The Intel XPS 13 Plus: A Premium Device with a Twist

As I sat down to test the new Intel XPS 13 Plus, I was immediately struck by its sleek and compact design. The laptop is built on the same chassis as the regular XPS 13, but with some key differences that set it apart from its more affordable sibling. One of the first things I noticed was the keyboard layout, which had me initially confused due to the lack of a traditional trackpad and function keys. However, after a few minutes of getting used to it, I realized that this new layout actually works quite well, especially for those who are accustomed to typing on keyboards with a more compact design.

The XPS 13 Plus features four speakers, which I was excited to test out. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by their quality and depth of sound. In fact, I think these speakers are some of the best sounding laptop speakers I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. They're not quite on par with the MacBooks, but they're definitely in a league of their own. The lack of a headphone jack is a notable omission, however, and users will need to rely on adapters or other methods to connect their headphones.

In terms of performance, the XPS 13 Plus is a beast. It's running on the new Intel P chip, which provides a massive bump in performance compared to last year's model. The sustained performance is impressive, with the laptop able to hold its clock speed and wattage indefinitely. However, it does run hot at times, with the temperature reaching up to 100 degrees Celsius. This is not uncommon for high-performance laptops like this one, but it's still worth noting.

One of the most significant changes in the XPS 13 Plus is the graphics capabilities. The Iris X Graphics, which were present on last year's model, have been replaced by more modest AMD Radeon RDNA 2 Graphics. This means that the laptop is no longer suitable for serious gaming, and users will need to look elsewhere if they want to play games on their device.

Despite these limitations, the XPS 13 Plus still packs a punch in terms of connectivity. The laptop features two Thunderbolt 4 ports, which provide fast charging and data transfer capabilities. Additionally, there are two screens available for testing, including a full HD panel that I found to be particularly impressive. This display is bright, with great color accuracy and a high level of contrast. It's also well-suited for viewing media, thanks to its ability to maintain a high level of brightness even in low-light conditions.

The XPS 13 Plus also features an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, as well as up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage. However, the only storage option available is a single stick of storage that can be swapped out, which may be a drawback for some users.

The price of the XPS 13 Plus is certainly eye-watering, with the base model starting at $1,300. This is significantly more expensive than last year's model, which started at around $1,000. However, it's worth noting that this laptop is a premium device with exceptional performance and features. The extra cost may be justified for some users, but others may find it prohibitively expensive.

One of the most interesting aspects of the XPS 13 Plus is its design and approach to innovation. By removing certain ports and features, Microsoft has managed to fit the new P chip into a much smaller form factor. This requires some compromises on the user experience, but I think it's ultimately worth it for those who want a laptop that packs a punch in terms of performance.

