Dell XPS 13 2-in-1

Dell makes its flagship foldable even better

- CHRISTIAN GUYTON

THE XPS 13 was already pretty good, especially since the minor redesign that saw Dell return the webcam to its rightful place in the center above the screen. But then came the hardware refresh— more powerful components, chiefly the Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor that has cropped up in a number of ultralight laptops as of late.

If you’ve been following Intel’s latest, you’ll know why this is kind of a big deal; if not, we’ll give you the CliffsNotes. The 10th generation of Intel’s mobile CPUs are equipped with new integrated graphics, namely Iris Plus, a new breed of on-chip graphics that blows previous iterations out of the water. This is huge for superslim devices—removing the need for discrete graphics cards means that notebooks and tablets can be thinner and lighter than ever before.

And so we arrive at the new XPS 13 2-in-1. Yes, that’s its actual name— apparently, consumers need to be told that a product is both a laptop and a tablet right from the get-go. But this convertible does do a great job of being both devices, with a gorgeous 4K touchscreen for tablet tasks and a solid keyboard for typing in laptop mode.

Let’s talk about that screen first. It’s bright, colorful, and boasts incredible sharpness for such a small screen. This 2-in-1 doesn’t come with a stylus, so you’re limited to finger controls, unless you splash out on an active stylus; if you use the tablet mode regularly, you will also probably want to invest in a microfiber cloth to keep that screen fingerprint-free.