GoKawiilApple reset the budget laptop market earlier this year when it debuted the MacBook Neo, a machine with a design superior to anything near its price of $599 and enough performance for most students. It was only a matter of time before Windows laptop-makers responded, and Dell has answered with the XPS 13. The XPS is Dell's premium brand, but it's built an entry-level XPS 13 model for students that gets it close to what they'd pay for a Neo.
The XPS 13 follows on the heels of Dell relaunching its XPS line with the XPS 14 and XPS 16. The XPS 13 is available now, starting at $699, and students can buy it for $599. That's $100 more than the baseline Neo that costs $499 with Apple's education discount, but the XPS 13 has a few advantages over the Neo.
Watch this: I Checked Out the $699 Dell XPS 13, and It's the MacBook Neo's Biggest Threat 05:38
Campus fight: Dell XPS 13 vs. MacBook Neo
You can't take on a MacBook without delivering a sleek, all-metal design, and it appears Dell did just that with the XPS 13. The aluminum chassis is thin at just 0.5 inches thick and weighs only 2.2 pounds. That's a half a pound lighter than the Neo.
Based on a 13.4-inch LCD display with a 2.5K resolution, variable refresh rate up to 120Hz and touch support, the XPS 13 provides a slightly larger display than the Neo. The Neo's display also isn't a touchscreen and hums along at a standard 60Hz.
The $599 XPS 13 has a six-core Intel Core 5 320 processor and integrated Intel Graphics with two Xe GPU cores, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The Neo also starts you out with a six-core CPU in the A18 Pro along with 8GB of RAM but only a 256GB SSD.
The step-up XPS 13 model with 16GB of RAM costs $899. Dell will expand the XPS 13 line upward "later this summer" with an eight-core Core Ultra 7 355 processor with four Xe GPU cores, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Dell has yet to share pricing info for these higher-end options.
The XPS 13 is thin and light and likely long running for trekking across campus. Dell
There are four other features that favor the XPS 13: speakers, biometrics, wireless networking and keyboard backlighting. The XPS 13 has quad speakers to the Neo's pair of stereo speakers, so audio output is likely better with the XPS 13. It also has a Windows Hello webcam so you can use facial recognition for easy, secure logins. Without an IR webcam or fingerprint scanner, the Neo has a distinct lack of biometrics. The XPS 13 offers Wi-Fi 7 networking, and the Neo does previous-gen Wi-Fi 6E. Lastly, the XPS 13 has keyboard backlighting for late-night term papers and study sessions, and the Neo does not.
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