In conjunction with the CES conference in Las Vegas this week, Dell today is officially introducing a new 2-in-1 version of its highly regarded XPS 13 laptop. This follows a leak of the device yesterday on Dell’s own website. Now that a convertible XPS model is coming out, the XPS line may more directly compete with HP’s Spectre x360 and Lenovo’s ThinkPad Yoga.
The machine features a 7th generation Kaby Lake Intel Core i chip (i5 and i7 options are available), Intel HD Graphics 615 integrated graphics processing unit (GPU), 4-16GB LPDDR3 RAM, a 128GB-1TB solid-state drive (SSD), a 720p webcam on the bottom of the display with support for Windows Hello, a fingerprint scanner, a 46 watt-hour battery, and a 13.3-inch touchscreen, available in QHD+ or FHD configurations.
The bezel is very narrow, in keeping with the XPS style. The fanless PC offers an SD card slot and two USB-C ports, and a USB-A to USB-C adapter comes in the box.
The laptop is 0.32-0.54 inch thick, which is thinner than Dell’s 2016 XPS. But the keyboard hasn’t been squished down — the keys have 1.3mm travel, or just a tad bit (0.1mm) more than you get on the XPS laptop — which is impressive. The laptop weighs 2.7 pounds.
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Probably the most significant components on this PC, though, are the hinges, which bring it more in line with Dell’s Inspiron series. They felt robust enough in the few minutes I had to try them recently during a press briefing in San Francisco.
The question is whether people will want the convertible option when the laptop is fine as is. The convertible XPS 13 starts at $1000, which is $200 more than the XPS 13 laptop. It’s available starting on January 5.
