Difference Between Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Flex 3

There is a good number of differences between Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Flex 3 in the specification as the target market is different for both. XPS 13 by Dell and Flex 3 by Lenovo were both unveiled at the CES 2015 trade show. Dell XPS 13 is a conventional laptop while Lenovo Flex 3 is a convertible where the screen can rotated 360 degrees. But when the slimness and the lightness are considered Dell XPS 13 is far ahead. The resolution of the Dell XPS is much higher than the resolution of Lenovo Flex 3. Another major difference is Dell XPS 13 has a pure SSD drive while Lenovo Flex 3 has a hybrid drive, which is of larger capacity. When the price is considered, Lenovo Flex 3 is much less than the price of Dell XPS 13.

Dell XPS 13 Review – Features of Dell XPS 13

In CES 2015, Dell unveiled their new XPS 13 Ultrabook, which they claim as the “smallest 13-inch laptop on the planet”. Though the screen is just 13 inches, it has a huge high definition resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels. The Ultrabook is impressively thinner, which is between 9-15 mm. The weight is also just 1.18 kg. This ultrathin and ultra-lighter Ultrabook is hence a very portable one that one can carry anywhere with comfort. The processor is a 5th generation Intel processor where the customer can choose between i3, i5 or i7. The system comes with Windows 8.1 preinstalled. The RAM also can be selected from 4 GB and 8 GB. The hard drive is an SSD where for the Core i7 version has a 256 GB SSD while for the others has only 128 GB. Graphics is accelerated by the latest Intel inbuilt graphics called HD 5500. The display is the most interesting feature to emphasize. For the i3 edition, the display is just a 13.3 inch FHD, which has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. But for the high-end i5 and i7 editions, the display is an UltraSharp QHD+ touch display, which has a huge resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels. Dell claims that it has about 4.4 times the pixels found on a MacBook Air 13 having a HD+ display. The battery life is incredibly high where for FHD displays, the battery can sustain 15 hours, while QHD+ displays can sustain 12 hours. At first, this looks hard to believe but the latest energy efficient Broadwell technology in Intel 5th-generation processors facilitate such large battery life.

Lenovo Flex 3 Review – Features of Lenovo Flex 3

In CES 2015, Lenovo unveiled their Flex 3 convertible laptop that features a 360-degree hinge. Lenovo Flex 3 comes as the successor of its previous version Flex 2 and has many improvements and new features. The screen is not detachable, but it is possible to rotate 360 degrees where the keyboard comes to the back of the screen so that the device is like a tablet. Three sizes are available for the customers namely 11”, 14” and 15”. The screen is a touch screen, but the 11 inch edition has a resolution of only 1, 366 x 768 pixels. The 14 inch and 15 inches editions have HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels. The device is shipped with Windows 8.1. The processor for the 11” inch edition is not much powerful as it is an Intel Atom processor, but for 14” and 15” inch editions, powerful Intel 5th Generation core i series processors can be selected. The RAM capacity is 8 GB, and the storage is a hybrid hard drive, which compose of 1 TB of mechanical storage and 64 GB of SSD. For larger laptops, even an edition with Nvidia Graphics is available. The 11 inch edition is 1.4 kg. 14 inch edition has a weight of 1.95 kg.

What is the difference between Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Flex 3?

• Dell XPS 13 is a conventional Ultrabook, but Lenovo Flex 3 is a convertible where the screen can be rotated 360 degrees. So Lenovo Flex 3, when fully rotated, the keyboard is at the back of the screen.

• Dell XPS has a screen size of 13 inches. Lenovo Flex 3 has three screen sizes as 11 inches, 14 inches and 15 inches.

• Dell XPS 13 has Intel 5th Generation Core i series processors. 11 inch edition of Lenovo Flex 3 has an Intel Atom processor, but 14 inches and 15 inches editions optionally can have Intel 5th Generation Core i series processors.

• The thickness of Dell XPS is 9-15 mm. But the thickness of Lenovo Flex 3 is a bit higher, which is around 20 mm.

• The weight of Dell XPS 13 is 1.18 kg. But the weight of Lenovo Flex 3 is much higher where the 11 inch edition is 1.4 kg, and the 14 inch edition is 1.95 kg.

• Dell XPS has editions with two types of displays: FHD, which has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and UltraSharp QHD+, which has a resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels. But the resolution of Lenovo Flex 3 is much lower than that where the 11 inch edition has a resolution of only 1, 366 x 768 pixels and the 14 inches and 15 inches editions have resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.

• Dell XPS 13 has a SSD storage, for which the capacity can be selected from 128 GB and 256 GB. But the advantage of Lenovo Flex 3 is that it has a hybrid drive where there is 1 TB of mechanical storage and 64 GB of SSD storage. This will give a larger storage for your files while the performance is still close to that of a SSD.

• Lenovo Flex 3 is a budget laptop so its cost would be much lesser than the Dell XPS 13.

Summary:

Dell XPS 13 vs Lenovo Flex 3

Lenovo Flex 3 is a budget laptop and hence it does not have a much sophisticated high-end spec as found on Dell XPS 13. But a major advantage of Flex 3 is that it is a convertible laptop where the screen can be rotated 360 degrees to be used similar to a tablet. When storage is considered Flex 3 has a 1 TB of storage while Dell XPS 13 is limited to 256 GB. But Dell XPS 13 has a pure SSD drive while Lenovo Flex 3 has a hybrid drive (1TB of mechanical storage and 64GB SSD). When the lightness and the slimness are considered, Dell XPS wins and, when screen resolution is considered, Dell XPS has an incredibly high resolution when compared to Lenovo Flex 3.

Images Courtesy:

1. Dell XPS 13 via Dell website
2. Lenovo Flex 3 Cnet