Okay, NOW Dell finally has an actual MacBook Neo competitor – the XPS 14S
The XPS 13 might have been a misdirect
As you'll know if you read my recent review of the beautiful XPS 13 launched this summer, depending on where you live in the world, it's either a direct competitor to the MacBook Neo or miles more expensive than Apple's entry-level computer.
That gap in affordability clearly hasn't come as a major surprise to Dell, though, since it's just used IFA to announce an even more affordable laptop coming soon – the XPS 14S. It confirms that after its brief demise, the XPS brand is now completely central to Dell's consumer laptop hopes.
As the name suggests, this is a 14-inch laptop that focuses on being lightweight, but it'll still have an aluminium body to ensure it feels moderately premium. The build quality and design of the XPS 13 are both class-leading, and while the 14S looks slightly more generic, it'll hopefully live up to those standards.
Perhaps the clearest hint that this is aimed at the Neo is the fact that it's launching in four colours – silver, pink, blue and green. They all look pretty handsome, frankly, but give you the option of a choice that suits your style.
By default the XPS 14S will come with a 14-inch FHD display that caps out at 60Hz, but upgrades will let you raise that ceiling if desired. It'll also be powered by Intel Core Series 3 processors, which should mean that it's fairly capable but nothing that will light the world on fire in performance terms.
It'll also start with just 8GB of RAM, something that's increasingly raising red flags in the world of Windows laptops, so it'll be really interesting to see how it feels to use when we eventually get our hands on one. It'll also only have 256GB of SSD storage at the cheapest level.
Thankfully for students and professionals everywhere, though, it will have an HDMI port to go with its two USB-C ones – and a 3.5mm jack, too. At just 1.15kg in its lightest configuration, it should also be super portable for its size.
A launch date isn't yet set beyond vaguely later this year, and nor is pricing, which will be a huge variable. The XPS 13 saw a massive gulf between the US (where it's affordable) and the UK (where it's much less so), so I'm hoping that situation doesn't crop up again this time.
