Dell’s XPS 13 Plus is Now Available, Uses Haptic Touchpad and Capacitive Function Buttons

Dell’s latest version to its fashionable XPS laptop computer household, the XPS 13 Plus, has arrived. Announced at CES in January, the XPS 13 Plus shares DNA with the usual mannequin however was constructed from the bottom up with a extra streamlined chassis that includes a haptic touchpad, a capacitive perform row, and an edge-to-edge keyboard.

It’s a daring entry, one critics might view as an oversimplification that trades bodily inputs for capacitive ones. Others might view the XPS 13 Plus as a logical development for the ultra-thin class that modernizes legacy options. We’ll decide the place the XPS 13 Plus falls quickly, because the laptop computer is hitting shops as we speak at a beginning value of $1,299 for the Windows 11 version or $1,249 for the Developer Edition operating Ubuntu 20.04.

For those that missed the unique announcement, the XPS 13 Plus is a 13.4-inch laptop computer with an especially transportable CNC aluminum chassis measuring 11.6 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches and weighing 2.7 kilos.

Replacing the usual touchpad is what Dell calls a “haptic ForcePad,” a touch-sensitive floor just like what you’d discover on a MacBook. Instead of really miserable, the touchpad makes use of haptic suggestions to imitate that clicky sensation. The keyboard was additionally reworked in order that its flat keys span from one edge to the opposite.

Perhaps extra jarring is the row of touch-capacitive perform buttons, that are small LED-illuminated keys that you simply faucet to regulate issues like brightness, quantity stage, and mic on/off. Dell claims this can make it simpler to swap between perform and media keys—we simply hope it doesn’t undergo the identical destiny as Apple’s Touch Bar.

Other modifications to the chassis embody a quad-speaker setup with twins behind the keyboard firing upward and one other pair down under. The followers had been additionally enlarged to permit for 28W twelfth Gen Intel P-series processors, intermediate chips between the high-powered H-series chips and low-power U-series ones utilized in earlier XPS fashions.

The XPS 13 Plus comes with 4 CPU choices, starting from a 12-core Intel Core i5-1240P CPU (4.7 GHz) to a 14-core Core i7-1280P (4.8 GHz) processor. The chip could be paired with as much as 32Gb of DDR5 RAM and as much as a 2TB PCIe SSD. Graphics are restricted to Iris Xe and connectivity is the newest and best: Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.2.

Dell doesn’t normally skimp on the standard of its XPS shows, so I’ve excessive expectations for the 13.4-inch, 1920 x 1200-pixel (16:10) LED panel, which is alleged to achieve 500 nits and hit 100% sRGB protection. Those prepared to commerce battery life for picture high quality can go for a 4K, DisplayHDR 400 panel, or an OLED touchscreen.

Speaking of battery life, that piece stays a thriller. We know the XPS 13 Plus has a built-in 55Whr battery and may cost to 80% in lower than an hour, however no runtime estimates had been offered. We’ll fill in all of the blanks and provide you with our personal impressions of the XPS 13 Plus within the coming weeks.