Dell XPS 13 2021: What Real Users Actually Think

Blame the laptop for battery aging… can't believe people don't understand batteries and that they are replaceable as a wear item. Doesn't really matter the brand of laptop, a 5 year used battery is going to be crap no matter what.

Seems to me it would be cheaper to get a new battery than a new machine. Your money, your problem.

Original Battery?

Say nice things say nice things, uhhh, replace the battery. Spend $40 and less than an hour of your time. If it doesn't solve your problem then sell your laptop with the new battery for $200 and get a new one.

June is when you'll get it back, after having to send it in for repairs.

Linux doesn't currently have working brightness control for OLED displays because they do not use a backlight. You can modify display gamma using xrandr but it's not integrated into brightness controls.

13.4" OLED 3.5K (3456x2160) AMOLED display looks like Samsung.

Same model. My CPU just died on me. Sad times when a $2000 laptop lasts 4 years.

I'd be surprised if a battery lasts more than 3 years. Don't blame the device.

I got a battery for my 9300 and got zero problems after. Was in the same situation almost 1 year ago.

XPS 9 series have been the best laptops I have ever owned or supported, over a thousand. Easy to work on, last for years. Parts still available. A new battery is 60 bucks and takes 15 min to replace. If you're going to toss it, pass it to someone that needs a laptop.

DESIGN CAPACITY 50,973 mWh | FULL CHARGE CAPACITY 14,577 mWh. Uhhhhhhhhh bruh, just ordered the replacement right now. I still think it literally dying in 40 mins from full charge is crazy for only 3 years of actual use. Still should be a few hours or so.

I still doubt Dell's quality control has improved up to the point that I'd consider buying an XPS 13 again. It's a 'premium product' built like a 300 EUR cheapie.

Brightness is really good! Similar to the the regular 4K 9310 but maybe slightly better but with the deep inky blacks and no backlight bleed.

By reading your post I just realized I ordered a 9305 instead of a 9310. I could not see the difference between the 2 because they were both labeled as 'the new 13' the former having a better deal. I thought yeah I can live with an i7-1165 instead of an 1185, but haven't seen the screen difference. For me, it was a requirement that the screen is a 16:10.

I fail to see Dell's logic to soldering everything as that really in all honesty makes it in my opinion lower end.

I have an XPS 9310 with 16GB RAM, 512 SSD and 3.5k screen, I have been able successfully install Arch as well as any flavored derivative. Had to install SOF-FIRMWARE for audio to work in vanilla Arch but other than that it was pretty flawless. High DPI is a pain in the rear on this model, you pretty much have to scale everything to 200%.

I got the xps 9305 2 months ago. Battery life is a huge plus, easily at 8-10 hours. I like the fact that Dell has a power manager that allows for great potential to maintain the lifecycle of the battery too. Build quality is top-notch.

Unfortunately I'm all too familiar with the Dell quality control issues. I was on my 4th replacement when I sold mine. The thing that's bringing me back is Dell support and the premium feel of the laptop. I don't think Dell support gets enough praise here. They replaced my laptop without question every time AND they also replaced my motherboard and 4K panel for free 1 year outside of its warranty.

It's a lovely laptop. Incredible battery life, virtually no heat, silent, fast, it just works. Thin and light to carry everywhere and charges over any 65W USB-C charger.

I bought an XPS 13 9350 a month ago. Design 10/10 like no other laptop. Build quality very solid so far too good. Keyboard might take some time to get used to as it's different from any other laptop. TouchPad a bit too sensitive for my liking but not bad, very precise. Capacitive function row looks really good, I don't have any issues using it.

5 years is a pretty good lifespan for a laptop. Especially if you used it mostly on AC power with no special settings or software to keep the battery healthy.

How many cycles on the battery? I'm sure investing in a new one would fix your problem. I have done that with two XPS that I bought used very cheap. They work very well today.

I've replaced the original battery and both fans. Rock solid laptop!

Seriously... then why does it so often come top of the premium ultrabook category? Genuine question, because I never see reviews saying it has awful build quality.

It's by far the best laptop with the exception of the new MacBook Pro's. Trust me if you can handle being on MacOS the new 14" and 16" models are AWESOME.

It's actually very good thermals. It even seems to be better than my previous XPS 13 9310. I don't know if they changed something in this newer update or if I lucked out this time around.

On the 4K model I am at 6 hours browsing YouTube and having multiple tabs open. Considering most ultrabooks with 4K screens usually average around 7 or 8, but it is beautiful. I was thinking about getting the FHD version but am so happy that I got the 4K one.

PWM flickering is present on the OLED. This is discussed on a few reviews I've read of this device.

Windows Hello infrared is also missing compared to the 9310 version. Display is also brighter on the 9310 one.

The 9305 was a substantial cost savings compared to the 9310 at the time that I purchased it. I didn't care for the 16:10 screen because I didn't want any odd or non-standard resolution if/when I did any gaming on it. The touchscreen being included at the same price was a bonus.

I had the 9380 from 2019 which made zero noise. I LOVED it. The 9305 has better specs than my 9380 did, but it unfortunately is producing fan noise when I do things like play runescape on low graphics. Not the end of the world, but hopefully there's a way to stop it.

It's my 3rd laptop from Dell. All they have one thing in common, battery sucks in about a year and half, poor quality. Never buy Dell again.

The XPS 13 9300 is one of the best laptops I have ever owned. Its small, fast and sleek.

I am concerned about Dell's quality control. My 9300 unit has a weird brightness flickering issue, they replaced the screen and motherboard but still not been able to figure out what's wrong. Go for a Thinkpad because it's more likely that you get it right the first time.

The XPS is designed for sleek, thin, lightweight elegance. I still use a 9315 (4 years old now) and it's great, I love it. I've owned a MacBook Air and it's the closest thing to it in a PC.

What I didn't like about my XPS 13: No USB A port, only USB C. The bottom rubber/plastic strips didn't last long. It seemed to run very hot. On the plus side, USB C/charging ports on both sides and it was a lot thinner and lighter.

4 XPS laptops dead within 15 months and a Precision in 2 years — go Lenovo or anything else.

I currently own an XPS 13 9315 which is the same size albeit a hair thinner than the Snapdragon XPS 13, and it is SMALL. If you own/have seen an 11-inch Chromebook, it is roughly that size, maybe 1-2 cm longer length-wise. If all your programs are supported on ARM, then you will get much better battery life on the XPS 13.

I don't recommend buying a Dell until they resolve the driver malfunction and flashing screen issue.

The Dell XPS 13 9305 is currently on sale for $650. Just scooped one up.

Just ordered the XPS 9305 and am looking forward to it with 16GB of RAM and a 512 SSD touchscreen, I7 processor for a pretty sweet deal.