What you need to know
- The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a seamless glass trackpad, zero-lattice keyboard, and a light-up row of function keys.
- The dramatically new design has drawn some criticism but is liked by the majority of Windows Central readers.
- Over 78% of polled readers said that they like the radical redesign of the Dell XPS 13 Plus.
Dell launched its XPS 13 Plus last week, which has a dramatically different design than previous XPS laptops. The XPS 13 Plus has a zero-lattice keyboard that features a row of capacitive function keys. Below the unique keyboard, the laptop has a seamless glass trackpad that's also capacitive.
Those changes, along with other design tweaks, turned heads and sparked debate. After seeing its design, some thought the XPS 13 Plus looked like one of the best Windows laptops. Others believed that Dell sacrificed function in the name of form. We ran a poll over the weekend to see where the majority of our readers fell on the XPS 13 Plus.
Over 78% of those that voted liked the design of the XPS 13 Plus, meaning less than 22% disliked it. We didn't leave any wiggle room in the form of a third option in order to encourage discussion about the device.
Cody Patterson echoed the sentiments of the voters in our comment section. "ABSOLUTELY, yes. This is the best design in years. The tracks pad idea is sweet the capacitive area helps keep the look minimal. The thin bezels are glorious," said Patterson. "By no doubt, best visual appearance of a laptop to date. Surface Laptop still close second ;) just needs smaller bezels and bigger trackpad imo to still get back to first."
While the majority of voters expressed a positive view of the XPS 13 Plus' design, many of the commenters from our post disagreed. "Voted no. Don't like the keyboard or hidden trackpad at all. Maybe it will work better in practice than it seems from the outside," said xsikai.
Several people expressed concerns about the typing experience on Dell's new laptop. aXross argued that the XPS 13 Plus' design is best tested out in person. Our executive editor Daniel Rubino has made a similar claim on Twitter.
