Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
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 Amazing keyboard
The keyboard is high quality, feels great to type on and isn't too mushy or too shallow. Even though there's nothing very special about the keyboard, it's as good of a keyboard as you could want.
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 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 Bad thermal solution
Any long load (even medium load) will end up in overheating and since the body is made from the metal surrounding area around the keyboard gets very warm. It's so unpleasant that it hurts to leave hands and type while it's hot. Also, the fan has high pitch and it sounds like a screaming mouse. It's OK for short bursts and low load. Compiling phyton, js or playing at photoshop will result in a toaster that you won't like to touch. Also, the power supply will not keep up with power-hunger and laptop will slowly discharge while it's plugged in.
Con Webcam located in an odd place
Due to the narrow bezel of the infinity display, Dell moved the webcam to the bottom left corner. This results in an odd viewing angle and the webcam getting blocked while typing.
Con Not a great choice for people who use their laptops to game as well
The Dell's integrated graphics are very poor for gaming and you won't be able to play graphics intensive games on it at all. A latest-generation AAA game will run at about 20 FPS with lowest settings. While a less graphics-intensive game such as Dota 2 for example will run at 30 FPS with lowest settings.
Con The touchscreen reflects light making it hard to see unless the lighting on the display is properly set
The screen for the touch-screen model is glossy instead of matte (non-touch screen). For what is a Linux notebook this does not make a lot of sense since most Linux users are the more tech savy who program. A glossy screen is more for multimedia, something Linux is not really known for excelling in.
Con The wireless adapter/driver is absolute garbage
The drivers for the Qualcom Atheros wireless adapter are basically non-functional on both Windows and Linux. On Windows, the card regularly fails to start after suspend - https://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/kb/tag/tag/code-10#faq_33 . On linux, the firmware regularly fails to load with "Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware-5.bin failed with error -2" or crashes with "Unknown eventid: 118809".
Con Trackpad hardware (touch/feel/operation) is noticeably worse if coming from MacBook/MBP
Part of this is the hardware, and part seems to be the drivers. It's very unforgiving when accidentally brushing the trackpad with a different finger. Certain actions like double-clicks (tapping with two fingers) and scrolling (with two fingers) doesn't work reliably. This is true with other Windows based laptops too. Not an issue if you spend a lot of time in a terminal/shell.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Pro 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.