Dell XPS 13 (2020) review: beautiful design, standout keyboard and touchpad, more than adequate for gaming, but bad webcam and limited port selection
Dell improves upon an already winning formula — Every time a new XPS 13 comes out, the question is always the same: is it still the best Windows thin-and-light laptop?
Context & Ripple Effects
The XPS 13 gets re-judged every spring against the same question — still the best Windows thin-and-light? — and the review trail shows a line that keeps trading one flaw for another. The 2018 model shipped with the webcam awkwardly placed below the display, and the 2019 refresh finally moved it above the screen alongside Dolby Vision HDR and smaller bezels.
This 2020 verdict keeps the design-and-input strengths but calls out a bad webcam and thin port selection again — a regression on the camera front that foreshadows where the line went next: the late-2020 2-in-1 kept the build quality but added a shallow keyboard and weak cooling, and by the 2023 model the port situation had shrunk to just two ports with performance trailing rivals.
First-order effects
- Buyers shopping the XPS 13 against its MacBook rival get a clear trade-off sheet in 2020: standout keyboard, touchpad, and adequate gaming performance on one side, a poor webcam and limited ports on the other.
Second-order effects
- Rival Windows makers can attack the two named gaps — webcam quality and connectivity — rather than Dell's design lead, since the review concedes those categories outright.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the XPS 13 line keeps prioritizing thinness and input feel over I/O and cameras, pushing buyers toward dongles and making webcam quality a recurring differentiator in premium thin-and-lights.
The trend: Dell's annual XPS 13 cadence iterates design and input quality forward while webcam and port selection lag, defining the trade-offs of the premium Windows thin-and-light category.