Tom's Hardware90
An excellent budget-to-midrange Windows laptop that is light, slim and outlasts the MacBook Neo on battery.
Dell XPS 13 (2026)
6 expert reviews#16 of 32 laptops
Image: Dell4/6critics
recommend
recommend
Best budget Windows laptop
Critics’ consensus
6 professional reviewers tested the Dell XPS 13 (2026), and 4 recommend it. Most praised: picture quality and battery life. Most common complaint: price.
Reviewed by Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, CNET and 3 more
The catch: The 8GB base model struggles, so plan to pay extra for 16GB.
Broad agreement
Scores run from 70 to 90All 6 scores printed by the outlets
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What do critics say about the Dell XPS 13 (2026)?
Tom's Guide90
Named the best budget Windows laptop at present, with strong battery life and fast storage.
CNET83
A strong budget Windows alternative to the MacBook Neo, though the reviewer slightly prefers the Neo.
WIRED80
A compelling laptop with a great display, keyboard and touchpad, but the 8GB base model is too limited.
Engadget75
A light, slim, long-lasting budget laptop, but the 8GB base model struggles badly with multitasking.
TechRadar70
A portable, premium-feeling laptop that falls short of being a MacBook Neo beater.
Scores are converted to 0–100. "est." means the outlet gave no number, so we estimated one from its verdict and checked our estimates against ratings outlets print. How we check estimates
What critics praise most
Picture quality3 of 6
Battery life3 of 6
Performance2 of 6
What critics dislike most
Price2 of 6
Alternatives
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Common questions
Is the Dell XPS 13 (2026) worth it?
Critics are divided: 4 of 6 recommend it. The 8GB base model struggles, so plan to pay extra for 16GB.
Do critics agree about the Dell XPS 13 (2026)?
Broad agreement: scores range from 70 (TechRadar) to 90 (Tom's Hardware), a spread of 20 points across 6 reviews. Most reviewers land fairly close together.
What do critics dislike about the Dell XPS 13 (2026)?
Price (2 of 6 reviews).
What is the best alternative to the Dell XPS 13 (2026)?
The Apple MacBook Air (M4) (critic score 91), top pick, narrowly.