Dell XPS 15 Review: A Really Good Laptop for Almost Everything

There ’s nothing like a trial by ardor . So on my latest trip , I result my regular work laptop computer at home and grabbed the recently refreshedDell XPS 15.With my destination more than 7,000 miles away from home and no backup machine to rely on , the XPS 15 was my command station for working on everything from compose storey to delete photos and telecasting , creating gifs , and even playing some games during my downtime . And over the course of a week , the XPS 15 was nearly flawless , perform even better than I expected while easily reconcile everything I threw at it .

From the outside , not a long ton has exchange on the XPS 15 7590 , though that ’s not a bad thing . After more than three year of the same cosmopolitan blueprint , the combining of brush aluminium on top and bottom with voiced - touch finishing covering its carbon fiber deck still give Dell ’s flagship 15 - inch fragile - and - perch a satiny and mod appearance . Along with Apple ’s MacBook , it ’s one of the rare laptops that sports a timeless feel and resist get on well than most other systems .

Dell XPS 15

Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

What is it ?

A sparse - and - faint 15 - column inch laptop computer

Price

Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

Starts at $ 1,100 ( $ 2,650 as essay )

Sleek design , bright organic light-emitting diode display , combo fingerprint reader / power clit

Photo: Sam Rutherford

Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

Do n’t Like

Could practice one more port , bottom - mounted loudspeaker system , OLED screen does n’t stand touch

At the back , the XPS 15 measures 0.66 - inches thick , before it point down to 0.45 - inches in front , with a selection of ports on either side including a two USB 3.1 ports , one USB - C port with Thunderbolt 3 , a full - size of it HDMI embrasure , and a headphone jack . The XPS 15 even features a full - size SD card reader , which is a huge incentive for someone like me who often has to change ikon from a photographic camera to a laptop for editing , and also means there ’s potentially one less dongle you ’ll have to persuade around . That say , for a 15 - inch system , it would have been nice if Dell included one more USB port ( of either type ) , as three USB port wine is the same number ports you get on the XPS 15 ’s small sibling , theXPS 13 .

Photo: Sam Rutherford

Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

The one major change to the XPS 15 ’s design is that Dell has finally followed the XPS 13 ’s lead by go its 720p webcam from below the display to its proper place on the XPS 15 ’s top bezel — in other quarrel , the olfactory organ cam is gone . On top of that , on the XPS 15 7590 , you could now select between three different displays include a non - touch 1080P screen , a 4 K UHD touchscreen , and the 4 K non - touch OLED screen that came on our review social unit .

While the OLED display cost $ 250 more than the default option 1080p screenland , for content creators looking for exact color reproduction , that insurance premium is totally deserving it . Not only does the OLED instrument panel cover 100 percent of the DCI P3 color blank space , with a max luminosity of 442 nits , our XPS 15 review unit in reality exceeded Dell ’s listed call of 400 nits of brightness . And despite being a glossy panel , Dell has outfit all of the XPS 15 ’s displays with an anti - broody coating that does just enough to keep glower or reflectivity from being distracting while still making sure colors appear rich and vibrant .

One of the few hiccups I run into during my XPS 15 testing was a weird bug that caused the OLED screen to quiver faintly , typically when viewing images , MD , or web site with white-hot backgrounds . Thankfully , this bug seems to be a weird side effect cause by a setting in Intel ’s artwork drivers , and once I disabled the Panel Self - Refresh option , the issue decease away completely .

Meanwhile , when it come to functioning , the XPS 15 start out at $ 1,100 for an Intel Core i5 CPU , 8 GB of RAM , 256 GB NVMe SSD , and integrated Intel nontextual matter , but pass away all the way up to a Core i9 CPU , 32 GB of RAM , 2 TB of SSD memory , and an Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU with 4 GB of VRAM . ( Our $ 2,650 review building block posture on the high end of thing with a Core i9 CPU , 16 GB of RAM , 1 TB SSD , and Nvidia 1650 GPU . )

This range of a function of choice mean value can you middling much configure the XPS 15 for almost any use case , pick off thing like computer storage and GPU as you see set . The optional GTX 1650 is an especially overnice touch , as it trim down on time pass rendering videos , and it also mean you’re able to easily play modern AAA games at 1920 x 1080 . 4 K is an alternative , too , particularly if you ’re playing an sometime title or if you do n’t mind tweaking the artwork options down a bit . In prolonged use cases , the XPS 15 ’s comparatively slender bod does put a slight boundary on the system ’s max performance due to thermal throttling , but you have to remember , this is a 4.5 - pound mobile workstation that still fits in most laptop purse and not some 10 - pounding lusus naturae like theAcer Predator Triton 900I examine a while back .

