Something to look forward to: After Microsoft and Asus, Dell is the next laptop vendor to introduce its product line with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X processors and Microsoft’s Copilot+ AI PC brand. The company’s new XPS, Inspiron and Latitude models boast extended battery life and on-device generative AI features.
The new Dell XPS 13 laptop with Snapdragon X Elite SoC is now available for $1,299. It is joined by new and upcoming Inspiron and Latitude models with Microsoft’s Copilot feature on the device.
As previous leaks have shown, extended battery life is one of the main benefits Dell touts, which is made possible by the increased performance by switching to Qualcomm’s Arm-based chipset. The XPS 13 managed 27 hours of 1080p Netflix streaming in internal testing.
Third-party tests showed significantly lower but still impressive battery life for the Asus VivoBook, which uses the same chips. Some tests showed between 10 and 14 hours, while others suggested 24 hours of mixed use was feasible.
The new XPS 13 includes two USB ports, up to 64 GB of LPDDR5X memory and up to 2 TB of NVMe storage. Buyers can choose between a 1080p 120Hz VRR display, a 2560 x 1600 panel with an unspecified refresh rate, or a 60Hz 1800p 400 nit OLED display. The webcam can record 1080p 30fps video and uses built-in AI processing for background blur and automatic framing.
Other locally processed artificial intelligence features Dell touts include image editing, voice filtering, automatically translated video subtitles and access to the Copilot chatbot. The company also continues to strongly promote Recall, but Microsoft has delayed the implementation of the controversial Windows 11 24H2 feature, which records and transcribes everything users do and see on the system to give the built-in artificial intelligence a kind of “memory”. The company pushed Recall as the cornerstone of the Copilot+ PC, but security researchers discovered serious security flaws.
Dell also launched a new Inspiron 14 Plus for $1,099, with a lower-end Snapdragon X Plus processor but including the same AI capabilities as the XPS 13. It has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a QHD display (the exact resolution is unclear). Unfortunately, there are no custom configuration options other than choosing between the Snapdragon X or Intel’s Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 155H (the Core Ultra 9 185H is also available for the Inspiron).
Those looking to game on the new AI PCs should consider Intel’s variants, which won’t have the compatibility challenges Qualcomm currently faces. However, Intel’s models won’t include AI features on the device until a free software update arrives later this year or early next year. The upcoming AI notebooks with AMD’s Strix Point AI 300 series processors will face a similar situation.