Dell XPS 13 9300 Review (2020 model)

[@mezzox-gg4fu]

Very detailed review. Much better than some "professional" ones.

[@smariko3]

Thanks!

[@nhhnathan3]

What an amazing review, transition from point to point are seamless!

[@smariko3]

NathAN Haha I think I still have to fine tune my transitions but I appreciate your compliment :)

[@brainactivity737]

While watching reviews, I usually check the time to see when they'll end. I finished watching this entire review, and I was like WHAT! I watched 13 minutes without even feeling it. Excellent and informative video and I do agree that the transition from point to point was smooth and didn't waste any time.

[@cat-.-]

Engadget: Light beat music, animated transition, professionally shot B roll This channel: Information

[@SudeepBaral]

Nice in-depth video. You covered everything I needed to know. Looking forward to more such videos. Subscribed!

[@smariko3]

Cheers, looking to do a quick one on the 9300 with egpu use + a comparison with the new Mbp 13 once it ships

[@SudeepBaral]

@@smariko3 Sweet! Looking forward to it. Have a great day

[@xscale]

I have the XPS 13 9300 with 16 gig ram and 4K screen. It was close to unusable under WIndows - ran hot with fans constantly spinning and tons of Dell bloatware that just didn't want to be turned off. But I was always going to scrub that crap off it and slap Manjaro KDE on instead. The problems you describe don't occur for me under this OS at all. It's a fantastic and rock solid little box that exceeds all my expectations and makes me very happy. Not a Linux distro intended for newbies I hasten to add. If you want that probably go with zorin or elementary. I get about 5 hours battery life running at 1920x1200 but haven't done much tweaking yet so hope to reach 6. Will probably swap it for an FHD model I think ... I have no use for a touch screen either. But ... if I want MacOS I just install sosumi with "yay -S sosumi" and there's catalina running free at pretty close to native speed. Only thing I use MacOS for is powerpoint offline because there's no linux alternative for that ....

[@ballahm8016]

What a nice and a detailed review, I totally vouch for you.

[@smariko3]

Ballah M Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@Deevoized]

Awesome review! Just ordered mine a couple days ago and I've seen a ton of great reviews with minimal issues. I can't wait to use mine for coding + photo editing!

[@bnsn14]

Loved the thorough discussion and honest real life feedback. Looking forward to your future tech reviews

[@alexandruvita]

Awesome review, man! Very thoughtful and detailed, you've made some good points.

[@smariko3]

Thanks, glad U found it useful!

[@everydayknowledge2564]

Now a subscriber! You got me! Nice review! Very straight to point, no gray lines! Just like casey neistat.

[@akshayshetye8718]

Absolutely much needed indepth review...👌👌

[@smariko3]

Akshay Shetye Thanks mate, will try and give you guys more content :)

[@SunsetNova]

In-depth review that puts many so called professional reviewers to shame. Hats off to you Sir.

[@smariko3]

Thanks so much! Looking forward to making more for U guys 🙂

[@Lauren-fc4yp]

Very thorough! Great video compared to other reviews I’ve been watching.

[@smariko3]

Lauren Thanks :)

[@carlmazzara5098]

Hey man really great review! Keep it up! I just ordered my XPS 15 for work and I’m super excited.

[@bostangpalaguna228]

Thank you for the honest review. Some Dudes out there only mention the positive side of the laptop, which may bias someone. I really like your honest review

[@smariko3]

Thanks man, appreciate all the support!

[@psiber1188]

Fantastic, thorough review and great camera work!

[@smariko3]

Thanks!

[@krov.]

Wow! What a good review you deserve more visits and subscribers, but you already won one, well I liked your video, I hope to see more of your good content, Greetings from Peru!

[@smariko3]

2Reich Countryball TY!

[@lumdermaku]

Hey, lowering the resolution won't help with battery life as much as you'd think, if not at all. Since it is LCD, the pixels aren't individualy lit(like oleds), when you lower the res the pixels don't turn off, they still power on. By lowering the display's res you only lower the res of the image that will be rendered but this image will be "upscaled" to cover all the pixels. You still get the same power consumption of the display, but just a bit less power consuption on the gpu (not that much but technically there is a tiny bit of an improvement) so you'll get essentialy the same batterylife regardless of the qhd+ or uhd+ (default) res.

