Dell XPS 13 Plus Review _ It's EXTRA (in a good way)

Dell's XPS 13 Plus: A Balanced Approach to Laptop Design

Intel's latest CPU lineup has been a topic of discussion among tech enthusiasts, with the company's own laptops being a prime example. Dell has taken a unique approach to its CPU lineup, offering both high-performance and power-efficient options. The new XPS 13 Plus is no exception, using the more powerful P-series chips while still maintaining a relatively low power consumption of 15 watts.

This approach is somewhat confusing, especially when compared to other laptop manufacturers like Apple. Apple's M1 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Air have taken a different tack, offering a split between high-performance and power-efficient options. However, Dell's decision to balance performance and power efficiency in the XPS 13 Plus seems to be paying off.

The XPS 13 Plus comes with a 14-inch display and is powered by Intel's 12th Gen Core i7 processor. It also features 16GB of RAM and can handle demanding tasks such as video editing, multitasking, and content creation. The default optimized mode produces respectable performance, making it suitable for everyday use. However, the high-performance mode is only available on top-end models.

One notable aspect of the XPS 13 Plus is its thermal management system. While it does get warm during intense usage, Dell's design prioritizes cooling over aesthetics. The laptop's vents are limited to a few small slits along the sides and below the display, but the company has also included a cool setting that helps regulate temperature.

The real challenge for the XPS 13 Plus is its battery life. While it may not match the longevity of Apple's MacBooks, it still offers several hours of web browsing or light use. However, users can expect around five to six hours of actual work time, which is relatively average compared to other laptops in this class.

A More Balanced Approach

In contrast to other laptops that focus on either high-performance or power efficiency, the XPS 13 Plus seems to strike a better balance between the two. This approach may appeal to users who want a laptop that can handle demanding tasks but also stay cool and quiet during everyday use. Dell's decision to prioritize this approach over its previous designs demonstrates the company's commitment to innovation.

The XPS 13 Plus is undoubtedly a machine designed for productivity, with a focus on multitasking and content creation. It's not ideal for users who need to spend extended periods working on demanding tasks or video editing. However, it is an excellent option for those looking for a laptop that can handle everyday use without overheating or consuming excessive power.

A Closer Look at Performance

One of the most significant benefits of the XPS 13 Plus is its performance. Compared to other laptops in this class, it delivers respectable results, especially during multi-core workloads. This makes it an excellent option for users who need to handle demanding tasks without sacrificing too much performance.

The laptop's default optimized mode produces middle-of-the-road performance, which may not be ideal for some users. However, the high-performance mode is only available on top-end models, making the standard XPS 13 a more affordable and accessible option.

The Good News

While the XPS 13 Plus has its limitations, it also offers several advantages over other laptops in this class. Its balance between performance and power efficiency makes it an excellent choice for everyday use. The laptop's cooling system is also noteworthy, with Dell's design prioritizing temperature regulation over aesthetics.

However, users may find that the bottom of the laptop gets uncomfortably warm during intense usage. This is a minor complaint compared to other aspects of the XPS 13 Plus, but it does detract from an otherwise excellent user experience.

A Note on Comparison

One thing to keep in mind when comparing the XPS 13 Plus to other laptops is that it's designed to be more balanced than its predecessors. Apple's M1 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Air, for example, offer a split between high-performance and power-efficient options. This approach may seem unusual at first, but Dell's decision to prioritize balance over performance or efficiency has yielded an excellent result.

The XPS 13 Plus is undoubtedly a machine that sets the bar for laptops in its class. Its balance between performance and power efficiency makes it an excellent choice for everyday use, while its cooling system and thermal management demonstrate a commitment to innovation.

Conclusion

Dell's XPS 13 Plus is a testament to the company's willingness to think outside the box when it comes to laptop design. By balancing performance and power efficiency, Dell has created a machine that appeals to users looking for a laptop that can handle demanding tasks without sacrificing too much power consumption or heat generation.

While the XPS 13 Plus may not be perfect, its strengths make it an excellent choice for those in the market for a new laptop. With its balance of performance and power efficiency, cooling system, and thermal management, the XPS 13 Plus is sure to impress users who want a machine that can handle everyday use without compromise.

In conclusion, Dell's approach to laptop design has paid off with the XPS 13 Plus. This machine sets a new standard for laptops in its class, offering an excellent balance of performance and power efficiency. Whether you're looking for a machine for everyday use or demanding tasks, the XPS 13 Plus is definitely worth considering.

