The latest version of the Dell XPS 13 includes a faster, Intel 7th generation Core Series "Kaby Lake" processor, better Wi-Fi performance and a fancy new rose gold color option, but that's not the best thing about it.
Based on our XPS 13 review, the biggest upgrade is the bigger, 60-watt-hour battery, which is up from the 56-watt-hour unit in the last-generation model. Intel's new processors are also supposed to be more power efficient than the 6th Generation "Skylake" CPUs they replace.
The results are very impressive. The Dell XPS 13 with a 7th gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and 1080p screen lasted a whopping 13 hours and 49 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 100 nits of screen brightness.
That result is nearly two hours better than the last XPS 13, and about 4 hours longer than the 12-inch MacBook. The sexy and skinny HP Spectre? That ultraportable offers less than half the endurance of the latest Dell.
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As with all other battery tests we run, we turned the keyboard backlight off on the XPS 13, but we will be running our test again with it on and at max screen brightness to see what happens when everything is maxed out.
There's a lesson here for other laptop makers. You can make your laptop super-thin, but ultimately you're going to be trading off not only ports but also endurance.