[@smariko3]

That's an excellent point. Might switch it back to 4k and see whether there's any noticeable difference!

[@ashishdhingra8034]

could you please share the link t0 the wallpaper used in the thumbnail?

[@arianselmo]

Great review. Exactly the type of user experience that’s soo difficulty to find on KZbin.

[@philc8544]

Great video. I look forward to watching more. Thank you.

[@Goffas_and_gumpys]

Great review mate, I just bought one of these to replace my Lenovo Thinkpad. Got it for a pretty good price too with Dell's EOFY sale. Can't wait to play with it.

[@smariko3]

Nice one, enjoy. They’re better value with the discounts but definitely wouldn’t recommend at retail price

[@chrismundiath4348]

I enjoyed this review! Keep going , bro

[@PWingert1966]

I have one of the old XPS 13 9370's. I had to have the Bluetooth replaced under warranty. Onsite service was prompt, professional, and competent. They ended up replacing the entire Motherboard since the Bluetooth was soldered on. Had a store replace the SSD with a larger WD Black. But the really Odd thing about this is that updates lag behind a few releases. I'm running 1909 (Had to initiate that update on my own after six months of waiting) and I am on the 18363.720 but all my other machines are up to .836 release. In a couple of months, it will qualify for .836 but by then 2004 will be out and I start my waiting game again. It seems to be a driver issue.

[@smariko3]

P. Wingert Yeh I totally agree that under warranty Dell does a good job at hardware replacement. I have had motherboards, keyboards, batteries replaced on my past dells on-site so I didn’t have to even go anywhere. BUT, it’s still frustrating to have to go through then whole process to get there. The amount of times I’ve been asked to wipe the hard drive and reinstall windows.....gets me mad even thinking about it haha

[@Vencarter]

fantastic review!

[@smariko3]

Vencarter Thanks so much :)

[@annecy49]

Keep it up! Good, personal and informative review.

[@naveenveldi4144]

Good review. Please make a video about the new XPS 17 & 15 as well. Thank you

[@smariko3]

suryasivanaveen veldi if only I could afford.... T.T

[@naveenveldi4144]

@@smariko3 I have my unit coming Tomorrow, Do you live in USA?

[@AlejandroMartinez-cl4kk]

Great review! Thank you!!

[@8mav7]

Very detailed review. well done and keep it up =)

[@smariko3]

Kelvin Koh Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)

[@zephyr7]

never heard of the rubber feet issues, is it common ?

[@ZePeppapig]

Hey did you get this through Dell Outlet Australia? I remember this exact configuration had 2 in stock 3 weeks ago, and I got one of them. The other one got sold minutes after though, wondered if you bought it :)

[@smariko3]

Hey yeh, i did. Funnily enough, I don't regular check out the outlet but it just so happened that I had it checked it that morning and couldn't resist!

[@ZePeppapig]

@@smariko3 Far out! I was exactly the same. Checked out the outlet store for the first time and this caught my eye!

[@ZePeppapig]

Btw, did you notice any minor cosmetic damages on your laptop? They advertised it as "as new", but my unit came with a small dent on the bottom chassis. Funnily enough, my unit had some fingerprints when I opened it for the first time too lol

[@ZePeppapig]

I do agree with you on the driver issues on this laptop though... my speaker just stops working all of a sudden for no apparent reason, and I'd have to restart to make it work again. And during my first week, there were some overheating issues with it. The laptop started getting real hot and the internal fan didn't turn on. Scared the hell outta me cuz I couldn't turn on my laptop for 30 minutes. 3. Have you noticed any problems with your keyboard? Once my laptop was really hot, and my C and V keys weren't registering when I clicked them. This went on for like 3 minutes then it came back

[@aguilaairgamer]

I also have this laptop. Regarding the issues you found: I have experienced many of issues you mentioned including trackpad clicking while on one hand(cant really he fixed with an update ;)), brightness not working and the speakers not working either. However, the Bluetooth has never failed on m unit. However, since the last BIOS update (and also a Realtek direver on) these do seem to be fixed (or at least much less common)as i have not experienced them. Hope this helps!