The Verdict

Overall, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a top-notch laptop that offers an excellent balance between performance and power efficiency. Its cooling system and thermal management demonstrate a commitment to innovation, while its performance and battery life make it suitable for everyday use.

While users may find some minor complaints with the XPS 13 Plus, such as the warm bottom during intense usage, these are largely outweighed by the machine's many strengths. With its balance of performance and power efficiency, cooling system, and thermal management, the XPS 13 Plus is an excellent choice for those looking for a laptop that can handle demanding tasks without sacrificing too much power consumption or heat generation.

Recommendation

If you're in the market for a new laptop, the Dell XPS 13 Plus is definitely worth considering. Its balance of performance and power efficiency makes it an excellent choice for everyday use, while its cooling system and thermal management demonstrate a commitment to innovation.

However, users who need a machine for demanding tasks or video editing may find that the XPS 13 Plus falls short. In such cases, other laptops like the Dell XPS 15 or MacBook Pro may be more suitable.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enif there's one word to describe the dell xps 13 plus it's extra it's the kind of laptop that will cause head turns and double takes wherever you bring it not because it's unusual or gimmicky but because it looks that good before we get started i want to thank our sponsor for this video the digital license reseller mr key shop which you'll hear more about in just a bit this is luke with digital trends welcome back everybody it's been a while but i'm really excited to finally be reviewing the dell xps 13 plus because we got a lot of comments on our initial video about this laptop back at ces lots of excitement lots of outrage all stuff we're gonna get into but first do me a favor and give this video a like that helps us out a ton and without further ado let's talk about this laptop with just one look you can tell someone had a vision over at dell for the xps 13 plus that's been true of the xps line for years now but you can see why dell gave this design in particular a new name like it or not it's well deserving of one and i'll get back to that name later when we talk about performance but for now let's just spend some time gawking at this thing because when it comes to producing something that really feels cutting edge dell nailed it gone is the carbon fiber weave palm rest that had become synonymous with the xbs brand trading it for a sleeker and more conventional aluminum surface throughout there are two color options available this time this one here which is granite and then there's also the lighter platinum color both of which have a unique tint that do stand out but really outside the dell logo on the back and these really tiny bezels that frame the display this doesn't resemble previous xps laptops much at all at least not from the outside more than anything else the keyboard and touchpad definitely underwent the most radical redesign as you've probably seen by now the touchpad now uses a haptic engine which means there's no physical click mechanism just a little motor under the glass that simulates one because the whole thing uses a single panel of gorilla glass the edges seamlessly blend into the palm rest making for a super minimalist vibe lenovo did a similar thing with this yoga 9i this year but i love the way dell committed to this by making the touchpad completely invisible and it feels great to use too when i first saw the xps 13 plus back at ces i did have reservations about the haptic touch pad because it felt a little bit off at the time but after some tuning by dell the smooth tracking that i've come to love on haptic touch pads works great now i turned down the sensitivity to 25 as you can do in windows 11 and found a sweet spot that perfectly simulates the kind of physical click mechanism that i prefer in a hardware touch pad it's precise smooth and almost completely silent the keyboard on the xps 13 plus got just as big of a visual change the edge to edge design means as few lines and partitions as possible it also means extra large keycaps that extend wide making for a really comfortable and spacious layout just look at how big these shift and control keys are this is what i wish every laptop keyboard had as for the actual typing it feels pretty similar you still get one millimeter of travel delivering clicky and satisfying keystrokes that feel both firm and comfortable all put together this might be my favorite new keyboard on a laptop and finally one of the most striking and controversial choices the function row of keys has of course been replaced by these capacitive touch buttons now if you're like me you've probably had poor experiences with these types of buttons in the past on tech products of all kinds but i tried to keep an open mind here as i used this laptop as my daily driver and in practice i didn't dislike it as much as i thought i would again it feels like dell has made them more responsive since the last time i used them and despite the comparisons being made to the touch bar it doesn't suffer from the same problems volume screen brightness and the escape key are exactly where you expect them to be they don't move around and while i'd still prefer some kind of haptic response that would have been nice it didn't take me too long to get familiar with this layout and let's be honest these touch buttons certainly give the laptop a futuristic look and are a big part of what makes this design so unique interestingly while the xps 13 plus certainly feels like a trim in compact little laptop it's actually a tiny bit thicker and heavier than the standard xbs 13 especially the forthcoming new model which has