Dell XPS 15 (2023) vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11: Which one should you buy?

• 

  Dell XPS 15 (2023)

  The Dell XPS 15 (2023) model brings some modest improvements over the previous generation. It has options for Intel’s newest 13th-generation CPUs and the latest Nvidia RTX 40-series graphics cards. All of that is packed into the same sleek and light package with the option for an OLED display.

  Pros

  • Slim-bezel screen
  • Has powerful 45W Intel CPUs
  • Has Nvidia GPU

• 

  Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11

  The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 builds on its predecessor with newer and more powerful 13th-gen Intel processors. It keeps the iconic ThinkPad design and features you know and love, too.

  Pros

  • Lightweight and portable
  • Has 15W or 28W Intel CPUs for better battery
  • Has better port selection

  Cons

  • Not many changes over last generation
  • Best features cost extra

When it comes to the best laptops, there are two brands that often come to mind. Dell is known for its XPS lineup of consumer devices, and Lenovo has its ThinkPads that are often used in business situations. Two great new laptops from these companies include the XPS 15 (2023) and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11.

There are a lot of differences between the two laptops beyond just their categories. The Dell XPS features a dedicated GPU for extra power for video editing, and the Lenovo is more suited to general productivity and longer battery life thanks to the low-wattage processors. So if you have either of these laptops in your shopping cart for consideration, we’re here to compare and contrast things for you.

Dell XPS 15 (2023) vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11: Price, specs, and availability

You can buy both the XPS 15 (2023) and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 today. The XPS 15 is available through Dell.com starting at $2,249. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11, meanwhile, is a much cheaper device that starts at $1,729 at Lenovo.com. Neither device is available at other retailers just yet.

• 	Dell XPS 15 (2023)	Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11
  Brand	Dell	Lenovo
  Color	Platinum Silver	Deep Black
  Storage	512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB PCIe 4.x SSD	Up to 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
  CPU	Up to 13th-generation Intel Core i9-13900H	13th-generation Intel Core U- and P-series processors
  Memory	8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB DDR5	Up to 64GB LPDDR5x
  Operating System	Windows 11	Windows 11
  Battery	86Whr battery	57Wh battery
  Ports	2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x Full-size SD card reader, 1 x 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack, 1 x Wedge-shaped lock slot	2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3.5mm headphone jack, nano-SIM slot (optional)
  Camera	720P Windows Hello IR Webcam	Up to 1080p Full HD MIPI RGB + IR webcam with Computer Vision and physical shutter
  Display (Size, Resolution)	15-inch 3.5K 3456×2160 resolution OLED touch, or FHD+ 1920×1200 resolution non-touch	14-inch, 16:10 aspect ratio, up to 2.8K (2880×1800) OLED, 500 nits (HDR), 100% DCI-P3
  Weight	4.21 pounds for FHD + model 4.23 pounds for OLED model	2.48 pounds (1.2kg)
  GPU	Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop 8GB GDDR6	Intel Iris Xe graphics (integrated)
  Dimension	13.57×9.06×0.71 inches	12.42×8.76×0.60 inches (315.6 x 222.5 x 15.36mm)
  Network	Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6 1675 (AX211) 2×2, Bluetooth 5.2 Wireless Card	Intel Wi-Fi 6E 2×2, Bluetooth 5.2, optional 5G/4G LTE
  Speakers	Quad-speaker design with 2.5W x2 woofers and 1.5W x2 tweeters	2 x 2W woofers and 2 x 0.8W tweeters, Dolby Atmos
  Price	Starts at $2,249	Starting at $1,729 (MSRP)
  Finish	Black interior	Carbon fiber (top) + aluminum (bottom)

Design: Clamshell laptops with different designs

The Dell XPS 15 (2023) and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 are both clamshell laptops. This means that the screen doesn’t rotate like on a 2-in-1 laptop, and you can’t detach the screen from the keyboard like you would on a tablet. That’s where the similarities mostly end.

For starters, the XPS 15 is one big laptop, which isn’t surprising considering the components inside. It’s 0.71 inches thick and weighs about 4.23 pounds. Meanwhile, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is only 0.6 inches thick and weighs 2.48 pounds. Beyond it having fewer large components, the 14-inch Carbon uses materials like carbon fiber to reduce weight.

Visually, some people might prefer the look of the XPS 15. It has a platinum silver exterior and a black interior. The ThinkPad, meanwhile, sports a black exterior and interior that will be familiar if you’ve seen a ThinkPad before. However, the ThinkPad is a more durable device since it passes military-grade testing.

