44 PCWorld FEBRUARY 2020REVIEWS DELL XPS 13 2-IN-1 VS. HP SPECTRE X360 13
deeper. In weight, our postal scale put the
Spectre x360 13t in front at 2.7 pounds
without AC, with the XPS 13 2-in-1 slightly
heavier at 2.9 pounds without AC. Adding
power bricks and pens for both, the gap
basically vanishes, as both the Spectre and
XPS 13 end up at about 3.4 pounds, with the
Spectre only an ounce lighter.
The reason? Dell runs the XPS 13 2-in-1 off
of a smaller 45-watt PSU, while the Spectre
comes with a larger, heavier 65-watt PSU.
Overall, once both laptops are in your
shoulder bag, it’s a wash.
Winner: TieCHARGERS
Both laptops come with very small, USB-PD
spec power bricks. The Dell’s is smaller and
lighter and puts out less power at just 45
watts, but it features a nifty
LED at the end of the cable.
While the LED doesn’t
indicate the charge condition
of the laptop like Apple’s
older Magsafe bricks, the LED
does confirm it’s plugged in
properly, so you don’t wake
up to a dead laptop. The HP
lacks the LED, but its cable
features a classy cloth braid,
and it puts out 65 watts, or 45
percent more power output,
than the Dell.
We had no issues withinteroperabiilty. Both laptops charged off OEM
USB-PD chargers from Dell, HP, and Apple, as
well as a third-party Delta USB-C charger.
The only problem for the Dell is that tiny
45-watt charger. With brightness cranked and
as decent load on the GPU or the CPU, we
found it often consumed right up to the limits
of the brick. Dell did its homework, and the
laptop did not use so much power that it
discharged the battery. However,
performance will occasionally suffer as the
laptop prioritizes either charging the dead
battery or running the CPU hard. Dell lets you
mitigate this by changing the charge priority,
but on auto we found performance dipped
when the battery capacity was under about
20 percent.
We also looked at the charge rates of both
by discharging both to zero, then taskingThe HP’s (left) power brick is 65 watts and features braided cabling.
The Dell’s (right) is smaller and puts out only 45 watts. It does have a
cool LED indicator top to let you know it’s actually plugged in.