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Dell XPS 13 9300 (2020)
94
Engadget Review
Dell has managed to refine the XPS 13 into an even better ultraportable, with thinner display bezels, a wider and more comfortable keyboard, and a more modern design. It’s everything we want in a compact notebook.
Pros
- Attractive design
- Excellent screen with thin bezels
- Wide and comfortable keyboard
- Fast performance
Cons
- An SD card reader would have been nice
- $999 model is underpowered
Dell
XPS 13
Engadget
94
Critics
10 reviews80
Tom's Hardware
With over 12 hours of battery life, more vertical screen real estate and an attractive design, the Dell XPS 13 (9300) is one of the best clamshells you can buy
90
AVERAGE CRITIC SCORE
Users
7 reviews80
Maurice
Headline: Do NOT installed driver updates from Dell unless you set a restore point first
73
AVERAGE USER SCORE
View All Critic & User Reviews
Dell XPS 13 9300 (2020)
- Critic Reviews (10)
- User Reviews (7)
- 90AVERAGE CRITIC SCORE10 ReviewsTom's Hardware80More Screen, Less BezelsWith over 12 hours of battery life, more vertical screen real estate and an attractive design, the Dell XPS 13 (9300) is one of the best clamshells you can buy.Laptop Magazine100Small tweaks in the Dell XPS 13 make big impressionsThe Dell XPS 13 ditches all the bezels, gets even smaller and more powerful.PC Mag80No longer perfect, but still a class-leading ultraportableThe 2020 version of the Dell XPS 13 is an excellent ultraportable laptop, with head-turning looks and plenty of power for everyday tasks.CNET90Tiny tweaks to a long-time favoriteWith a slightly bigger screen and smaller body, the new XPS 13 continues its steady march towards laptop perfection.PC World Australia80A deft upgrade that doesn't break what doesn't need fixingThe latest version of Dell’s premium notebook brings with a handful of smart design changes and minor improvements in performance and battery life.TechRadar90The premium champ is backThe Dell XPS 13 is an extremely luxurious device, with all-day battery life and solid performance – not to mention a design that's something to die for. However, the lackluster audio and high price tag may turn some folks off.Neowin100The best gets betterThere doesn't seem to be any meaningful compromises here, and the improvements that Dell made absolutely are meaningful. My only complaints are that there's no cellular model, something that HP offers from its Spectre lineup, and that you have to scan your fingerprint after the PC boots up. That's it.Digital Trends100The laptop endgameThe Dell XPS 13 has been the best laptop you can buy for years, and that's still true in 2020.Top Ten Reviews90Dell XPS 13 reviewDell has made the XPS 13 a little faster, slimmer and lighter, and paired its tweaked design with great screen options and ergonomics. The port selection could be better, but in most departments the Dell XPS 13 is a class-leading lightweight option.Notebookcheck90Dell XPS 13 9300 Laptop Review - Smaller, but slower CPUDell's new XPS 13 9300 is a very good successor for the popular subnotebook. We did not find any serious drawbacks during our review, but the new model is no bargain at an entry-level price of 1500 Euros (~$1614).
- 73AVERAGE USER SCORE7 ReviewsMaurice80August 19, 2020Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!Headline: Do NOT installed driver updates from Dell unless you set a restore point first. Expect issues to be introduced with driver updates.I purchased the XPS 13 9300 based on a lot of positive reviews, including Engadget's. This look and feel of this laptop is exemplary. Setup was a breeze, I used my existing Microsoft account and brought in all my files and settings without a hitch.I have heard complaints about difficulties opening the lid. I agree that, at first, it's a challenge but it's not hard to find that spot that makes it easy to open and I kind of like that it doesn't come open that easily.Using the computer is fun. Battery life is great. There is minimal noise and very little heat. I have set up Python (Anaconda) and run some very resource-intensive functions on local data. No issues at all. I don't mind the lack of ports, easy enough to resolve with Dell's USB-C dock. Now, the not-so-good news. There were some huge problems that I believe were caused by updating drivers through the Dell support site. 1) Sleep mode stopped working, although I could get into the laptop through an external monitor. Main monitor stays frozen on Dell logo. Restart is required to regain laptop monitor. Hard restart is required if you have no external monitor. 2) Audio problems ensue if you plug in earbuds / external speaker, unplug and the re-plug in. 3) Screen flickers randomly. Dell support (I paid for premium) was very helpful and patient (more so than I was) and gave me ever-increasingly-complex steps to follow to try to resolve my issues; many, many, many steps. I was spending more time trying to fix my laptop than using it! When we got to "running SFC" and and "checking issues with DISM", I gave up and reset the PC - easy to do because I had everything backed up already with OneDrive - and reinstalled Windows. Sigh. All issues were resolved with the reset.It would have been easier if I had a System Restore point set. I cannot recommend that strongly enough. Set a restore point every time you do a Windows update or a Dell driver update (I still haven't worked up the courage to try that). In conclusion, I believe you will find this a very good laptop but beware the Dell driver updates.David40August 8, 2020Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!Capable machine but VERY uncomfortable to use. The front of the laptop is shaped so that using it for more than five minutes leaves indentations in your palms. The keys are too small and close together. And every time I try and press the left button of the track pad, the right button is pressed. Overall a frustrating user experience.Erkin80August 7, 2020Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!Capricious beauty...16:10 screen ratio, super thin bezels, 500 nit screen make this laptop a beauty. But it is definitely a capricious one.I bought one, had issues, returned, got a brand new one, same issues. Here's a quick list:- Killer (notorious by now) wifi drops signal randomly. No rhyme or reason.- Runs very hot on charger. So much so that you need another layer if using on your lap.