Dell's habit of designing and executing high-end premium machines is now well established, with the late 2018 15.6-inch XPS fitting right in.
The manufacturer's other models from last year's lineup left amazing impressions in testing, and Dell's XPS 15 definitely fits the mold of the premium class
XPS 13
and
XPS 15 2-in-1
.
Other manufacturers like Huawei and Asus have teamed up with Dell in the form of the
Huawei MateBook X Pro
or the
Asus Zenbook 3 Deluxe
, besides of course the breathtaking
2018 MacBook Pro
.But in this high-end premium market, Dell's 15.6-inch powerhouse has proven time and time again why it's an attractive product for business users.
Far from being an original device, this XPS 15 is a slight step up from its previous iteration, the 9560. Users who have already bought a last-gen XPS 15 must also be wondering, are these incremental updates worth upgrading? With a knack for crafting some of the best enterprise hardware, Dell aims to exceed expectations yet again with the latest iteration of its 15-inch heavyweight.
Dell XPS 15: Design
While the XPS 15 9570 largely resembles its 2017 counterpart, there are enough tweaks in its design to make it feel like a different beast.
The aluminum chassis has undergone a slight color change and is lighter in tone, making it just as classy as last year's model. An updated Dell logo is also more sophisticated. The letters are slimmer and less impactful, giving the branding a more subtle feel.
Its dimensions are unchanged from last year's model, with an impressively slim width and depth of 357 x 235mm, comfortably beating the vast majority of devices with a 15.6-inch display.
Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 review: Best in class
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Dell XPS 13 (2018) in review: A winner across the board
the
LG grams
is one of the few laptops that can boast slimmer dimensions, but at 17.7mm it's thicker than the XPS 15's 17mm at its thickest point. However, the Gram weighs almost half as much at 1.09kg versus 2kg. Apple's 15.6-inch MacBook Pro, on the other hand, weighs just 200g less and the body is roughly the same size, measuring 349mm x 241mm with a thickness of 15.5mm.
A deeper power button, repositioned camera (moved from bottom-left to bottom-center), and smoother hinges make up the full changes. Incidentally, camera position and lid stiffness were among our biggest bugbes with the previous XPS 15, and sadly, those design changes won't either taken into account.
A victim of Dell's InfinityEdge display design, the positioning of the camera under the manufacturer's logo makes video chatting far more awkward than it needs to be. This is especially true when you need to type during a video call. You'll end up with giant fingers that smack the Taking up half of the frame, making for an extremely forbidding sight. However, all indications are that the 2019 XPS 15 could reposition this at the top of the display like the 2019 XPS 13. However, a lid that's too tight still requires both hands (and some force) to pry it open.
Dell XPS 15: display
One of the most impressive features of the Dell XPS 15 is its massive 15.6-inch touchscreen. It comes in both 1080p and 4K UHD variants depending on your budget and the quality you want, but even the 1080p iteration on the lower end it won't disappoint. It looks fantastic and is extremely responsive - something that can be a small hit on a laptop touchscreen, especially one this large. Such quality and responsiveness make the Dell XPS 15 a perfect companion for those who work in the graphic design, photo or film industry and reproduce details to the highest degree.
The way the InfinityEdge design has been implemented on the laptop adds to this beauty, with the narrow bezel making the large screen appear even larger. Glossy Corning Gorilla Glass covers the entire screen surface, providing a luxurious contrast to the soft carbon fiber palm rest.
Although Dell's previous non-touchscreen versions of the XPS 15 incorporated an anti-glare coating over the display, this was scrapped in the 2018 models. So while you get a nice finish and richer colors, the reflections can be a little frustrating in bright conditions , if you are used to a non-reflective coating.
Speaking of colors, the Dell XPS 15 achieves a very respectable 95.5% coverage of the sRGB color space. This is below the 100% that Dell says can be achieved, but with a contrast ratio of 1638:1 and 428 cd/m2 sees the display looks really vibrant in almost all conditions. It's certainly superior to most devices, with a few exceptions like
Microsoft's Surface Pro 2017
, which offers a brightness of 437 cd/m2 and an sRGB coverage of 97.5%.
Dell XPS 15: keyboard and touchpad
Dell's solid 81-key backlit keyboard is also the same as last year's model and is pleasant to use. The chiclet-style keys are a good size and well-spaced, while the keystrokes are fairly deep and produce a strong sense of feedback.