gotten even tinier the m2 macbook air of course is quite a bit thinner though at .44 inches but very few laptops are getting anywhere close to that and now on to the next big controversy the port selection the dell xps 13 plus includes just two usbc thunderbolt 4 ports one on either side and that's it no micro sd card slot certainly no usba or hdmi not even a headphone jack now i'm guessing that you like most people probably have a visceral reaction to having things taken away from them in their favorite products even if it's to make better tech in the long run i certainly had some of those same feelings myself but this design wouldn't be possible without any more ports included specifically this edge to edge keyboard just notice where the usb-c ports are located next to where the physical keyboard begins good reason or not dell isn't the first laptop manufacturer to make this clean break from the headphone jack but it might be the most high profile case so far in a world where even apple has kept the headphone jack in the macbook air it definitely feels like the xps 13 plus is venturing out into the unknown and yet again i tried to keep an open mind here over the course of my time using the xps 13 plus as my primary computer i only came across one scenario when i found myself wanting a wired audio source my wireless earbuds had died i wanted to listen to some music while working and lo and behold there's no headphone jack for my wired headphones that don't die fortunately dell throws a usbc to 3.5 millimeter adapter right in the box so after i dug it out my concerns were put to rest i get it it's a clumsy solution for sure but in a pinch my minor first world problem was solved and outside that i totally forgot that this thing didn't have a beloved headphone jack but that's just me i certainly have sympathy for those who want to keep analog audio connections around for other reasons that's especially true since this device only comes with those two usbc ports now i won't spend too much time talking about the display because it's the same 16 by 10 panel that's been used in previous versions of the xps 13 and it's great my model is the oled touch panel with the 3456 by 2160 resolution for the same price you can also get the 3840 by 2400 display that's brighter and of course more sharp but it's not oled both color saturation and accuracy were spot on and because this is oled you get that absolute black the bezels of course around the display are as thin as ever including up top where the webcam is speaking of cameras we all know that the webcam has always been the achilles heel of the xps laptops and now that we actually use them a lot more than we used to having a bad webcam is not a minor issue unfortunately this is still a 720p resolution camera though this time dell's actually separated the camera itself from the ir sensor which is used for windows hello and that's allowed for some improvements in image quality both in low light and high exposure situations is a far more usable webcam than previous xps 13 models for video calls even if it does lack the sharpness that you get in 1080p cameras which this really could have used it's a similar case with speakers they're better they're just still not amazing dell now uses a four speaker setup to give the audio a bit more oomph everything is much clearer and aside from the lack of bass these speakers create a decent sound stage for the occasional movie trailer or youtube video so it's an improvement and i appreciate that i'm just not quite ready to call these good speakers now if you're thinking about picking up a laptop and using it for work you'll probably want to get the microsoft office suite installed on it and that's where the sponsor of this video comes in mr keyshop mr keyshop is a reseller of 100 original licenses for windows operating systems microsoft office packages windows server and vpn and anti-virus software for all the important platforms too including pc mac and mobile on the site you can buy licenses at affordable prices which include free technical support as well as live chat support through the site installation is simple too just choose the license and buy through the available secure payment options you'll receive an email seconds later with the specific installation instructions for the product you've chosen the purchase comes with a money-back guarantee and is 100 eco-friendly thanks to the completely digital delivery format as a licensed reseller mr key shop has more than 350 000 satisfied customers and has been verified on trustpilot with a 4.9 out of 5 star rating mr key shop is offering up to 60 off its products right now so head over to mrkeyshop.com or click on the link down in the description to grab a digital license today and lastly we finally get to it performance it's what the plus in the name is supposed to refer to but as it turns out that's a bit of a misnomer dell decided to really lean in on the way that intel has split up its own cpu lineup this year which is really confusing because they have the 15 watt u series chips on one hand and the 28 watt p series chips on the other so yes this xps 13 plus uses the more powerful of the two but it's really the standard xps 13s getting a power reduction and making room for this new model in the lineup ironically the xps 13 plus has more in common with the previous xps 13 internally than the upcoming standard xps 13 has side note i thought it was a really odd move when it was announced earlier this year at the time i thought a 14 inch model would make more sense especially since you could put maybe a 35 watt cpu or even a discrete gpu in there which is what a lot of laptop manufacturers have been doing recently but after seeing what apple has done splitting its own lineup between the m1 macbook air and the m2 macbook air you can see pretty clearly what dell was going for with this lineup even the prices