Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 vs. Dell XPS 13 (2024): Which laptop should you trust to fuel your productivity?

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 and Dell XPS 13 (2024) cover a lot of the same ground. They’re among the best laptops out there for someone who wants that lightweight but robust and powerful experience pioneered by Apple’s MacBook line while staying within the Windows ecosystem.

They’re also among the best Windows laptops, partially thanks to using an ARM-based CPU. Specifically, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite helps keep performance snappy, as long as you’re not gaming, not to mention runs efficiently enough to offer pretty remarkable battery life. They even have the same neural processing unit (NPU) for AI handling. And, of course, they’re both fairly portable as well.

The differences between the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 and Dell XPS 13 (2024) are still notable as they come with different displays, which can affect overall performance. An OLED display is more demanding than a more basic screen, after all. They’re more pronounced on the design side of things as the port selections are different and the Dell takes a unique approach to its toolbar and trackpad. On top of that, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is cheaper, whether you compare the base or maxed out configurations.

With that in mind, let’s take a deeper dive comparing these two Ultrabooks to see which one best meets your needs. After all, there’s usually no one-size-fits-all with laptops.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 vs. Dell XPS 13 (2024): Price

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is the cheaper option, though it’s not a huge difference until you start upgrading. The base configuration of the Surface Laptop 7 has an MSRP of $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899. This laptop comes with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. It does come with a slightly weaker 10-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus CPU, while all the other configurations across both laptops come with the 12-core X Elite version.

Going up in price with the Surface Laptop 7 just increases the RAM and/or storage space. The unit used for the review I’ve linked to has 32GB of RAM and 1TB of solid state storage and lists for $1,599.99 / £1,449 incl. VAT / AU$3,399.

The Dell XPS 13 (2024) starts with an almost comparable $1,099.99 / £1,099 including VAT / AU$2,098.80 price tag for the base configuration, which has 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD.

Of course, it comes with the more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU. But it has a slightly lower resolution display at 1920 x 1200p, compared to the Surface Laptop 7’s 2304x1536p resolution. However, the maxed out configuration is much more expensive at $2,499.99 / £1,823.99 including VAT / AU$3,999.60, which not only gives you 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, but an OLED display with a 2880 x 1800p resolution. It’s a very nice but expensive upgrade.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 vs. Dell XPS 13 (2024): Design

Since both models fall into the Ultrabook category, it’s no surprise that they’re both light and portable. If you take a look at the reviews for each, you’ll see words like sleek, svelte, light, and the like peppered throughout.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is slightly heavier at 2.96 lbs (1.34kg) to the Dell’s 2.6 lbs (1.18kg) and slightly bigger as it measures 11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69 inches compared to the Dell’s dimensions of 11.62 x 7.84 x 0.58 inches. However, that difference is fairly minor.

If you care about how the display looks or works, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 wins out, unless you want to spring that extra grand for an OLED panel. It has a higher resolution and refresh rate at 2304x1536p @ 120Hz with 3:2 aspect ratio, while the Dell comes with a more pedestrian 1920 x 1200p @ 60Hz with a 16:10 aspect ratio.

Of course, the OLED screen is 3K or 2880 x 1800p and will have better contrasts even though both displays support HDR. It’s also worth noting that both are touchscreens.

Probably the most subjective area that will make or break the experience for you is going to be using the keyboard and touchpad. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is fairly straightforward in its offerings with a very snappy and responsive keyboard, though its touchpad has some sensitivity issues and will need some adjusting in the settings.

The Dell XPS 13 (2024) is a different story entirely. The keyboard stretches from edge to edge, which allows the laptop its smaller dimensions, though that could be an issue for some. More importantly, it has a touchbar for all its hotkeys that responds to haptic feedback, so you’re essentially pressing the chassis above the keyboard to, say, brighten the screen.

Likewise, there is no dedicated touchpad visually. You just press in the area below the keyboard and hope you’re pressing in the right place for it to, again, respond to the haptic feedback to register the type of press that you wanted. This might be something you love. Or it might be something you hate. Regardless, it’s going to come with a bit of a learning curve.

Lastly, the port selection is somewhat limited on both, but the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 comes with the wider variety including two USB 4 type-C, one regular USB, a mic/audio 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. There’s no ethernet or HDMI, though that’s to be expected with this kind of laptop. The Dell XPS 13 (2024) harkens to the Jon Ivey Apple days by two USB 4 type-C ports and nothing else, not even an audio jack.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 vs. Dell XPS 13 (2024): Features

In terms of features, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 and Dell XPS 13 (2024) are essentially identical, particularly in the way that they approach AI. Both have the Windows Copilot key to call up Windows’ new AI buddy and both have the same functionality within that app. Both laptops include the other AI apps like CoCreator and Image Creator. And both work similarly.

That’s probably helped by the fact that both laptops use the same neural processing unit or NPU, the Qualcomm Hexagon, which has 45 TOPS of AI performance.

Even connectivity like Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7 support are the same across both laptops. If you’re choosing between these two laptops, feature set is not going to be the deciding factor.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 vs. Dell XPS 13 (2024): Performance

Performance-wise, there’s not a lot of daylight between these two laptops either. They score similarly on our benchmark tests, with one doing slightly better than the other depending on the test (but still fairly close). The Dell does seem to run just a tiny faster when copying files or encoding video. Overall, the performance on both is snappy as long as you’re not doing incredibly visually demanding tasks – neither will compare to a gaming laptop or any PC with a dedicated graphics card.

The sound quality does differ a little bit between the two as the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is very good for a laptop that size, though it’s a little light in the bass (as is to be expected). But the Dell XPS 13 (2024) manages to offer a fully immersive experience thanks to four speakers and spatial audio support. Both are good – it’s just that the Dell is better.

That can be said for battery life as well. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 achieves up to 15 hours in our battery benchmarks, which would be out-of-this-world just a few years ago and is still quite remarkable. However, the Dell XPS 13 (2024) does it one better, getting up to almost 19 and a half hours in the same battery benchmark. Not many laptops can do that.

Which Ultrabook is right for you?

Having looked at these two laptops, it’s clear that they’re both worth consideration and are solid options. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is a little cheaper and has the better screen if you don’t want to spring for an OLED display. It also has more ports and is the less controversial option in just about every way. Plus, it comes in a variety of colors.

The Dell XPS 13 (2024) is the more interesting of the two thanks to Dell’s decision to make something that seems like a guess at what the future of laptops will look like. From the touchbar and touchpad that are just haptic-enabled surfaces instead of physical buttons to the minimal ports (again, no audio jack – you have to use Bluetooth headphones) and the potential upgrade to an OLED display, this laptop stands apart, for better or worse. For some, it is better. For some, it’s likely a source of frustration.