For those on a tighter budget who mainly perform basic tasks like browsing, office applications, and media consumption, the ASUS Vivobook 17 is a practical choice with its larger screen and keyboard with a numeric keypad, but its heavier weight makes it less portable. In contrast, the Dell XPS 13 Plus, while more costly, offers superior performance suitable for engineering, 3D rendering, machine learning, and heavier workloads along with a higher-resolution OLED touchscreen and longer battery life, packaged in a much more portable design. Consider the Dell XPS 13 Plus if your use case demands mobility along with high-end features and performance. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the ASUS Vivobook 17
The ASUS Vivobook 17 has no clear advantages over the Dell XPS 13 Plus.
Advantages of the Dell XPS 13 Plus
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Excellent portability
Very good battery life
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.0/10
8.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
263.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
374.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
10.0 Hours
6.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.2/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
9.1/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for general use, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 is good.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus outshines the ASUS Vivobook 17 in general use primarily due to its superior processor, a higher amount of RAM, and a better-quality OLED screen, which contribute to faster performance and a sharper, more vivid display, while its considerably lighter weight and longer battery life enhance portability and endurance, critical for on-the-go usage. Conversely, while the Vivobook 17 offers a larger screen and a good performance-to-price ratio, it lags in terms of CPU power, screen resolution, and color quality, and its larger size and weight reduce portability, despite its lower price point and fair battery life.
Engineering and Design
6.3/10
8.2/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for engineering and design, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 is only fair.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus provides superior engineering and design capabilities with a high-end CPU, a significant amount of RAM, and a high-quality OLED screen, which are very important for such tasks. In contrast, the ASUS Vivobook 17, while offering a larger screen and a number pad which adds to its utility, falls short with a less powerful CPU and less RAM, factors which are crucial for demanding engineering and design applications.
Content Creation
7.0/10
8.3/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for content creation, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
6.9/10
8.3/10
6.2/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
6.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for software development, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.2/10
8.4/10
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
263.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
374.0 nits
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a better screen than the ASUS Vivobook 17 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The ASUS Vivobook 17's screen may not offer the sharpness and color fidelity required for intensive engineering tasks or the high refresh rates needed for smooth gaming and 3D rendering. Conversely, the Dell XPS 13 Plus boasts a display with higher resolution and brightness, making it excellent for detailed engineering work and comfortable for everyday tasks, though it still falls short for gaming and 3D due to a lower refresh rate. Both laptops lack the optimal refresh rates gamers and 3D designers seek, which is why they perform poorly in those areas, despite the Dell's superior color range and resolution advantage.
Battery
6.0 Hours
10.0 Hours
The ASUS Vivobook 17 has 6 hours of battery life. The Dell XPS 13 Plus has 10 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Excellent
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
2.7 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has excellent portability, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.5/10
8.5/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has very good build quality, while the ASUS Vivobook 17 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$429
$1,849
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The ASUS Vivobook 17 has a price of $429 and the Dell XPS 13 Plus costs $1,849.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus and ASUS Vivobook 17 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The ASUS Vivobook 17 has an Intel UHD graphics GPU which is less powerful for gaming and 3D applications compared to the Dell XPS 13 Plus's Iris Xe graphics, despite both having the same screen refresh rate. The Dell XPS 13 Plus also offers a higher resolution OLED screen, which provides better screen quality.
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How the ASUS Vivobook 17 and the Dell XPS 13 Plus compare to other laptops
"The ASUS Vivobook 17 is an affordable 17-inch laptop with passive cooling. On one hand, you get a really quiet and cool work device with a good system performance, many connections, good maintenance options, speakers acceptable for multimedia enjoyment, and a sharp and clear matte FHD IPS display with the Asus VivoBook 17 (F712JA). On the other hand, the USB-C port lacks Power Delivery and DisplayPort, and the display, a higher brightness and better color space coverage."
"The XPS 13 Plus is powerful, but has its drawbacks. Dell did not only update the processor generation, but also decided to offer two completely different models from now on. The XPS 13 Plus gets the faster Intel Alder Lake-P chips, and the Core i7-1260P in our review unit offers good performance figures. However, the device once again shows the problems of the current Intel CPUs, because the high performance requires a lot of power. This affects the battery runtime as well as temperatures, so the new model (even with the Optimized power profile) is louder than the older model."
Get a great deal on the ASUS Vivobook 17 or the Dell XPS 13 Plus
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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