In conclusion, the Intel XPS 13 Plus is a premium device with exceptional performance and features. While it may not be the most affordable option out there, its unique design and approach to innovation make it an interesting choice for users who value power and portability above all else.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entraditionally apple is really comfortable with removing features from their devices they've gotten rid of the headphone jack they've gotten rid of function keys on their keyboards they've gotten rid of ports on their computer they're not afraid to strip out features in pursuit of that clean and minimal Vibe now this is the new XPS 13 plus and Dell also wanted something that was clean and minimal but they Engineers like they're either completely out of their mind or they're Geniuses because they made something that was you know what let me just show you so on the outside this looks like a standard XPS product right thin light elegant but when you pop it open the first thing you'll notice is that there's no trackpad it's like an invisible trackpad it's still fully functional but in terms of the Aesthetics there's not even like a visual indicator as to where the trackpad is they've also removed the function keys at the top of the keyboard it's been replaced with a row of capacitive buttons and the first comparison you might draw is like that looks a lot like the touch bar from Apple's MacBooks it's like after four or five years Apple got rid of it and Devil's like give me that I want to use it in this thing uh they've also changed the keyboard This is a strange minimal looking boxy keyboard and the whole keyboard deck is glass and all of these new design decisions give this device a very unique aesthetic it looks Ultra Clean like the Platinum white color looks amazing but even that darker graphite color looks really cool it's arguably the best looking lapt top on the market right now and because it's so thin and aesthetically pleasing you might think okay that must have a weak processor right n dude this is running Intel new 12th gen P series chips and this gives this product twice the performance of last year's 11th gen XPS 13 literally double the performance from the previous generation it's a fantastic performance because their Engineers did all those crazy things that I was talking about before they've been able to maintain a super thin profile on this device it's only like half mm thicker than the XPS 13 but it has way better thermal performance so there's a lot to talk about in this device I'm going to start off with the trackpad I've reviewed a few laptops on this channel and every laptop I've ever touched has had a trackpad except for this one it is so weird to see a device that just doesn't have something there it honestly feels like it's been David blaed and it's gone and you're left with this smooth glass surface it is textured Gorilla Glass and it has this really nice feel to it it almost feels like soft touch rubber like it's got that nice inviting texture to it but it's not rubberized it's just glass now I am a little concerned about durability cuz I've never seen a laptop before with a glass keyboard deck ever and if you drop this thing you hit it in the corner couldn't that just like spider through it is Gorilla Glass and Gorilla Glass is pretty strong but I don't know glass is glass also there's no movement to this trackpad and I mean movement like when you click it it doesn't go up and down like a canal or anything like that it's just a solid surface that has haptic Sensations similar to MacBooks where when you press it it gives tactile feedback but this has a series of haptic Motors underneath to give the user kind of precise tactile feedback as to where they're clicking so on a MacBook when you click it there's just one haptic motor a big one that moves the whole trackpad or vibrates the whole trackpad area on this because there's a bunch of them it'll kind of localize the sensation of where you're clicking so on AA if you take two fingers and you touch it and you tap just on one finger you'll feel a vibration on both fingers but on this one when you press it and two fingers on the trackpad you press it only one of them has the sensation of it being clicked it's pretty cool the area of this invisible track pad's pretty large and as you move your finger off that era the tracking just stops working as you pull it back in it resumes again uh so they've also removed the function keys up top this is a function key or secondary function key and you can toggle between them but in terms of the actual functionality of this series of keys they just work like capacitive buttons I don't love the fact that the Escape key and the delete key are up there I use those pretty frequently in my workflow and you have to tap it but I do find these way easier to hit consistently than the MacBook touch bar like the Escape key on the MacBook touch bar was in this weird spot this isn't this is like top left corner muscle memory you just hit it it does feel different because it's there's no like tactile response but uh I don't think people will have too much of an issue with it it is back lit and it'll automatically get brighter and darker depending on the environment but I couldn't find a way to completely remove the lighting it's not too bright or anything though now the reason why these capacitor buttons even exist is well for one Aesthetics but it's also for thermal reasons so supposedly by using these buttons instead of a regular keyboard they were able to save 2 mm of height on the inside which might seem insignificant but it allowed them to use a significantly more robust thermal system on the inside which allow them to cool that more powerful P chip and it works I mean you'll see in a second but this is the solution that they went with it does look a certain way and I think for the people that want to use Escape keys and delete keys and they want physical media controls you lose all that right but you do gain space on the inside and I think for some people that's important uh the keyboard I really like this keyboard it looks different but it types perfectly fine I could hit my regular typing speeds on it it's got no framing between the keys like it's just all keys and there's no kind of lattice structure between them I thought it would take longer for me to get used to this because I've typed on other laptops like gaming laptops with a different mechanism but this style of keycap and I've never liked those but this one I like it there are four speakers on this device there's two that fire up two that far down and I think these are the best sounding 13in Windows laptop speakers I've heard they're quite good they're not as good as the MacBooks but they're just better than the rest they're actually really solid there is no headphone jack though it does come with adapters for the headphone jack and usba but apparently they removed that headphone jack to save space on the inside and when you pop it open it does seem tight in terms