The Dell XPS 13 (9345) takes most of what we already noticed within the Dell XPS 13 (9340) — a skinny, gentle, and classy system that targeted just a little an excessive amount of on type and never sufficient on substance subsequent to its competitors — and masses it with new brains within the type of a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip.

Whereas the Intel-powered XPS 13 was already on shaky floor, the shift to Snapdragon solely provides this new model even much less steady footing to compete with the various nice laptops on the market. Snapdragon would possibly promise superior AI capabilities over the present subject, however with so many AI capabilities in wait-and-see limbo, it’s most likely price ready and seeing if the upcoming AMD and Intel cell chips don’t simply make amends for the NPU entrance after which proceed to attain straightforward wins within the CPU and GPU division. Because it stands, the $1,299 Dell XPS 13 (9345) has a rocky path forward of it.

Additional studying: Greatest laptops 2024: Premium, finances, gaming, 2-in-1s, and extra

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Specs and options

The Dell XPS 13 comes with a number of configuration choices, together with reminiscence, storage, show, and coloration. The bottom configuration examined right here is available in at $1,299. You possibly can bump up reminiscence to 32GB for an additional $100 or to 64GB for an additional $500. Storage can go to 1TB for $100 additional or 2TB for $300 additional. A 2560×1600 contact show is accessible for a $300 upcharge or a contact OLED show with a 2880×1800 decision and 60Hz refresh fee for $400 additional. Home windows 11 House is included with the laptop computer, however Home windows 11 Professional is accessible for $50 additional.

All of those upgrades see the highest specification of the XPS 13 attain $2,559. Whereas most upgrades may be chosen impartial of each other, the OLED show possibility isn’t obtainable with out additionally upgrading reminiscence to not less than 32GB

Dell affords two colours, a darkish Graphite or a lightweight Platinum. The selection of colours incurs no additional cost. 

• CPU: Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100
• Reminiscence: 16GB LPDDR5X
• Graphics/GPU: Built-in Qualcomm Adreno
• Show: 13.4-inch FHD+ LCD
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 2x USB4 with Energy Supply and DisplayPort Alternate Mode
• Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Home windows Hiya fingerprint, facial recognition
• Battery capability: 55 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 11.62 x 7.84 x 0.6 inches
• Weight: 2.7 kilos
• MSRP: $1,299 as-tested ($1,299 base)

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Design and construct high quality

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

Hiya, previous good friend. Getting my fingers on the Dell XPS 13 (9345), I used to be confronted with just about the identical piece of {hardware} that I’ve reviewed a number of occasions over now, having examined the primary XPS 13 Plus in addition to this 12 months’s Intel-based XPS 13. What we get right here with the XPS 13 (9345) is identical machine with totally different guts.

The XPS 13 is an exceedingly slick piece of {hardware}. Its steel enclosure covers the surface, curving easily on the sides and ending in some sharp lips. Fortuitously, the compact design of the laptop computer means these lips don’t find yourself digging into my wrists usually. 

The place it’s not steel, the XPS 13 is usually glass. The trackpad sits beneath one monolithic piece of glass that stretches from one facet of the laptop computer to the opposite. The trackpad itself is just just a little wider than the spacebar although, so it may be just a little difficult to pin down. 

The 13.4-inch show on the XPS 13 is surrounded by an impressively slim border on all 4 sides. And it’s all of the extra spectacular when contemplating the highest border features a Home windows Hiya-ready digicam. 

The entire thing folds shut into a decent little clamshell that slips simply into baggage, and it’s so gentle at 2.7 kilos that it may be exhausting to inform it’s even packed. It’s additionally a sturdy little factor, with little flex to the show and nearly not perceptible keyboard deck flex. 

Opened up, the XPS 13 sits regular on two grippy rubber strips that stretches huge throughout the underside of the laptop computer. Alongside the outer fringe of the bottom, you’ll additionally discover a collection of slits that serve each as air intakes and speaker ports. The warmth of the laptop computer pumps out equally delicate vents tucked alongside the show hinge.

