The beloved Dell XPS 13 of previous years no longer exists.

The popular line of premium laptops is now split between the XPS 13 Plus and the standard XPS 13 – and that’s meant a new approach to distinguishing the two.

With the XPS 13 Plus as the more expensive, cutting edge, that leaves the standard XPS 13 as the cheaper offering. The result is a nerfed XPS 13 in terms of performance, but at an extremely affordable starting price of just $829.

Dell XPS 13 specs

A familiar design

© Provided by Digital Trends The back lid of the Dell XPS 13.

Taking a look at the design, there are a few notable changes from previous generations of the XPS 13. Like the Plus model, this one is all aluminum, so no more carbon-fiber weave in the palm rests. I’ll definitely miss the white color option and the unique materials of the old XPS laptops.

Dell now offers the lighter “Sky” color, which is the one I have, and the darker “Umber” model. The Sky color is interesting too, since the keycaps are a slightly different color. It all comes together in a color scheme that feels unique. These aren’t standard silver and black, at least.

The super thin bezels are still here, of course. As the pioneer of super-thin laptop bezels, Dell’s design remains the most aggressive with its screen-to-body ratio. It looks as spectacular as ever.

Unfortunately, the persistence to keep the look, means it’s still stuck on a tiny 720p webcam housed in the top bezels. It’ll get by for the occasional Zoom call, but it’s not the most flattering in terms of image quality. It does some odd things with colors, and struggles in common video conferencing scenarios, especially if the lighting isn’t perfect. Dell hasn’t bought into the trend toward sharper 1080p webcams, especially not at the expense of its hard-earned top bezel.

© Provided by Digital Trends The Dell XPS 13 on a table with the Start Menu open.

The display itself hasn’t changed this time around either. It’s still a 16:10 IPS panel with options for touch or non-touch. You can crank it up to 444 nits, which is plenty bright, even if you’re working outside or near a window. Of course, color saturation (AdobeRGB 75%) isn’t wide as the high-resolution OLED models available on the XPS 13 Plus. But for the purposes of a sub-$1,000 laptop, this is an excellent display.

Dell has also saved many of more experimental design features for the XPS 13 Plus. So, no haptic feedback trackpad, edge-to-edge keyboard, or capacitive touch buttons that replaced the function row. Everything here is more familiar and more comfortable.

The one aspect I actually miss from the Plus model is the haptic trackpad. I loved the implementation of it, and the chunkier click of the standard XPS 13’s touchpad feels tiresome in comparison. Double clicks aren’t as smooth, and the click mechanism is overly loud.

While the XPS 13 Plus got a lot of the flashier new features, it retained a very similar internal design to previous generations of the XPS 13. The standard XPS 13, though, couldn’t be more different on the inside.

Redesigned internals

© Provided by Digital Trends The side of the Dell XPS 13 on a table.

A lot of engineering work has gone into making the Dell XPS 13 thinner. It’s now 0.55 inches thick, which makes it one of the thinnest Windows laptops you can buy. And it does feel really thin to hold, despite the fact that it’s actually only 5% thinner than the previous model. But as I’m sure you know, at this size, every millimeter shaved off comes with a mountain of work behind the scenes.

First off, Dell says the motherboard is 1.8 times smaller overall this time around, including using a thinner PCB, which is actually now using a tech borrowed from smartphone boards. Pulling off the back cover, you can see how little space the motherboard now takes up — it’s pretty astounding. Dell has found ways to shrink basically every component, including the storage and memory — and without getting into all the details, it’s an impressive amount of engineering work that went into this internal redesign. But the result, again, is just a 5% reduction in thickness.

© Provided by Digital Trends The internals compared between two versions of the Dell XPS 13.

And if it sounds like I’m not impressed, it’s because there’s this little laptop out there called the M2 MacBook Air. At 0.44 inches thick, the MacBook Air is still 20% thinner than the XPS 13. That sounds like more than it really is, though. You won’t see a huge difference in thickness when you set these laptops side by side, and Dell has put in a lot of work to make sure of it.

