Does Dell's XPS 13 (9300) come with a digital pen or stylus?

Dell XPS 13 9300
Dell XPS 13 9300 (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

Does Dell's XPS 13 (9300) come with a digital pen or stylus?

Best answer: The XPS 13 (9300) does not come with a digital pen or stylus included. Touch display models would no doubt work with an inactive stylus — something with a generic rubber tip — but an active digital pen is not compatible. If you'd like to enjoy quality inking from an XPS laptop, have a look at Dell's convertible XPS 13 2-in-1 (7390), combined with the Dell Premium Active Pen.Convertible PC with inking: Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (7390) (From $882 at Dell)Active pen for XPS 13 2-in-1: Dell Premium Active Pen (PN579X) ($95 at Dell)Notebook PC without pen support: Dell XPS 13 (9300) (From $980 at Dell)

How do the XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1 compare?

Dell's standard XPS 13 (9300) notebook and its convertible XPS 13 2-in-1 (7390) counterpart both start at about the same price and have a similar premium 13-inch design. They're both some of the best Windows laptops available now. These are sibling devices that have been designed to fulfill different uses. The XPS 13 (9300) sits as a notebook without the ability to change its form, while the XPS 13 2-in-1 can have its lid and display rotated around to tent, stand, and, most importantly for inking, tablet mode.

If you'd like to take advantage of Windows Ink to jot notes, sketch diagrams and drawings, or use any of the awesome active pen apps available, you'll have to go with the XPS 13 2-in-1 and its pen digitizer. The standard XPS 13 does come with FHD+ (1920x1200) or UHD+ (3840x2400) touch displays, but it doesn't have the same technology behind it that allows for active inking. The XPS 13 2-in-1's display has the same 16:10 aspect ratio. It's available in either FHD+ or UHD+ resolutions, and all models are compatible with an active pen.

Source: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central)

Both laptops are equipped with 10th Gen Intel Core processors (CPU), available with up to a Core i7 chip. They're both available with LPDDR4x RAM, M.2 PCIe solid-state drive (SSD), and the same selection of ports. Both are also available with Wi-Fi 6.

Bottom line? If you'd like to use an active pen with your 13-inch XPS laptop, you won't have to trade performance or design when you opt for the convertible model.

What's inking like on the XPS 13 2-in-1?

Combined with Dell's Premium Active Pen, you'll enjoy 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt support, and a 240Hz report rate for an overall smooth and precise inking experience. To keep your pen close by when not in use, the active pen will magnetically attach to the side of your laptop.

Buttons on the pen can be customized through Windows Ink, allowing you to set up handy shortcuts to expedite the drawing or sketching process. This active pen is quite flexible thanks to MPP 1.51, Wacom AES 1.0, and Wacom AES 2.0 compatibility, allowing you to use it with many other devices that support inking.

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Cale Hunt
Contributor

Cale Hunt brings to Windows Central more than eight years of experience writing about laptops, PCs, accessories, games, and beyond. If it runs Windows or in some way complements the hardware, there’s a good chance he knows about it, has written about it, or is already busy testing it.