Windows 8 ushered in a wave of weird and wonderful hybrid devices, and the Dell XPS 12 was one of the most flamboyant of the lot. Drawing on the designs of Dell’s XPS Ultrabooks and high-end laptops, the XPS 12 took the unusual flip-twist screen ofthe Inspiron Duo, improved the specification and cranked up the bling factor. Now, Dell has added an Intel Haswell processor into the mix. See also: The best laptops of 2014
Visually, there isn’t a slice of metal or a sliver of carbon fibre out of place. Not a thing has changed about the chassis, and thank goodness for that – the original XPS 12 was a lovely-looking bit of hardware. The base is moulded from a single piece of carbon fibre, which shimmers with a familiar criss-cross weave, and another plate protects the back of the 12.5in touchscreen. Chamfered strips of metal run around the edges of the laptop, and the backlit keyboard is surrounded by soft-touch matte-black plastic.
The XPS 12’s nifty flip-swivel hybrid mechanism works beautifully. Tilt back the lid and the XPS 12 ably masquerades as a compact Ultrabook, with a spacious, comfy-feeling keyboard and a large, responsive touchpad. Firmly prod the upper portion of the display and the magnetic latches hidden around the metal frame give way, allowing the touchscreen to pirouette through 180 degrees. You can then flatten the display into tablet mode, or angle it for comfortable movie-viewing and web-surfing.
If you were desperate to pick holes in the physical form of the XPS 12, you might point out that it’s a little thick around the waist by Ultrabook standards; including the broad rubber feet stretching across the underside, it measures 22mm thick. Compared to the pared-down Sony VAIO Pro 13, it feels slightly leaden in the hand, too, weighing in at 1.51kg. All the same, it all feels absolutely rock-solid — there’s no mistaking this for anything but a top-flight portable.
Inside, an Ivy Bridge processor has left via the back door; the XPS 12 now has a 1.9GHz Core i7-4500U processor beating at its heart. There’s 8GB of the latest DDR3L-RS RAM and a 256GB Liteon SSD alongside, which results in a hybrid that feels every inch as quick as its rivals. The SSD takes much of the credit here: in the AS SSD benchmark, it read large files at an average of 476MB/sec and wrote them at 399MB/sec, which translates to nippy boot times and seriously fast application load times.
Details | |
|---|---|
Warranty | |
| Warranty | 1yr on-site |
Physical specifications | |
| Dimensions | 317 x 214 x 22mm (WDH) |
| Weight | 1.510kg |
| Travelling weight | 1.8kg |
Processor and memory | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4500U |
| RAM capacity | 8.00GB |
| Memory type | DDR3L-RS |
| SODIMM sockets free | 0 |
| SODIMM sockets total | 0 |
Screen and video | |
| Screen size | 12.5in |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,920 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 1,080 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Graphics chipset | Intel HD Graphics 4400 |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 0 |
| HDMI outputs | 0 |
| S-Video outputs | 0 |
| DVI-I outputs | 0 |
| DVI-D outputs | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 1 |
Drives | |
| Capacity | 256GB |
| Spindle speed | N/A |
| Hard disk | Liteon |
| Replacement battery price inc VAT | £0 |
Networking | |
| 802.11a support | yes |
| 802.11b support | yes |
| 802.11g support | yes |
| 802.11 draft-n support | yes |
| Integrated 3G adapter | no |
| Bluetooth support | yes |
Other Features | |
| Wireless hardware on/off switch | no |
| Wireless key-combination switch | yes |
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 1 |
| SD card reader | no |
| Memory Stick reader | no |
| MMC (multimedia card) reader | no |
| Smart Media reader | no |
| Pointing device type | Touchpad, touchscreen |
| Integrated microphone? | yes |
| Integrated webcam? | yes |
| Camera megapixel rating | 0.9mp |
Battery and performance tests | |
| Battery life, light use | 12hr 41min |
| 3D performance (crysis) low settings | 52fps |
| 3D performance setting | Low |
| Overall Real World Benchmark score | 0.68 |
| Responsiveness score | 0.72 |
| Media score | 0.76 |
| Multitasking score | 0.55 |
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