
Internally, the two laptops are mostly equal, but there are some significant differences externally. There’s virtually no difference in performance between identical configurations, putting the focus on battery life, design, and the keyboard. And the XPS 13 and Spectre x360 are two models that put the hardware to excellent use. In 2021, Tiger Lake processors rule the mobile market, and that is becoming increasingly clear as more models release. Fortnite, for example, couldn’t manage 30 fps in our testing, even at Medium settings. It can play that role, but only in certain titles. Testing a slightly more powerful i7-1185G7, we found that Intel’s new Xe integrated graphics could produce playable frame rates in Battlefield V and Civilization VI. A dedicated GPU is still essential for any serious gaming, but the XPS 13 and x360 13 can play the role of lightweight gaming notebooks once you wrap up your work. Gaming is an important benchmark with Intel’s new mobile range, too. Out of the Tiger Lake laptops we’ve tested, only the Acer Swift 5 beats the XPS 13 with an identical configuration. Benchmarks show nearly identical scores between the two across PCMark, Cinebench, Photoshop, and more. Processor power rules the roost in this form factor, and both Dell and HP deliver. It’s a four-core, eight-thread part that can turbo up to 4.7GHz, and it comes with Intel’s new Xe graphics. Dell matches those offerings in its high-end configurations, but also offers a less powerful i3-1115G4 model and a more expensive i7-1185G7.Īt their respective prices, the i7-1165G7 is the ideal choice.

For HP, you have the option between the i5-1135G7 and i7-1165G7. Intel’s 11th-gen Tiger Lake processors are the star of the show for both the XPS 13 and x360 13, and Dell and HP have mostly the same options. The x360 13 also supports LTE on certain models.
#HP SPECTRE X360 VS HP ENVY X360 BLUETOOTH#
Considering you’ll need a dongle with both machines, the USB-A port on the x360 13 is a useful addition.Īs for wireless connectivity, the two machines are equally matched, sporting the latest Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5. It trades the MicroSD port for a USB 3.0 Type-A port, however. The x360 13 comes with a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, as well, in addition to a 3.5mm jack. The XPS 13 continues the trend of Dell removing ports, featuring a single Thunderbolt 4 port on each side of the laptop, as well as a 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack and a MicroSD card reader. The two aren’t equal when it comes to port selection, though. The 2020 XPS 13 does improve on previous models, however, changing out the butterfly mechanisms for a more tactile feel, and moving the page up and page down keys away from the arrow keys. A lot of it comes down to preference, but the x360’s keys have more travel than the Dell’s. Technically, however, the XPS 13 is slightly thinner and lighter.Īs for typing, the XPS 13 and x360 are the best of the best when it comes to laptops (short of the Magic Keyboard on Apple’s latest MacBooks). We’ll get into dimensions later, but the two laptops are mainly on par. It has more color options, too, including silver, black and gold, and navy with silver accents. HP’s x360 is a little more flashy with diamond-cut corners and lovely Spectre logos adorning each of the hinges. Dell’s model is familiar, short of a slightly reworked hinge, and it comes in two colors: Silver with a black interior, or Frost with a white interior. When it comes to looks and build quality, it’s hard to go wrong with the XPS 13 and x360 13. If there is an edge, it goes to the XPS 13 simply because there are processor options, which is by the far the most important component in this form factor. The cheapest XPS 13 comes with a worse processor, but Dell offers a configuration that matches the cheapest x360 for only $20 more. HP offers configurations with 32GB of Intel Optane memory, too, paired with up to a 1TB NVMe SSD. The cheapest configuration comes with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.Ī tricked-out configuration runs $1,880 and includes an i7-1165G7, 16GB of memory, a 4K touch display, and a massive 2TB NVMe SSD. That extra $80 buys you a nicer i5-1135G7 compared to the XPS 13, but the other specs are identical. The Spectre x360 13 starts at a slightly higher price: $1,080 new, and $980 on sale. A high-end configuration will run $2,350.

If you configure 16GB of memory, the processor moves up to an i7-1185G7, as does the price. You can configure the system yourself, too, with up to 16GB of memory and a 2TB SSD.

It keeps the memory and storage the same but upgrades the processor to an i7-1165G7 and the screen to a 4K touch display. The most expensive configuration runs $1,700. The cheapest configuration comes with an i3-1115G4, paired with 8GB of ultra-fast memory (4,267MHz) and a 256GB NVMe hard drive, for $1,000. Dell XPS 13: the best tiny laptop?ĭell’s latest XPS 13 is powered by Intel’s 11th-gen Tiger Lake processors. The best Dell laptops for 2023: XPS, Inspiron, and more
