Earlier this year Dell announced the new naming platform for their laptops with the Dell Pro Family is designed for “professional-grade productivity.”
The Dell Pro 13 Premium sits at the top of the Pro lineup with premium specs and a designation to perform at its best anywhere and everywhere, thanks to its 13-inch display size matched with those high-end specs.
The Dell Pro 13 Premium sports a 90% recycled magnesium body with a built-in AI chip powered by Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors which feature an NPU, GPU and CPU.
This new business laptop from Dell is designed to be a productivity workhorse with a small form factor and lightweight, making it easy to transport and use anywhere.
Dell call the Pro 13 Premium an “innovative design” but I’m not entirely sure what is innovative about it. Boring is what I would clal it but it’s a productivity laptop and is all business – that’s precisely what you want and need, so it fulfils its remit.
It is a grey slab. It has a basic grey top with the “Dell” logo in the centre of it. The very top of it has a slider to apply the privacy shield to the webcam and IR Windows Hello camera.
Underneath is the air vents and fans to vent heat out. The feet consist of a rubber bar all the way across at the black and a couple of small bars on each side at the front. They keep the laptop sturdy and secure at all times, as you would hope, given that getting this right is super simple for a manufacturer.
As for the connectivity ports, you’ll find the laptop features the following:
It is surprising to see a full-sized HDMI port on a small 13-inch laptop, especially one that already has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, but this is a productivity king so it only seems fitting that it offers this connectivity option as well.
I was able to extend the Dell Pro 13 Premium laptop to my 45-in LG OLED display with both the HDMI port and the Thunderbolt 4 ports and use them for productivity work and presentations without any issues at all — the Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports worked best for full resolution etc though. The Dell laptop had enough grunt to be able to perform all productivity tasks I threw at it – including video editing.
The trackpad is a decent enough size without being overly big. I certainly didn’t have any times when I was wishing for a bigger trackpad. It doesn’t have a soft click that some premium laptops have but more so a louder, solid click. In the end if you want full precision control over your cursor etc you will be using a mouse anyway, so the trackpad, while not overly fancy, does what it needs to.
The keyboard is a “battery-saving mini LED backlit Copilot hotkey zero-lattice keyboard.” The keys are a nice amount of travel, which I found comfortable to type on. There is enough “squishy” feeling to give it that soft feel.
My issue came with the proximity of the keys. They are incredibly close together so until I got used to the keyboard, there were a lot of typos, a lot. Even after using it for a few articles and reviews the types were still there, albeit significantly decreased. The keyboard looks great with this “zero-lattice” style but I question the accuracy of it.
The more you use this keyboard the more comfortable you will be with it. In the meantime, be ready for a steep learning curve when you start using the keyboard. After a good couple weeks using it, I am a lot better at it and find it comfortable to use.
The 13.3-inch display on the Dell Pro 13 Premium review laptop is the IPS QHD+ touch version. I much prefer OLED displays, as everyone should but for a business laptop it is a bit of overkill. OLED’s are great for creative types but less so for standard productivity.
The laptop is also available in a 13.3″, Non-Touch, FHD+ but I prefer the touch. If budgets are tight, the non-touch is obviously cheaper. The touch is responsive and works really well when presenting and in everyday work.
The review display is brighter than the non-touch displays with 500nits of brightness possible. That is plenty. I used it at around 50% brightness at all times and it was bright enough under all conditions I tested it under.
Above the display is an 8MP webcam, not great but standard for most laptops – not sure why we are still stuck on such inferior webcams but here we are. Alongside the webcam is an IR camera that can be used for Windows Hello login – there is no fingerprint sensor on the laptop.
Specs:
The laptop handled everything I threw at it at all times. Using it as a standalone laptop, it glided through all tasks without any stuttering or issues at all. Extending it to my 5K 45-inch OLED display was also a breeze
Dell state that the battery life is “up to 20 hours and 50 minutes of battery life with Intel U5-236V, 16GB RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, FHD Non-Touch 400nits Display, Windows 11, and 60 Whr battery.”
In my use I was easily able to get over 12 hours with the review configuration. This was a weekend of intermittent use over the two days. The battery on this config is certainly enough to last a full work-day but you won’t get 20.5 hours out of a fully specced version.
Charging is fast with Express Charge and Express Charge Boost – these give the laptop the capability to charge to 80% in under an hour. This is what I experienced, so if you take your charger with you, and it’s not overly big, you’ll be fine if you just plug in for 10-15 minutes to provide several hours of more battery life.
The Dell Pro 13 Premium is equipped with a built-in AI chipset from Intel. There is nothing really of any substance on the laptop in the way of generative AI although Dell do provide the Dell Pro AI Studio (online) to help you get the best out of your laptop and business with the help of AI.
The best I can say, unless you have an IT team ready to help build and deploy AI software with the help of the Dell Pro AI Studio, is that it is “AI Ready.”
Dell also include the Dell Optimizer (yes I hate that they use the US spelling but it is a US company) to help you smartly control the power and battery and thermal management of your system.