almost line up identically but coming back to performance you can tell dell was focused on a more balanced approach this time around rather than pushing this laptop harder than it really should be my model had the top of the line core i7 1280p along with 16 gigabytes of ram and it performed as expected the default optimized mode produces pretty middle of the road performance for the cpu and it stays surprisingly quiet throughout benchmark runs and tests the good news is the jump from 11th gen to 12th gen intel chips was pretty significant especially in multi-core workloads so you'll likely be happy with the performance here even with some fairly heavy multitasking and even some light content creation not exactly a machine you'll want to spend all day editing 4k video on but no laptop of this size really is the only problem is the bottom of this device does get uncomfortably warm even in the optimized setting and even on a fairly light load it was enough for me to notice it first of all but then also not want to use it on my lap for too long while i'm happy the heat is directed away from the keyboard and palm rest a little bit this isn't really good either and looking at the bottom of the laptop you can see just how few vents this thing has there's a few small slits along the sides and some vents below the display but that's really it fortunately dell also offers a cool setting which helps quite a bit i actually found myself using this more often than not especially since my day-to-day work doesn't need the extra performance afforded by that high performance mode i really only needed to switch away when i was on video calls and doing other tasks simultaneously and yet it is a frustration especially when you compare this laptop to the laptop dell doesn't want you to compare it to probably the m2 macbook air or heck even the m1 macbook air these laptops are just so much better at staying cool to the touch while performing well and the xps 13 plus just really can't compete that applies to battery life too it almost goes without saying but the macbooks are running circles around these laptops especially this higher resolution touch screen model that i have you'll undoubtedly get a couple more hours out of the base model of the xps 13 plus but i was getting around seven or eight on really light web browsing or five or six on actual work it's not horrible and actually it lines up pretty well with a lot of the other 12th gen laptops we've been reviewing but man when you get over twice that much on a macbook it's hard not to keep those comparisons in your head but if you set aside the macbook air dell really is up to something special here more than any laptop i've reviewed in the last couple of years this is the one that more people have wanted to stop and see of course more people will probably also end up gravitating towards the standard xps 13 when it comes out in the next month or so especially since it's 300 cheaper and it comes with a more conventional keyboard and touchpad but for me after spending a longer amount of time with this xps 13 plus it feels less like a wild experiment and more like a team at the top of their game giving the rest of the industry a little nudge in a new direction hey thanks for watching if you got to the end of this video why not hop down into the comments and let me know what you think of the xps 13 plus are you down with dell's vision of a futuristic laptop or are you really just mad about the idea of not having a headphone jack and hey while you're here go ahead and subscribe to the channel for more videos from digital trendsif there's one word to describe the dell xps 13 plus it's extra it's the kind of laptop that will cause head turns and double takes wherever you bring it not because it's unusual or gimmicky but because it looks that good before we get started i want to thank our sponsor for this video the digital license reseller mr key shop which you'll hear more about in just a bit this is luke with digital trends welcome back everybody it's been a while but i'm really excited to finally be reviewing the dell xps 13 plus because we got a lot of comments on our initial video about this laptop back at ces lots of excitement lots of outrage all stuff we're gonna get into but first do me a favor and give this video a like that helps us out a ton and without further ado let's talk about this laptop with just one look you can tell someone had a vision over at dell for the xps 13 plus that's been true of the xps line for years now but you can see why dell gave this design in particular a new name like it or not it's well deserving of one and i'll get back to that name later when we talk about performance but for now let's just spend some time gawking at this thing because when it comes to producing something that really feels cutting edge dell nailed it gone is the carbon fiber weave palm rest that had become synonymous with the xbs brand trading it for a sleeker and more conventional aluminum surface throughout there are two color options available this time this one here which is granite and then there's also the lighter platinum color both of which have a unique tint that do stand out but really outside the dell logo on the back and these really tiny bezels that frame the display this doesn't resemble previous xps laptops much at all at least not from the outside more than anything else the keyboard and touchpad definitely underwent the most radical redesign as you've probably seen by now the touchpad now uses a haptic engine which means there's no physical click mechanism just a little motor under the glass that simulates one because the whole thing uses a single panel of gorilla glass the edges seamlessly blend into the palm rest making for a super minimalist vibe lenovo did a similar thing with this yoga 9i this year but i love the way dell committed to this by making the touchpad completely