The third-generation Surface Laptop 3 brings with it several impressive new features, making it an alternative for those looking for a portable all-purpose laptop. It does have some stiff competition, though, in the form of the Dell XPS 13, which retains its class-leading form factor and updates to the latest 11th-generation Intel processors — and tops our list of best laptops, among others. Which of these two premium laptops is worth your hard-earned money?
To shape
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The XPS 13 received a significant design upgrade in its latest iteration, getting a taller 16:10 display that stretched the laptop vertically and gave it an even better look. It’s an attractive laptop that has its signature small bezels — even smaller this time — and a miniature chassis built around a 13.4-inch panel. The Surface Laptop 3 is similar to its predecessor, the same size — with the same larger bezels surrounding the 13.5-inch 3:2 display — but with some minor aesthetic changes.
For example, the red color from the previous model is no longer available and there are four color options including black, gold, silver and blue. The black and gold models skip the Alcantara fabric that was the laptop’s trademark and instead feature aluminum keyboards.
You won’t find fault with the build quality of any of these laptops. The XPS 13 has the same metal and carbon or fiberglass materials (carbon fiber on the black keyboard, fiberglass on the white), while the Surface Laptop 3 is all aluminum except for the Alcantara fabric model. Microsoft responded to one complaint from previous versions, specifically that the laptop was impossible to repair or upgrade. Now service centers (not users) can remove the keyboard tray and access the components inside, including the solid-state drive (SSD). The XPS 13 is similarly expandable and more accessible to users.
The XPS 13 has the same fast keyboard found in recent versions, including plenty of travel and a precise mechanism. The Surface Laptop 3’s keyboard has been updated over previous models, now with 13mm of travel, 19mm of key spacing, and contoured keys.
Both laptops feature large Microsoft Precision touchpads – the Surface Laptop 3 is 20 percent larger – with support for the full range of Windows 10 multitouch gestures. Like all Surface devices, the screen is touch-enabled and supports the Surface Pen, while the XPS 13 has touch and non-touch screen options.
Both laptops also offer excellent displays. The XPS 13 offers multiple choices, including touch and non-touch 16:10 Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) resolution displays that our reviews have found offer excellent color accuracy, and a superior 16:10 UHD+ (3840 x 2400) display sensitive to touch. The Surface Laptop 3 uses a slightly larger 13.5-inch display with a productivity-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio and a high resolution of 2256 x 1504.
The XPS 13 comes with two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports along with a microSD card reader and a 3.5mm audio jack. The Surface Laptop 3 finally added a USB-C 3.1 port, which unfortunately doesn’t support Thunderbolt, along with a USB-A 3.1 port and Surface Connect charging port and 3.5mm audio jack. Microsoft has not built in an SD card reader. Both laptops support the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard, but the Surface Laptop 3 sticks with Bluetooth 5.0, while the latest XPS 13 ups the ante to Bluetooth 5.1.
Performance
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Dell is quick to equip the XPS 13 with the latest Intel chips, giving the latest model an edge. It comes with the latest 11th generation Tiger Lake processors, starting with the Intel Core 13-1115G4 (3.0GHz base clock). These chips offer improved speeds and updated integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics for better visuals, making it a worthy upgrade for all users.
The Surface Laptop 3, on the other hand, uses Intel’s 10th generation Ice Lake 10nm processors. These CPUs are aimed at providing increased IPC (instructions per core) through some new instructions that take advantage of parallel operations to run legacy programs faster. Ice Lake also uses Intel’s integrated Iris Plus graphics — around Nvidia MX150-level graphics performance. They’re good, but they can’t compare to the improvements Intel made for the 11th generation of laptop chips.
We have not reviewed the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 and therefore cannot provide a direct objective comparison. But the XPS 13 is almost guaranteed to be the faster laptop, both in CPU- and GPU-intensive tasks.
Portability
The 13-inch Surface Laptop 3 and its 15-inch cousin Joel Chokkattu / Digital Trends
In terms of size and weight, the XPS 13 comes in at 0.58 inches thick and weighs 2.64 pounds compared to the 13-inch Surface Laptop 3 at 0.57 inches thick and 2.84 pounds. This means that the XPS 13 is lighter and about the same thickness, but the Surface Laptop 3 is a little easier to carry around in practice.
As with performance, we haven’t reviewed the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 so we can’t confirm battery life. However, given the performance improvements in the 11th generation Intel CPUs, we suspect the XPS 13 will last longer on a charge.
The Surface Laptop 3 leads the fight, but the XPS 13 wins
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The Surface Laptop 3 starts at $1,000 for a Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. The 13.5-inch model tops out at $2,400 for a Core i7, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
The XPS 13 is also a premium laptop, starting at $1,020 for an 11th-generation Core i3, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, and a Full HD+ non-touch display. You can spend more to upgrade to a more powerful processor, more storage, more RAM, and more storage, but as with the Surface, you’re stuck with the integrated GPU.
Ultimately, the XPS 13 is smaller, lighter, offers a power-saving Full HD option, and remains our favorite 13-inch laptop. The 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 is a great machine, but it can’t quite beat the industry leader.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn