It’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display back in 2015 which transformed the laptop landscape in an instant, rendering all other devices as dull and out of date.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
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
Storage 256GB / 512GB / 1TB PCIe x4 NVMe
Wireless Killer AX1650 2x2:2 Wi-Fi6
Bluetooth 5.0
I/O 2 x Thunderbolt 3 (DP / Power Delivery / 4-lanes PCIe)
Micro SD
3.5mm headset jack
Webcam 720P
Battery 51 Wh Li-Ion
45 W Type-C AC Adapter
Dimensions 297 x 207 x 7-13 mm
11.69 x 8.15 x 0.28-0.51 inches
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.

Design
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  • eastcoast_pete - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    Thanks Brett, this new ultraportable does sound tempting. In addition to my standard gripe about no removable battery (I know, I know, they're all like this nowadays), my other one is a question/wish: can this be had without the touchscreen, so just with a nice, bright (HDR?) display? I don't use touchscreens on laptops that have a passable keyboard and a decent touchpad, nor do I see the use of touchscreens there. Leaving out the touch layers tends to increase brightness and/or decrease power consumption to reach the same brightness level. If I had the choice, Dell can keep the price the same, and give me the next larger SSD size instead of touch.
  • danielfranklin - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    This is a 2in1, it MUST have touch.
    They still make the normal XPS 13, in 1080p it doesnt have touch.
    Unfortnatly its just not IceLake, other than that its pretty similar to what you are after.
  • eastcoast_pete - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    To add: Would love to see the display values for the MacBook)/ Air here. Apple machines are often seen as the benchmarks here, and it would be nice how the XPS measures up to them.
  • Alistair - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    Was interested, then I checked the price and base specs. Holy moly dual core and 4GB memory, for $1400 Canadian. Ha ha... I definitely don't think they are making the right kind of progress with this laptop. Makes me want an ARM machine even more.
  • Reflex - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    I have one of these with the 4k screen and 32GB. It's fantastic in almost every way. The one issue I'm hitting though is that occasionally (every few days) when I open the screen it does not power on. I can still hear things if I try to make it make a sound (tap around until Windows does something) but the screen won't turn on even after closing and reopening. Only a hard reboot fixes it.

    Only issue I've had, hoping firmware or driver update fixes it. I forced it to use the Intel graphics drivers as well to see if the issue would go away, but no dice.

    BTW, for those who don't want the Killer crapware, download the Intel AX200 drivers from Intel's site and force update the Killer WiFi to them. Nice, stable Intel drivers. I was having some weirdness on the network until I did that.
  • Reflex - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link

    There was a new Intel graphics driver release yesterday, updated so will see if the screen wake issue goes away.
  • Reflex - Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - link

    If anyone is still reading this, it's been more than a week and this issue hasn't recurred so Intel must have fixed it.
  • trivik12 - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    its too expensive at this point but there are blackfriday deals. If I am not wrong XPS 13 with 4K screen is $1400 at Costco with 16/512. Plus with costco you get 2 years warranty + 2 years additional warranty with costco visa card.
  • Samus - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    16:10 OMG!!!
  • The_Assimilator - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link

    IKR?

    I used a 1920x1200 display for a decade and was very sad when it gave up the ghost and the only replacement options were 1080p screens. I hope 16:10 makes a comeback.

    OTOH, a 4K display in a 13" device makes very little sense to me.

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