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The keyboard, for all its magnificence, is a ache to make use of. It’s a real disgrace as a result of the precise really feel of every secret’s beautiful, with a modest actuation drive, a pleasant pop, and a fast reset. This might make for fast, cozy typing if it weren’t for the design of the keycaps. The massive squares with solely tiny areas between neighbors makes it exceedingly exhausting to really feel out the place one key ends and the subsequent begins. Because of this, I discover that I is perhaps typing alongside at over 120 phrases per minute, however one misclick will see me sluggish considerably as I’ve to reorient my fingers.

The identical goes for any far reaches away from the house row, reminiscent of successful as much as the Backspace. Worse nonetheless is the operate row, which stays a collection of illuminated capacitive contact buttons. Whereas I can abide this selection for a lot of keys, it’s really awkward to mix them with bodily keys for keyboard shortcuts (like Ctrl+Shift+Esc), and so they provide no haptic response, so repeated presses additionally develop into awkward. It’s all of the extra shameful that the Delete secret’s relegated to this row. 

With the successfully invisible trackpad, palm rejection is an affordable concern. Fortunately, it appears not solely efficient but additionally imperceptible. It’s potential to kind and mouse round on the similar time or change backwards and forwards with no lag between actions, and but whereas typing with my palms shifting everywhere in the trackpad, I’ve had little bother. That mentioned, typically it’s not my palms however my thumbs that relaxation on the trackpad whereas I kind, and this will see the mouse float round a bit or outcome within the uncommon misclick.

The trackpad itself is a combined bag as effectively. The glass floor is totally beautiful to glide throughout. It may additionally click on down with a satisfying thunk. However the undefined bounds of it are an ever current drawback. It’s too straightforward to mouse off the sting. And that glorious click on is proscribed to a candy spot, with the outer edges of the trackpad proving a lot stiffer and tougher to reliably double-click.

So, simply as with previous XPS 13 fashions on this type, I’m confronted with the magnificence of the design and the painful approach operate falls by the wayside.

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Show, audio

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Dell XPS 13 has show, however there’s little to say about it past that. It’s satisfyingly shiny, hitting 551 nits, and its coloration achieves 100% protection of the sRGB coloration area. That mixes with a 2060:1 distinction ratio that may make content material pop just a little bit extra dramatically. It even has a 30-120Hz refresh fee vary, offering easy visuals and a few energy financial savings in sure contexts.

The show additionally has an anti-glare end that’s completely efficient. Nevertheless, the display finally ends up with dramatic shifts in high quality when considered at off angles — colours, brightness, and perceived distinction can all take a flip for the more serious in case you’re not trying on the show sq. on. 

The audio is analogous in high quality. The audio system on the XPS 13 can pump out spectacular quantity, and so they even have pretty full sound. Bass is extra current right here than on a whole lot of laptops, although deep sub-bass doesn’t come by means of. Nevertheless, the treble and mids can endure from sibilance, particularly cymbals, and develop into grating at excessive quantity ranges.

All that is to say that, for each the show and audio system, when the situations are proper, they are often fairly stable. However the expertise depends on these situations. 

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The webcam on the XPS 13 is respectable however unimpressive. It’s fairly sharp at 1080p, however suffers from some added softness in lower than superb lighting due to the noise, which is launched rapidly. Even in well-lit conditions, it’s not on the degree of smartphone selfie cams. Finer particulars actually get blurred collectively, reminiscent of my beard hairs. 

The microphones on the laptop computer do a good job choosing up my voice. They lower down on background noise as effectively, because the sound of some cicadas and building gear exterior was successfully neutralized by the pc. 

Dell affords each a fingerprint scanner in addition to Home windows Hiya facial recognition on the XPS 13. These present fast and straightforward methods to signal into the machine, with the facial recognition being particularly speedy.

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Connectivity

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

IDG / Mark Knapp

Dell has lengthy been ditching ports on the XPS 13, and this mannequin does nothing to reverse that course of. Because of this, it’s left with simply two USB-C ports — one on all sides. These are each USB4 ports not less than, supplying you with 40Gbps switch speeds and DisplayPort functionality, however in case you want something so simple as USB-A or HDMI, you’ll be turning to a dongle. And since energy enter makes use of these ports as effectively, you’ll be all the way down to only one port in case you’re juicing the laptop computer up except you get a USB hub with sufficient pass-through.

