When comparing Dell XPS 12 vs Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 260, the Slant community recommends Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 260 for most people. In the question“What are the best 2 in 1 convertible laptops?” Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 260 is ranked 2nd while Dell XPS 12 is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 260 is:
The Thinkpad Yoga 260's battery averages at around 7 hours of casual use.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Amazing display
The XPS 12 has a 4K display that's one of the best in its class. The sRGB color space is covered by 100% and the screen brightness is great as well.
Pro Unique design
Like other laptops in the XPS series, the XPS 12 is not any different in the design department. It's a beautiful piece of hardware albeit a little strange for convertible laptops since it doesn't have anything that holds the screen and keyboard together. There's no latching mechanisms or prongs like in other similar devices. The screen slots in place and a combination of magnets, friction, and gravity holds it in place.
It may seem a bit unnerving at first but it works and it's very secure while still allowing the user to easily lift the screen off.
Pro Doesn't rely on a flimsy hinge
This 2-in-1 laptop has a rigid keyboard base on which you place the tablet part. This avoids using a flimsy hinge like other 2-in-1 laptops and offers a great tactile typing experience found in business-grade laptops.
Pro Great build quality
Both main parts (the keyboard and the screen) are made of high-quality magnesium alloy and the device is coated with a pleasant layer of soft touch paint.
Pro Great keyboard
The keyboard is on the same level as some business-grade laptops. Keys feel great to the touch and they have a slight curvature which makes hitting keys easier. They also offer a travel distance of 1.9mm, more than any other convertible laptop on the market.
Pro Decent battery life
The Thinkpad Yoga 260's battery averages at around 7 hours of casual use.
Pro Amazing keyboard
Like other Thinkpads, the Yoga 260 has an excellent keyboard as well. The keys offer great feedback and deep travel with 2mm of travel. Keys are also slightly curved in order to make it easier to hit them.
The keyboard is also spill-resistant and has backlighting (like most laptops nowadays) with two lighting settings; high and low.
Pro Comes with a great stylus
The Yoga 260 comes with a great stylus, called ThinkPad Pen Pro that provides 2048 levels of pressure that provides a highly accurate drawing experience. Strokes appear thicker or thinner depending on the pressure exerted on the pen and letters drawn on the screen appear as clear as if they were drawn on paper.
Pro Relatively bright screen
Even though it's not vibrant, the Thinkpad Yoga 260 manages a full 328 nits of brightness, which is 20 nits more than the average for this laptop category.
Pro Great build quality
The lid is made from a carbon-fiber hybrid and the base is made from a plastic-magnesium blend. This combination of materials makes it quite strong while still feeling like a premium product.
Pro Great design
Like other Thinkpad laptops, the Yoga 260 has a great raven-black colour scheme with some small splashes of colour from the flashing red light under the Thinkpad logo and the trackpoint on the keyboard. This simple colorscheme gives the laptop a very serious and business-like look.
Cons
Con When using in laptop mode you can't tilt the screen to your liking
Since there's no hinge, you can't tilt the screen to your liking. It stays fixed at a 110 degrees angle.
Con Middling battery life
The XPS 12 has an average battery life of 3 hours.
Con Works comfortably only on a desk or lap
When keeping the laptop on a flat surface such as a desk or one's lap, the viewing angles are good. But working with it in any other position (such as when lying down) you will have a hard time with the viewing angles. There's also the issue of the screen tumbling forward since it's not held in place by anything other than some magnets.
Con Lifeless color output
Even though the display for this laptop is of high quality, the color output unfortunately feels lifeless and benchmarks seem to enforce this point. Acoording to colorimeter tests the Yoga 260 only manages to reproduce 68.5% of the sRGB color gamut.