But when it comes down to it, the real kicker with the new XPS 13 is the performance. In attempts to shrink everything down, you get just one fan, and with it, just a 9-watt processor from Intel’s 12th-gen U-series chips. These chips have just two Performance cores, which is four fewer than the P-series chips like the one used in the Dell XPS 13 Plus.

The main purpose of nerfing the XPS 13, I assume, is to distinguish the XPS 13 from the Plus model, which uses a more standard 15-watt processor. Less power means less performance – and in this case, it’s actually quite a bit less. This is one of the worst-performing Intel 12th-gen laptops I’ve tested so far. It’s even a bit slower than last year’s 11th-gen model. But with a 9-watt processor that has only two Performance cores, it’s kind of what I’d expected.

That might sound horrible, but really, I would argue that last year’s performance is probably enough. You shouldn’t be buying this laptop to edit video all day or play games. Instead, it’s for web browsing, online work, video conferencing, the occasional photo edit or coding project — and this laptop handles all of that just fine.

It’s the multi-core performance that suffers the most, after all, and for the most part, those types of applications are just not what a laptop of this type is for. Furthermore, when it comes to choosing the processor for a laptop, it’s not all about performance. Looking beyond the benchmarks, you’ll see a number of advantages that better suit the Dell XPS 13 to compare with a laptop like the M1 MacBook Air.

The hidden benefits of less power

© Provided by Digital Trends The keyboard of the Dell XPS 13.

First off, the XPS 13 handles heat much better than the XPS 13 Plus. One of my biggest complaints with that laptop was how hot the surface temperatures got, even when running pretty standard applications. The XPS 13 doesn’t have that problem, and actually does a fantastic job at staying both cool and quiet. There’s only that one fan, and it never gets overly loud.

Of course, you’ll find an “Ultra Performance” thermal mode in the My Dell utility, which can crank the fan a bit more. Unlike some Performance modes found in other laptops, this one does quite a bit. Toggling on Ultra Performance mode while encoding a video in Handbrake, for example, netting me a 42% faster completion of the task. This put it closer to other 12th-gen U-series laptops, showing just how far the default “Optimized” mode is weighed toward a quiet, cool experience.

Battery life is the second benefit of Dell using a lower-powered chip on the XPS 13. This thing lasted well over 13 hours in light web browsing, which is over 5 hours longer than the XPS 13 Plus. As long as I didn’t have too many long video calls, I found that I could through the majority of a day away from an outlet. You’ll still get a solid four or five more hours out of the M2 MacBook Air, but in terms of Windows laptops, the Dell XPS 13 is back at the front of the pack.

© Provided by Digital Trends The keyboard of the Dell XPS 13.

The question remains: would you trade a few extra hours of battery life for a step down in multi-core performance? I think for most people looking at buying this laptop, the battery life is more useful.

And lastly, there’s the price. Opting for this lower-powered chip has allowed Dell to price the XPS 13 very aggressively. The starting configuration, which is the one I’m reviewing, costs just $829. That base-level configuration even comes with 512GB of storage, meaning it’s at least $400 cheaper than the M1 MacBook Air when similarly configured.

And Dell isn’t really even offering higher-end configurations — at least not right now. No high-resolution OLED screens or 2TB storage options are available at the moment, leaving those for the XPS 13 Plus. Even so, there’s just not another laptop at this price point that can compete in terms of overall value.

When missing a headphone jack is a problem

© Provided by Digital Trends The USB-C port on the Dell XPS 13.

But there’s one decision Dell made with the XPS 13 that feels like undoes all the clever engineering and marketing behind this laptop. It doesn’t have a headphone jack. Just like the XPS 13 Plus, the XPS 13 has said goodbye to the beloved 3.5mm headphone jack, offering you just two Thunderbolt 4 ports in exchange.

An adapter is included in the box, thankfully, but that doesn’t take away the sting of feeling a bit duped.

