Dell Brings Stunning InfinityEdge Display To XPS 13 2-In-1 Convertible, Intros World's Thinnest 27-Inch Monitor

This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas officially kicks off tomorrow but with so many products in the pipeline, some companies are jumping the gun with a spattering of early announcements. Count Dell among them. Just ahead of the annual convention, the OEM today unveiled a new XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop that for the first time ships with an InfinityEdge display, and also a 27-inch monitor with what it claims wields the world's thinnest profile.

Starting with the XPS 13, this convertible laptop features a premium design where "every material is selected to enhance performance and every design decision made is made with purpose." That translates into a precision crafted chassis made from machined aluminum, steel hinges, carbon fiber, and Corning Gorilla Glass protecting the 13.3-inch InfinityEdge display that comes with either a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) or UltraSharp Quad HD+ (3200x1800) resolution.

Similar in style to the previous XPS 13, this new model kicks things up a notch with a more aggressive back angle and less height on the table in a thinner form factor measuring 0.32-0.54 inches high, 11.98 inches wide, and 7.8 inches deep. It weighs just 2.7 pounds, making it one of the lightest premium laptops around. Dell also claims that the XPS 13 is the smallest 2-in-1 on the planet, as it is essentially a 13-inch laptop in an 11-inch form factor, all while retaining a full-size chiclet keyboard (with backlight).

As with most new systems, the XPS 13 takes a swim in Kaby Lake, Intel's newest CPU architecture built on a 14nm manufacturing process. Models will come with either a 7th Generation Intel Core i5-7Y54 processor (up to 3.2GHz, 4MB cache) or a Core i7-7Y75 CPU (up to 3.6GHz, 4MB cache). Configurations will have up to 16GB of dual-channel LPDDR3-1866 RAM and various storage options, including a 128GB SATA SSD or PCIe SSD in 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB capacities.

External connectivity in limited in that there are no full-size USB Type-A ports on this thing. Instead, there is a USB 3.1 Type-C port on the right side and a Thunderbolt 3/DisplayPort on the left that also serves as the charging port. Other points of entry include a headphone jack and microSD card slot, and there is also a Noble lock slot.

The revamped XPS 13 2-in-1 will be available January 5, 2017, starting at $1,000.


In keeping with the slim profile theme, Dell also announced a new monitor with a thin waistline, the Dell 27 Ultrathin (S2718D). As the model name implies, this is a spacious 27-inch monitor with a 2560x1440 (@60Hz) resolution.

Dell does not mention the panel type, though it does claim wide viewing angles of 178 degrees (horizontal and vertical) and 99 percent coverage of the sRGB color space. That suggests to us that the 27 Ultrathin is using an In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel instead of a Twisted Nematic (TN) one.

Other features include High Dynamic Range (HDR) support, 400 nits brightness, 6ms response time (gray-to-gray), and connectivity that consists of a USB-C port with power delivery, HDMI 2.0, and an audio output.

The Dell 27 Ultrathin will be available March 23, 2017, for $700 MSRP.