The XPS 13 has been going strong in its current iteration for nine years, setting the standard for thin-and-light Windows laptops that’s been imitated and iterated ever since. Today, Dell is selling last year’s model with a 12th-gen Core i5 processor for just $599. That’s $400 off for this base model laptop.
Six hundred bucks gets you the 9315 version of the XPS 13, notably missing the touch-sensitive function row of the XPS Plus designs (which have been incorporated into the non-plus models as of late). The lack of these somewhat finicky buttons might actually be a Plus for you. A somewhat pokey 8GB of DDR5 RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage augment a 13.4-inch, 1920×1200 screen in the base version. This model doesn’t use a touchscreen, though its 500-nit rating is unusually bright.
You’ll get a USB-C port on both sides, but take note that the laptop doesn’t include a headphone jack, so you’ll need a USB-C dock or adapter for a lot of external hardware. In his review of the 9315 model, PCWorld’s Matt Elliott observed that while the laptop is as sleek as it ever was, it’s somewhat lacking in pure performance, and its lid is tricky to lift with one hand.
For my money, I’d go for a gentle upgrade option: a $200 upsell that gets you a Core i7 processor, expands the RAM to a much more roomy 16GB, and doubles storage to 512GB. You can double both of those again (32GB and 1TB), bringing the total price to $999, but sadly the snazzy Umber (read: dark grey) color option is only available on the $599 model.