Every few years, the PC industry needs a brutal reminder that most of us aren’t in it for the money. Apple’s $600 MacBook Neo was a wake-up call for many in the industry—a reminder that sub-$1,000 laptops are in demand it’s not bad. According to first impressions, Dell XPS 13 seems to be doing everything it needs to do. But there is one detail that almost misses it.
The XPS 13 starts at $700, though you can get the device for $600 with a student discount. In terms of features, it doesn’t sound the most interesting; the base model has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (both similar to the MacBook Neo). It’s powered by Intel Core 5, one of the new Wildcat Lake chips built for low-end PCs. It should be perfect for work and flow on the face.
During my brief experience, I couldn’t benchmark the system or open a truckload of Chrome tabs, but I could stroke the chassis. I’m happy to report that the full CNC aluminum shell is solid. It’s not heavy, coming in at 2.2 pounds, and I can confirm that it’s a hair thinner than the MacBook Neo. I liked the feel of its keys better than Apple’s Magic Keyboard. In terms of connectivity, it’s limited to just two USB-C ports, which becomes Thunderbolt 4 if you buy Intel’s more expensive version, which includes Panther Lake. Someone out there will complain about the lack of a headphone jack, although it won’t be me, as this device also supports Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 7.
The display was an interesting situation. It’s a full 2.5K touch panel, but it didn’t look particularly bright. It supports refresh rates up to 120Hz and up to 30Hz, which may help boost it to a maximum of 60Hz Neo for some indecisive customers.
One aspect that gave me pause was the trackpad. Apple’s Neo design had a mechanical pad haptic pad that gives more grace MacBook Air or MacBook Proit’s not as luxurious as its premium siblings, but it feels great to use. The XPS 13 also uses a mechanical pad, but its sensitivity was disappointing in comparison. In my tests, it was more sensitive near the bottom of the deck and it was almost impossible to press upwards. The XPS trackpad may not be as bad as you’ll find on some other laptops, but in terms of pure usability, it’s a disappointing failure.
I didn’t even have a chance to check how this device sounds. Apple’s MacBook Neo includes two 2W side speakers with sound quality you won’t mind using without headphones. The XPS 13 has four speakers, but they’re all downward-firing, so sound quality can really go either way. I’ll have to spend more time with the laptop to determine if its sound is worth the switch price.
there is a few more laptops here at Computex, as $600 Acer Swift Air 14it aims to compete with the MacBook Neo, but Dell has been the most open and purposeful in wanting to dethrone Apple for budget laptops. The bottom line is that we’ll have more options for low-end quality laptops, and that’s a good thing.
