HP Spectre x360 VS Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 Comparison. New Dell XPS 13 2 & 1 the convertible model versus the incumbent the HP spectre x360 latest generation with Intel KB like.
And some versions of that Spectre that have been released since we last to review it. We’re gonna compare them now. Alright first three main points for those who are too long didn’t watch you want to hear those up front.
Price difference the HP is less suspect expensive. The Dell XPS 13 two and one is $100 more than they none two in one model. It’s already a pricey piece there. So if you’re talking about pricey you can get a pretty nicely configured HP Spectre x-360 for $12.99.
Core i7 as a full core i7 16 gigs of ram and a 512 gig SSD. That’s the no pen model that’s a 1080p display. For Dell you’re looking at $17.99 to get a similar configuration. Except for their core i7 is actually the core i7 ycp which is like a Core M.
That leads into the second point. The spectre x360 comes with your usual dual-core 15-watt ultrabook CPUs. These are both seventh generation Intel KB like machines but you’re getting your standard amount of computing horsepower that you would find in any competing ultrabook.
Be at the yoga seven ten nine ten Dells own XPS 13 nan two in one model. And Dell uses the Intel Core i5 and i7 Y CPU which is Intel’s new name for the core M. They’re trying to like hide and remarket that core M.
That’s a four point five want dual-core CPU. So it has less computational skills. Now the Dell does pretty good ones plugged in and synthetic benchmarks will look really good. Because it can go from a fairly low 1.3 gigahertz clock speed up to a pretty high turbo boost.
For really really short periods of time. But for intensive long work say you’re you spending some quality time in Adobe Lightroom you’re compiling code that sort of thing the HP Spectre x-360 is gonna be the better pic there.
Likewise if you’re looking for something that has enough horsepower to be good for three or four years going out I would certainly always pick the more powerful C. The pen canoodle. For those of you who like a pen and that’s an attractive thing to have an active digitizer on a convertible so you can take notes or do artwork.
The Dell XPS 13 two and one no matter which model of configuration you pick it’s gonna support an active pen. And that’s the Wacom 80s pen it’s sold separately for $50 but the XPS 13 two and one miles just fall configuration support the pen.
When HP first released this latest refresh of the HP spectre x360 with intel kb lake and the new narrower bezels the first model the one that we reviewed had no pen support. It’s not even that the pen wasn’t in the Box just pens don’t work.
There’s no digitized or Hardware important. Now they have added models that support the pen. That’s typically about $200 more. It’s still gonna come in cheaper than the XPS 13 two and one but it does cost you more money. Likewise, when it comes to 4k displays these are both available with 1080p full HD displays.
And at first inspector was only available at that resolution. Now they have a 4k model. Dell has both the 1080p and a qhd+ display 3200 by 1800. So not quite 4k but they’re both very high resolution that’s not so much to worry about. Now on to the further details. HP has more ports and they’re not like miniaturize so much in Dell it’s had to do to make their little skinny laptop bat well skinny.
So HP has two Thunderbolt 3 / USB C port say both support Thunderbolt 3. Has one full size USB a port so you don’t have to go running around looking for an adapter just so you can plug into your USB peripherals existing normal ones that you have around the house. Headphone jack of course on there as well.
Now Dell has a Thunderbolt 3 port it has a USB C port and it has a headphone jack of course. And there’s a micro SD card slot. So you don’t get that USB a port only one of the two port supports Thunderbolt 3 for those of you who are really into that faster standard.
Now when it comes to the portability yet there’s a charm for the XPS 13 2 & 1 just like there is for the XPS 13. It has the footprint more of a 12 inch laptop. I mean the thing is tiny and that no bezel design looks really good on it. The HP spectre x360 has a pretty average footprint for a 13-inch laptop.
And it has almost not their bezels on the sides but there’s on top and bottom it has bezel x’. And then the top the upside is the webcam is up top on the HP Spectre x-360 Dell XPS line they had to put it down at the bottom so they could have no bezel at the top.
So you got yourself a chin cam. Yes, you can turn it upside down and have the webcam then not be aiming at your chin. But for those of us who you know when we’re having a Skype business meeting and maybe just want to type an email in the background at the same time turning it upside down isn’t always ideal when you’re video conferencing.
Both have a Windows hello IR camera for facial recognition login. It’s not enabled yet on the XPS 13 2 & 1 they’re gonna have a downloadable software update in the coming months to enable it. I don’t know what’s taking time there but eventually it’s going to have it.
The HP has one out of the box and it is enabled. Christelle also throws in a fingerprint scanner for a plus so you do have a way of logging in without typing in your password in the meantime. HP doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner.
The weights pretty close. To point 7 pounds for the dell 2.9 pounds to the HP. That’s you’re talking I don’t think most people could really really feel the difference their. Last up is battery life. You would think that the dell would win hands down here because it has the less power-consuming CPU and integrated graphics type inside.
But no actually the HP spectre x360 typically outlast our dell. Both of these are 1080p models. Buy one to two hours or so. Now they’re both pretty good. I mean the dell can go about up to eight hours if you’re doing it for light to moderate work and 50% brightness.
But the HP Spectre lasts even longer. Both of these are American companies both of these have online driver downloads and pretty easy to update your laptop. They have automatic updater to go out and find the updates for you.
And usually they’re pretty solid. That HP Spectre x-360 has an ongoing bugging from previous generations where it may actually lose some battery charge humans completely turned off. Ours did that. Now it’s about 5% a day.
If you use your laptop daily it’s not a deal-breaker. But it could happen to you. It’s more a problem for folks like us who have a lot of laptops in house coming and going to review. And they might sit there for five days and then you wonder where that battery charge went to if you left it sitting for five days at the time.
Most people use their laptop every day. Still, it would be good if HP could figure that problem out. Haven’t seen a problem like that on the Dell XPS 13 two and one. Did notice it using more power than it should for connected standby.
My connected standby is just kind of the devil in the details for many laptops right now. Because of the fact that it turns on the wireless connection even when it’s asleep to check to see if anything’s going on online.
You know download email that sort of thing. So there you have it the HP spectre x360 or the Dell XPS 13 two and one. I mean they’re both really nice laptops. They’re both expensive laptops are both convertible laptops with Intel KB like seventh-generation CPUs.
But as you can see the HP Spectre x-360 is the smarter one. It has a faster higher wattage CPU. Where is the Dells a little hobbled in that respect. The Dell wins back some points for having that smaller footprint which is really nice.
I mean it makes it look very attractive interesting. Of course, the spectra is pretty too. And the spectra comes in a bunch of different variants that are different mountain numbers. Makes a little bit more confusing versus the Dell.
Say you want the pen feature you want the 4k they’re all different model numbers right now. But nonetheless the HP still comes in as a less expensive one. If it was me going out there shopping I wouldn’t mind having either them.
But from my bucks I think I would go with the HP Spectre x-360. Just because it’s less money and it’s faster and those are important features to me are 14 characteristics.
