I tested all versions of the XPS 13, and there’s one you should avoid

It’s not often that we have an opportunity to compare multiple laptops that are identical other than having different chipsets inside. That’s exactly what we have with the Dell XPS 13, once one of the best 13-inch laptops that can be purchased with either Intel Meteor Lake (XPS 13 9340), Qualcomm (XPS 13 9345), or Intel Lunar Lake (XPS 13 9350) chipsets but are otherwise identical.

Now, when I say identical, I mean it: The chassis design, aesthetics, keyboards, touchpads, displays, and more are exactly the same. But inside is where the magic happens — although in this case, surprisingly, the difference isn’t as much as you might think.

Specs and configurations

The older XPS 13 9340 uses Intel’s previous-generation Meteor Lake chipsets, and there are just a few configurations. Right now, they’re on sale, with a Core Ultra 7 155H, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.3-inch FHD+ IPS display coming in at $1,099 (down from $1,299). Upgrading to 16GB of RAM and a 2.8K OLED display is an additional, and a 1TB SSD bumps the price to $1,399.

The XPS 13 9345 that’s based on Qualcomm Snapdragon X chipsets is the least expensive of all, at least when on sale. The base model is $900 (down from $1,200) with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chipset, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.3-inch FHD+ display. With 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, the price jumps to $1,100, and with an OLED display, the high-end model is $1,400.

Finally, the XPS 9350 uses Intel’s latest Core Ultra 2 Series chipsets, and starts at $1,000 with a Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.3-inch FHD+ IPS display. Oddly, the same configuration with the slower Core Ultra 5 226V is $250 more. You can upgrade to the Core Ultra 7 258V for $300 and a Core Ultra 9 288V for $850. Upgrading RAM to 32GB adds $300, while a 1TB SSD is a $100 uncharge and a 2TB SSD is an extra $300. The QHD+ IPS display is $300 more and the 2.8K OLED display is also an extra $300. The highest-end configuration with a Core Ultra 9 288V, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and the OLED panel is $2,350.

The most affordable models are those using the Qualcomm chipset, while the Lunar Lake machines are considerably more expensive. While you can still buy the laptop with Intel Meteor Lake, there’s no good reason given prices that don’t offer much of a price advantage.

Design

Both versions look identical on the outside. There’s the sleek XPS chassis with sleek lines and a minimalist look in either silver or black, and then on the inside the latest XPS design aesthetic tends toward the futuristic. The zero-lattice keyboard, all-glass palm rest with hidden haptic touchpad, and LED touch function keys are as modern as they come. When combined with the XPS lineup’s usual incredibly slim display bezels, it all makes each XPS 13 model stand out.

At the same time, this is one of the most robust designs available in a laptop today. The chassis has a dense feel that exudes quality, and the chassis, lid, and keyboard deck are all incredibly solid. Here, too, the XPS 13 stands out as one of the best laptops you can buy.

Stepping into those modern design touches, though, and things start to get a little less attractive. The zero-lattice keyboard, while it has snappy switches and large keycaps, takes some getting used to given the complete lack of key spacing. The haptic touchpad is excellent, except for the fact that it’s hidden — it’s easy enough to lose track of the touchpad’s surface and to swipe against the palm rest instead. And the LED touch function keys have no haptic feedback to let you know when you’ve successfully engaged a function, and you have to look at the keyboard to even try.

Then, there are only two ports, USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 in the Intel version and USB4 in the Qualcomm version, and in both one of them is used for charging. And there’s no 3.5mm audio jack. At least wireless connectivity is completely up-to-date with Wi-Fi 7.

Finally, both laptops have the same 1080p webcams with infrared cameras for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition, and they both have fingerprint readers embedded in the touchpad. The Qualcomm and Intel Lunar Lake versions benefit from much faster neural processing units (NPUs) rated at 45 tera operations per second (TOPS) for Qualcomm and 47 TOPS for Lunar Lake, compared to the Intel Meteor Lake version’s 10 TOPS. That makes the XPS 13 9345 and 9350 both a part of Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC initiative with more AI features and longer-term potential as new features are rolled out.

Performance

The XPS 13 (9340) uses Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H with 16 cores (six Performance, eight Efficient, and two Low Power Efficient) and 22 threads, running up to 4.8GHz. That compares to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 with 12 cores (eight Performance and four Efficient), running at up to 3.4GHz. The XPS 13 9350 we reviewed uses the 8-core/8-thread Core Ultra 7 256V. The Intel chipsets use Intel Arc integrated graphics while the Qualcomm chipset uses the Adreno integrated graphics.

In our CPU-intensive benchmarks that run natively on Windows on Arm and so provide a fair comparison, at least for apps that don’t run in emulation on the Qualcomm chipset, which will be slower, the XPS 13 (9345) is considerably faster. That’s in both single-core and multi-core applications, which is the first time that Windows on Arm running on a Qualcomm chipset is faster than Intel. The XPS 13 9350 GPU is slower than both competitors.

None of these laptops are optimized for creating applications and gaming, but productivity power users will find the XPS 13 (9345) running on the Qualcomm chipset to be a lot faster.

Display

Both laptops have identical display options, all 13.4-inch 16:10 panels running at 120Hz. Resolutions and technologies include Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS, QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS, and 3.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED.

Given that these are the same options, you won’t be choosing between them on displays alone. Note that contrary to some reports, the tandem OLED display in the XPS 13 (9345) is the same as the one that shipped first in the XPS 13 (9340).

Portability

All three laptops are incredibly small thanks to their thin display bezels, they’re thin at 0.69 inches, and they’re light at 2.6 pounds. They’re among the most portable laptops around.

When I reviewed the Qualcomm version, I expected it to get much better battery life than the Intel Meteor Lake version. After all, much better efficiency is the primary advantage of Arm chipsets. Surprisingly, though, that’s not what I found. When looking at versions with the same IPS displays, the Qualcomm model did get 2.5 hours longer battery life when running our test video. That’s the least demanding test, though, and when web browsing and running a demanding process like the Cinebench 2024 benchmark, the two laptops are almost identical.

Then the XPS 13 9350 with Lunar Lake was better across the board. Again, it showed up best in the video looping test, but it was also stronger in the more demanding tests.

So, that makes battery life a bigger strength for the XPS 13 9350.

Battery life versus performance

These three laptops are very closely matched and they’re even similarly priced. The XPS 13 (9345) version running Qualcomm is a slightly better value overall. They have the same display options, and the Intel Lunar Lake version gets the best battery life, especially while doing more demanding tasks.

That makes the XPS 9350 the most attractive model if battery life is your most important criteria. If sheer performance matters more, then the XPS 13 9345 is the best choice — unless you run into compatibility concerns. Although the XPS 13 9340 is still available, it’s not worth considering.