Dropping the headphone jack on the XPS 13 Plus made some sense. It was meant to be a cutting-edge laptop, after all, that pushed the boundaries of design. People knew what they were getting into. And with the edge-to-edge keyboard and touch buttons, it felt like you were trading the unique design for a sleeker design.

But with the XPS 13, Dell may have taken it a step too far — and that’s coming from someone who isn’t fully against the idea of laptops without headphone jacks. I don’t think people use their headphone jacks as much as they think they do. But on a laptop like the XPS 13, especially at its lower price, it’s a compromise most people won’t see the need for. And I’m not sure I do either.

Buy it, but tread lightly

© Provided by Digital Trends The Dell XPS 13, open on a table in front of a window.

In a lot of ways, the new XPS 13 feels like a response to the overwhelming success of the M1 MacBook Air. While the rest of the Windows ecosystem has continued on, almost pretending as if the MacBook Air didn’t exist, the XPS 13 feels like it’s actually been designed around beating Apple at its own game.

It’s still not as powerful or long-lasting as the MacBook Air, but at $829, it’s a killer deal. I love that Dell wasn’t afraid of using the price as an attack against Apple, even if it meant making a few compromises along the way. If I could find a way to add back in a headphone jack, I’d have few qualms recommending this laptop to most people shopping for a Windows laptop. But even as it is, you won’t find another premium laptop under $1,000 quite this good.

The White House announced plans this week to implement a new set of security requirements covering the acquisition of commercial software in keeping with the provisions of the cybersecurity executive order the president signed last year.

A fact sheet the administration released this week about the new software security requirements suggested the White House was attempting for the first time to leverage the federal government's procurement powers to bolster cybersecurity in software products across the private sector. 

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told FCW that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council will consider what actions are necessary to implement standards for third-party software featured in the National Institute of Standards and Technology standard Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF). 

That framework seeks to ensure security practices have been followed throughout each step of the software development life cycle. It features measures to implement and maintain secure environments for software development, as well as methods to share provenance data for all components of software releases and to track new requirements, risks and management decisions. NIST has also rolled out subsequent programs for software contractors to provide new labels detailing the manufacturers' internet of things and software security efforts.

Software developers and industry leaders see the White House announcement as another step closer to the eventual governmentwide adoption of Software Bills of Materials—machine-readable lists of components that make up a software product, which can help confirm in real-time whether those products are susceptible to vulnerabilities and emerging cyber threats. 

"SBOMs can deliver tool interoperability and allow for the easy exchange of information from vendor to supplier to agency," Chris Wysopal, founder and chief technology officer of Veracode, told FCW. "There should be no reason that a software company, contractor or agency can't assess its code, including any potential open source used in the software they have built, used or plan to purchase."

While the FAR Council typically has to follow a "fairly lengthy" rule-making process that includes months of collecting, analyzing and responding to public comments, the White House and federal agencies have a couple options to speed up the implementation of new third-party software requirements, according to former Department of Homeland Security Chief Procurement Officer Soraya Correa. 

"They can do an interim rule to get something going right away, and the other thing they can do is a FAR deviation to implement a rule," Correa told FCW, explaining that waivers can enforce the requirements as procurement officials work to finalize the official rule. "That process can take—on a fast track—probably about a good four months." 

Correa added that procurement officials across the Department of Defense, NASA and General Services Administration would conduct an analysis to determine potential impacts on the private sector before taking steps to speed up the implementation process.  

"The pressure is naturally there, because we know the risks that we face when we do these procurements," she said. "We've got to get them done quickly, but we also have to protect the data, the system that these solutions are riding on and the integrity of the process."

OMB previously instructed agencies to obtain self-attestations from software providers outlining their compliance with the standardized development practices, and said the FAR Council was planning to propose rule-making to implement a standard self-attestation form. Those directives also pointed to NIST guidance on third-party software development.

"By requiring a standardized approach to secure software development like [SSDF], we can better mitigate risk and help reduce the number of vulnerabilities released in software," Eric Baize, vice president of product and application security of Dell Technologies, told FCW. 

