Apple reset the budget laptop market earlier this year when it launched MacBook NeoIt’s a machine with superior design than anything around its $599 price tag and enough performance for most readers. It was only a matter of time before Windows laptop makers responded, and Dell has responded with the XPS 13. The XPS is Dell’s flagship, but it’s designed for an entry-level XPS 13 model for students that brings it closer to what they can pay for the Neo.
The XPS 13 follows on the heels of Dell relaunching its XPS line with XPS 14 again XPS 16. I XPS 13 is available nowit starts at $699, and students can buy it for $599. That’s $100 more than the base Neo that costs $499 with Apple’s educational discount, but the XPS 13 has a few advantages over the Neo.
Watch this: I Tested the $699 Dell XPS 13, and It’s the Biggest Threat to the MacBook Neo
Battle of the campus: Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Neo
You can’t take a MacBook without bringing a sleek, all-metal design, and it looks like Dell has done just that with the XPS 13. The aluminum chassis is as thin as 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 2.2 pounds. That’s half a pound lighter than the Neo.
Based on a 13.4-inch LCD display with 2.5K resolution, a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz and touch support, the XPS 13 offers a larger display than the Neo. The Neo’s display is also not a touchscreen and clocks in at a standard 60Hz.
The $599 XPS 13 has a six-core Intel Core 5 320 processor and integrated Intel Graphics with two Xe GPU cores, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The Neo also starts with a six-core CPU in the A18 Pro and 8GB of RAM but only a 256GB SSD.
The XPS 13 step-up model with 16GB of RAM costs $899. Dell will expand the XPS 13 line up “later this summer” with an eight-core Ultra 7 355 processor with four Xe GPU cores, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Dell has yet to share pricing information for these high-end options.
The XPS 13 is thin and light and is likely to run long enough to walk across campus.
There are four other features that favor the XPS 13: speakers, biometrics, wireless networking and keyboard lighting. The XPS 13 has four speakers going to the stereo Neo speakers, so sound output is likely to be better with the XPS 13. It also has a Windows Hello webcam so you can use facial recognition for easy, secure login. Apart from an IR web camera or a fingerprint scanner, the Neo has a distinct lack of biometrics. The XPS 13 offers Wi-Fi 7 networking, while the Neo does pre-gen Wi-Fi 6E. Finally, the XPS 13 has keyboard backlighting for late night term papers and study sessions, while the Neo does not.
Dell makes a vague battery life claim of “up to 17 hours of streaming” with the XPS 13. That’ll give readers a longer run on a single charge than the Neo, which lasted 13.5 hours in our video streaming battery test. We’ll have to test the XPS 13 to confirm Dell’s 17-hour figure, but we’ve seen good results so far with laptops based on Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 processors, so 17 hours isn’t out of the question.
The XPS 13 is based on a 13.4-inch touchscreen display.
One thing in Neo’s favor: color. Apple offers the MacBook Neo in three exciting colors, as well as basic silver. The XPS 13 comes in two colors — sky and storm — and from the pictures, each looks like a different shade of gray or silver.
XPS 13 student discount details
Dell’s $100 XPS 13 rebate is available to college and high school students 16 and older. So, basically high school students and seniors. (Sorry, newbies.) $599 student pricing for the XPS 13 is available now through Nov. 2.
