Cheap laptops usually have a catch. You get a good price, then something gives. Maybe the hinge feels loose. Maybe the screen looks dull. Maybe the keyboard feels hollow. The Dell XPS 13 (2026) skips most of that. It costs $699. It doesn't feel like $699.

That's the real question here. Can the Dell XPS 13 actually be cheap without cutting the corners buyers expect? Let's get into it.

Design

Pick it up. It's metal, not plastic. Dell used a CNC aluminum chassis on the Dell XPS 13, and you notice right away. The body stays cool. It doesn't creak. It doesn't flex when you squeeze the corners.

It weighs about a kilogram. The screen measures 13.4 inches. It fits easily into a bag. Students hauling it across campus won't notice the extra weight much, if at all.

The keyboard stands out too. Keys travel well. Typing feels bouncy, almost springy, in a way cheaper laptops rarely manage. People keep comparing this thing to Apple's MacBook Neo. Fair comparison. Dell clearly built the XPS 13 to go head to head with it, and the build quality backs that up.

It's not flawless. The webcam is weak. Ports are limited given how thin the chassis is. The trackpad is another spot where Dell played it safe, sticking with a traditional mechanical pad instead of the glass surface on other XPS models. It works fine near the keyboard, but clicks can stop registering closer to the bottom edge. Small issues, though, next to what Dell got right.

Display

This part surprised a lot of reviewers. The touchscreen runs 2560 by 1440. Refresh rate hits 120Hz. Those numbers usually show up on laptops that cost twice as much. Scrolling feels smooth. Colors look rich instead of flat and gray.

Touch response works well too. Swiping through Windows 11 gestures feels accurate, no lag, no missed taps. A lot of budget laptops skip touchscreens entirely, or add one that barely functions. Dell didn't cut that corner on the XPS 13.

Indoor brightness holds up fine. Step into direct sunlight and it washes out a bit, same as most laptops in this price range.

Still, anyone staring at a screen all day, writing, editing, watching lectures, gets real value from this display. It gives the Dell XPS 13 an edge over rivals that skimp right here first.

Performance

Under the hood sits Intel's Core 5 320, from the newer Wildcat Lake lineup. Paired with it: 16GB of fast DDR5 memory. This isn't a chip built for heavy work. It handles browser tabs fine. It handles spreadsheets fine. It handles the occasional photo edit fine too.

Benchmarks turned up something odd. In 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, the Dell XPS 13 beat a pricier Core 7 350 chip from a rival budget laptop. Then in Cinebench, it fell behind by about 13 percent on rendering tasks. Mixed results. Still, nowhere near as weak as you'd expect for $699.

Compare it to Apple's A18 Pro in the MacBook Neo, and Apple wins on raw power. That gap rarely shows up day to day, though. Apps open fast. Tabs load fast. Testing didn't turn up stutters, even with a dozen tabs open at once.

Students and remote workers get what they need here. Nothing fancy. Just steady, dependable performance.

Battery and Daily Use

Battery life used to be the first thing cut on a budget laptop. Not this time. Through a full day of writing, browsing, and video calls, the Dell XPS 13 kept going well past where most laptops in this range would need a charger.

Some credit goes to Wildcat Lake. Intel built the chip family around power efficiency, and it shows. Older Intel chips burned through battery much faster under similar conditions. The Dell XPS 13 clearly benefits from that shift.

Configuration options add flexibility. Base models come with 8GB of RAM and 512GB storage. Buyers can push that up to 32GB and 1TB, for more money. That range means the Dell XPS 13 can work as a simple browsing machine, or scale up into something closer to a real workstation.

Trackpad and keyboard hold up fine through daily use too. Little here feels rushed or unfinished, which is rare to say about a laptop this cheap.

Conclusion

So does the Dell XPS 13 pull off cheap without feeling cheap? Yes, mostly. The aluminum build helps. The sharp 120Hz screen helps. Steady day-to-day performance helps too. Together, they add up to a laptop punching well above its price.

It won't replace a gaming rig. It won't replace a creative workstation. The webcam still needs work. But as a daily productivity machine, one that holds its own against Apple's MacBook Neo, the Dell XPS 13 earns its spot on any budget shortlist.

Not bad for $699.