Dell XPS 13 (i7-8550U, QHD) Laptop Preview Reviews

Fastest XPS 13 thus far. The jump from ULV Kaby Lake to Kaby Lake-R is the biggest performance boost the XPS 13 series has seen in years. We investigate to see if this has had any repercussions in terms of fan noise, battery life, and temperature.

high contrast ratio; >90 percent sRGB coverage ; respectable battery life; large internal battery ; rigid aluminum chassis; strong design ; slightly improved GPU performance ; generally quiet fan noise ; strong CPU performance ; good bass...

higher core and surface temperatures compared to previous XPS 13 generations ; unable to sustain maximum CPU Turbo Boost speeds ; chassis may rattle at high volume and bass settings ; PWM on all brightness levels including maximum ; slow transfer rates...

Dell's main intention with the 8th gen Kaby Lake-R XPS 13 was to boost CPU performance through improved temperature monitoring. Thus, this latest iteration was designed to run at higher core temperatures than the previous SKUs without negatively...