Recommended Charger for XPS 13 7390

The XPS 13 7390 is designed for a 45W power source and charges via USB-C, which is handled by an industry-wide standard called USB Power Delivery, aka USB PD.  That means that you can buy any charger from any vendor that supports USB PD and provides at least 45W.  Higher wattage power sources are completely fine, because the way USB PD works is that the charger advertises the charging options it supports, and the system then gets to choose which of those options it wants to use.  As a result, the charger won't force the system to accept more power than it can handle, and the system will never try to pull more power than the power source can provide.  However, if the power source is undersized for the device you're using, you can end up with behavior like slower battery charging (or no charging) and/or throttled performance as the system tries to operate from an undersized source.

I have several USB-C power sources of various wattages from Anker, Nekteck, and Satechi, and I use them with an XPS 13 9350, Latitude 7480, two Lenovo systems, and several other devices, and they all work perfectly with all of those devices.  I personally would recommend that you buy a power source of at least 60W just for broader compatibility with other devices you might acquire in the future, since 60W chargers don't cost much more and aren't much larger.  I wrote a detailed post here detailing some the various chargers I own and what I like about each in case you find that helpful.  The initial notes about the XPS 15 7590 requiring 130W wouldn't apply to this system, so you can skip that part.  Any of the chargers I listed in that post would work perfectly fine with your XPS 13 7390.

Thanks for the reply. We have had issues in the past with an Inspiron where a non-Dell charger came up as being incompatible and it wouldn’t charge. For that reason, and the fact that I have some $$$ left in my Dell account, I am going to order a Dell charger. 

Would these work? 
65 watt or 45 watt or 45 watt 

It is frustrating when Dell has no consistency in their product descriptions.

@OfficeDummy  if that previous experience was based on using AC adapters with the barrel-style connector, then yes non-Dell adapters can be a problem and be identified as unknown or incompatible, but that's because those power adapters were in fact proprietary -- and that's why I always got genuine Dell adapters for systems that used those adapters.  But the USB Power Delivery standard is explicitly an industry-wide standard, so that simply doesn't apply anymore, any more than the idea that you would have to use Dell USB flash drives with Dell laptops because non-Dell flash drives might not work.  The only exception is that Dell makes a 130W USB-C power adapter for use with certain systems that require 130W, such as the XPS 15 models, and that's proprietary because the official USB PD spec maxes out at 100W, so Dell did something in that adapter (and some of their docks) to stretch the spec for those systems.  But again that doesn't apply here.

But if it will make you feel better sticking with Dell despite the fact that their USB-C adapters are significantly more expensive for what you're getting and somewhat less flexible because the USB-C cable is permanently attached (meaning you can't connect a cable of your preferred length), then of course it's your PC and your money.  As to the products you mentioned, the 65-watt option will certainly work and would allow you to run other systems designed for 65W, such as many 14" laptops.  For the 45W "Power Adapter Plus" option, the "plus" part appears to be the USB-A port built into the "brick" that allows you to charge some other device at the same time.  It's not clear to me whether charging another device from that port would reduce the USB-C connector's output below 45W, i.e. 45W total output, or whether the charger can supply 45W via USB-C while simultaneously providing additional power to the USB-A port.  I also wonder how often somebody will want to plug a USB device into a brick that's halfway down the length of a laptop power cord and will likely be on the floor.  And the other 45W adapter appears to be a garden variety 45W USB-C adapter, i.e. no extra USB-A port for charging some other device.

@jphughan Thanks for educating me regarding the old, proprietary chargers and the newer USB standards. I guess I had an “oh duh” moment. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

I agree, Dell labeled parts are overpriced, but I might as well use the $$$ I have before they expire.

Not true. I purchased a 45W car adapter, but the XPS 13 7390 does not take it. I think, perhaps, that the charger
needs to deliver 20V. And my charger only did 14.5V.

@Ingar  interesting, because I got confirmation from someone else that their XPS 13 charged just fine from a 45W USB-C source that only provided 15V rather than 20V.  I suppose that may have changed, but yes it would be a good idea to buy a USB-C power source that supported all common USB PD voltages, i.e. 5V (mandatory), 9V, 15V, and 20V.

@Ingar  incidentally, if you need a better car charger, I just purchased this charger.  If you're not familiar with Satechi, they have a reputation for consistently quality products on par with companies like Anker.  Anyway, that charger will so 60W over USB-C and supports all common voltages I mentioned above, which I've confirmed by connecting a USB-C multi-meter between various test devices and this charger.  And it can also offer up to 12W output via its USB-A port simultaneously, hence the 72W rating.

Hello -

Which cable would you recommend for the Satechi charger and Dell XPS 7390?

Thanks.

Thank you - I came across your post and it was very helpful.  I'm curious.  I'm looking for an extra travel charger as well for my xps 7390, but I was also looking for a simple small-ish thunderbolt hub that included ethernet, SD card slot and some USB slots.  The more I think about it, getting just 1 thing that has everything I need would be easier.  Do you have any recommendations for a thunderbolt hub that would also charge?