Head-To-Head: Lenovo Yoga 900 Vs. Dell XPS 13

Style And Substance

Welcome to our latest business-class laptop throwdown. Today we're looking at two recently refreshed offerings running Windows 10 -- Lenovo's Yoga 900 and Dell's XPS 13. The Yoga 900 2-in-1 is a bid to win over users with flare and flexibility, while the focus of the XPS 13 laptop is more on taking the standard business-laptop formula and making it feel fresh and fully capable of meeting today's basic work needs.

To get a sense of which one might be the best fit, we've compared the specs and prices of Lenovo's Yoga 900 2-in-1 and Dell's newest XPS 13 laptop. Here's a look at what we found.

Also, be sure to check out more of the CRN Test Center's side-by-side comparisons of the latest smartphones, tablets, and 2-in-1s.

Body And Design

The Yoga 900's biggest distinguishing feature from the XPS 13 -- and from most other devices, for that matter -- is a watchband hinge connecting the display and the keyboard, which lets users flip the keyboard all the way back. That can be useful for using the device as a tablet, or as a screen for a presentation (or a Netflix viewing), in which the keyboard can be flipped part of the way backwards and used as a stand. The Yoga 900 also aims to up the cool factor with its colorful Clementine Orange version, along with gold or silver options.

The XPS 13 isn't really trying to compete on style with the Yoga 900 -- though it still has an appealing look with its aluminum body and carbon fiber palm rest. There's also a pricier gold design version available.

Display

The display sizes of the Yoga 900 and XPS 13 are identical at 13.3 inches. In the case of the Yoga 900, it's a nearly-4K, 3,200-by-1,800 touch screen. The XPS 13, meanwhile, has two variations. One is non-touch, at a somewhat lower resolution (1,920-by-1,080). Pricier versions come with a 3,200-by-1,800 touch display.

Battery Life And Processor

Touch screens tend to drain the battery, so the non-touch version of the XPS 13 is most likely the best bet if battery life is a top concern -- though both versions of the XPS 13 promise "up to" 15 hours of battery life. The Yoga 900 promises nine hours of battery life for video playback and 10 hours for Wi-Fi browsing.

Both devices pack serious horsepower, with Intel's sixth-generation Skylake processors -- either the Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 for the XPS 13 and the Intel Core i7 for the Yoga 900.

Weight And Thickness

Despite the i7 processor, which requires a fan, the Yoga 900 still manages to be thin (0.59 inches) and fairly light (2.8 pounds). The XPS 13 is just a bit thicker at 0.6 inches, though its non-touch version is lighter than the Yoga 900, at 2.7 pounds. The touch version is slightly heavier, at 2.9 pounds.

Memory And Storage

For a light and thin 2-in-1, the higher-end version of the Yoga 900 comes with a surprisingly large amount of memory -- 16 GB. The device is also available with 8 GB of memory. Standard configurations of the XPS 13 come with 4 GB of memory at the lowest end, non-touch version and 8 GB of memory for a higher-end non-touch version and the touch version. At the highest-end, a touch version can be configured with 16 GB of memory.

Storage-wise, the Yoga 900 also can come with more than one might expect -- 512 GB of SSD, or 256 GB at the lower end. The XPS 13 can be configured with 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB of SSD.

Ports

The Yoga 900 comes outfitted with 2 USB Type-A ports, 1 USB Type-C port and 1 DC-in (with USB 2.0 function). The XPS 13 comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports and 1 Thunderbolt 3 port.

Price

Lenovo's Yoga 900 starts at $1,099.99 for a version loaded with Windows 10 Home, 8 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage; $1,199.99 for the same OS and memory and more storage, 256 GB and $1,299.99 for the same OS with 16 GB of memory and 512 GB of SSD. A version loaded with the top-end configuration and Windows 10 Pro runs for $1,349.99. All configurations come with Intel's Core i7 processor.

Dell's XPS 13 also has a number of price options to consider because of the various configurations -- with options lower, comparable to, and higher than the Yoga 900. The non-touch version of the XPS 13 -- with 4 GB of memory, 128 GB of storage and Intel's Core i3 processor -- starts at $799.99. A non-touch version with double that memory and an i5 processor goes for $999.99.

Meanwhile, for the touch version, the XPS 13 runs at $1,499.99 (Core i5 processor, 8 GB of memory, 256 GB of storage); $1,699.99 (Core i7 processor, 8 GB of memory, 256 GB of storage); and $2,129.99 (Core i7, 16 GB of memory, 512 GB of storage). If you want the gold design, Dell offers a version with the i7, 8 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage for $1,749.99.

All versions of the XPS 13 come loaded with Windows 10 Home.