Dell's XPS 13 Returns as First Real Rival to MacBook Neo, The Verge Says

The 2026 XPS 13 arrives after Dell revived the XPS name earlier this year with the XPS 14 and 16. The Verge described Dell's previous XPS 13 as an overpriced and bitter farewell before the company had planned to sunset the brand. The new model is a sleek, very thin ultraportable whose screen, keyboard, trackpad and speakers are all great or excellent, according to the review.

The Verge tested two XPS 13 configurations with the same six-core Intel Core 5 320 Wildcat Lake processor and 512GB SSD. Their only difference was memory: the 8GB/512GB model now costs $799.99, while the 16GB/512GB model costs $999.99. When the review units arrived, the 8GB/512GB configuration was the base model and cost $699.99. In early September, Dell created a new $699.99 base model with only 256GB of storage and raised the price of the 512GB models by $100 each, pricing changes The Verge tied to the ongoing RAMageddon shortage.

The review found the 8GB version competent, unlike other Windows 11 laptops that struggle with that amount of memory. Even so, The Verge recommended the 16GB model for long-term Windows performance. No configuration of the XPS 13 includes a headphone jack, a choice the review criticized.

The XPS 13 measures 2.2 pounds / 1kg and 0.5 inches / 12.7mm thick, making it lighter than a MacBook Air and almost as thin. Its screen has thinner bezels than the MacBook Neo, is equally bright and colorful, and adds 120Hz refresh, touch support and an anti-glare finish that the Neo lacks. The speakers sound surprisingly good for such a compact laptop, with well-rounded sound that gets loud. The mechanical trackpad is small, even shorter than the Neo's, and does not physically click in all four corners. The webcam impressed with good color and handling of poor light or backlighting. The keyboard is a tactile chiclet-style design that The Verge said Dell should use on all its laptops instead of the latticeless look on other XPS models.

Battery life and thermals are adequate rather than amazing. The bottom chassis often warms the lap, reaching as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit / 40 degrees Celsius at its hottest point, while the keyboard deck stays cool. Battery life typically reached seven hours of continuous mixed usage, with Chrome tabs, a few video calls and streaming, or up to 10 hours on lighter days. The MacBook Neo lasts several hours longer on an even lower-capacity battery. The XPS 13 has two 10Gbps USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, one on each side, both supporting charging and video-out, but no 3.5mm audio jack.

In performance, both XPS 13 versions fell well behind the MacBook Neo's A18 Pro in synthetic benchmark tests such as Geekbench, though the 16GB model was significantly closer in a Premiere 4K export test. The six-core Wildcat Lake chip was much better than the five-core version in the Chuwi UniBook, which took over an hour to export. The extra performance core and extra GPU core in the XPS 13 made a notable difference, along with speedy storage. The XPS 13's SSD read speed was nearly three times as fast as the Chuwi's and nearly four times as fast as the Neo's.

The Verge's component report card gave the XPS 13 an A for its screen and webcam, B grades for its keyboard, trackpad and speakers, and a D for port selection. The review concluded that the XPS 13 is the nicest-looking and nicest-feeling Windows laptop at its price, even with trade-offs in battery life, memory options and ports.