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Updated January 10, 2024·
When choosing between the Dell XPS 13 Plus and the MSI Stealth 17, consider that the Dell is less expensive, smaller, lighter, and has a longer battery life, making it well-suited for high mobility and general use. Its OLED display provides excellent visual quality, though it's not as large or as high in refresh rate as the MSI's. The Stealth 17, on the other hand, offers superior performance with a higher-end processor and a powerful Nvidia graphics card, more suited for 3D rendering, machine learning, engineering tasks, and intensive gaming; however, it is more expensive, larger, heavier, and has a shorter battery life, reducing its portability. 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 overall build quality
- Excellent portability
- Very good battery life
Advantages of the MSI Stealth 17
- Excellent for engineering and design
- Excellent for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.4
9.1
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus is only fair.
The MSI Stealth 17 is considered excellent for gaming and 3D because it has a high-end Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics card and a screen with a high refresh rate of 240, whereas the Dell XPS 13 Plus, while considered good, comes with a less powerful Intel Iris Xe graphics and a standard 60 refresh rate screen. Additionally, the MSI's larger screen size and higher capacity battery cater to longer and more intense gaming sessions.
Engineering and Design
8.2
9.4
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
32.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good.
The MSI Stealth 17 excels in engineering and design use due to its superior CPU, larger RAM, and high-end Nvidia GPU, which are crucial for demanding tasks and graphics-intensive software, and it also offers a larger display with higher refresh rates for smoother visuals. Conversely, the Dell XPS 13 Plus, while formidable with a high-resolution OLED screen and adequate RAM and integrated graphics, provides less raw computational power and GPU performance than the MSI, making it more suitable for less intensive engineering tasks but with the advantage of higher portability due to its compact size and lower weight.
Content Creation
8.3
8.8
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
32.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 and Dell XPS 13 Plus are both very good for content creation, though the MSI Stealth 17 is somewhat better.
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.
Screen Quality
8.4
8.6
13.4in
SIZE
17.3in
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
374.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a better screen than the MSI Stealth 17 for general use, and engineering and design, while the MSI Stealth 17 has a better screen for gaming and AI, content creation, and software development.
When considering screen quality for general use, both Dell XPS 13 Plus and MSI Stealth 17 offer sharp images and vivid colors due to their high-resolution displays and brightness, making them suitable for daily tasks like browsing and video streaming. For engineering and design, their excellent color accuracy, through broad color gamuts, meets the precision needed for professional photo editing and CAD work. However, for gaming and 3D applications, both laptops fall short as they lack high refresh rates, which are crucial for smooth motion and competitive gameplay, despite having decent resolution and panel types.
Battery
10.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has 10 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 17 has 5.5 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
17.3in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has excellent portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
8.5
7.8
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has very good build quality, while the MSI Stealth 17 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,849
$3,899
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a price of $1,849 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
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Key similarities
General Use
8.4
8.7
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
374.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
10.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
9.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 and Dell XPS 13 Plus are both very good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Software Development
8.3
8.5
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
32.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 and Dell XPS 13 Plus are both very good for software development.
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.
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How the Dell XPS 13 Plus and the MSI Stealth 17 compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Dell XPS 13 Plus | MSI Stealth 17 |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$1,849 | $3,899 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | May 1, 2022 | May 1, 2023 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 11.6'' x 7.8'' x 0.6'' | 15.7'' x 11.2'' x 0.79'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 2.71 lbs | 6.17 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 11.63" | 15.65" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 7.84" | 11.16" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | Intel i7-1280P | Intel i9-13900H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 32 GB | 64 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | 5 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 0 | 2 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 512 GB | 2048 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 10 Hours | 5.5 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 55 Wh | 99.9 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 13.4" | 17.3" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | OLED | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 3840 x 2400 | 2560 x 1440 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | 240Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 374 nits | 384 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 8.5/10 | 7.8/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 9.2/10 | 6.5/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | Yes | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 8.8/10 | 8/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 9/10 | 9/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 9.5/10 | 9.5/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 720p | 1080p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | Yes | Yes | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | No | Yes | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 0 | 2 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 2 | 2 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | Yes | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 2 | 3 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | 4 | |
Shopping
Dell XPS 13 Plus
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Andreas Osthoff | July 2022
"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."
MSI Stealth 17
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Mario Petzold | April 2023
"The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is a laptop with a quiet RTX 4080 for almost every occasion. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is equally capable of high-level media processing and playing current games. It remains pleasantly quiet, even if a few percentage points of power have had to be sacrificed in the process. But, it is not quite perfect: To some extent, the Stealth 17 is well thought out. It packs tons of graphics power and high-end components in a slim case. The laptop's cooling system can be set such that, noise-wise, it doesn't even reach low volume. However, small flaws cloud otherwise exceptionally positive impressions."
Get a great deal on the Dell XPS 13 Plus or the MSI Stealth 17
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 MSI
MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.
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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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