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display back in 2015 which transformed the laptop landscape in an instant, rendering all other devices as dull and out of date.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
Funny true story. Our CEO got the old XPS and the wifi never worked. Got one of the sysadmins to look at it and he couldn't fix it and got fired. Unfortunately no one asked me first thing I do is replace with Intel modules and no problem.timecop1818 - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
These have been soldered in for the last 2 or so generations of XPS.Alistair - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
oh really? I was referring to an XPS 15 in which it is removable, didn't know they soldered for the XPS 13 (which is a bad laptop honestly).villageboy - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
Stylus?AntonErtl - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
I found the first paragraph revolting. The XPS13 never showed up in my laptop market reviews, so it certainly did not redefine the laptop landscape for me. Things I look for these days (and how this XPS13 fares):A4 size (not wider than the keyboard): check
non-glare display: check
HDMI: fail
VGA: fail
Several USB-A ports (for mice and USB sticks): fail
replaceable battery: probably fail (the review does not say; it should)
buttons for the mousepad: fail
1920x1200: check
So I stick with my 2013-vintage Lenovo E130, which satisfies all the requirements except 1920x1200; and it cost only EUR 400 (plus the cost of replacing the HDD with an SSD).
Eris_Floralia - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
On 4/8GB LPDDR4X models, the configuration should be Dual channel 32bit right? So it only provides half the bandwidth of the 16GB model which is quad channel 32bitBut the iGPU only has 32EU so probably not a big problem
IntelUser2000 - Sunday, November 17, 2019 - link
You can also get the i7 with 8GB RAM. Anandtech isn't showing all the configurations.And not necessarily, if the manufacturer wishes they can get 128-bit width out of the 4GB chips. That's what Apple did with the iPad.
isthisavailable - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
The i3 and i5 are the verions with "G1" GPUs so basically, this is a $1500 laptop. Also, no USB Type-A, no buy.yetanotherhuman - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
This is probably closer to the perfect laptop than any laptop has been before, but it absolutely just needs at least one USB Type A port. I'm just not carrying dongles around for every tiny basic device that I come across.yankeeDDL - Saturday, November 16, 2019 - link
I've starting to look for a replacement of my ageing AMD A10, and this looks quite good.This said, today 4C/8T is the bare minimum, and 512GB of SSD too, so I am looking at>
i7 / 16GB / 512GB - $1699.99+
Seems a bit steep, to be honest. The Dell Latitude 7400 series offers similar characteristics for less than 1500< I suppose it is heavier though. Still, it seems a bit pricey...