Dell XPS 13.4" XPS9345 Graphite 2024

The Dell XPS 13 with Snapdragon X Elite has a stunning OLED screen and best-in-class CPU performance in a fanless, ultra-light body. Gaming and GPU-heavy tasks are a hard no, and you'll need dongles for your accessories. It's a fantastic travel companion for the right user, especially if you can find it near the $1500 mark.

The Snapdragon X Elite is an absolute beast in our CPU benchmarks, landing in the 100th percentile. That means it's literally the fastest processor we've tested in this category. Everyday tasks feel instant, and it chews through browser tabs and Office apps without breaking a sweat. The integrated Adreno GPU is a different story, sitting at the 27th percentile. It's fine for streaming and light photo editing, but gaming is a non-starter with a score of 7.8 out of 100. The 16GB of RAM is solidly average for this class, and the 512GB SSD is on the smaller side, so you might need to lean on cloud storage.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max, the Dell wins on silence and weight but gets absolutely demolished on GPU power and port selection. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and Lenovo Legion 5i are in a different universe for gaming, but they're heavier and have fans that will actually spin up. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 splits the difference with a dedicated GPU in a still-portable chassis. The MSI Prestige is a closer competitor in spirit, but the Dell's OLED screen and build quality give it a clear edge for content consumption. If you don't need Windows, the MacBook Air is the obvious elephant in the room, offering similar silence and better app compatibility.

Pricing is a bit of a rollercoaster right now, with a spread from $1500 to $1888 across vendors. At the low end, you're getting a premium, ultra-portable laptop with a top-tier screen and class-leading CPU performance. That's a fair deal if you value silence and portability above all else. At the high end, it's a tougher sell. You're paying a lot for a machine that can't game and has limited storage. If you can snag it closer to $1500, it's a solid buy. Just don't pay a premium for it.

Dell's first XPS with a Snapdragon X Elite chip is here, and it's a statement piece. This Copilot+ PC is built for people who want a stunning screen, all-day battery life, and a fanless design that stays quiet no matter what you throw at it. It's not trying to be a gaming rig or a workstation replacement, and it doesn't pretend otherwise. The 13.4-inch OLED touchscreen is the star of the show, and the build quality is exactly what you'd expect from the XPS line.

But this is an ARM-based Windows machine, and that comes with the usual caveats. App compatibility is mostly there, but some creative tools and older software can still be a headache. The port selection is limited to just two USB-C ports, so you'll need a dongle for pretty much anything. If you live in a browser and Microsoft 365, this thing flies. If you need niche software or serious GPU power, you'll want to look elsewhere.

Gamers should run the other way, a 7.8 gaming score tells you everything you need to know. Creative pros who rely on Adobe apps should also be cautious, as not everything runs natively on ARM yet. And if you need more than 512GB of local storage without carrying an external drive, this single SSD configuration will feel cramped fast.

This is the laptop for the frequent traveler who lives in a browser, Microsoft Office, and streaming apps. It's dead silent, crazy light, and has a screen that makes everything look gorgeous. If that's your workflow, you'll love it. Just know that you're trading away gaming, some app compatibility, and any hope of using old peripherals without an adapter.