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Having a sleek, thin laptop is truly great because it’s so light and it looks beautiful. After using one for the first time, you will never want to go back to a big bulky old machine again. The whole idea behind ultrabooks and ultra-portables is that they’re sleek and easy to take out and then put away anywhere.
If you’re seated on the bus, you won’t hesitate to take your laptop out of your bag and type a few paragraphs on the way to school, work, or anywhere else. The same goes for the train, the airplane, and maybe even the taxi. There’s no limit to where you can and can’t use a super light, super thin laptop computer.
Asus vs Dell – Battle of the Titans
These are arguably the two biggest brands in the computer industry. They have made hundreds of models each, and these two are their best in a slim package. This is Taiwanese vs American ingenuity at its best. Let’s figure out which company makes the better laptop for roughly the same price range.
[table id=5 responsive=scroll /]ASUS UX490UA-XS74-BL 14-Inch Zenbook 3 Deluxe Notebook
At only 0.5”, it’s the world’s thinnest 14” laptop. That’s incredibly thin for a fully functioning, high end computer. In order to achieve this, they had to get rid of a lot of ports, but the UX490 ships with converters for micro USB type C to standard USB and another for HTMI input. At 2.43 lbs (1.1 kg), it’s also among the lightest on the market. It feels more like you’re taking a folder out of your backpack than a computer.
The UX490 only comes in one style, blue with golden accents. The signature Zenbook design looks extremely attractive. This is definitely one of the best looking Windows machines out there, if not the best. It has surprisingly good speakers, but an average battery life at best. The FHD screen is glossy, which may be an annoyance in a very bright room. It includes 3 type C USB ports, including two Thunderbolt 3 that can be used with 4K monitors.
Pros
- Gorgeous design
- Thinnest laptop on the market
- Extremely light
- 2 Thunderbolt ports
- Kaby Lake Intel Core i7
- Fingerprint sensor
Cons
- Glossy screen
- Average battery
Dell XPS 13 9360 13.3″ Quad HD+ InfinityEdge Touch Notebook Computer
The screen is excellent quality. And 13.3” is the perfect size for still having plenty of viewing area and typing space, while being compact and able to fit into a bag quite easily. The 14” Asus isn’t much bigger, but when you’re on public transit, size really matters. At 2.9 lbs, the XPS 13 9360 isn’t a whole lot heavier than the UX490, and at 0.6”, it’s only slightly thicker.
The 9360 has the 7th gen Intel Core i7-7560U processor, which is clocked at up to 3.8 GHz. It also includes one USB type C Thunderbolt 3 port, two USB 3.0 ports, and an SD card slot. Adapters for HDMI and VGA are not included. It comes in either silver or gold. For its size, this is one of the best laptops on the market, hands down.
Pros
- InfinityEdge 5mm bezel
- QHD screen
- 2 USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot
- Super compact size
- Touch screen
Cons
- Glossy screen
- QHD screen makes 60 Mh battery mediocre
- No fingerprint scanner
Conclusion
Although these are both excellent machines, the UX490 design is just so much nicer. It will definitely attract attention. The XPS 13 has more ports and a much better screen. They both have 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and Intel integrated graphics. The XPS 13’s 5mm bezel bests the 7.46mm bezel of the Asus, but the Asus is lighter, slimmer, and has a bigger screen. The XPS 13 also a bit cheaper than the UX490. But when it comes to which one is nicer considering how evenly matched they are specs-wise, the UX490 wins.