CES 2022: Dell is making its best laptop even sleeker with the Dell XPS 13 Plus

The Dell XPS 13 is often considered to be the best Windows laptop on the market, thanks to its sleek design, great performance, and extremely portable build. Now, however, Dell is taking that already-sleek design and making it even sleeker. The Dell XPS 13 Plus represents Dell’s vision for the future of laptop design, and it could well be the laptop to beat in 2022.

Dell XPS 13 Plus design

The first thing you’ll notice about the XPS 13 Plus is the completely flat keyboard. Based on a short amount of time typing on the laptop, keys seem relatively well-spaced and comfortable — though I only used it for around a minute.

You might also notice the lack of touchpad. There is actually a touchpad — it’s just invisible. There are no markings for where the touchpad is whatsoever, which definitely helps give the laptop a sleeker look, but may impact how usable it is. In my limited use, it felt relatively natural to just use the touchpad without looking.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

There’s another change to the XPS 13 Plus too — notably, the fact that it has a pretty limited port selection. You’ll get a USB 4 port on either side, and that’s it. That includes the fact that there’s no headphone jack — so you’ll have to either use a dongle or use wireless headphones.

The laptop comes in two different colors — either Platinum or Graphite.

Dell XPS 13 Plus specs

The laptop isn’t just well-designed — it’s also pretty powerful. It features Intel’s 12th-generation chips at 28W, with options ranging from the Intel Core i5-1240P, all the way up to the Intel Core i7-1280P. That’s coupled with options for between 8GB and 32GB of RAM, and between 256GB and 2TB of storage.

Safe to say, this laptop should be able to handle most productivity-focused things you can throw at it. Dell hasn’t fit a discrete graphics card in there, so the laptop probably isn’t for gamers and those that need heavy lifting in the graphics department. But for most others, it’s an awesome option.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The display is high-end too. The base model offers a 13.4-inch FHD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 and a 500-nit brightness. However, it can be upgraded to up to a 13.4-inch 4K+ display with touch support and a 500-nit brightness.

The laptop also supports Dell’s Express Charge 2.0, which means that it should be able to get to 80% battery life in under an hour.

Dell XPS 13 Plus price and availability

So when will you be able to get your hands on the Dell XPS 13 Plus for yourself? Well, you may have to wait a little. Dell hasn’t offered a specific release date just yet, but it has said you’ll be able to get the laoptop starting in Spring 2022. The laptop will be available starting at $1,199.