any angle. The main reason I can see to pick this over the laptop is for those who primarily want a Windows tablet.
When it comes to performance, the 2-in-1 XPS 13 proved curiously powerful, considering its thermal limitations. In fact, it scored better in the Geekbench test suite than the XPS 13 laptop I briefly tested last year. In theory these are the same chip, and given the fanless design of the 2-in-1 I would expect worse performance. And yet, in benchmarks, it came out slightly ahead. In real-world use, I did not struggle or encounter any lag. And I spend most of my time in Windows using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which is notoriously heavy on the CPU.
Suffice to say that performance of the i5 model, which uses a 12th-generation Intel U-Series processor, is good enough for most of the use cases in which you’d want a hybrid device like this. If you’re thinking you want this for video editing, you are wrong. You do not. Nor is it a good gaming setup. But for browsing the web, working with documents, and even editing very large spreadsheets, the XPS 13 was plenty snappy.
It comes with a very different—and in my view, much nicer—display than its laptop sibling. Like the Surface Pro, it uses a 3:2 ration screen with a 2880 x 1920 pixel screen. With 500 nits of brightness, it works great outdoors and is plenty sharp. Dell also says there’s support for DisplayHDR 400 and Dolby Vision, which you won’t find in the XPS 13 laptop. It’s also protected by Gorilla Glass, and it’s a touchscreen (it also works with the sold-separately stylus).
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 Review: A Surface-like Slate for Less
$1,299 at Dell
Don’t like
- Kickstand implementation is poor
- Keyboard lies perfectly flat
- No headphone jack
The newest XPS 13 two-in-one from Dell looks and feels a lot like the Surface Pro from Microsoft.
Yes, there are many other Windows tablets with clip-on keyboards, but the Surface is the original and still best known, so it’s the one you’re most likely to compare with this.
I’ve always been a fan of the XPS line in general, and specifically the XPS 13 clamshell laptops. This two-in-one version has some of the same aesthetically minimalist touches and mod-feeling matte aluminum body. Even better, it costs a good deal less than a comparable Surface Pro, depending on how you configure each system.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
A Surface Pro 9 with a Core i5 CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, along with the keyboard cover, is $1,578. A similarly configured XPS 13 two-in-one, also with the keyboard cover, is $1,299. And that’s with a bigger 512GB SSD, too. An exact comparison is tough because the Surface Pro 9 doesn’t offer a pairing of Core i5 and 512GB, while the XPS 13 two-in-one offers only 512GB and 1TB storage options. Prices can also change regularly with limited time discounts and deals.
(As of this review, the Surface Pro 9 is offering a free keyboard cover for a limited time, a savings of $179.)
There’s also an ARM-based Surface Pro 9 (the model we reviewed) that uses Microsoft’s SQ3 chip instead of one from Intel and adds 5G support, but there’s no comparable XPS two-in-one option for that.
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1
| Price as reviewed | $1,299 |
|---|---|
| Display size/resolution | 13-inch 2,880×1,920 Touch |
| CPU | 1GHz Intel Core i5-1230 |
| Memory | 16GB LP-DDR4 |
| Graphics | 128MB Intel Iris Xe Graphics |
| Storage | 512GB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD |
| Networking | Wi-Fi 6E 1675 (AX211) 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.2 |
Keyboard and kickstand sins
But configured as closely as possible, there’s a pretty big price difference. Still, I’m still not sure I would go with the XPS two-in-one over the Surface Pro 9.
Why? Because the two things the Surface has perfected about tablet/laptop hybrids, the kickstand and the keyboard cover, are not quite as perfected here.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
And that’s a shame because the 13-inch 2,880×1,920 screen is bright and rich-looking. It’s rated for 500 nits brightness, and in practice it makes for a very good TV/movie streaming device when lying in bed. The Surface Pro supports a faster 120Hz refresh rate, versus just 60Hz here. That can mean smoother video, but also have an impact on battery life. Having a higher, or variable, refresh rate is a nice feature to have, but most people will be happy with a 60Hz screen.