Earlier this month, trade groups sent a letter to the heads of multiple congressional committees warning that SBOMs "will not achieve the desired utility" in federal agencies due to an apparent "lack of standardization" for their dissemination and use. 

Those groups acknowledged the importance of SBOMs serving as a foundational block in enterprise-wide cybersecurity, but effectively argued that agencies were not prepared to fully leverage the lists to mitigate cyber risks.

Still, many experts told FCW there was enough guidance for agencies to begin properly implementing SBOMs – and that now is the time to require their use throughout the federal government. 

Douglas Schmidt, engineering professor at Vanderbilt University and a former member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, said he supported the White House move to implement third-party software security requirements for federal agencies.

"The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) standard defines a very comprehensive set of controls" he added, which agencies could use to ensure software products have met the standardized requirements. 

But Schmidt also noted that SBOMs and other security features cannot mitigate cyber threats alone; automated tools to evaluate software for vulnerabilities will also play a critical role in bolstering governmentwide cybersecurity. 

As the White House moves to bolster software cybersecurity, experts said the true test will be how agencies utilize and leverage new technologies and security controls.

"Vendors should easily be able to provide SBOMs, but the real challenge is turning lists of software features and components into an understanding of risk," Wysopal said. "A list of features alone doesn't tell you whether something is vulnerable, which is really the key to protecting government networks and information."

The White House announcement on software acquisition comes as the clock is ticking on key portions of the cybersecurity executive order. Agencies have until September 2023 to collect letters of attestation from vendors to assert that third-party software is compliant with secure software development practices. For critical software, which NIST defines as software with direct or privileged access to networking or computing resources or otherwise performing functions critical to trust, agencies must secure letters of attestation by June 2023. 

The North Korea–backed threat actor known as Lazarus Group has been observed deploying a Windows rootkit by exploiting a Dell firmware driver.

The campaign, which shows the hacker group’s ever–evolving techniques, was spotted by ESET security researchers in the autumn of 2021. 

“The campaign started with spearphishing emails containing malicious Amazon–themed documents and targeted an employee of an aerospace company in the Netherlands and a political journalist in Belgium,” ESET wrote in an advisory by Peter Kálnai, senior malware researcher, published over the weekend.

According to the company, the primary goal of the attackers was data exfiltration, which was executed via the CVE–2021–21551 vulnerability.

The company patched the flaw, which affects Dell DBUtil drivers, in May 2021. Before that, however, ESET said the vulnerability was exploited at least twice via a specific user–mode module.

“This tool, in combination with the vulnerability, disables the monitoring of all security solutions on compromised machines,” reads the advisory. “It uses techniques against Windows kernel mechanisms that have never been observed in malware before.”

In both cases observed by ESET, targets were presented with job offers: the employee in the Netherlands via LinkedIn messaging and the person in Belgium via email.

“Attacks started after these documents were opened. The attackers deployed several malicious tools on each system, including droppers, loaders, fully featured HTTP(S) backdoors, HTTP(S) uploaders and downloaders,” Kálnai explained.

These reportedly included Lazarus’ well–known HTTP(S) backdoor known as BLINDINGCAN. The use of this particular piece of malware, along with other specific modules, the code–signing certificate and the intrusion approach were why ESET attributed the attacks to Lazarus.

“The diversity, number, and eccentricity in implementation of Lazarus campaigns define this group, as well as that it performs all three pillars of cyber–criminal activities: cyber–espionage, cyber–sabotage, and pursuit of financial gain.”

From the defenders’ point of view, Kálnai wrote that in cases like this, it is easier to limit initial access than to block the robust toolset installed after attackers gain access to the system. 

“As in many cases in the past, an employee falling prey to the attackers’ lure was the initial point of failure here. In sensitive networks, companies should insist that employees not pursue their personal agendas, like job hunting, on devices belonging to their company’s infrastructure.”

The campaign unveiled by ESET comes days after Microsoft published an advisory showcasing Lazarus–associated hackers weaponizing open–source tools against several countries.