[@pranavtumminkatti9373]

hey bro are you from Singapore? Great content btw!

[@pranavtumminkatti9373]

Just wondering because ur wallpaper was of Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore

[@RATEDRSAYAK]

Very well done. Can you do something for budget laptops ?

[@smariko3]

SAYAK CHATTERJEE I will try my best my friend but it will depend on time and budget as I only really purchase laptops for personal use...and I can only own so many lol

[@RATEDRSAYAK]

@@smariko3 I understand. Hope this channel grows 👍

[@smileycomments]

Hi Smarikoe - Great review. Did you purchase this laptop brand new or Refurbish / As New off the Australian Dell Outlet store? Interested to hear your thoughts on the Outlet store if you have had any experience. Thanks!

[@smariko3]

Hi Michael, yeh I did purchase this from the refurbished website. Overall experience is mixed. The unit itself was physically no different to brand new. You don’t get the original packaging but that’s not a big issue. My only gripe is that I have had ongoing issues with the unit that seem software based...but it’s hard to tell. Maybe it’s because it’s a refurbished unit but It seems more related to driver issues. Good thing is, Dell give you a pretty robust warranty service with on-site repairs. I’m about to post a 3 month update on the laptop so see if the trade offs I mentioned are worth it for you.

[@smileycomments]

@@smariko3 Great thanks for your comments, I think I'm just expecting some growing pains with any unit I picked up. It feels that on the Windows side of things driver compatibility and software will have problems no matter what brand/model you pick up. Thanks for your input - probably will grab a similar model to you off the Outlet as well. The 'Australia tax' on the new XPS13 models are absurd, being ~$1,299 USD in the US to ~$3,000 AUD here.

[@smariko3]

@@smileycomments preaching to the choir. Have a look and see whether a FHD+ model comes along - definitely would suggest that one over the 4k model for better battery lkfe

[@snizekfilip]

Thank you for really good review. Right now I am using Macbook Air 2017 and looking for something new because of display quality. The last part of video with driver issues is very important to me (keyboard backlight, bluescreen of death). I had Dell notebooks few times and every time there was a problem with drivers and etc. So I will stick to the Mac OS. Thank you. :)

[@smariko3]

Nice! Another reason why I suggested Mac being a good competitor is that, at least here in Aus, the pricing between the two are pretty similar. In fact the baseline Mbp 13 just released is a better deal than the baseline xps in my opinion!!

[@snizekfilip]

​@@smariko3 I agree just baseline MBP 13 has just 8th gen CPU and DDR3 RAMs and higher configuration is really pricey. There is no win win choice in buying Apple product of course. :)

[@getonemonster]

Really liked the review, and your computer background-picture! Where did you get it from and what's the name of it?

[@daniellaerachannel]

what about fan noise for example during a zoom or obs session?

[@smariko3]

Keeps quite, thank god!

[@daniellaerachannel]

@@smariko3 finally switched back to Mac, dell xps 13 experience was terrible

[@tech_realm]

@CodingAndCaffeine Reasons?

[@immavillamor8809]

Great, informative overview! How is the battery life on the XPS 13 9300? I'm considering on purchasing this laptop, but not sure if I should go for the FHD or the touch UHD display model.

[@stow8619]

I ordered this but am still waiting for it to ship. The new macbook pro is only 200 dollars more then what I paid and I am torn between the two.

[@tech_realm]

Keep in mind, if you are ordering the base model of the MacBook Pro, you will only get the Intel Core 8th Gen, versus 10th Gen IceLake technology.

[@patonmcdonald1340]

Same as you man. Canceld and reordered both mutiple times. I went with the XPS due to the fact I can get 32gb of ram and 1tb nvme ssd.

[@smariko3]

See how the xps goes - it's awesome when it works smoothly. If you run into issues, can always return and pick up a mbp instead!

[@tech_realm]

Smarikoe Hoping the same with my order of the Dell XPS 13 9300! I am planning to buy it on Memorial Day for the sales in the US.

[@ericshen4909]

Same here, I am in Canada. With 10%off discount, my xps 13 is just 300cad less than a new MBP 13inch 16gb 512ssd. Just placed my order on dell Canada, hope its a good choice

[@filename8687]

Nice review - just bought one for myself - will see how it works out

[@smariko3]

File Name Let us know how it goes!

