Hands On With Dell's XPS 13 2-in-1 Convertible At CES 2017

CES 2017 is just warming up, but already we have seen a ton of hot new products unleashed. Among these is Dell’s new XPS 13 2-in-1 convertible notebook, which first broke cover on Monday. Today, we had the pleasure of taking a closer look at this Infinity Edge’d stunner.

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Dell’s XPS 13 notebook has long been a favorite of ours, earning Editor’s Choice after Editor’s Choice. We thought there wasn’t much more Dell could pack inside its 2.7 pound frame. We were wrong. Somehow, they managed to engineer a strong and sturdy 360-degree steel hinge without tacking on any extra weight. Check out the full tour below:


The XPS 13 2-in-1 convertible packs in Intel’s latest Kaby Lake chips with a choice of either the Core i5-7Y54 (up to 3.2GHz, 4MB cache) or the Core i7-7Y75 (up to 3.6Ghz, 4MB cache) at launch. It also offers up to 16GB of dual-channel LPDDR3 memory, with configurations starting at 4GB, and various storage options, including a 128GB SATA SSD or PCIe SSD in 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB capacities. There’s plenty of horsepower available here to meet all but the most demanding power user’s workloads.

The XPS 13’s shining feature looks to be its premium build quality. As with previous iterations, no corners are cut. The body is constructed from milled aluminum and finished with a carbon fiber interior and Corning Gorilla Glass display.

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The XPS 13 2-in-1’s display is a real showstopper thanks to its near-bezelless Infinity Edge design and eye-popping visuals. Coming standard with a 1080p touch display, it can also be upgraded to a UltraSharp QHD+ touch panel for the pixel peepers out there. The viewing angles are excellent as well, as demonstrated in the hands-on video.

This doesn’t come without sacrifices, however, as Dell has done away with USB Type-A ports on this model. In their place, the XPS 13 2-in-1 offers a USB 3.1 Type-C connector on one side and a Thunderbolt 3 Type-C port on the other, which also serves as the power port. While some ultrabook users may not miss these ports, others will want to look for a convenient adapter. The cooling fan is also on the chopping block. This keeps the weight down with truly silent performance, but may take a toll on prolonged power usage.

The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is available now, starting at $999.
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