Head-to-head: Dell XPS 13 VS Lenovo Yoga C930

Face Off

Dell's refresh to the popular XPS 13 for 2019 fixes the notebook's biggest flaw: the awkward webcam placement.

With the new 9380 model of the laptop, the XPS 13 now has its webcam centered above the display—rather than situated below the display, as in the past—for a more flattering angle in video conferences.

But Lenovo isn't sitting still with one of its leading notebook lineups, either. The company's latest flagship Yoga convertible, the Yoga C930, features a number of major enhancements over past models including an improved speaker system and digital pen.

Which of the two laptops is a better fit for you? In the following slides, we compare Dell's XPS 13 for 2019 vs. Lenovo's Yoga C930 on specs and price.

Display

At 13.9 inches, the display on the Yoga C930 is noticeably larger than the XPS 13 screen, which measures 13.3 inches.

Another key difference is that the Yoga C930 is a 2-in-1 convertible, meaning that its display can fold part or all of the way back, while the XPS 13 is a standard clamshell. Both laptops offer slim bezels around their displays, though the XPS 13's "InfinityEdge" design comes closer to offering a true edge-to-edge viewing experience.

The XPS 13 and Yoga C930 also feature identical options for screen resolution — FHD (1920x1080) or 4K/UHD (3840x2160). As a 2-in-1, the Yoga C930 comes with a touch screen by default, while the XPS 13 offers options for a touch screen (either FHD or 4K) or non-touch display (FHD only).

Design & Pen

As mentioned, Dell has finally solved its XPS 13 webcam problem. The design of the new XPS 13 increases the size of the bezel above the display just a bit to accommodate the webcam, and the camera itself has been shrunk significantly in size to fit more easily above the display.

The refreshed XPS 13 also adds a new color scheme: a "frost" (anodized white) exterior body with an "arctic white" interior. The white woven-glass fiber interior first appeared last year with the rose gold XPS 13 model, and that rose gold/arctic white color combo is being offered again this year—as is a silver exterior/black interior model.

Meanwhile, the Yoga C930 comes in a new color as well—"Mica" (a shade of silver)—along with "Iron Grey." Another key design change for the Yoga C930 is that it houses its included digital pen in the body of the laptop itself (in the back).

This might be the best idea we’ve seen yet for what to do about the digital pen, which is often prone to getting lost. This method also automatically charges the stylus, which takes care of the other major hassle with digital pens. There's no indication that the XPS 13 touch model features support for a digital pen.

Thickness & Weight

One of the most impressive aspects of both laptops is the portability.

The XPS 13 is certainly the smaller laptop all-around—thanks to its smaller display and slimmer bezels—but the Yoga C930 is definitely on the smaller end of the spectrum overall for a 14-inch notebook.

Both notebooks are also lightweight, with the Yoga C930 coming in at 1.3kg and the XPS 13 even lighter at 1.2kg. The XPS 13 is also the thinner laptop in our comparison, measuring 0.46 of an inch thick (making it one of the thinnest laptops out there). The Yoga C930 is still very thin, though, featuring a thickness of 0.57 of an inch.

Processor & Battery Life

The updated XPS 13 moves up to faster new processors from Intel's eighth-gen "Whiskey Lake" series, and Dell is staking a claim that the notebook is the "most powerful 13-inch in its class."

Options include Core i3/i5/i7, topping out at the Core i7-8565U (clock speed of up to 4.6GHz). Dell says the processor update brings a 10 percent improvement on performance over the 2018 model (which was already speedy). Dell is also touting strong battery life for the new XPS 13, with a promise of up to 21 hours on a charge. That's presumably for the FHD rather than UHD display.

By comparison, the Yoga C930 does not offer "Whiskey Lake" processors, instead sticking with the same "Kaby Lake R" Intel processor from last year's flagship, the Yoga 920.

The Yoga C930 is offered with the Intel Core i5-8250U and the Core i7-8550U chip with a clock speed of up to 4GHz, meaning there might be a slight performance advantage for the XPS 13. The Yoga C930 is also weaker on battery life, with a promise of up to 14.5 hours of usage on a charge for the FHD model (or nine hours for the 4K model).

Audio

Lenovo has made a bold move with the Yoga C930 by swapping out the signature feature of the Yoga line--the watchband hinge that has traditionally enabled the notebook to switch between its various modes (laptop, tent, tablet, etc).

In place of the watchband hinge, the Yoga C930 includes a hinge that doubles as a Dolby Atmos sound bar. And the hinge not only serves as a speaker, but it also rotates depending on the mode of the notebook. So in tent mode, for example, the audio presentation is preserved. This is all worthwhile because the Dolby speaker system on the Yoga C930 is great--one of the best we've heard on a laptop recently--and fairly loud, too.

Dell is touting strong audio quality for the XPS 13 speaker system, as well, with stereo speakers (1W each) that the company says are "professionally tuned with Waves MaxxAudio Pro."

Ports

For the XPS 13, Dell has gone all-in on USB-C/Thunderbolt 3, which requires a dongle for using USB-A or attaching to a display.

The new XPS 13 includes three USB-C ports, along with a microSD card reader, but leaves out USB-A.

Lenovo takes a more balanced approach with the Yoga C930, offering one USB-A port along with two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Price

Pricing and availability in Australia for Dell's new XPS 13 for 2019, is not yet certain. It's current starting price is US$1,209.99

Lenovo's Yoga C930 has an Australian starting price of $1919.20.