13 inches is the most common size of laptop to buy, and the Dell XPS 13 is the best pick. It manages to pack tons of power and battery life into a tiny chassis that’s built well and looks great. The XPS 13 isn’t alone, though.
We’ve reviewed well over four hundred laptops in our hunt for the best, carefully benchmarking and testing all the most important aspects of each. While the Dell XPS 13 is the best, we’ve included other options that fill out the selection for other subcategories that are worthy of your consideration.
Dell XPS 13
The best 13-inch laptop
Why you should buy this: It’s been the best laptop in the world for years.
Who’s it for: Everyone but hardcore gamers.
What we thought of the Dell XPS 13:
It’s hard to not sound like complete sycophants when talking about how much we love the XPS 13. It’s been our favorite laptop for the past five years, and the new version only makes it better. Dell had already accomplished what we’ve been begging it to do for years and moved the webcam back up to the top of the screen where it belongs. That alone made this better than its predecessor for anyone who plans to video call or web conference regularly. Now, Dell has updated to Intel’s 10th-gen Comet Lake CPUs, including a six-core Core i7 that makes this the fastest 13-inch laptop money can buy.
As with the XPS 13s that came before, this version is light, portable, and exceedingly attractive. It’s gradually moved away from the MacBook silver styling which is so common in the notebook market and has forged an identity all of its own. You’ll want to keep the white interior and “Frost” exterior clean to make sure it stays looking fresh, but we feel confident that you’ll love this laptop enough to make the effort.
The display is absolutely gorgeous no matter which resolution you opt for and internal hardware upgrades make sure that this laptop is capable of just about anything you throw at it, from everyday web browsing, to more intensive tasks like photo editing. Don’t expect to play the latest and greatest games at high frame rates, but that’s not really what this laptop is for.
No laptop is perfect, but the XPS 13 gets as close as we’ve seen yet.
LG Gram 13
The best lightweight 13-inch laptop:
What we thought of the LG Gram 13:
A light laptop will always come with its compromises, most notably, in structural integrity. The LG Gram 13 is no different, using a chassis built out of a bendable magnesium plastic. What it lacks in rigidity, however, it also lacks in weight. At just 2.1 pounds, it’s over a half-pound lighter than the MacBook Air, which makes it one of the lightest laptops you can buy.
The LG Gram 13 also comes with updated components such as a quad-core 8th-gen Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. That’s enough to power the average workflow, including intensive multitasking and working with external monitors. The Gram laptops also have great battery life, with a large 72 watt-hour size battery, making this a fantastic option for road warriors. If you travel with your laptop a lot and the extra weight is a concern, the LG Gram 13 will might be the best 13-inch laptop for you.
Acer Chromebook Spin 13
The best 13-inch Chromebook:
What we thought of the Acer Chromebook Spin 13:
13-inch Chromebooks are surprisingly hard to come by. Smaller 12-inch options like the Pixelbook or HP Chromebook x2 are some of our favorites, but there are a wealth of great 15-inch options as well. The best 13-inch Chromebook, though, is the Acer Chromebook Spin 13. It’s a 2-in-1 with a touchscreen, featuring an excellent keyboard, a sturdy aluminum chassis, and a crisp 1080p display.
The Acer Chromebok Spin 13 comes with a quad-core, 8th-gen Core i5 Intel processor inside. That means if you want to hook up an external display and get some serious multitasking done, this Chromebook should be able to handle your workload.
It might not be as stunning as the Pixelbook, but if you need a slightly larger laptop, the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 is your best option.
Asus ZenBook 13 UX333
The best 13-inch laptop for students
What we thought of the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333:
Always the bridesmaid and rarely the bride, the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333 is so close to being our favorite 13-inch laptop ever made. If it didn’t exist in a world with the XPS 13, it just might take the top spot. As it is, it’s relegated to a very near second place, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.
The ZenBook 13 is extremely affordable. You get an Intel Core i5 CPU with four cores, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. That’s more than enough to perform any day to day task.
The ZenBook has it all. Its battery life is one of the best in this form-factor stretching well past a full workday, and it’s slim and lightweight enough to be competitive with the most portable notebooks in this space. It’s even got a great screen and a distinctive design that helps it stand out from the crowd of silver MacBook copycats.
There’s little else you could ask for in a laptop at this price point.
Razer Blade Stealth
The best 13-inch gaming laptop
What we thought of the Razer Blade Stealth:
Yes, yes — we know. The Razer Blade Stealth isn’t really a gaming laptop. It is, however, a gaming-branded 13-inch laptop with more graphical power than any other option on this list. With an Nvidia MX150 4GB graphics chip under the hood, paired up with a powerful Intel Core i7 CPU, it can play games like Fortnite smoothly with settings turned down a bit.
What’s most encouraging with the Razer Blade Stealth is that it betters its predecessor so well. The upgraded hardware gives it a serious leg up on the Stealth that came before and it takes the lead against many other laptops sporting the same graphics chip. While there are certainly more powerful
The Razer Blade Stealth is a beautiful laptop, and it has enough grunt to play all the esports games you like at high frame rates. Larger Razer laptops do outshine its gaming ability and other
