Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Great Linux support
You can configure the XPS 13 to come with Linux out of the box. Even if you pick the Windows version, the XPS 13 has Linux drivers for all of its features and most users have reported that the whole process of installing a Linux distribution on a Dell XPS 13 is very simple.
Pro Solid performance
The equipped i5-6200U processor (2.3-2.8GHz) while the latest Dell XPS 13's have i5-7200U (2.5-3.1GHz) paired with 8GB of RAM and an on-board SSD combine to provide good performance of virtually every task.
The processor isn't commonly found, but it performs admirably. In Cinebench R11.5, it scored 3.19 points which beats out the HP Spectre's 2.7 points as well as previous XPS models, and edges out the MacBook Air 13. The MacBook Pro Retina 13 beats it by 12% and the Microsoft Surface Book out-scores the XPS 13 by 10%. Overall, it offers great punch for its size.
The SSD uses PCI express, promising very fast data transfer speeds. Read speeds can reach 1097 MB/s, and write speeds 108 MB/s. It is upgradeable to an M.2 drive.
While not intended for gaming, the Intel HD 520 Graphics offer playable settings for most games on medium settings (StarCraft 2 runs at 49fps, BioShock Infinite runs at 28fps).
Pro Toggleable and customizable keyboard backlighting
Users can turn on or off the backlighting of the keyboard as well as adjust the brightness.
Pro Excellent trackpad
The trackpad is one of the best found on the market. It offers great accuracy, and the glass Dell uses offers little resistance. The integrated buttons work well, and gestures are very accurate. It even supports three-finger gestures similar to the MacBook's.
Pro Uses an SSD for faster operations on disk
Using an SSD greatly increases performance for every I/O operation, especially compared to laptops that use an HDD. The laptop will boot faster, programs that need to read and write to disk will run faster and scripts will compile much faster than on an HDD.
Pro Stunning display
Before buying you can choose between the 4K UHD- or full HD-resolution touch displays or a full HD non-touch one. However, Linux compatibility for super high resolution displays can be spotty at times, so you might be better off sticking with the full HD if you plan on running Linux.
Display quality is very good as far as viewing angles, brightness and color reproduction go. It also has a very small bevel so the screen goes more or less edge-to-edge.
It also has an output of 400 nit, putting it in the "really bright" category as far as displays go. As for color reproduction, XPS 13's display produces an impressive 107.2 percent of the sRGB color gamut.
Pro Thunderbolt port
Thunderbolt mitigates the compromises you make to have a laptop. Unlike USB, it's suitable for external data storage, video, and can be daisy-chained. It can carry USB and network traffic as well. It also doesn't impose as much processor overhead as USB.
Pro Great online customer service
Dell's customer service is one of the best in the industry. Especially the online customer service website. There you will find frequently asked questions which usually solve 90% of issues, if that's not enough, there's a live chat with a customer service representative, who are usually very helpful and very understanding about every issue that may arise.
Cons
Con Limited ports
There is a Thunderbolt 3 connector (which doubles as a USB Type-C port), 2 USB 3.0 ports and a SD card slot. It covers the basics, however some users may need an adapter or dongle.
Con Spongy keyboard
The keyboard feels a bit spongy and does not have a lot of travel to the keys. When bottoming out there is no feel of completion.
Con 256 GB SSD is your only storage option
Flash memory is not good for frequently-overwritten data, and there's plenty of that in OS housekeeping. In a dual-drive (or "fusion drive" or hybrid) system, you can put frequently-written data on a hard drive and put applications and other more-static data on the SSD. That's not an option with this computer, so you're wearing your SSD out.
Con Abysmal website
Dell's site is, simply put, an embarrassment. Products are scattered all over in meaningless categories, making it easy to miss entire models or configurations. Dell has, for many years, tried to force you to pigeonhole yourself into a certain kind of user; at one point they demanded to know if you were a "home" or "business" user before they'd even let you shop.
This product is a great example. Why force the user to be a developer in order to see the more-powerful versions of a computer? Maybe you're a scientist or other power user. But nope, you don't even get to know that there's a 16 GB version of this computer unless you pretend to be a developer.
That's just one facet of this incredibly poor E-commerce site.
Con No matte screen option
Glossy screens are touted as having "richer colors" and "deeper blacks," but in reality their images are usually obscured by the sheen of reflection that covers them in essentially all lighting conditions. Even if the room is relatively dark, the display will illuminate the user, putting his reflection over the images on the screen.
Con Intake and exhaust placement (possibly only relevant to older 9343 model)
When the screen is at it's greatest angle (eg: when using from a couch reclined, or on an angled riser on a desk) the exhaust essentially feeds into the intake and the laptop gets very hot quickly. Only with the hinge at 90deg angle is the cooling efficient.
Con Below average battery life
At maximum load, the XPS 13 throws in the towel at around 2h30m. Regular Wi-Fi browsing results in 7h30m, which is less than the previous model, and considerably lower than the MacBook Air. Idle times are surprisingly low - the MacBook air lasts twice as long, and even the Surface Book lasted more than 33% longer.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Con The battery wears out quickly
After some use, the battery continues to fall at an alarming rate, to only 5-6 hours after a couple of months.
Pro One of the best Windows trackpads available
The Dell's trackpad is one of the best Windows trackpads available. It has smooth and precise tracking and even supports three-finger gestures similar to the Macbook's.