We only caught our first glimpse of the XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop earlier today but Dell has used the first day of CES to officially unveil the new model. The XPS 13 2-in-1 actually has four usable modes: laptop, tablet, stand and tent and Dell claims it's the "smallest 13-inch 2-in-1 device on the planet". Of course, the new XPS 13 faces stiff competition from Microsoft's Surface Book, but Dell has been quick to point out several areas where the XPS trumps Microsoft's machine.

The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is 16 percent smaller than the Surface Book, is 40 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter. So if you're in the market for an ultra portable power laptop, the Dell should be on your radar.

If you order one of the new machines, you'll be able to choose from two different display options, an UltraSharp Quad HD+ with 5.7 million crystals or a regular 1930 x 1080 full HD display. No matter which option you go for, the screen will be coated in an anti-reflective material and will offer 170 degree viewing angles.

Dell has paid particular attention to the battery for the new XPS 13 2-in-1, and has fitted a 46WHr to both screen variants. The Quad HD+ screen model with Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD claims to offer 7 hours of streaming via Netflix, while the full HD model with 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD should be good for 10 hours. If streaming movies isn't your thing and you want to use the XPS 13 for doing work, you'll be able to get around 15 hours of use from the full HD model.

There's a range of processor, RAM and storage options available for both models. Processor are all Intel Kaby Lake and come in 3.2Ghz Core i5 and 3.6GHz Core i7 variants, RAM can be either 4GB, 8GB or 8GB and storage can be 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD.

Both full HD and Quad HD models get two USB Type-C ports, Thunderbolt 3 port, microSD card reader, display port and 3.5mm headphone jack. There's no traditional USB Type-A port on either machine, but Dell will ship each one with an adapter.

The XPS 13 2-in-1 will also get a fingerprint scanner, something that had been previously predicted and will be available to order in a few days time from 5 January with prices starting at $1000.