Wi-fi connectivity is robust, not less than. You get Wi-Fi 7 from a Qualcomm modem that has proved constant about reconnecting to networks. Bluetooth 5.4 can be on board.  

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Efficiency

The Dell XPS 13 9345 is constructed across the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 chip. It’s not the top-tier of Qualcomm’s new choices, but it surely’s not on the backside both. That mentioned, this new breed of PC mind has to show itself, and it isn’t going up towards slouches. The Dell XPS 13 (9340) is virtually the identical pc simply constructed round an Intel Core Extremely 7 155H, and it’s $100 dearer for the same configuration.

HP has an analogous system to the XPS 13 (9345) with the Omnibook X, which runs on a barely down-specced Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 chip for $1,199 as examined, whereas the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge runs a higher-tier X1E-84-100 for $1,749 as examined. And naturally the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is able to problem all comers within the area with its Ryzen 7 8840HS processor and really aggressive $849 price ticket. 

Whereas we are able to see respectable efficiency from the Dell XPS 13’s Snapdragon chip by itself, it actually doesn’t stand out from the pack. CInebench R23, the XPS 13 might present a slender margin over the Omnibook X and Galaxy Book4 Edge (stunning giving the higher-tier chip in Samsung’s system), but it surely lags noticeably behind the Intel-powered XPS 13 and much behind the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED’s Ryzen 7 8840HS processor.

We noticed comparable margins in Cinebench R20 as effectively. Now, none of those chips are providing weak processing, however with a lot of the laptops asking for over $1,000 to realize them, it’s greater than just a little dismaying to see all of them beat by a laptop computer costing $849. For the XPS 13 (9345), the state of affairs simply doesn’t look good.

Graphics efficiency comes up equally wanting for the XPS 13 (9345). The Adreno graphics within the system don’t sustain with the Arc graphics in its Intel counterpart, with a substantial gulf separating the 2 in our 3DMark Time Spy check. AMD’s Radeon 780M graphics additionally pull far forward within the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED. The Dell XPS 13 (9345) is just not pulling the load it must be for a laptop computer over $1,000. 

The Snapdragon chip inside also can see some variance in efficiency relying on whether or not it’s operating the ARM model of a program or an x86 model, and that may imply unreliable speeds. I famous fairly a number of hitches whereas utilizing the x86 model of Chrome. There’s an ARM model that may carry out higher, however for now, the Snapdragon chip must show itself able to efficient x86 emulation to be price shopping for as we’re a great distance from having ARM-native variations of each program on the market. 

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Battery life

Battery life is a powerful level for the Dell XPS 13 (9245). It mustered 16 hours of runtime in our video playback check, which is a good outcome. In fact, the Intel-powered XPS 13 was already an important performer with over 15 hours of runtime in the identical check. And sadly for Dell, being robust solely counts if others aren’t even robust. Alas, each of Dell’s XPS 13 laptops proved the weakest of the bunch when it got here to battery life.

The HP Omnibook X got here out effectively forward with practically 18 hours of runtime on common, and the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge took issues even additional with a runtime topping 20 hours. Whereas it was an in depth match, even the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED managed to come back out forward, netting it but yet one more win over the XPS 13. 

Dell XPS 13 (9345): Conclusion

The Dell XPS 13 (9345) takes an AI-powered spin on the XPS 13, however the Snapdragon chip doesn’t provide significant enhancements in most departments and comes with appreciable downgrades nearly in every single place. It’s a letdown in comparison with the Intel Core 7 Extremely 155H-powered XPS 13, which was itself under-performing subsequent to the competitors. The system might get the good thing about an NPU able to 45 TOPS, however I’ve but to see Home windows taking significant benefit of that, and any system with even a low-level discrete GPU, such because the RTX 4050, can ship extra AI inference muscle than that. 

The XPS 13 (9345) is simply an excessive amount of for too little. If the elegant design of the laptop computer not less than translated right into a extra user-friendly system, it is perhaps price nearer consideration. However because it stands, its greatest characteristic is a shiny, matte show offering a window into an expertise that’s letdown after letdown.