Because the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is a business device, it’s a well-connected machine with a lot of ports and LTE/5G connectivity. It has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 Type-A port, HDMI 2.0, and a headphone jack. This really helps in avoiding using dongles, except if you need an SD card slot. The XPS 15 might have two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-C port, an SD card reader, and a headphone jack, but it lacks HDMI, USB-A, and 5G/LTE. Thankfully, Dell includes a USB-C to USC-A and HDMI 2.0 adapter in the box for you.

Webcams are different, too. The XPS 15 has a 720p webcam, which just doesn’t cut it anymore. It might have Windows Hello, but you won’t look your best. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 has a 1080p webcam, which is the standard we look for these days. The ThinkPad also has software features for the webcam to enhance the video quality.

Display: The XPS 15 has a better and bigger screen

Dell has always innovated when it comes to laptop displays, and that’s the case with the XPS 15’s 15-inch “InfinityEdge” display. It just can’t be matched by the 14-inch display on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11. Sure, the ThinkPad might have an OLED option just like the XPS does, and share the same base resolution as entry-level XPS models, but the XPS 15 has more room to multitask on and much slimmer display bezels.

The XPS 15’s 16:10 aspect ratio display comes in two variants. You can find it with a base 1920×1200 resolution or a higher-end 3856×2160 resolution OLED panel. Both of these models have slim bezels all around the display, meaning you can fit more things on your screen with minimal distraction. With the OLED panel, you also get an even higher resolution, more pixels, and better color accuracy.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 also has a 16:10 aspect ratio screen, but it’s an inch smaller than the one on the XPS 15 and has slightly thicker bezels. It’s not that thick, but it’s still not as thin as what you’d get on the XPS. The base model comes with 1920×1200 resolution, while higher-end models pack options for either 2240×1400 resolution on an IPS panel or 2880×1800 resolution on an OLED panel. The OLED panel offers the same color accuracy as what you’d get on the XPS’s OLED display, but it doesn’t have as many pixels.

Performance: The XPS 15 is a performance king but suffers in battery life

When it comes to the performance of these devices, the XPS 15 rules supreme. It not only has an Nvidia GPU onboard, but it also has a faster and more powerful Intel CPU. The ThinkPad, meanwhile, is slightly less powerful but will get you much better battery life. Both use hybrid CPUs, which means you get a combination of performance and efficiency cores for added performance.

We’ll start with the XPS, which has the 45W H-series CPUs, with Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 options. RAM, meanwhile, can be pushed as high as 64GB. The Core i5 has 12 cores, while the two higher-end models have 14 cores, with the Core i7 having a 5.0 GHz boost speed and the Core i9 going up to 5.4GHz. These are crazy fast CPUs with excellent multi-core performance for higher-end multitasking and productivity. In tests like Cinebench and Geekbench that need CPU power, the XPS excels. For battery life, we got to about six and a half to seven hours with general tasks like web browsing.

The XPS 15 also has a GPU, which makes it great for content creators. You’ll get options for either the RTX 4050, 4060, or 4070. The 4050 has 6GB of GDDR6 memory, and the others 8GB of memory. These are Nvidia’s latest laptop GPUs, with twice the ray tracing performance as the previous generation thanks to new CUDA Cores, the Nvidia Lovelace architecture, and DLSS3 support.

Below, you can see the benchmarks for the Dell XPS 15 compared to the Lenovo Yoga 9i’s P-series processor, which is similar to what you’ll get in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

Meanwhile, Lenovo is still using those hybrid CPUs on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, but you have two choices. For the best battery life, you can pick the U-series CPUs, which run at 15W and max out at 10 cores. For more performance, there are the P-series CPUs, which run at 28W and max out with 14-cores. There’s no GPU, though — just Intel’s Iris Xe graphics. The ThinkPad can still be configured with up to a whopping 64GB of RAM. This makes it great for extreme productivity and running things like virtual machines. For battery life, we got to about five hours on last year’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10, and expect more of the same this year.

The XPS 15 is better for most people

Though it has a significantly higher price, the XPS 15 is a much better laptop than the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11. The laptop has a faster CPU and a graphics card for excellent performance. It might be heavier and lack classic ports, but it’s power over anything else here. It’s an excellent machine for video editing, extreme multitasking, and so much more, especially when you consider the display and its slim bezels.

Dell XPS 15 (2023)

A great laptop

The Dell XPS 15 (2023) model brings some modest improvements over the previous generation. It has options for Intel’s newest 13th-generation CPUs and the latest Nvidia RTX 40-series graphics cards. All of that is packed into the same sleek and light package with the option for an OLED display.

Those who would rather have a more affordable device for web browsing and general productivity still might want to consider the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11. It’s quite a portable laptop, with a great port selection, excellent battery life, and optional 5G and LTE support.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11

A good productivity laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 builds on its predecessor with newer and more powerful 13th-gen Intel processors. It keeps the iconic ThinkPad design and features you know and love, too.