TL;DR
- Student life can feel like a hectic endurance test, which is why you need a laptop that’s thin, easy to carry, and goes the distance with longer battery life.
- Thankfully, Dell’s XPS 13 is the ideal premium yet affordable laptop for your studies. It’s razor-thin, featherlight, and hyper mobile, perfect for taking to labs, lecture theaters, and late-night movie nights.
Your years in academia can be an exhilarating but challenging rollercoaster of independence, hard work, and vibrant socializing. So when you’re in the market for a laptop to support your student life, it’s also important to find one that can fit around your lifestyle. You’ll be working hard and partying harder, so your laptop needs the stamina to go further, the performance to meet your needs, and the mobility to go everywhere you do, without the fuss.
But how do you find that perfect balance of premium, performance, portability, and affordability? With the XPS 13. It’s Dell’s thinnest and lightest XPS laptop yet. Designed for mobility and longevity, it also carries the premium build quality synonymous with the brand. But it’s also the most affordable laptop in the XPS lineup, making it an invaluable investment for any student.
Let’s take a deep dive into what laptop specs are crucial for students, and how the XPS 13 meets them as your perfect campus companion.
Portability is prime
Having a lightweight, super-portable laptop is arguably the most important laptop spec for students. You’ll be taking it everywhere, from your home to your dorm; from your classes to your hangouts. The Dell XPS is just 12.7mm thick and 2.2lbs (1 kg), so it's a cinch to take with you without it feeling like a drag on your commute or campus walk.
But small doesn’t have to mean simple or underpowered. Undergraduates and postgrads looking for a cost-effective, lightweight laptop can also enjoy a touchscreen, backlit keyboard, and smooth performance for effortless productivity.
A battery that lasts and lasts
As a student, you’ll likely be going long hours in the day and night without spying a free power outlet, so a laptop battery that lasts is a must. You really don’t want low-battery anxiety during a crucial seminar or Spotify jam session.
Wherever you go, the XPS will be there for you, thanks to its excellent battery life that delivers up to 17 hours of Netflix streaming. Thanks to its hyper-efficient processor and variable refresh rate delivering extensive endurance, you’ll feel confident in walking out the door without your charger, safe in the knowledge your laptop will easily last from your first lecture to your late-night study session — or “Beef” season 2 binge. Plus, those days of desperately trying to find a power outlet before your laptop dies are practically no more, which is super convenient for that packed library come exam season.
A top-tier but tough design
Having a laptop that’s built for the rough and tumble of campus life while looking and feeling premium can be a tough ask. It should be made to slip in and out of backpacks, work hard in cafeterias, and weather the odd sprint for the bus, but still look great.
And when you’re carrying the XPS around campus, expect to turn heads due to its gorgeous design and unbeatable build quality. It features a premium, minimalist design that’s easy on the eyes and is distraction-free to help you focus on that essay. There’s also a durable machined aluminum construction, a precision touchpad, a backlit chiclet keyboard, and an elegant color palette. It feels premium without being excessive.
In short, it’s built to last throughout your studies — and likely beyond — without you needing to trade up or replace.
Plus, that vibrant, sharp 2.5K touchscreen LCD enhances an already premium experience. And if you need to set up to take notes in a flash, the infrared camera is Windows Hello ready, so you can log in with just a look.
If all that wasn’t enough, there’s even a backlit keyboard, a feature many high-end rivals don’t include, allowing for effortless typing in darkened lecture halls, planes, and everything in between.
A pin-sharp, vibrant touch display
Students need an accurate, lucid, and detailed panel for typing, reading, browsing, and watching, so 1080p isn’t going to cut it these days.
Whatever you’re into, seeing it on the XPS 13 is a real joy. It features a stunning 2.5K touch display with a 30-120Hz variable refresh rate to save power, lifelike 100% DCI-P3 color (the same standard used in cinemas), and InfinityEdge display, which gives you more screen for your money. It’s also Eyesafe-certified to help reduce blue-light exposure. It cranks up the fidelity of high-resolution YouTube videos and video streams over basic 1080p, so you can watch your favorite content and Twitch creators on the gloriously crisp 2560x1600 display.
That touchscreen also comes into its own when you’re working on spreadsheets, completing coursework, and presenting to your project group, allowing you intuitive and lag-free scroll control, without a mouse in sight.
Made to perform
As a student, you’ll likely be switching back and forth between tasks and activities constantly. Ideating for your research paper. Back-to-back Zoom calls between your folks and your course tutor. Editing your phone’s photos from the night before. Watching your favorite shows. All that likely means 20 open browser and app tabs. So you need a laptop that can perform a whole lot of plate-spinning, just as you are.
The new XPS delivers impressive laptop performance for both your daily apps and AI-powered experiences. Its enhanced multithread performance makes opening and switching between apps super snappy. Plus, Intel Graphics enable high-quality streaming, study, and casual play, while fast memory and high-capacity SSD options offer configurations up to 16GB and 512GB.
Cool, quiet, and comfortable
Students often need to stay productive, whether on the bus, at events, or on the couch, often without a table. Therefore, having a laptop that keeps its cool is paramount, wherever you happen to be.
The new XPS is designed to stay cool, quiet, and comfortable on your lap, thanks to its dual fan design. It all means you can stay comfortable while being productive, especially when you’re feeling the heat of an assignment deadline.
If you think a Dell XPS 14 is for you, find out more on the Dell website: US readers click here, CA readers here, AU readers here and UK readers here.