Employees need tools for flexible work

© The Bangkok Post Office workers walk in the rain on Bangkok’s Silom Road. Dell Technologies is calling on enterprises to prepare their workers, who can play a crucial part in driving digital transformation in organisations. Somchai Poomlard

Some 86% of Thai business leaders believe their employees are their greatest asset amid the need to drive digital transformation, according to a recent survey by IT giant Dell Technologies.

It is vital for businesses to support their employees by providing a hybrid work infrastructure, increasing automation to free up more time for employees to focus on what they do best, and for companies to take care of their workers, the firm said.

Anothai Wettayakorn, vice-president for Asia emerging markets and South Asia consumer business at Dell Technologies, said the pandemic sped up the need for companies to pursue digital transformation.

“This shift demands new, aligned and change-ready organisational structure and culture,” Mr Anothai said during a briefing about Dell’s new study, entitled “Breakthrough: Breaking through barriers to digital transformation at the intersection of people and technology”.

The study was commissioned by Dell with fieldwork conducted by market research firm Vanson Bourne.

The study gauged the opinions of 10,500 decision makers in senior business roles and IT as well as employees involved in digital transformation in more than 40 countries, including 200 respondents in Thailand, from August to October 2021.

He said the survey found 86% of Thai respondents, compared with 90% in Asia-Pacific and Japan and 85% globally, said their employees are their greatest asset.

Some 66.5% of those surveyed in Thailand believed their organisations underestimate requirements for people when planning transformation programmes, while 74% are convinced their business needs to provide the necessary tools and infrastructure to work flexibly.

According to the survey, 58% of the Thai respondents said their organisations know what it takes to digitally transform the workforce.

Despite the huge progress and efforts of the past few years, the research shows there is still potential for transformation to stall as 69% of respondents in Thailand believe it is their employees’ resistance to change that can lead to failure.

Some 54% fear they will be shut out of the evolving digital world because of a lack of people with the right authority or vision to capitalise on the opportunity.

Mr Anothai said despite the economic headwinds, corporations still believe IT spending is important to pursue their digital transformation journey for data analytics, cloud and security.

Thitaphon Boonprasit, newly appointed managing director for Thailand at Dell Technologies, highlighted three approaches for organisations to pursue sustainable digital transformation.

First, it is important to provide employees with consistent and secure work experiences, and provide the necessary tools and infrastructure to work from anywhere, he said.

Second, help drive productivity by augmenting human capabilities with technology tools to allow employees to focus on what they do best by reducing repetitive processes and enabling them to learn new, sought-after skills such as leadership, machine learning and strategic opportunities.

Finally, Mr Thitaphon said firms should inspire employees through an empathetic culture and utilising authentic leadership.

Dell can support businesses by enabling them to embrace the future of work, providing multi-cloud capability, data innovation and protection via modern security, he said.

As vendors and end users continue to move to subscription computing services, it is important to understand how this transition will impact third parties, like value added resellers (VARs) and other channel ecosystem members.

Why so? Because in many cases, channel partners serve as the main point of contact between vendors and clients, especially smaller and regionally based businesses. Keeping those partners happy is vital to vendors’ bottom lines.

More important, since vendors are constantly hunting for new opportunities and have the technical and financial resources required to develop new solutions and business lines, they can also help translate those opportunities into terms that channel partners can understand and support. Recently, Rola Dagher, Dell Technologies’ Global Channel Chief, outlined enhancements to Dell’s APEX portfolio and services that are designed to expand channel partners’ skills and solution sets. Let’s consider these new options.

Also see: Top Cloud Companies

Challenges for the Channel

To begin, what are some of the principal difficulties that channel partners face? Start with the commonplace shifts in the tech industry due to evolutionary improvements in hardware and software, and the regular emergence of new ideas, products and services. Those changes are mirrored by business and process evolution, sparked by competition, markets and regulations.