of the Z height in there but I don't know their old audio jack module was quite small I would have really liked one to be in here because I use headphone Jacks pretty regularly okay performance so this is running the new Intel P chip so if you compare it to like the 11th gen XPS 13 this is a massive bump up in performance and it's sustained performance right it can hold that clock speed and that wattage indefinitely it does run hot though it'll hit the full 100 C and I feel like on a system like this Intel chip small device everyone's going to have that kind of temperature at the top end but this device has quiet fans like I feel like you know on an XPS 13 quiet fans is great right a lot of users want quiet fans but you had the opportunity I guess you still do through software tweaks you can just crank the fans a little bit faster uh in terms of Graphics these are still running the iris X Graphics which was cool last year but compared to what AMD has with their ryzen rdna2 Graphics this is just kind of mediocre at this point so if you want to play games this ain't the move it does have Thunderbolt four ports like two of them so you can connect to an external GPU if that's what you want to do now there are two screens I was able to check out there's a full HD panel which is my favorite of the bunch it's very bright great colors and Full HD is still really sharp on a 13-in device like this and then there's a 3 and 1/2k OLED panel and this is the most vibrant of the bunch it's got really Punchy colors and the blacks are just black because it's OLED Tech and it's really good for viewing media but my favorite is really that full HD panel it's just really nice at this kind of form factor plus you get better battery life especially with viewing media so that's the screen that I'd recommend unless you have like a clear need for the higher resolution and there's also a 720p webcam up top which supports facial login through Windows hello now inside you're looking at just a single stick of storage that you can swap out but everything else is baked on now the price on this device is expensive it's a $13 $0000 product at the base model now the first reaction I had was like oh my God that is crazy expensive the flip side to like the argument to it is that this is double the performance of last year's model so last year's model I think started at $1,000 at the base and it went up as uh got higher configurations but this is like a solid $300 more expensive at the base but this is a premium device right it's an XPS 13 the design Sleek the performance exceptional the pricing LOL well right it's like it's it's XPS 13 but with some heavy Apple Vibes coming off of it they removed the regular trackpad they removed the function keys they' removed a bunch of the ports there's only two of them left they've removed the headphone jack it's heavily stripped out now I do give them respect uh just for what they were trying to achieve here like the simple or easy way Tove done this like the lazy way to have done something like this to BU able to fit that new P chip is just bigger system more fans louder fans anyone could do that right but they went for something that is just really different and I think their solution to this or their kind of approach this is commendable uh I don't think that this was going to replace the regular XPS product like I really feel like the regular XPS 13 is still going to exist like the regular chassis it's just that you can't fit a p chip in that standard chassis this is what you got to do if you want to get that extra power okay there you have it XPS 13 plus hope you guys enjoyed this video thumbs liked it subs if you loved it see you guys next timetraditionally apple is really comfortable with removing features from their devices they've gotten rid of the headphone jack they've gotten rid of function keys on their keyboards they've gotten rid of ports on their computer they're not afraid to strip out features in pursuit of that clean and minimal Vibe now this is the new XPS 13 plus and Dell also wanted something that was clean and minimal but they Engineers like they're either completely out of their mind or they're Geniuses because they made something that was you know what let me just show you so on the outside this looks like a standard XPS product right thin light elegant but when you pop it open the first thing you'll notice is that there's no trackpad it's like an invisible trackpad it's still fully functional but in terms of the Aesthetics there's not even like a visual indicator as to where the trackpad is they've also removed the function keys at the top of the keyboard it's been replaced with a row of capacitive buttons and the first comparison you might draw is like that looks a lot like the touch bar from Apple's MacBooks it's like after four or five years Apple got rid of it and Devil's like give me that I want to use it in this thing uh they've also changed the keyboard This is a strange minimal looking boxy keyboard and the whole keyboard deck is glass and all of these new design decisions give this device a very unique aesthetic it looks Ultra Clean like the Platinum white color looks amazing but even that darker graphite color looks really cool it's arguably the best looking lapt top on the market right now and because it's so thin and aesthetically pleasing you might think okay that must have a weak processor right n dude this is running Intel new 12th gen P series chips and this gives this product twice the performance of last year's 11th gen XPS 13 literally double the performance from the previous generation it's a fantastic performance because their Engineers did all those crazy things that I was talking about before they've been able to maintain a super thin profile on this device it's only like half mm thicker than the XPS 13 but it has way better thermal performance so there's a lot to talk about in this device I'm going to start off with the trackpad I've reviewed a few laptops on this channel and every laptop I've ever touched has had a trackpad except for this one it is so weird to see a device that just doesn't have something there it honestly feels like it's been David blaed and it's gone and you're left with this smooth glass surface it is textured Gorilla Glass and it has this really nice feel to it it almost feels like soft touch rubber like it's got that nice inviting texture to it but it's not rubberized it's just glass now I am a little concerned about durability cuz I've never seen a laptop before with a glass keyboard deck ever and if you drop this thing you hit it in the corner couldn't that just like spider through it is Gorilla Glass and Gorilla Glass is pretty strong but I don't know glass is glass also there's no movement to this trackpad and I mean movement like when you click it it doesn't go up and down like a canal or anything like that it's just a solid surface that has haptic Sensations similar to MacBooks where when you press it it gives tactile feedback but this has a series of haptic Motors underneath to give