The Dell XPS 13 Plus is more expensive but offers a high-resolution OLED touchscreen, making it excellent for general use and tasks that benefit from vibrant colors and sharp visuals, like photo editing. It's also more portable due to its lighter weight. However, battery life is shorter, and it's not designed for high-end gaming or intensive 3D tasks. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i is less expensive, has a larger screen, and superior performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and gaming thanks to its dedicated Nvidia graphics card, which the Dell lacks. It also has better battery life but is heavier and less portable, with a lower resolution screen that's not as color-accurate or bright as the Dell's. If portability and screen quality are paramount for general use, go for the Dell; if you need performance for gaming or engineering and don't mind a bigger, heavier laptop, consider the Lenovo. 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 Dell XPS 13 Plus
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good overall build quality
Excellent portability
Very good battery life
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
8.0/10
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5i is very good for gaming and AI, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus is only fair.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is good for gaming and 3D tasks, thanks to its Iris Xe graphics, but the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i surpasses it with the more powerful Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and a higher screen refresh rate, both of which are crucial for a smoother and more immersive gaming experience. Additionally, the Dell offers an exceptional OLED screen with higher resolution, contributing to screen quality, while the Lenovo's emphasis on a faster refresh rate favors fluidity over resolution, making it very good for gaming and 3D applications.
Software Development
8.3/10
7.8/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i is good.
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
8.4/10
8.0/10
13.4in
SIZE
16.0in
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
374.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
343.0 nits
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i has a better screen for gaming and AI.
For general use, the Dell XPS 13 Plus offers an exceptional combination of resolution, panel type, and brightness, making for a sharp, vivid, and clear display, whereas the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i, while also having a high-quality panel, tends to have slightly lower brightness. When it comes to engineering and design tasks, the Dell's coverage of color gamuts like DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB means that it displays colors more accurately, which is vital for precision work, although the Legion Slim 5i also performs well but is a step behind in accuracy. For gaming and 3D applications, both laptops fall short as their screens have lower refresh rates, reducing the smoothness and responsiveness crucial for high-speed graphics and action sequences, even if their resolutions and panel types are sufficient for moderate gaming needs.
Battery
10.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has 10 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Slim 5i has 7 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
Excellent
Fair
13.4in
SIZE
16.0in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has excellent portability, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
8.5/10
7.4/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has very good build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,849
$1,055
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a price of $1,849 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i costs $1,055.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Dell XPS 13 Plus to be very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i is good.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus excels in general use due to its high-resolution OLED screen, powerful CPU, and substantial RAM, making it ideal for multitasking, media consumption, and productivity with better portability and battery life. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i offers good performance for general use with its capable CPU, more storage, and a larger screen, but it is heavier and prioritizes gaming capabilities, which may compromise portability and battery life.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
8.4/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5i and Dell XPS 13 Plus are both very good for engineering and design.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is equipped with a high-resolution OLED screen and higher RAM, making it ideal for detailed engineering and design tasks that require superior color accuracy and multitasking capabilities. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i has a more powerful dedicated GPU and a larger, higher refresh-rate screen, better suited for engineering software that demands graphic-intensive rendering and real-time simulations.
Content Creation
8.3/10
8.0/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Dell XPS 13 Plus and Lenovo Legion Slim 5i are both very good for content creation.
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.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Dell XPS 13 Plus and the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i compare to other laptops
"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."
"The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 acknowledges that a gaming laptop doesn’t have to be as thick as possible and can still ensure adequate cooling when the muscles need flexing. To this end, in the Slim 5 Gen 8, it finds a neat balance of refined, trimmed-down design that still lets its internals cruise (even above their max power ratings). Lenovo then added in some high-end build quality with an altogether excellent keyboard that’s useful for both work and play."
Get a great deal on the Dell XPS 13 Plus or the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i
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.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
132,195
Recommendations made
28,643
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.