But the keyboard cover, which Dell calls the XPS Folio, is a letdown. I’ll start with the good news: It’s just $100 extra, not the criminal $179 Microsoft charges for its keyboard cover. But unlike the Surface keyboard, which can angle up at the back for a more ergonomic experience, the Dell version sits flat on your desk and that’s it.
The actual keys are large, flat, edge-to-edge-style keys, which is a good use of limited space, and in fact, it feels more like a solid laptop keyboard than the Surface version. But, the lack of any kind of incline option made it feel awkward.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
A far bigger sin is how the kickstand is incorporated into the XPS Folio itself, instead of being built into the tablet. That means to prop up the XPs 13 two-in-one, you need the full keyboard cover attached, even if you just want to prop the tablet up like a standalone screen. While the Surface Pro allows for almost unlimited kickstand angles, the back of the XPs Folio slides down into three magnetic stops, and it’s entirely possible none of them will feel exactly right to you.
Fanless performance
Once you get past these design foibles, the XPs 13 two-in-one is a respectable performer for a U-series Core i5 Windows system. It’s fanless, which makes it totally silent and helps battery life, even if it’s a theoretical limiter on overall performance because the heat needs to be regulated.
A current M2 MacBook is faster, as is the Core i7 XPS 13 Plus and the most recent Core i5 XPS 13, but not by a huge amount. I’d call this a perfectly fine PC for mainstream tasks and even some photo or video work.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
Battery life is also nearly 7.5 hours on our online video streaming test. Again, nowhere near what some other laptops with bigger batteries can pull off, but still very good if you’re going to be doing a lot of video streaming.
This see-sawing list of pluses and minuses leave the XPS 13 two-in-one in a strange place. The price is right, considering the components, accessories, design and performance. But in some of the quality of life issues, it falls behind the more expensive Surface Pro line, and you’ll have to decide if the price tradeoff is worth it for the kickstand and keyboard differences.
Geekbench 5 (multicore)
Asus ROG Flow Z13 11,620Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022) 8,592Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 8,302Dell XPS 13 9315 7,369Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 6,133Microsoft Surface Pro 9 5,652Microsoft Surface Pro 8 5,317
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
Cinebench R23 (multicore)
Asus ROG Flow Z13 12,389Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 10,344Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 7,474Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022) 6,796Dell XPS 13 9315 5,332Microsoft Surface Pro 8 4,176Microsoft Surface Pro 9 3,318
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
Online streaming battery drain test
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022) 1,039Microsoft Surface Pro 9 645Dell XPS 13 9315 611Microsoft Surface Pro 8 524Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 449Asus ROG Flow Z13 381Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 235
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
System configurations
| Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 | Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 1GHz Intel Core i5-1230U; 16GB DDR4 4,266MHz RAM; 128MB Intel Iris Xe Graphics; 512GB SSD |
|---|---|
| Dell XPS 13 9315 | Windows 11 Home; 1GHz Intel Core i5-1230U; 16GB DDR5 6,400MHz RAM; 128MB Intel Iris Xe Graphics; 512GB SSD |
| 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 |
| Microsoft Surface Pro 9 | Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 3GHz Microsoft SQ3; 16GB DDR4 RAM; 7,889MB shared Qualcomm Adreno graphics; 256GB SSD |
| Microsoft Surface Pro 8 | Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 3GHz Intel Core i7-118G7; 16GB DDR4 RAM; 128MB Intel Iris Xe graphics; 256GB SSD |
| Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2, 2022) | Apple MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M2 8-core chip; 8GB RAM; Apple 10-core GPU; 256GB SSD |
| Asus ROG Flow Z13 | Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.5GHz Intel Core i9-12900H; 16GB DDR5 6,400MHz RAM; 4GB Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti graphics; 1TB SSD |
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core REVIEW ★ June 2023
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core buy
Specifications Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core
Dell XPS 13 9 315 2-in -1 Core is based on the 10-core Intel Core i5-1230U processor.
The Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core has a TDP of 12W, which is energy efficient and highly portable. Responsible for graphics is the Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs.
The Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core has 16 GB of non-replaceable 2-channel RAM on board. Currently, this is the minimum recommended amount for comfortable work and modern games. This is enough even for simple video editing.
