My daily driver laptop has been a Surface Pro since I picked up theSurface Pro 4in 2016.
Disclaimer:This review was made possible by a review unit provided by Dell.
The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 (9315) is unapologetically large for a tablet, but it’s certainly a looker.
It’s delivered in 100% recycled or renewable packaging (there’s very little plastic here).
you’ve got the option to view the full specs below.
This bundle retails for $1,399.
I still enjoy the sleek lines and subtle curves of my impossibly thin, matte black Surface Pro X.
There’s no creaking, no unsightly seams, and absolutely nothing out of place.
Just a series of perfectly placed hardware features complemented by subtly rounded squared edges and corners.
This tablet and its squared edges look amazing from every angle.
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 oozes quality and class from every angle.
Unfortunately, the display isn’t quite as good as it seems when looking at the specs alone.
Still, the XPS 13 2-in-1 (9315) doesn’t quite cut it.
The simple antenna line and an emblazoned logo complete the XPS 13 2-in-1’s sophisticated design.
I also noticed occasional, obvious screen flickering at lower brightness levels.
Side-by-side with the Surface Pro X’s display, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 struggles to compete.
Even without HDR support, my Surface Pro X consistently outperformed Dell.
This display looks good enough under normal use, but it’s definitely not among the best.
As soon as I have a colorimeter in hand, I’ll update this section with some hard numbers.
With my workflow, that’s exactly what I observed.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 is reliably performant and felt lovely to use regardless of what I was doing.
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (9315) is at least much faster than the first-gen Surface Pro X.
Combined with 8GB of RAM and a generous 512GB SSD, even the base model is respectable.
The model I reviewed is identical except for adding 16GB of RAM instead of 8.
I was never concerned about the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1’s performance, even with the fanless design.
At least in multi-core operations, the XPS 13 2-in-1 could keep up with last-gen Core i7s.(Image credit: Windows Central)
That fanless design is certainly impressive, too.
All-in-all, the XPS 13 2-in-1 rests about where you’d expect for a modern, U-series i5 CPU.
Even a three-year-old Surface Pro X with 4G LTE bests the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 in battery endurance.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 performed about where I expected here.(Image credit: Windows Central)
I’ll start with the touchpad.
The keyboard is also mostly good.
Still, there’s solid tactile feedback, and the layout is good.
Once again, this test shows the improvements made to multi-core performance with 12th Gen Intel CPUs.(Image credit: Windows Central)
To make the individual keys as large as possible, Dell sacrificed the bordering space between the keys.
On this front, things are as expected for a folio cover.
You also can’t prop the keyboard at an angle, leaving it flat on your desk.
For some reason, the XPS 12 2-in-1 struggled to perform well in this benchmark, despite solid real-world performance.(Image credit: Windows Central)
On that note, the XPS Stylus accomplishes exactly what it should.
It’s a nice shape and size and features Bluetooth connectivity for two customizable buttons.
With 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, the XPS Stylus is what I expect from a modern pen.
As expected, the XPS 13 2-in-1 performed well below average for this test.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The rear button of the XPS Stylus does not double as an eraser, either.
The webcam is supported by a world-facing 4K / 30fps camera designed for scanning documents and other productivity-related tasks.
All-in-all, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 does very well as a video conferencing machine.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 doesn’t have anywhere near the fastest SSD, but it’s still very respectable.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 does very well as a video conferencing machine.
Finally, dual stereo speakers are located symmetrically on the left and right near the bottom of the gear.
These speakers surprised me, getting louder and sounding fuller than those on the Surface Pro X. I would’ve preferred to see them positioned closer to the top of the machine rather than the bottom.
It’s surprising how many ways this three-year-old Pro X still beats the XPS 13 2-in-1, including endurance.
If you’ve used Windows 11, you know the experience you’re getting on this gear.
Dell has bundled some additional apps and programs on the unit, but it’s mostly fine.
Just useWindows Defender; it’s a whole lot quieter.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 is thinner than most phones and almost as thin as the Surface Pro X — but maybe a bigger battery would’ve been better.
This issue was resolved after a while, but I felt it was worth mentioning.
On this front, there’s some direct competition for the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (9315).
The most obvious example is theMicrosoft Surface Pro 9, the latest iteration of Microsoft’s legendary premium tablets.
I wish I could angle this keyboard up, but at least the touchpad is large and wonderfully smooth.
The Surface Pro 9 is just as powerful and well-built as the XPS 13 2-in-1.
The Surface Pro 9 is a better PC in many ways, but it’s also far more expensive.
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1: Should you buy it?
Large keys don’t help if there’s hardly a border between them, such as with the XPS Folio.
In most ways, this is still one of thebest Windows tabletsyou can buy.
I’m sure the deciding factor for many would-be buyers will be the price tag.
It’s a great PC for the price, but its battery life and display hold it back.
The XPS Folio is fine, but I found myself constantly missing an integrated kickstand.
I’m no artist, but I certainly had no complaints about the XPS Stylus.
The twin stereo speakers are surprisingly good, although they’re in the perfect place to be blocked by your hands.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 looks so good, even when resting on top of my trusty personal laptop.
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is a great, albeit flawed, device, but its competitive price tag saves it.
There are a lot of things I love about the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (9315), but I still can’t quite give up my Surface Pro X.