Enterprises are typically able to anticipate and adapt to these challenges far better than smaller companies. However, virtually all organizations suffer when unexpected events, such as the shocks from Covid-19, supply chain disruptions and global inflation come into the picture. Again, smaller businesses, including VARs and other technology channel players, typically struggle more with these systemic shocks than their vendor partners.

Finally, even the most resilient and proactive organizations need affordable access to training and skills building. In fact, lacking access to such resources inevitably leads to delayed access to and uptake of vendors’ new solutions and services.

In other words, providing adequate support and access to new opportunities is important for vendors, channel partners and end customers. It is hard to overstate the importance of or the value that such programs bring to all the parties involved. But it is a particularly critical point for companies like Dell Technologies, which has noted that partners contribute to over half of the company’s annual sales.

Also see: Top Edge Companies 

Dell’s New APEX Offerings for Channel Partners

What are the new Dell APEX capabilities that Rola Dagher detailed?

• APEX Data Storage Services – Dell will now enable customers to subscribe to APEX Data Storage Services with or without Dell managed services. This update gives partners the option to add in their own services and also allows customers to choose who manages their day-to-day operations. Dagher described this as “an ideal solution for partners who want to incorporate their own value-added capabilities or whose customers want to manage their own as-a-Service (aaS) experience.”
• APEX Cloud Services with VMware Cloud – Dell also expanded partners’ ability to develop cloud native apps for APEX Cloud Services with VMware Cloud environments, creating opportunities to help their customers modernize applications. This benefits partners that want or plan to focus on high-value cloud, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud development while letting Dell manage operations. Additionally, partners that sell IT services in a recurring model, like service providers, can enhance the ways they consume and benefit from ITaaS.
• APEX Private and Hybrid Cloud – Leveraging APEX Private and APEX Hybrid Cloud enables partners to deliver their own managed services and incorporate APEX into broader data center management contracts. Partners can also implement new instance-based offerings so that customers only pay for the resources they need. Dell is also enabling partners to offer their customers a smaller two node, 32-instance configuration threshold (previously, the smallest configuration offered was three nodes and 50 instances) in APEX Private Cloud environments, creating valuable new options for edge computing projects.
• Updated Training and Resources – Dagher noted that as the market is shifting, so too are Dell partners’ business models and their need for new skills, knowledge and capabilities. To this end, the company has created dedicated learning paths for partners on APEX and as-a-Service selling strategies, which can be found on the APEX Learning Center.

Final Analysis

What are the essential takeaways from Dell’s announcement? First, it underscores the company’s hurry focus on developing and enabling subscription-based offerings via its APEX service portfolio. Second, it highlights the growing importance of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies and solutions for business customers of every size and kind. To that end, it also complements and builds on Dell’s recent strategic collaboration announcement with Red Hat.

Most important, the new capabilities Dell announced emphasize the company’s willingness and intention to provide solutions and services to customers as they want and through whatever channels they prefer. Expanding the options and enhancing the skills of channel partners are among the best methods that Dell Technologies can employ to achieve those goals.

Also see: Top Digital Transformation Companies

If you’ve been using computers long enough to remember the consumer PC revolution of the ’80s and ’90s, then you know that Dell played a leading role in that — and you also probably recall a few of Dell’s famous TV ads. Age hasn’t slowed this brand down a bit, however, and Dell is still cranking out some of the best laptops that you can get your hands on today. Whether you need a new system for work, streaming, gaming, surfing the web, or all of the above, Dell has a laptop with your name on it, and we’re here to help you find it at a price you’re willing to pay. Below, we’ve rounded up all the best Dell laptop deals available this month.

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 — $300, was $400

Why Buy

• Great value
• Stylish looks
• Slim bezels
• Excellent display for price

The great thing about being one of the best laptop brands is that Dell knows how to deliver the best value you’ll find in a portable PC. In the case of the Dell Inspiron 15 3000, it’s easily one of the best Dell laptops for anyone on a tight budget. It offers all the essentials while still looking sharp. At its heart is an 11th-gen Core i3 processor along with 8GB of memory and a 128GB solid-state drive. That might be on the basic side, but it’s a great deal. It offers a good amount of value with sufficient power and storage space for your most important files. Alongside that is a nice screen for the price. It has a 15.6-inch 1080p display with nice narrow bezels so you get a sleeker look and less bulk, plus it has an anti-glare finish so it’s easier on your eyes.

