Dell Reveals Hybrid 2-In-1 XPS 13 Laptop With Intel Kaby Lake Chips

Dell has revealed a 2-in-1 version of its XPS 13 laptop, which looks to challenge Microsoft’s Surface Book and other laptop-tablet hybrids.

Sporting two options for its 13.3 inch display, the 2017 version of the XPS 13 is available with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 or a heftier 3200 x 1800; both of which offer touchscreen capabilities.

A 360-degree hinge on the XPS 13 allows it to be used as a normal laptop, a bulky tablet, or folded into a brace of configuration where the keyboard part of the machine acts as a from of stand for the tablet display.

Dell XPS 13 hybrid

Underneath the hood, the XPS 13 sports either a 3.2GHz Intel Core i5 processor or a speedier 3.6GHz Core i7 processors; both chip feature Intel’s 7^th generation Kaby Lake architecture that offers improved power-consumption over the previous Skylake generation.

RAM measures in at 4GB for entry-level models going up to 16GB of dual-channel LPDDR3 for the higher-end versions. Storage options start at a lowly 128GB of SATA hard disk space, going up to 1TB of PCIe SSD storage.

Despite Dell claiming the XPS 13 is the “smallest 13in 2-in-1 device on the planet”, being 40 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than the Surface Book, the PC maker has managed to cram in a 46Whr battery pack that it claims will keep the XPS 13 ticking along for 15 hours.

Coming with Windows 10 and support for Microsoft’s facial recognition technology Windows Hello, the XPS 13 has all the usual laptop features, such as a microSD card reader, a pair of USB-C ports, a Thunderbolt 3 port, DisplayPort, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. However, the hybrid is missing the traditional USB Type-A ports, much like the new range of Apple MacBook Pros released towards the end of 2016.

Aside from a few tweaks and the 360-degree hinge, the XPS 13 is cosmetically similar to its non-hybrid siblings, and comes slathered in a matt-black, soft-touch finish and sports a chassis made out of carbon fibre.

UK availability for the XPS 13 has not been announced, so ordering in a load for your business will have to wait. But Dell did announce the XPS 13 will be available in the US from January 5, starting at a price of $999.

The XPS 13 hybrid looks like the start of a busy year for Dell. But it as also active in 2016; what do you know about Dell?