the user kind of precise tactile feedback as to where they're clicking so on a MacBook when you click it there's just one haptic motor a big one that moves the whole trackpad or vibrates the whole trackpad area on this because there's a bunch of them it'll kind of localize the sensation of where you're clicking so on AA if you take two fingers and you touch it and you tap just on one finger you'll feel a vibration on both fingers but on this one when you press it and two fingers on the trackpad you press it only one of them has the sensation of it being clicked it's pretty cool the area of this invisible track pad's pretty large and as you move your finger off that era the tracking just stops working as you pull it back in it resumes again uh so they've also removed the function keys up top this is a function key or secondary function key and you can toggle between them but in terms of the actual functionality of this series of keys they just work like capacitive buttons I don't love the fact that the Escape key and the delete key are up there I use those pretty frequently in my workflow and you have to tap it but I do find these way easier to hit consistently than the MacBook touch bar like the Escape key on the MacBook touch bar was in this weird spot this isn't this is like top left corner muscle memory you just hit it it does feel different because it's there's no like tactile response but uh I don't think people will have too much of an issue with it it is back lit and it'll automatically get brighter and darker depending on the environment but I couldn't find a way to completely remove the lighting it's not too bright or anything though now the reason why these capacitor buttons even exist is well for one Aesthetics but it's also for thermal reasons so supposedly by using these buttons instead of a regular keyboard they were able to save 2 mm of height on the inside which might seem insignificant but it allowed them to use a significantly more robust thermal system on the inside which allow them to cool that more powerful P chip and it works I mean you'll see in a second but this is the solution that they went with it does look a certain way and I think for the people that want to use Escape keys and delete keys and they want physical media controls you lose all that right but you do gain space on the inside and I think for some people that's important uh the keyboard I really like this keyboard it looks different but it types perfectly fine I could hit my regular typing speeds on it it's got no framing between the keys like it's just all keys and there's no kind of lattice structure between them I thought it would take longer for me to get used to this because I've typed on other laptops like gaming laptops with a different mechanism but this style of keycap and I've never liked those but this one I like it there are four speakers on this device there's two that fire up two that far down and I think these are the best sounding 13in Windows laptop speakers I've heard they're quite good they're not as good as the MacBooks but they're just better than the rest they're actually really solid there is no headphone jack though it does come with adapters for the headphone jack and usba but apparently they removed that headphone jack to save space on the inside and when you pop it open it does seem tight in terms of the Z height in there but I don't know their old audio jack module was quite small I would have really liked one to be in here because I use headphone Jacks pretty regularly okay performance so this is running the new Intel P chip so if you compare it to like the 11th gen XPS 13 this is a massive bump up in performance and it's sustained performance right it can hold that clock speed and that wattage indefinitely it does run hot though it'll hit the full 100 C and I feel like on a system like this Intel chip small device everyone's going to have that kind of temperature at the top end but this device has quiet fans like I feel like you know on an XPS 13 quiet fans is great right a lot of users want quiet fans but you had the opportunity I guess you still do through software tweaks you can just crank the fans a little bit faster uh in terms of Graphics these are still running the iris X Graphics which was cool last year but compared to what AMD has with their ryzen rdna2 Graphics this is just kind of mediocre at this point so if you want to play games this ain't the move it does have Thunderbolt four ports like two of them so you can connect to an external GPU if that's what you want to do now there are two screens I was able to check out there's a full HD panel which is my favorite of the bunch it's very bright great colors and Full HD is still really sharp on a 13-in device like this and then there's a 3 and 1/2k OLED panel and this is the most vibrant of the bunch it's got really Punchy colors and the blacks are just black because it's OLED Tech and it's really good for viewing media but my favorite is really that full HD panel it's just really nice at this kind of form factor plus you get better battery life especially with viewing media so that's the screen that I'd recommend unless you have like a clear need for the higher resolution and there's also a 720p webcam up top which supports facial login through Windows hello now inside you're looking at just a single stick of storage that you can swap out but everything else is baked on now the price on this device is expensive it's a $13 $0000 product at the base model now the first reaction I had was like oh my God that is crazy expensive the flip side to like the argument to it is that this is double the performance of last year's model so last year's model I think started at $1,000 at the base and it went up as uh got higher configurations but this is like a solid $300 more expensive at the base but this is a premium device right it's an XPS 13 the design Sleek the performance exceptional the pricing LOL well right it's like it's it's XPS 13 but with some heavy Apple Vibes coming off of it they removed the regular trackpad they removed the function keys they' removed a bunch of the ports there's only two of them left they've removed the headphone jack it's heavily stripped out now I do give them respect uh just for what they were trying to achieve here like the simple or easy way Tove done this like the lazy way to have done something like this to BU able to fit that new P chip is just bigger system more fans louder fans anyone could do that right but they went for something that is just really different and I think their solution to this or their kind of approach this is commendable uh I don't think that this was going to replace the regular XPS product like I really feel like the regular XPS 13 is still going to exist like the regular chassis it's just that you can't fit a p chip in that standard chassis this is what you got to do if you want to get that extra power okay there you have it XPS 13 plus hope you guys enjoyed this video thumbs liked it subs if you loved it see you guys next time\n"