- Screen flickers. Randomly 1-2 times a day to 1-2 times an hour. Numerous attempts to fix it by Dell's recommendations did not work.- Bluetooth drops and actually disappears after waking up from sleep. (solved via help from Dr.Google)Overall, if Lenovo, HP or Asus had a 16:10 alternative, I would not have gone back to the capricious beauty. For now, Dell's the only 16:10 ultrabook in town of Windowsland.Skye70August 7, 2020Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!I want to love this laptop... and I almost do. However, a couple things make it very difficult to love. First, the WiFi fails suddenly daily, sometimes several times a day. Sometimes, it recovers on its own after 10-20 seconds. Sometimes, I have to disable and re-enable the network interface in device manager to fix it. This makes it UNUSABLE for video meetings. (I use my Surface Go instead.) I have tried changing WiFi settings, uninstalled the Killer WiFi driver and used the Intel driver. Nothing seems to help. No other devices have this problem on my network. Also, the laptop build suffers from significant quality control issues, particularly with the quality of the white glass fiber deck. It is uneven and shows bulges from internals 'poking' through. Also, the left edge of the lid is curved and doesn't sit flush against the deck when closed. I ordered a replacement from Dell and the replacement had even worse defects in the glass fiber deck, the same warped lid, and also cosmetic defects in the aluminum shell! I ended up returning the replacement. Call me crazy, but I think a $1750 laptop should be as well built as a $1200 laptop. I have never had these problems with Microsoft or Lenovo laptops I've had. I guess the biggest question is: if I could go back in time, would I buy it again? No, I wouldn't. Aside from all of this, Dell customer support was an absolute nightmare to deal with for the replacement and the return of the replacement. They tried to charge me for the returned replacement, saying it never showed up... until I showed them the UPS tracking number. All of that said, the laptop works well, aside from WiFi. Its fast, the battery lasts all day, the screen is beautiful, and the keyboard is generally better than I expected. The audio is mediocre, at best. No base. Pretty tinny. Worse than the reviewers say. It is loud though. My Surface Go isn't as loud, but sounds better. Though, on the XPS keyboard, one key did go really spongy for a day (and only a day?!). Would I recommend this laptop? All-in-all. No, I would look elsewhere, despite its positive aspects. I think you can find a better deal for the money... and without Dell's quality control problems. I don't think I'll ever buy another Dell. There are too many good laptops to choose from to settle for/with these issues.Paul90August 6, 2020Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!Really great and tiny laptop, which easily pairs with an eGPU for gaming. I've been really pleased with it overall. My one complains is that Dell uses absolutely horrific audio drivers from Realtek which are a constant issue with this laptop when using external speakers or input devices. Realtek does 'enhancements' to the audio coming from out of the laptop, including limiting volume to a super-low level and doing weird adjustments to the equalizer that make music sound terrible when played through my otherwise decent desktop speakers. It's very hard to disable or remove the Realtek drivers because Windows is now setup to automatically download and upgrade drivers when they are available for your hardware. There ARE ways around this, but the Realtek software cannot be removed completely, at least not without a total format of the laptop HDD upon purchase. After much frustration, I opted to buy a Soundblaster USB audio 'card' and disabling the Realtek device.Joseph70August 6, 2020Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!I bought the 2020 Xps 9300 around 2 months ago, I have the 16GB ram, i7, 1 TB ssd, 4k display version. The XPS 13 9300 is a really good laptop if you get the one with the correct specifications. I regret buying the 4k display version. I believe it’s due to the 4k display that the battery life is not anywhere more than 4.5 hours even in power saving mode. There is these pixelated circles on the screen on the background of movies I watch(not on the focused subject in the middle). I recommend not to buy the 4k screen unless very necessary, otherwise the product is a 9.5/10 for sure.The speakers are not the best either but since i use headphones and earphone always it’s not such a big of an issue. Other than these issues the laptop is just solid.Evil_Overlord80August 6, 2020Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!I just got the new (9300) version, as an update on my previous, 3 year old XPS13, which was itself an update on a 4 year old, underpowered XPS13. I otherwise use mostly ThinkPads.In brief, the XPS 13 (old and new) is a great laptop in most areas. It outshines ThinkPads in all but one very important detail - the keyboard.The new Dell keyboard is better than the old Dell keyboard, but neither of them is very good - ThinkPads are better by orders of magnitude. The new Dell is also substantially noisier (fan running) than the old one, presumably because it's about half the thickness (which I don't care about at all). I'm finding the new touchpad a little finicky as well. The new Dell has a 16:10 screen ratio, which gives a little more vertical screen space. And the webcam is (finally) relocated to the top bezel (which is the reason I upgraded, now that Zoom is a frequent part of our lives).Overall, the Dell is an excellent, very portable, very durable productivity tool for working with standard office apps. The only real issues I've had over 4 years:- the first Dell was underpowered (i3), had a bad keyboard and bad webcam- the second Dell had a bad keyboard and bad webcam- the new Dell has a mediocre keyboardI've always used ThinkPads personally, for the keyboard. The Dell XPS13 is so much better than a ThinkPad in every _other_ way that I'm considering ditching ThinkPad for personal use in future, _despite_ the keyboard being the most important thing to me.
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Key Specs
TYPE
Midsize
SCREEN SIZE
13.4in
SCREEN RESOLUTION
Other
BUNDLED OS
Windows
CPU FAMILY
Core i7
SYSTEM RAM
16GB
POINTING DEVICE
Trackpad
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