[@filename8687]

Smarikoe had it for 2 days and then returned it. Beautiful machine but too many problems. It heated up overnight during charging. The display brightness changes wildly during use. The WiFi for some reason drops and is often slower than my other laptop for no reason. Keyboard still feels kind of flimsy,

[@nach2691]

The only reason that made me switch to Apple is the drivers problem! I don't understand why Microsoft is not doing anything about it! I can't use the search fonction on my Lenovo y700, apparently it's some kind of an issue with archiving! Sometimes write clicking on a file doesn't work! When I unplug and plug my earphones once, they stop working unless I restart my computer!! They are small things, but to be honest they make the experience frustrating! I was thinking about the XPS as an light portable ultra book, but I couldn't take windows anymore! I'm getting the MacBook air soon!

[@maylee2482]

I have the exactly same laptop as you. When I am playing games or watch live shows, the temperature of the machine incredibly increases. It is too hot to type on the keyboard at that time. I am not sure whether I still want to keep it or change to Mbp.

[@smariko3]

That's not good, I definitely don't have issues with extreme heat ....maybe that's why mine runs so slow on battery life hmmm. If you can't find a work-around, it may be worth changing...although I'm going to hold out until the new ARM-based mac arrives

[@connerhuston2613]

Okay nice, but I am hearing that the 2020 Dell XPS 15 inch and the (Welcome Back) Dell XPS 17 inch will be officially reintroduced very very soon. Really looking forward to the reviews.

[@smariko3]

conner huston If only I could afford ! T.T

[@connerhuston2613]

@@smariko3 , yeah it's tough. I have been waiting/saving for a good 17 inch laptop for at least 5-7 years now. Believe it or not I have been working with my "Transition" 14 inch Acer aspire laptop for that long. Celeron Intel processor LoL. I also use my phone and iPad 2nd gen or is it 3rd LoL? ( I barely use that anymore. So I am way overdue. I will say if the Dell XPS 17 wasn't coming out. I would have to choose between the MSI Creator 17, The HP Envy 17, or that Asus Studio book 17.

that frame drops also happens at my hp envy but when I select better performance on battery section it becomes less noticeable

[@jdmdavidmai]

Hey man, finally someone talking about 4k battery life. How is it now? I am an office user, so word doc are the most use I'll use on the xps. Would you say 6-7 hours is the battery life I'll expect for the 4k model? Any more comments on the battery life with the 4k model would be appreciated

[@PedroOjeda]

what about fan noises and coil whines?

[@hun_ny]

your’s login wallpaper is korea?

[@smariko3]

멍개장수 Yup! Went and visited Gyeongbokgung in January- loved it :)

[@dianadkj2556]

Have you had any wifi disconnecting issues? I bought it a month ago and I'm very disappointed because of this problem.

[@smariko3]

So I've had issues where I'm still connected to WiFi but I have internet dropouts. Have to reconnect to the network to fix the problem. Still trying to figure out whether it's my router or the dell laptop itself. Will keep you guys posted!

[@SocialWorkProfessor]

Same but I've only had it a day.

[@tech_realm]

KZbin Viewers: We have fixed this issue in another comment thread on another video. The answer is by disabling Advanced Stream Detect in Killer Control Center. Hope this helps!

[@abhijitbhavsar6621]

Good work!😊✨

[@smariko3]

Abhijit Bhavsar thanks! :)

[@antoaneta3000]

At what degree is the lid opening? I recently bought another mark and model and was very upset I cannot open the lid at 120 percents at least.

[@pranavtumminkatti9373]

How much did the laptop cost?

[@La-eh4jk]

I like the review, dude you have the potential. Just fix yourself little bit next time so you look more professional. Looks like you just woke up and you haven't had any coffe. Other than that excellent review. Good details, great video.