The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 isn’t just about the obvious hardware features though. For instance, its keyboard is surprisingly great. The laptop has a numeric keypad, 6.4% larger keycaps than previous models, and a spacious touchpad so you can get plenty done on it without the hassle that can come from smaller or less well-designed laptops. There’s also the inclusion of Dell Comfort View Low Blue Light Software, which reduces harmful blue light emissions and optimizes your eye comfort even when you’ve been using it for a long period of time.

For the environmentally conscious, the laptop also uses post-consumer recycled plastics to make it more sustainable with all painted parts using low VOC waterborne paint. Even the packaging is made from 100% recycled paper.

Dell G15 RTX 3050 Ti Gaming Laptop — $845, was $1,000

Why Buy

• Good specs
• Stylish looks
• Smooth 120Hz screen
• Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth

Offering many of the features you’d expect to see on the best gaming laptops, the Dell G15 is a great budget-priced gaming system. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor powering the show, along with 8GB of memory and a 512GB SSD. That’s a nice upgrade from your typical 128GB-256GB hard drives, and should provide ample space to install the games you’re playing along with some of your all-time favorites you can’t live without. Alongside all that is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card which is great for playing newer titles at good settings, and is an excellent GPU to see at this price point.

Another highlight of the Dell G15 is its screen. It has a 15.6-inch full HD display with an impressive refresh rate of 120Hz. That means that action is silky smooth even when the game you’re playing gets fairly fast-paced. It also offers 250 nits of brightness along with narrow borders so it looks good and isn’t too chunky, even for a gaming machine. Anti-glare functionality and Dell’s Comfort View Plus software ensures that eyestrain is a thing of the past, too, even if you end up playing for hours on end (which we know you will).

The Dell G15 is also intelligently designed when it comes to cooling. Its dual-fan thermal system uses copper piping to dissipate heat meaning your laptop can cope with some heavy-duty gaming. Game Shift technology can trigger a dynamic performance mode too, maximizing the fans’ speed to keep your system cool at all times. Other features include dual speakers with 3D audio and the Alienware Command Center app for plenty of additional functionality. It’s a great way of gaining many of the benefits of Alienware technology without paying the same premium.

Dell XPS 13 4K Touch Laptop — $900, was $1,450

Why Buy

• Gorgeous InfinityEdge 4K display
• Great hardware
• Stylish looks
• Very lightweight

The Dell XPS 13 is easily one of the best laptops out there right now, and this model adds the joy of touchscreen functionality. If you’re looking for a great system for working on the move while enjoying great looks and a lightweight build, you need the Dell XPS 13. It has an 11th-generation Intel Core i5 processor along with 8GB of RAM, plus 512GB of solid-state storage. That’s all you need to get stuff done on the go, whether you’re writing up documents or creating presentations. The true highlight, though, is its display.

The display is a 13.3-inch 4K touchscreen which is the perfect size for working on the go, but doesn’t feel small thanks to that edge-to-edge design. InfinityEdge technology means that there are basically no bezels to look at, ensuring this is a super sleek interface that won’t leave you staring at ugly screen borders or carrying around unnecessary bulk. Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics even allow for some entertainment, such as a little light gaming, as well.

The Dell XPS 13 manages to squeeze that 13.3-inch screen into an 11-inch form factor with an 80.7% screen-to-body ratio. That means it’s far lighter to carry around while still offering plenty of power. It has 100% sRGB color and a 1500:1 contrast ratio with even the darkest and brightest of scenes being crystal clear. 400 nits of brightness means it works just as well outdoors with a wide viewing angle helping you see more. its great built-in webcam is smaller than that of previous models while offering sharper video, plus you get a keyboard that feels great under your fingertips. Everything about the Dell XPS 13 laptop oozes quality and class.