No you should not. You should get your boss or business to buy it. It is a productivity laptop that fulfills what you need in a laptop with this purpose perfectly. It is lightweight, ultra-portable and powerful with the full gammut of connectivity for presenting on the go. It is also AI ready to future proof it once something useful arrives.
The keyboard does take some getting use to but it improves significantly the more you use it. Battery life is good enough when a tfull operation to last you an entire day with fast charging to quickly get you back online should you run the battery out.
If you want an ultra-portable, powerful productivity workhorse without the frills then this is for you.
The Dell Pro 13 Premium starts at
As for the connectivity ports, you’ll find the laptop features the following:
It is surprising to see a full-sized HDMI port on a small 13-inch laptop, especially one that already has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, but this is a productivity king so it only seems fitting that it offers this connectivity option as well.
I was able to extend the Dell Pro 13 Premium laptop to my 45-in LG OLED display with both the HDMI port and the Thunderbolt 4 ports and use them for productivity work and presentations without any issues at all — the Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports worked best for full resolution etc though. The Dell laptop had enough grunt to be able to perform all productivity tasks I threw at it – including video editing.
The trackpad is a decent enough size without being overly big. I certainly didn’t have any times when I was wishing for a bigger trackpad. It doesn’t have a soft click that some premium laptops have but more so a louder, solid click. In the end if you want full precision control over your cursor etc you will be using a mouse anyway, so the trackpad, while not overly fancy, does what it needs to.
The keyboard is a “battery-saving mini LED backlit Copilot hotkey zero-lattice keyboard.” The keys are a nice amount of travel, which I found comfortable to type on. There is enough “squishy” feeling to give it that soft feel.
My issue came with the proximity of the keys. They are incredibly close together so until I got used to the keyboard, there were a lot of typos, a lot. Even after using it for a few articles and reviews the types were still there, albeit significantly decreased. The keyboard looks great with this “zero-lattice” style but I question the accuracy of it.
The more you use this keyboard the more comfortable you will be with it. In the meantime, be ready for a steep learning curve when you start using the keyboard. After a good couple weeks using it, I am a lot better at it and find it comfortable to use.
The 13.3-inch display on the Dell Pro 13 Premium review laptop is the IPS QHD+ touch version. I much prefer OLED displays, as everyone should but for a business laptop it is a bit of overkill. OLED’s are great for creative types but less so for standard productivity.
The laptop is also available in a 13.3″, Non-Touch, FHD+ but I prefer the touch. If budgets are tight, the non-touch is obviously cheaper. The touch is responsive and works really well when presenting and in everyday work.
The review display is brighter than the non-touch displays with 500nits of brightness possible. That is plenty. I used it at around 50% brightness at all times and it was bright enough under all conditions I tested it under.
Above the display is an 8MP webcam, not great but standard for most laptops – not sure why we are still stuck on such inferior webcams but here we are. Alongside the webcam is an IR camera that can be used for Windows Hello login – there is no fingerprint sensor on the laptop.
Specs:
The laptop handled everything I threw at it at all times. Using it as a standalone laptop, it glided through all tasks without any stuttering or issues at all. Extending it to my 5K 45-inch OLED display was also a breeze
Dell state that the battery life is “up to 20 hours and 50 minutes of battery life with Intel U5-236V, 16GB RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, FHD Non-Touch 400nits Display, Windows 11, and 60 Whr battery.”
In my use I was easily able to get over 12 hours with the review configuration. This was a weekend of intermittent use over the two days. The battery on this config is certainly enough to last a full work-day but you won’t get 20.5 hours out of a fully specced version.
Charging is fast with Express Charge and Express Charge Boost – these give the laptop the capability to charge to 80% in under an hour. This is what I experienced, so if you take your charger with you, and it’s not overly big, you’ll be fine if you just plug in for 10-15 minutes to provide several hours of more battery life.
The Dell Pro 13 Premium is equipped with a built-in AI chipset from Intel. There is nothing really of any substance on the laptop in the way of generative AI although Dell do provide the Dell Pro AI Studio (online) to help you get the best out of your laptop and business with the help of AI.
The best I can say, unless you have an IT team ready to help build and deploy AI software with the help of the Dell Pro AI Studio, is that it is “AI Ready.”
Dell also include the Dell Optimizer (yes I hate that they use the US spelling but it is a US company) to help you smartly control the power and battery and thermal management of your system.
No you should not. You should get your boss or business to buy it. It is a productivity laptop that fulfills what you need in a laptop with this purpose perfectly. It is lightweight, ultra-portable and powerful with the full gammut of connectivity for presenting on the go. It is also AI ready to future proof it once something useful arrives.
The keyboard does take some getting use to but it improves significantly the more you use it. Battery life is good enough when a tfull operation to last you an entire day with fast charging to quickly get you back online should you run the battery out.
If you want an ultra-portable, powerful productivity workhorse without the frills then this is for you.
The Dell Pro 13 Premium starts at $2,470.34 for the Core Ultra 5,16GB RAM, non-touch display version but the review specced laptop with Core Ultra 7, 32GB RAM and touch display will set your boss back $3,428.84.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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