Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 Preview – Flip version of popular laptop

Dell announced a 2-in-1 version of its popular XPS 13 laptop just days before CES kicked off. It is not a successor to the existing XPS 13, of which Dell presented the latest version in September, but an alternative model that can also be used as a tablet. The electronics fair in Las Vegas is now in full swing and we visited Dell’s demo room in the Venetian hotel to take a closer look at the 2-in-1.

Slightly thinner and smaller battery

If you take a first look at the XPS 13 2-in-1, the device resembles a regular XPS 13 in almost every way. The new model has a similar aluminum housing and the interior is also made of carbon fiber. Only the hinge looks different and if you put the two laptops next to each other, you notice that the 2-in-1 version is slightly thinner. Dell has made the 2-in-1 thinner so that it can be used better as a tablet. The result of this is that there is a smaller battery in the laptop, with a capacity of 46Wh. That’s a lot less than the 60Wh of the regular XPS 13, but the Dell also uses a more efficient Y-series processor, which should compensate for the difference somewhat.

At its thickest point, the new 2-in-1 from Dell is 13.7mm thick. The regular XPS 13 is 15mm thick at that point. Despite the thinner housing and smaller battery with a weight of 1.24 kg, the 2-in-1 is barely lighter than the regular XPS 13, which weighs 1.29 kg with touchscreen. Presumably the 2-in-1’s chunky hinges add some weight. Those hinges feel very solid and are pleasantly anti-slip, so that the screen remains in the desired position. You can also place the device on the table like a ‘tent’, without the whole thing sliding.

Connection options are available in the form of two USB-C ports, one of which has Thunderbolt 3 support. Both ports can be used to charge the laptop or connect external screens. There is also a 3.5mm jack and a micro SD card reader. The regular USB 3.0 connections that the XPS 13 does have have been omitted on the 2-in-1 due to the thinner housing.

Passive cooling

Inside the XPS 13 2-in-1 is an Intel Core i5-7Y54 processor of the Kaby Lake generation. That is a chip with a tdp of 4.5 watts and in the Skylake era such chips were referred to as Core m5 instead of Core i5. The economical dual core runs at a speed of 1.2 GHz with a boost to a maximum of 3.2 GHz. A major advantage of the economical chip is that no active cooling is required. There are therefore no moving parts in the XPS 13 such as a fan or HDD, which makes it a silent device. In terms of performance, the 2-in-1 will have to recognize its superior in the regular variant, which uses faster processors with a tdp of 15 watts.

The screen of the 2-in-1 version is the same as in the regular XPS 13. It is a 13″ ips panel and the screen bezels are very thin, putting the whole thing in a housing that is more similar to 11, 6″ laptops. Dell supplies variants with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels and 3200×1800 pixels. Of course it is a touchscreen, because the 2-in-1 can also be used as a tablet. The screen is finished with a glossy protective layer. That produces reflections, but because the screen is neatly laminated, it is not very noticeable.

As with the XPS 13, the webcam is placed at the bottom of the display. That does not really produce a charming picture with video calls. The advantage of the 2-in-1 version is that the screen can be flipped and the laptop can then be placed upside down on a table, so that the camera is located at the top of the screen.

Keyboard and touchpad

While the 2-in-1’s body is slightly thinner than the regular XPS 13, that’s not at the expense of the keyboard. That is exactly the same and the keys therefore have the same amount of travel of 1.3 mm and the backlight has also remained. Dell has tweaked the layout of the keyboard a bit; page up and page down buttons are now added above the arrow keys.

In practice, the keyboard of the 2-in-1 works well. You can type comfortably on it and the keyboard doesn’t flex significantly when some pressure is applied. The touchpad also works fine; it responds quickly and recognizes the Windows 10 gestures without any problem. A fingerprint scanner is placed next to the touchpad to log in with Windows Hello