invisible and it feels great to use too when i first saw the xps 13 plus back at ces i did have reservations about the haptic touch pad because it felt a little bit off at the time but after some tuning by dell the smooth tracking that i've come to love on haptic touch pads works great now i turned down the sensitivity to 25 as you can do in windows 11 and found a sweet spot that perfectly simulates the kind of physical click mechanism that i prefer in a hardware touch pad it's precise smooth and almost completely silent the keyboard on the xps 13 plus got just as big of a visual change the edge to edge design means as few lines and partitions as possible it also means extra large keycaps that extend wide making for a really comfortable and spacious layout just look at how big these shift and control keys are this is what i wish every laptop keyboard had as for the actual typing it feels pretty similar you still get one millimeter of travel delivering clicky and satisfying keystrokes that feel both firm and comfortable all put together this might be my favorite new keyboard on a laptop and finally one of the most striking and controversial choices the function row of keys has of course been replaced by these capacitive touch buttons now if you're like me you've probably had poor experiences with these types of buttons in the past on tech products of all kinds but i tried to keep an open mind here as i used this laptop as my daily driver and in practice i didn't dislike it as much as i thought i would again it feels like dell has made them more responsive since the last time i used them and despite the comparisons being made to the touch bar it doesn't suffer from the same problems volume screen brightness and the escape key are exactly where you expect them to be they don't move around and while i'd still prefer some kind of haptic response that would have been nice it didn't take me too long to get familiar with this layout and let's be honest these touch buttons certainly give the laptop a futuristic look and are a big part of what makes this design so unique interestingly while the xps 13 plus certainly feels like a trim in compact little laptop it's actually a tiny bit thicker and heavier than the standard xbs 13 especially the forthcoming new model which has gotten even tinier the m2 macbook air of course is quite a bit thinner though at .44 inches but very few laptops are getting anywhere close to that and now on to the next big controversy the port selection the dell xps 13 plus includes just two usbc thunderbolt 4 ports one on either side and that's it no micro sd card slot certainly no usba or hdmi not even a headphone jack now i'm guessing that you like most people probably have a visceral reaction to having things taken away from them in their favorite products even if it's to make better tech in the long run i certainly had some of those same feelings myself but this design wouldn't be possible without any more ports included specifically this edge to edge keyboard just notice where the usb-c ports are located next to where the physical keyboard begins good reason or not dell isn't the first laptop manufacturer to make this clean break from the headphone jack but it might be the most high profile case so far in a world where even apple has kept the headphone jack in the macbook air it definitely feels like the xps 13 plus is venturing out into the unknown and yet again i tried to keep an open mind here over the course of my time using the xps 13 plus as my primary computer i only came across one scenario when i found myself wanting a wired audio source my wireless earbuds had died i wanted to listen to some music while working and lo and behold there's no headphone jack for my wired headphones that don't die fortunately dell throws a usbc to 3.5 millimeter adapter right in the box so after i dug it out my concerns were put to rest i get it it's a clumsy solution for sure but in a pinch my minor first world problem was solved and outside that i totally forgot that this thing didn't have a beloved headphone jack but that's just me i certainly have sympathy for those who want to keep analog audio connections around for other reasons that's especially true since this device only comes with those two usbc ports now i won't spend too much time talking about the display because it's the same 16 by 10 panel that's been used in previous versions of the xps 13 and it's great my model is the oled touch panel with the 3456 by 2160 resolution for the same price you can also get the 3840 by 2400 display that's brighter and of course more sharp but it's not oled both color saturation and accuracy were spot on and because this is oled you get that absolute black the bezels of course around the display are as thin as ever including up top where the webcam is speaking of cameras we all know that the webcam has always been the achilles heel of the xps laptops and now that we actually use them a lot more than we used to having a bad webcam is not a minor issue unfortunately this is still a 720p resolution camera though this time dell's actually separated the camera itself from the ir sensor which is used for windows hello and that's allowed for some improvements in image quality both in low light and high exposure situations is a far more usable webcam than previous xps 13 models for video calls even if it does lack the sharpness that you get in 1080p cameras which this really could have used it's a similar case with speakers they're better they're just still not amazing dell now uses a four speaker setup to give the audio a bit more oomph everything is much clearer and aside from the lack of bass these speakers create a decent sound stage for the occasional movie trailer or youtube video so it's an improvement and i appreciate that i'm just not quite ready to call these good speakers now if you're thinking about picking up a