Editor’s Pick: 5 Reasons Why The Dell XPS 13 9300 Laptop Makes Us More Productive
Everyone’s raving about this chic ultra-portable laptop from Dell—here’s what happened when we roadtested it
An editor’s life usually involves balancing the act of tastemaking and content creation—so it’s imperative that the devices we use also reflect our style and substance, balancing productivity with inspiration. Which is why it was such a delight to have had a chance to play with the latest Dell XPS 13 9300 laptop over the weekend.
And so, when you have a busy work week that involves back-to-back Zoom meetings, livestreams, editing, writing, and even some media-viewing for our K-drama and C-drama sections, having a device with a fast CPU paired with great user experience like the Dell XPS 13 certainly hits the sweet spot for multi-taskers like me.
Off the bat, I love the tactile yet springy touch of the keyboard, especially since my work deals with writing and editing multiple articles a day. It can get quite taxing on other devices, but having a keyboard with a velvety touch and matte keys certainly feels a bit more elegant than usual.
I also love the size and shape—it’s a sexy device that weighs almost nothing and can fit in my larger purses. Instead of lugging a heavy backpack, it can fit in an Hermes Birkin 30 or a Mulberry Bayswater, while its weight doesn’t tax the handles too much.
Here are the different ways we’re loving this laptop:
You can slip it into a bag
Let’s start with the obvious. The XPS13 is on the smaller side of the laptop spectrum, at 11.6” wide and 7.8” deep. You don’t have to get a dedicated bag to lug around the XPS13 at all. It slips right into a purse. It also weighs just a little over two pounds, so you won’t even feel it much when you bring it along. This, to me, is one of its biggest draws.
Looks great and extremely well-built
On the looks department, the XPS13 shines (not literally, though because that would be kind of weird.) It’s built out of polished aluminum with a smooth, premium feel and generally aces the fit and finish department. Opening and closing the computer, you see that it’s extremely well-built, with no sharp edges or snags in the design. Nothing in it wobbles or feels fragile at all. It’s something you have to try for yourself to experience. Overall, it’s one of the most good-looking and well-engineered PC notebooks that I’ve ever handled.
Great user experience
From boot up to going through my workflow, the user experience has been fairly seamless. The moment you open the lid, the screen comes to life immediately. The touchpad has a snappy response time to it, and swiping with gestures evokes an instant response. And as for the screen, it’s larger than you would expect because of the tiny bezels. It also runs on Full HD, so you’re not missing out when you stream your shows. It also has top-of-the-line NVIDIA® graphics card, able to deliver a fantastic visual on-screen viewing as seen with the stunning HDR 400 certified display that enables over 16 million colors that have more depth and dimension than ever before. There’s also an optional 4K Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) display that delivers precise detail and sharp image. For something this size, the XPS13 really delivers a full experience.
Exceedingly fast
Usually, the smaller a laptop gets, the more underpowered it is. But that isn’t the case with the XPS13. It’s packing the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor, which runs four cores that handle tasks breezily. The unit I reviewed also had 8 gigabytes of memory, making it even snappier. I’ve used it to edit photos, review videos for uploading, and multi-task on a full workday, and it didn’t skip a beat.
It has a fantastic keyboard
I was initially concerned about how it would feel when it comes to typing: I thought it would feel a little cramped because of the small form factor. But Dell maximized the layout, giving the keyboard area smaller edges while also making the keys themselves larger than average. The power button also houses a fingerprint reader, which you can use to log in more easily. The buttons also have a good amount of travel to them, making them more pleasant to type with. If you’re working from home on one of these, you won’t have a hard time going for long stretches.
Shop now at Dell official store on Lazada or Shopee
For more details, check out the Dell website.