[@zeppast]

In house optimization is the reason Macs "just work." They aren't perfect by any means but it's true they are a lot more stable than the vast majority of Windows based machines. Apple has an unfair advantage here in terms of hardware and software stability. They designed Mac OS as well as the hardware around it where as Dell only designs the hardware as well as some of their software that comes pre loaded on their machines that have to play well with Windows 10. It's extremely difficult for many manufactures to match Apple because Windows has to be able to run on thousands of different machines made by different manufactures with hundreds of different configurations. I'm not giving Dell a pass here or anything they do have a lot of room to improve when it comes to hardware and software optimization as there are other PC manufactures that do a better job.

[@mikefreedom8881]

As he was talking about the issue with the sound, brightness and other glitches, I was just thinking "I miss my Macs, because they just work!"

[@jakejones9697]

Is there a touch screen non 4K option?

[@Qacc6]

The rubber band on my XPS also wore off.

[@joeatx247]

good video at first, but i have a questions, have this 9300 a coil whine problem / noise?

[@smariko3]

The 2-in-1 did suffer from a little bit of coil whine but my 9300 has none!

[@joeatx247]

@@smariko3 Thank you for your answer, this is very important for my purchase decision.

[@mikev324]

How do the bottom firing speakers of the 2020 model compare to previous models which had the speakers on both sides? Since speakers are now bottom firing, doesn't that make audio more dull with less high frequencies compared to the side speakers on previous models?

[@mrbeise]

I've been a XPS 13 user for almost 5 years and when I saw the line-up coming up, I was pretty damn excited about it. Now, almost after 5 months of using it I have to say one thing: I DON'T RECOMMEND BUYING THE NEW DELL XPS 13 (9300). Here are the reasons why: 1) Several reports of screen issues (It also happened to me). When watching videos or in a Zoom call, the screen flickers. Several people are talking about it in the Dell community website. You can find it here: www.dell.com/community/XPS/Dell-XPS-13-9300-First-Week-of-Use-Audio-Resolved-Now-SCREEN/m-p/7635807 www.dell.com/community/XPS/Problems-with-XPS-13-2020-9300/td-p/7512905 Dell is refusing to send a new laptop in most of the cases, and technical support hasn't been able to solve the issue; Dell switched my LCD but the problem was not solved. 2) FAN noise. The 9300 locks to 15w whether on battery or plugged in, and the FAN noise is extremely loud even when working on small taks such as Office or even web browsing. Didn't notice this problem before on my previous XPS. In addition, the laptop gets REALLY hot in the keyboard area. It is impossible not to notice it. 3) Battery Life. Battery life in this laptop is all over the place. There was times that my battery lasted for less than 4 hours of usage even when I was just web browsing. Some other times, battery lasted for almost 8 hours doing the exact same things. I know that it depends on tasks, but didn't encounter this discrepancy before in y previous XPS. At least for now, I don't recommend ANYONE on buying this new lineup.

[@julliantadena]

Can u tell me more about the hinge? Is it sturdy like the macbook air/pro?

[@julliantadena]

I mean is it flimsy?

[@smariko3]

Hey yeh, I’ve found the hinge stiffer thank the MBP. There’s a clip in the review where I wasn’t able to quite open the screen with one hand. But because of that stiffness, it is a really solid hinge and I would say better thank the 2-in-1 model

[@tr7287]

When will this be sold outside of Dell.com? It's been 5 months since it's been released.

[@tech_realm]

You could purchase the Dell XPS 13 9300 on Newegg.com, but I don't think other websites have it yet, due to the global crisis.

[@ryanhiga9270]

It's refreshing to see a tech reviewer pronounce aluminium correctly.

[@miguelmadrazo521]

Is this good for video editing? Great video!

[@olafcisneros1]

Miguel Madrazo yes

[@jsalapungol]

I think what should be compared with the MBP here is the Dell XPS13 9300 FHD non-touch for the battery life.

[@antoniomontana95]

Hi, great video! Would you please Review the new Acer Swift 3 SF313-52 (the one with 2k resolution, Intel and 3:2 display ratio)? There is literally not a SINGLE review video about this laptop. Its very affordable yet has great specs. Please review!

[@smariko3]

Antonio Montana Would love to my friend but I only purchase laptops for personal use currently ...and I can only own so many. Looks like an awesome affordable laptop though!!! Will keep an eye out in aus for it

[@Dehat1258]

Can you please disconnecte touch screen and use battry saver and tell me or do a video i want to know how much hours it gonna last PLEASEEEEEEE

[@primalpenguin]

What are the temps on average having a couple browser tabs open? Thanks.