Dell XPS 15 Laptop — $1,499, was $1,899

Why Buy

• Powerful processor
• Bright and vibrant 1200p display
• Discrete GPU
• Sleek design

The Dell XPS 15 laptop is a fantastic example of the high-end experience that the XPS range offers. It looks gorgeous and performs phenomenally. It has a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, which gives you plenty of juice for heavy workloads. Alongside that is a huge 16GB of DDR5 memory, which is double the amount you typically see on laptops. There’s also a 512GB SSD so you can store all your apps and files here without worrying about running out of space too soon. This Dell XPS 15 model even tosses in a dedicated graphics card in the form of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050. If you’re hurry to get some gaming in after a long day of work, this laptop can do both, and it’s more than capable of letting you play newer games without a hitch.

The Dell XPS 15 laptop’s experience is further enhanced by its display. It has a 15.6-inch 1200p screen with anti-glare properties along with 500 nits of brightness. Best of all is its InfinityEdge technology which means that you don’t have much of a border or bezel to stare at while you work. Other great features include HDR support with Dolby Vision, so you get dark colors up to 10 times deeper and light colors up to 40 times brighter, which is ideal when gaming and streaming your entertainment.

It’s all supported by Eyesafe software, too, so harmful blue light is minimized. The laptop is able to intelligently manage light energy at the source, dispersing blue light across the light spectrum. With a smarter thermal design, the Dell XPS 15 stays cooler for longer all while containing its power in the thinnest form factor possible. Elegant yet powerful, the Dell XPS 15 laptop could be the ultimate do-it-all workhorse.

Dell XPS 17 4K Touch Laptop — $1,999, was $2,599

Why Buy

• Large 4K display
• Excellent high-end specs
• Sleek design
• Can even handle gaming

The Dell XPS 17 is a powerhouse of a machine. It’s purpose-built for productivity-based tasks and for working from home or on the move, and it can even handle gaming if that’s what you’re hurry to do. The star of the show is its 17-inch 4K+ display with anti-glare properties, 500 nits of brightness, and InfinityEdge technology which virtually eliminates ugly bezels. That makes the 17-inch screen look big while reducing overall bulk, so the Dell XPS 17 feels lighter than you’d expect from a laptop of this size. Dell’s Comfort View Plus technology means that blue light is reduced while still offering you vivid colors as well.

A great screen would be no good if the rest of the laptop was mediocre, but the Dell XPS 17 packs plenty of muscle under the hood. It has a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and 512GB of solid-state storage. That’s all you need and more to be productive wherever you are, and you’re going to love how fast it is for multitasking. It even has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card which is capable of running the latest games at pretty decent settings. It’s great to have that level of flexibility, and the discrete GPU is also great for things like video editing and similar graphics-heavy tasks.

The laptop’s advanced thermal design means that fan airflow is improved by approximately 30% compared to the previous model, so your system stays cooler and works more effectively than before. The laptop also squeezes its gorgeous 17-inch display into a 15-inch form factor so you’re carrying less bulk around. Beautifully designed and perfectly specced, the Dell XPS 17 is a game-changer.

Editors' Recommendations

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Dell makes some of the best laptops around, and its product lineup is quite extensive. For many people, navigating the massive catalogue can be confusing, compounded by the fact that there are both consumer- and business-focused PCs on offer. Dell's Inspiron lineup is made up of affordable consumer laptops, complementing the high-end XPS line. In the same vein, Dell's Vostro PCs are affordable business laptops, complementing its premium Latitude series. Let's take a look at how these laptops compare and which one might be better for your needs.

Dell Vostro for business, Inspiron for home

The Dell Inspiron and Vostro lineups are actually very similar, but one is targeted at the small business market and the other at the home user. It's not entirely this straightforward, but it doesn't take much examination of the respective products to see that there are common themes in hardware and price.