laptop and using it for work you'll probably want to get the microsoft office suite installed on it and that's where the sponsor of this video comes in mr keyshop mr keyshop is a reseller of 100 original licenses for windows operating systems microsoft office packages windows server and vpn and anti-virus software for all the important platforms too including pc mac and mobile on the site you can buy licenses at affordable prices which include free technical support as well as live chat support through the site installation is simple too just choose the license and buy through the available secure payment options you'll receive an email seconds later with the specific installation instructions for the product you've chosen the purchase comes with a money-back guarantee and is 100 eco-friendly thanks to the completely digital delivery format as a licensed reseller mr key shop has more than 350 000 satisfied customers and has been verified on trustpilot with a 4.9 out of 5 star rating mr key shop is offering up to 60 off its products right now so head over to mrkeyshop.com or click on the link down in the description to grab a digital license today and lastly we finally get to it performance it's what the plus in the name is supposed to refer to but as it turns out that's a bit of a misnomer dell decided to really lean in on the way that intel has split up its own cpu lineup this year which is really confusing because they have the 15 watt u series chips on one hand and the 28 watt p series chips on the other so yes this xps 13 plus uses the more powerful of the two but it's really the standard xps 13s getting a power reduction and making room for this new model in the lineup ironically the xps 13 plus has more in common with the previous xps 13 internally than the upcoming standard xps 13 has side note i thought it was a really odd move when it was announced earlier this year at the time i thought a 14 inch model would make more sense especially since you could put maybe a 35 watt cpu or even a discrete gpu in there which is what a lot of laptop manufacturers have been doing recently but after seeing what apple has done splitting its own lineup between the m1 macbook air and the m2 macbook air you can see pretty clearly what dell was going for with this lineup even the prices almost line up identically but coming back to performance you can tell dell was focused on a more balanced approach this time around rather than pushing this laptop harder than it really should be my model had the top of the line core i7 1280p along with 16 gigabytes of ram and it performed as expected the default optimized mode produces pretty middle of the road performance for the cpu and it stays surprisingly quiet throughout benchmark runs and tests the good news is the jump from 11th gen to 12th gen intel chips was pretty significant especially in multi-core workloads so you'll likely be happy with the performance here even with some fairly heavy multitasking and even some light content creation not exactly a machine you'll want to spend all day editing 4k video on but no laptop of this size really is the only problem is the bottom of this device does get uncomfortably warm even in the optimized setting and even on a fairly light load it was enough for me to notice it first of all but then also not want to use it on my lap for too long while i'm happy the heat is directed away from the keyboard and palm rest a little bit this isn't really good either and looking at the bottom of the laptop you can see just how few vents this thing has there's a few small slits along the sides and some vents below the display but that's really it fortunately dell also offers a cool setting which helps quite a bit i actually found myself using this more often than not especially since my day-to-day work doesn't need the extra performance afforded by that high performance mode i really only needed to switch away when i was on video calls and doing other tasks simultaneously and yet it is a frustration especially when you compare this laptop to the laptop dell doesn't want you to compare it to probably the m2 macbook air or heck even the m1 macbook air these laptops are just so much better at staying cool to the touch while performing well and the xps 13 plus just really can't compete that applies to battery life too it almost goes without saying but the macbooks are running circles around these laptops especially this higher resolution touch screen model that i have you'll undoubtedly get a couple more hours out of the base model of the xps 13 plus but i was getting around seven or eight on really light web browsing or five or six on actual work it's not horrible and actually it lines up pretty well with a lot of the other 12th gen laptops we've been reviewing but man when you get over twice that much on a macbook it's hard not to keep those comparisons in your head but if you set aside the macbook air dell really is up to something special here more than any laptop i've reviewed in the last couple of years this is the one that more people have wanted to stop and see of course more people will probably also end up gravitating towards the standard xps 13 when it comes out in the next month or so especially since it's 300 cheaper and it comes with a more conventional keyboard and touchpad but for me after spending a longer amount of time with this xps 13 plus it feels less like a wild experiment and more like a team at the top of their game giving the rest of the industry a little nudge in a new direction hey thanks for watching if you got to the end of this video why not hop down into the comments and let me know what you think of the xps 13 plus are you down with dell's vision of a futuristic laptop or are you really just mad about the idea of not having a headphone jack and hey while you're here go ahead and subscribe to the channel for more videos from digital trends\n"