The Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1 Review: The Ice Lake Cometh
by Brett Howse on November 15, 2019 11:30 AM ESTIt’s difficult to overstate how important the XPS 13 is to Dell’s lineup, and to the industry as a whole. This is the device that reshaped the entire market with the advent of the InfinityEdge display back in 2015 which transformed the laptop landscape in an instant, rendering all other devices as dull and out of date. But other manufacturers are relentless, and Dell’s early design lead was never going to last forever. Other laptops have arguably caught, and even surpassed the XPS 13 over the last couple of generations. But Dell’s latest model of their flagship 13-inch laptop hopes to take the reins back.
Dell has made some serious updates to the 7390 model, which we're checking out today on the 2-in-1 version of the laptop. The biggest update is a shot in the arm that all manufacturers have been anxiously awaiting: Intel’s Ice Lake platform, dubbed the 10th generation Core, and based on the long-delayed 10 nm Intel process. Over the previous generation Intel has seen some serious competition from their x86 neighbor, and AMD’s Zen core has brought AMD back from the brink, offering competitive performance, and in laptop guise. All of which comes coupled with a potent Vega GPU which has run circles around Intel’s UHD 620 found in all of the 8th generation U-Series processors powering so many laptops.
Intel is looking to change that with Ice Lake, offering not only improved CPU performance thanks to the Sunny Cove CPU architecture, but a much-improved GPU as well, with the Gen 11 graphics. The vast majority of previous generation U-Series processors offered just 24 Execution Units (EUs), with some premium devices offering Intel Iris Graphics which had 48 EUs in the 15-Watt range, but Ice Lake improves on that significantly with 64 EUs on the G7-suffix processors, 48 EUs on the G4 range, and 32 EUs on the lowest-tier G1 lineup. Our Dell XPS 13 7390 features the top of the line offering in the 15-Watt envelope with the Core i7-1065G7, meaning it also sports the 64 EU GPU.
But an improved processor can’t be the only defining change, as all manufacturers will be offering Ice Lake in one form or another. Dell has also taken their InfinityEdge display to the next level, bumping the overall screen size from 13.3 to 13.4 inches, and moving to a 1920x1200 16:10 aspect ratio, which dramatically reduces the bezel on the bottom of the display. In addition, Dell is offering a 3840x2400 panel which hits 90% of the P3-D65 gamut, and is HDR 400 and Dolby Vision certified. If you need it, the displays also offer touch and pen support as well.
Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1 | |||||
As Reviewed: Core i7-1065G7 / 16GB / 512 GB / $1749.99 | |||||
CPU | Intel Core i3-1005G1 2C / 4T 1.2 GHz - 3.4 GHz Intel UHD Graphics 32 EUs 300 MHz - 900 MHz 15W TDP Intel Core i5-1035G1 4C / 8T 1.00 GHz - 3.6 GHz Intel UHD Graphics 32 EUs 300 Mhz - 1.05 GHz 15W TDP Intel Core i7-1065G7 4C / 8T 1.3 GHz - 3.9 GHz Intel Iris Plus Graphics 64 EUs 300 MHz - 1.1 GHz 15W TDP |
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Memory | 4 / 8 / 16 / 32 GB LPDDR4X-3733 | ||||
Display | 13.4-inch 1920x1200 IPS 100% sRGB 500-nit Touch and Pen support Optional 13.4-inch 3840x2400 IPS 90% P3-D65 500-nit HDR 400 Certified Touch and Pen support |
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Storage | 256GB / 512GB / 1TB PCIe x4 NVMe | ||||
Wireless | Killer AX1650 2x2:2 Wi-Fi6 Bluetooth 5.0 |
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I/O | 2 x Thunderbolt 3 (DP / Power Delivery / 4-lanes PCIe) Micro SD 3.5mm headset jack |
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Webcam | 720P | ||||
Battery | 51 Wh Li-Ion 45 W Type-C AC Adapter |
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Dimensions | 297 x 207 x 7-13 mm 11.69 x 8.15 x 0.28-0.51 inches |
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Weight | 1.32 Kg / 2.9 lbs | ||||
MSRP (USD) | i3 / 4GB / 256GB - $999.99+ i5 / 8GB / 256GB - $1299.99+ i7 / 16GB / 256GB - $1469.99+ i7 / 16GB / 512GB - $1699.99+ |
The changes don’t stop there. Despite the almost 85% screen-to-body ratio, Dell is still offering the webcam at the top of the display, unlike the original InfinityEdge design, and the latest XPS 13 2-in-1 is 8% thinner than before.
As a modern, premium laptop, the XPS 13 also offers two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports, although there’s no legacy USB-A port which may hinder some people. Dell does ship the laptop with an adapter, but having a dongle on-hand when you need it is one thing to be prepared for.
There’s also WiFi 6, based on Intel’s wireless card but with the Killer software as well. The latest XPS 13 offers an instant-wake feature, and an integrated fingerprint reader in the power button for Windows Hello support.
Dell is offering a lot in the XPS 13 2-in-1. They revolutionized the laptop back in 2015, but the competition has fought back. Let’s dig into the latest model and see how the XPS 13 7390 stacks up.
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Alistair - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
Well I'm going with the Surface Laptop instead. Wish me luck ;)Qasar - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
he would suggest the intel based laptop no matter what. so dont be too hurt, alistair :-)HStewart - Monday, November 18, 2019 - link
Well you can go have you Windows for ARM piece of junk. As for Ryzen, it your choice just don't try to tell others that they should go for Ryzen also. I don't care if you go for AMD,. just don't try to tell me. People have the right to choose what they want to go.Korguz - Monday, November 18, 2019 - link
HStewart " As for Ryzen, it your choice just don't try to tell others that they should go for Ryzen also " right after you dont tell people to go for intel. as you said, "People have the right to choose what they want to go. "Reflex - Monday, November 18, 2019 - link
Ryzen is awesome in the desktop, workstation and server space. In mobile it's mediocre but on the rise. I have no hesitation recommending Ryzen for anyone outside of mobile. Anyone pushing Intel on the desktop while ignoring the alternative is performing a disservice to their friends/clients.HStewart - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link
One thing that would be fun to see if i7 version of this XPS 13 2in1 compare to older generation, which it would be a total wash. But also the XPS 15 2in1 which I would think it would actually give a run for the money. To bad Intel does not have H versions of Ice Lake ready... maybe early 2020.lazarpandar - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link
"It’s difficult to understate how important the XPS 13 is to Dell’s lineup, and to the industry as a whole."You mean overstate here. The implication being, even if you use really grandiose language, it'd be difficult to overdo it. If something's importance is difficult to understate, you mean, you can hardly even find the words to describe how unimportant it is.
not_anton - Monday, November 18, 2019 - link
It’s difficult to understate how Dell could try to rip-off a 13” macbook pro and still fail after all these years. At least they managed to copy 16:10 screen aspect ratio... but look at these hideous bottom air ducts copied from a macbook - except that macbook hides them in a cutout in aluminium case.Reflex - Monday, November 18, 2019 - link
Macbooks look like premium laptops from ten years ago. They long ago lost their lead in this space.ikjadoon - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link
> Ice Lake also brings some major improvements to wake from sleep, and finally brings the laptop into the same range as tablets and smartphones when waking them.Is this benchmarkable? I'd love to see time-to-wake tested between laptops. It's a small, but vastly underrated improvement.
I move around w/ my laptop often and I'd love to see wake time quantified.
It'd be a good proxy benchmark for platform optimization, which (besides battery life & thermals) is hard to tease out.