[@smariko3]

Around 40-45 averaging across all four cores

[@tty2020]

Strange. The rubber stand under my 2018 xps 13 are still perfect.

[@smariko3]

Daniel TTY yeh I didn’t have issues on the 9370 or my partners 9360... new design perhaps? Will have to wait and see whether it reoccurs on this model...

[@jerome_morrow]

The “rubber” (more likely silicone) strips degrade more from oils than the heat of the laptop, though heat does accelerate the process. So if one has oily hands, or uses the laptop on surfaces with oils (eg: Starbucks tables), the rubber will expand, deform and eventually detach. Much like those silicone phone cases that expand and get loose over time. Not much one can do about it and it would have been preferable to have four little discs that are easier to replace than those two long strips. Can’t have everything, I guess. Wear and tear happens. Pity that they don’t appear to sell the strips as spares and an entirely new base plate is needed!Still a great laptop, in spite of the shortcomings.

[@pool_tl]

great video

[@shubhammeher5527]

Young Dave.

[@abdulbazid9925]

should i go for Mac Pro , Mac Air or Dell XPS 13 9300 ?

[@teancoffee208]

What does your pocket tell you? I think the xps is more on par with the pro than the air (the pro and the xps have the same target audience).

[@mvtm89]

Hey how much did you pay for it?? :)

[@smariko3]

I think I purchased mine for about 2.1-2.2k off Dells Refurbished website

[@mvtm89]

Smarikoe yes mine was refurbished also. I paid $1200 on the dot for the 4k biggest configuration when model was current. Got it in Dec 2018. Nice they got the 9300 refurbs :)

[@samtoo2010]

Ram is upgradable , it’s just only has one slot

[@unclehoop3554]

I like how you don't give a fuck about your hairstyle. Great video mate!

[@AC-gg4ck]

oh my god yes the bluetooth and the speaker suddenly not working on my asus zenbook ux333 too

[@teancoffee208]

My Asus zenbook ux305 basically can't connect via Bluetooth at all, and everytime I use plug-in headphones or an auxiliary cord I have to reinstall the stereo drivers afterwards if I want to use the laptop speakers (which means restarting the laptop). Im probably never going to get an Asus laptop again, and definitely not a zenbook.

[@TheMarkedWolf]

Ryzen?

[@smariko3]

TheMarkedWolf I wish

[@dangriffiths1044]

Great review but I can see the disparity when DELL are charging Apple prices it would make it harder to recommend. In the UK DELL are substantially cheaper than Apple.

[@King-zo4vv]

Nice one man

[@abdelrhmanahmad9851]

W

[@safeburn]

Good review, comparing to other You tubers you know what are you talking about.

[@smariko3]

Appreciate all your support!

[@bynishant9616]

Why do u have so less subscribers?!

[@leolohk23]

There's a Excel file named Savings.. lol

[@np67]

I would not really purchase Dell laptops post 2016 as the quality control is very poor. Batteries can swell up and damage the laptop. Dell do not think this is a problem, even though this is a very serious issue. Dell do not even warn anybody about this. Also they use poor motherboards and all in all it is awful. I have had my Dell XPS over 4 years now and had an issue with the battery swelling. Also have used Dell for work, and have had many new laptops have serious problems right out of the box. Dell have become garbage.

[@andyH_England]

I never know why reviewers complain about no SD slot. With the multi-functional USB-C we really do not need them anymore. If you are at home you can just dock your laptop with the USB-C for multiple ports. On the road I always have my £2000 laptop in a case and a dongle tucked away for access to ports not supplied. If you are buying a £2000 laptop you should not worry about another £30 for a dock/dongle especially as that can be used on multiple devices and is future proof! It seems that tech experts want to live in the past and do not understand where we are going; they should be supporting totalism USB-C.

[@krisian7270]

anyway ur messy hair makes u nerdy cute

[@BatistaR0X]

Pricing higher than MacBooks.. dell, who da fork do ya think u r

[@theopinion9452]

$2000!!!!...Adios.