Some might have expected the XPS 15 to feature the same new MagLev keyboard built into the XPS 15 2-in-1, but that's not the case - which for us is a welcome omission. The 2-in-1 1 keyboard uses magnets placed under the keys to reduce perceived travel and feedback, but it may not be as appealing to typists who prefer firmer, more powerful keystrokes.
One flaw now common across all XPS devices, and present in the 2018 XPS 15, is the shape of the arrow keys, as they're crammed into the same space as the Page Up and Page Down keys. Quite unnatural throughout Referring to the way you would position your hands on the device. Dell's decision to split this space between two sets of buttons is in line with aesthetics, but users may find it distracting at first. It also irritatingly meant we were more prone to it to hit the wrong key more often.
The trackpad, on the other hand, is refreshingly large and smooth thanks to its glass surface, and additional functions like pinch-to-zoom and press anywhere to left-click work flawlessly.
Dell XPS 15: Specifications and Performance
This machine is an absolute powerhouse, sporting a six-core 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-8750H processor in the configuration we tested, although it's also available with a quad-core i5-8300H processor and a hexa- Core i9 processor is available. 8950HK.
Although it can support up to 32GB of RAM, our test model's 16GB of DDR4 RAM was more than enough for office tasks Spotify supported while streaming a 4K video at 60 frames per second in the background.
The XPS is undoubtedly one of the most powerful laptops we've handled, scoring a whopping 178 in our performance benchmarks. Not only is this one of the highest we've recorded on a notebook, it also beats the 15-inch MacBook's score Pro of 173 (in a configuration with the i9-8950HK processor, by the way).
Additionally, the device maintains high levels of performance in both single-threaded and multi-threaded tasks - and represents a significant upgrade over last year's model, which scored 127 points in our benchmarks.
The 97 Wh battery is disappointing, however, lasting 7 hours 14 minutes in our video test. This is a decent chunk short of the MacBook Pro's 8 hours 1 minute lifespan and about three hours shorter than the 2017's 10 hours 27 minutes XPS 15. It's worth noting, however, that neither of these models uses a 4K display, which is notorious for eating away at battery life. You'll likely get a whole lot more mileage out of the 1080p version when it comes to battery life.
The battery also charges at a snail's pace when connected to an external monitor via USB-C due to the low wattage powering the device, and on one occasion performance became very sluggish when connected to an external display.
Dell XPS 15: Ports and Features
A strong collection of ports reinforces the machine's credentials as a must-have for high-end business users.
Despite a slim frame, the XPS 15 packs two USB 3.1 ports (one on each side of the chassis), USB-C, HDMI 2.0, Thunderbolt 3, and an SD card slot, not to mention the 3.5mm jack .
Security features, meanwhile, include a power button that conveniently doubles as a fingerprint reader - and a Noble Lock slot for that extra layer of protection. No reliability issues have been identified with the fingerprint reader, and the redesigned power button is deep and sturdy enough to withstand accidental presses impossible during registration.
Meanwhile, a small button between the Noble Lock slot and the USB 3.1 port on the right side of the case activates five LED lights to indicate the battery life - each light bulb corresponds to 20%. This is very handy for checking the battery level check when the machine is off and the lid is closed.
Dell XPS 15: Verdict
Despite a handful of flaws that have been overshadowed with a number of otherwise positive design tweaks, and an average battery life, the Dell XPS 15 has proven to be an incredibly powerful device that exceeds the standards of its Windows rivals - both in terms of design, and performance.
Its only serious competition is the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which it certainly lives up to. The differences between these two heavyweights are subtle enough that it might even matter whether you prefer using macOS or Windows. But overall, that's it XPS 15 is great value for money, with its full-featured i9 configuration available at less than half the cost of the 15-inch i9 MacBook Pro priced at £5,174 excluding VAT.
Exuding just as much style as the 2017 model - and offering more performance - this premium notebook from Dell is a must-have investment for business users looking for a high-end 15.6-inch notebook that combines performance, portability and... Offers functionality - and looks damn good at the same time.
processor
2.2GHz Intel Core i7-8750H
R.A.M.
16GB DDR4
Dimensions
357x235x11-17mm
Weight
2kg
screen size
15.6 inches
screen resolution
3849x2160
graphic card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
total memory
512 SSD
operating system
Windows 10 Home
Dell
laptops
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