And even with the XPS 15 ’s more restricted chassis , it performed quite well on benchmark such as Handbrake , where the XPS 15 take 8 minutes and 1 second to render a 6 GB 4 K video , which is only slightly longer what we get from the Triton 900 ( 7:40 ) , despite the Triton induce a much strapping GPU . Meanwhile , when using Blender to examine CPU execution , thing were also quite close with our Core i9 - 9980 XPS 15 end a demonstration render in just 4 hour and 15 seconds , compared to 4:05 for the Triton 900 , which also boast an Intel i9 CPU . So yes , there is a little penalty in pure performance due to the XPS 15 ’s thermals , but considering its more portable dimensions , the remainder is somewhat negligible unless you are maxing out the system on a regular groundwork .

As for games , the XPS 15 pumped out some respectable framerates in Rise of the Tomb Raider , hitting 54.2 FPS on 1920 x 1080 and high background . It was a similar position in Far Cry , where the XPS 15 hit 49 fps at full HD and slightly more intense ultra options .

Critically , Dell has n’t mess up with the XPS 15 ’s keyboard , which remains a pleasure to use thanks to relatively inscrutable fundamental travel ( for a laptop ) and a nice , springy tactile property . That said , I hope that for its next refresh , Dell gives the XPS 15 a slightly wide touchpad .

Due to its bottom - mounted speakers , sound gets direct into whatever it ’s rest on before it stumble your ear , which can impact overall audio quality . And with all that room on either side of its keyboard , it seems like there ’s rich elbow room for Dell to change up the XPS 15 ’s verbaliser placement in succeeding generation .

For the 7590 , Dell also incorporated a fingerprint proofreader into the XPS 15 ’s major power button , which makes enter and out of the organisation closely instantaneous , and feel like a well choice to not having support for Windows Hello facial recognition . ( The XPS 15 does n’t have it , and that ’s a bummer . )

in conclusion , with a bombardment life that go 7 minute and 22 minutes on our video rundown test , the XPS 15 demonstrated strong longevity for a laptop its sizing . That said , if you are doing anything more diagrammatically intense , battery life can evaporate much faster , as even when playing a relatively less demanding game like League of Legends at 4 potassium , the XPS 15 ’s runtime was closer to two and a half to three hours .

Still , after a week of run into my every demand , there ’s no doubt the XPS 15 7590 is a first - stratum laptop . With a wide compass of contour , the XPS 15 can accommodate all sorts of citizenry from a college scholarly person to a pro video recording editor in chief , while its slim innovation create it easier to tug around that many of its more bulky contender . Sadly , the one thing it ca n’t really do is fit on a received plane tray mesa , so if you ’re the kind of person who likes getting work done in the air travel , you kind of have to shell out for a first - form just the ticket too .

README

With a starting damage of just $ 1,100 and a immense grasp of components including up to an Intel Core i9 CPU and Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU , the XPS 15 has jolly much everyone covered .

It would be gracious if Dell included one more USB port , as the XPS 15 only has two USB - A and one USB - C ( with Thunderbolt 3 ) ports .

There is some slight thermal limiting at high - performance levels , but it ’s about the same as other 15 - inch thin - and - light laptops like the MacBook Pro 15 .

The Dell XPS 15’s power button now pulls double duty as a Windows 10 fingerprint reader.

The Dell XPS 15’s power button now pulls double duty as a Windows 10 fingerprint reader.Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

The XPS 15 does n’t support Windows Hello case login , but it does have a fingerprint proofreader build - into its index button .

cover alternative let in a full HD non - touch display , a 4 K UHD IPS display with tactile sensation , or a 4 K UHD non - touch OLED showing like the one reexamine here .

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Photo: Sam Rutherford