The Dell XPS 13 is a popular ultrabook for many years now. But there might be one thing that stops people from getting the XPS 13 – the “chincam” (ie. webcam at the bottom.
The first iteration of the XPS 13 had the webcam on the bottom left, then a refresh saw the webcam shifted to the bottom center. But this time, Dell decided to shift the webcam back to where it should have belong – top and center.
We’re talking about the new Dell XPS 13 9380 (2019). Despite moving the camera back up, the laptop still retains it ultra-slim bezels. However, one drawback is with the new smaller webcam is not an infra-red camera so you can’t use Windows Hello on the new XPS 13.
The interior design is more or less unchanged, still rock that carbon fibre finish. As for the internals, the new XPS 13 is powered by Intel’s newest 8th generation Whiskey Lake processors. You can configure the laptop from Core i3, i5, and i7 processors. RAM can be loaded up to 16GB while storage can go up to 2TB PCIe SSD. Dell expects the new Whiskey Lake processors to be able to provide enhanced battery life 21 hours.
As for ports and connectivity, you have three USB-C ports – two of which support Thunderbolt 3 while the third supports USB 3.1 Gen 1. You also have a microSD card reader and the 3.5mm audio jack. Sadly, in 2019 the XPS 13 is still only on Bluetooth 4.1 (seriously Dell?).
The hinge in the 2019 model is said to be improved. You can almost open the laptop with one finger now but it still isn’t MacBook standard. Also in this refresh, Dell introduces a new Frost color – which is a light silver tone but basically almost white.
The new Dell XPS 13 9380 is now available in the US, but availability in Singapore is yet to be announced.