Our storage configuration is a fast 1 TB PCIe4 x4 SSD with a capacity of 1 TB. The SSD capacity is enough for most everyday tasks, including games.
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core Display
The Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core is equipped with a 13.0-inch 3:2 aspect ratio display with a resolution of 2880 x 1920 pixels in IPS technology. This resolution, in my opinion, is redundant for a 13.0-inch screen. Of course, you will be pleased with the highest clarity of the screen, and, of course, it is a pleasure to use such a device. However, there is a downside to the coin – increased power consumption, which negatively affects autonomy.
If device mobility is more important to you, I recommend looking at configurations with a lower display resolution, especially for a screen of this size.
60 Hz display frequency is not something outstanding, but it is more than enough for everyday tasks. In addition, the lower the frequency of the display, the better its energy efficiency parameters. If autonomy is important to you, then 60 Hz from this point of view would be the best option.
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core averaged 475 nits of brightness. This is a good indicator for comfortable work indoors and possibly outdoors on a cloudy day. In bright sunshine, I wouldn’t expect you to be able to see anything on the screen if I were you.
The contrast ratio of the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core display is 1450:1, which is excellent. The picture looks juicy and natural. It is especially pleasant to watch movies on such a screen. The screen surface is glossy. Like if you like glossy erans! Subscribe to our channel if you prefer matte./_hero_horiz_Dell-XPS-7390-7954SLV-2-in-1-Laptop-1-0370e04434494fe28ea93857af307a0e.jpg)
IPS displays have proven themselves very well in mobile devices due to their excellent viewing angles and good color reproduction at a low production cost. Dell XPS 139The 315 2-in-1 Core inherits the benefits of IPS panels, but it’s not without its downsides.
Our colorimeter measurements show 99% coverage of the sRGB color space. This is a very good indicator, especially for games and films where richness of colors is important. The gamma is noticeably less than the standard. Compared to reference displays, the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core looks flatter and lifeless. This can be an advantage in games where you want to brighten up details in dark environments, but for everyday tasks and especially photos and videos, this is more of a minus than a plus. Within reasonable limits, this can be corrected by calibrating the display, but it is better to buy a higher contrast screen than to try to fix this one.
The white point deviates slightly from the 6500K standard, the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core display can be safely recommended for professional use.
In general, out of the box color reproduction is good.
Performance Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core
The performance of the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core is enough for comfortable office work, but no more. This is fully consistent with the class of the device, it would be strange to expect more from the Intel Core i5-1230U. In terms of numbers, in the PCMark 10 Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core scored about 4900 points.
The graphics subsystem in the form of Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs will hardly surprise you. But if you plan to use the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core mainly for office work, then the low graphics performance should not be considered a disadvantage. In the 3DMark 11 graphics test, the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core scores around 4300 points.
Cooling system Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core is absolutely silent, as the cooling system is passive.
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core gets noticeably hot under full load, can be used as a heating pad.
This is not surprising given the compact size of the device. The engineers squeezed the maximum out of the cooling system.
Battery life Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core
The Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core has average battery life. On a single charge, it will last no more than 6 hours with not very intensive use and an average brightness level. If you need more, then to the 0.8 kg weight of the device itself, add 213 g of the power supply, which you have to carry with you.
Interfaces Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core
- Keyboard Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core backlit
- WiFi 6
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Fingerprint sensor
- Light sensor
- Charging via USB-C (Power Delivery)
- 2x USB 3.0
- 2x USB 3.1
- 2x Thunderbolt
- 2x DisplayPort
Should I buy the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core
Dell XPS 13 9The 315 2-in-1 Core is one of the leaders in the Transformer segment and will be a great purchase.
You will definitely not be ashamed of such a gift, as the Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core is one of the best laptops available on the market.
See also
- Huawei MateBook 16s i9 REVIEW
- Schenker XMG Focus 17 (E23) OVERVIEW
- Asus ZenBook 14 UM3402Y REVIEW
- Asus ROG Flow X16 GV601V REVIEW
- Acer Nitro 16 AN16-41 OVERVIEW
- Asus ZenBook Pro 14 Duo UX8402VV-P1021W REVIEW
- Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED UX6404VI REVIEW
- Asus TUF A15 FA507 REVIEW
- Asus VivoBook 15X OLED M3504YA REVIEW
- Lenovo Legion Pro 5 REVIEW
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 Core video review
2023-03-24 14:41
7%
Select the configuration of the
laptop that interests you
Overview
XPS 13 9310 (2-in-1) Key Performance Evaluation with Selected Configuration
System performance
42
Gaming performance
26
Screen
43
Autonomy
58
Communications
77
Housing and design
94
NanoReview rating
49
Tests and performance
Detailed tests and specifications Dell XPS 13 9310 (2-in-1)
Housing
| Weight | 1.32 kg |
| Dimensions | 297 x 207 x 14.3 mm |
| Area | 615 cm 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~84.7% |
| Side frames | 4. 2 mm |
| Colors | Black |
| Material | Top: Aluminum Middle: Carbon fiber Bottom: Aluminum |
| Transformer | Yes |
| Screen opening angle | 360° |
| Cooling type | Active |
| Evaporation chamber | Yes |
| Liquid metal | No |
| Number of coolers | 2 |
| Noise level | 41.5 dB |
Display
1920×1200
3840×2400
| Diagonal | 13.4″ |
| Matrix type | IPS LCD |
| Update rate | 60 Hz |
| Pixel density | 169 dpi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 |
| Approval | 1920 x 1200 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Synchronization technology | No. |
| Touch input | Yes |
| Coating | Glossy (anti-reflective) |
| Light sensor | Yes |
| Contrast | 1200:1 |
| sRGB | 99% |
| Adobe RGB coverage | 71.7% |
| DCI-P3 coverage | 69.7% |
| Response time | 35 ms |
Max brightness
450 nits
Battery
Capacity
51 Wh
| Voltage | 7.6V |
| Full charge time | 1:30 am |
| Battery type | Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) |
| Removable | No |
| Quick Charge | Yes |
| USB Power Delivery | Yes |
| Charging connector location | Left, Right |
| Charging power | 45W |
| Cable length | 1 meter |
| Charger weight | 214 grams |
Processor
CPU model
Intel Core i3 1115G4
Intel Core i5 1135G7
Intel Core i5 1145G7
Intel Core i7 1165G7
Intel Core i7 1185G7
| Base frequency | 1. 7-3.0 GHz |
| Boost frequency | 4.1 GHz |
| Cores | 2 |
| threads | 4 |
| L3 cache | 6 MB |
| Integrated graphics | Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4 |
| Process | 10 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (single core)
1232
Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
2460
Cinebench R23 (single-core)
1271
Cinebench R23 (multi-core) 9 0007
3057
Add your Cinebench R23 results
Video card
GPU model
Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4 (48 EU)
| TGP | 15W |
| Graphic type | Integrated |
| Process | 10 nm |
| GPU frequency | 300 MHz |
| Boost GPU frequency | 1100 MHz |
| FLOPS | 0. 84 teraflops |
| Video memory size | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X |
| Memory speed | 4.27 Gbps |
| Shader blocks | 384 |
| TMUs | 24 |
| ROPs | 12 |
GPU performance
0.84 teraflops
RAM
Memory size
8GB
16GB
32GB
| Planks | 2×4 GB |
| Frequency | 4267 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR4X |
| Replaceable | No |
Accumulator
Accumulator capacity
256GB
512GB
1024GB
| Tire | PCI-E Gen3.0 (4x) |
| Type | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1×256 GB |
| Replaceable | Yes |
| Total slots | 1 |
| NVMe | Yes |
| Audio chip | Realtek ALC3281-CG |
| Sound format | 2. 0 |
| Speaker power | 2x2W |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes |
| Max. volume | 80.7 dB |
| Microphones | 2 |
Communications
| Wi-Fi version | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5.1 |
| Fingerprint reader | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Optional |
| Drive | No |
| Webcam | Top of screen |
| Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 |
| USB-A | No |
| USB Type-C | 2x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | No |
| DisplayPort | No |
| VGA | No |
Audio port (3.
|