Dell XPS 15 (9500) – Review 2020

Dell’s XPS laptop line is consistently one of our favorites, and this year’s model-9500 update to the flagship 15-inch version is no exception. The 2020 XPS 15 (starts at $1,299.99; $2,299.99 as tested) boasts a fresh new design with a trimmer chassis and a little more screen-pixel real estate, as well as the latest parts from Intel and Nvidia. Our review unit is an appealing 4K touch-screen version, but Dell’s wealth of configuration options means you can outfit this high-quality build with a wide combination of parts and features. We can quibble that we wish it were slightly lighter, and its reliance on USB-C ports may pose a challenge for some (though adapters are included), but this laptop is otherwise close to perfection for a premium 15-inch desktop replacement, earning our Editors’ Choice.

The New XPS 15 Design: A More Modern Facelift

When I reviewed the previous version of the Dell XPS 15 last year, I noted that the design, while still solid, was beginning to look a bit dated. The XPS 13 has seen several revisions, even to some versions we already loved, while its larger sibling was in need of some freshening up. It has gotten that refresh now, with updates to its shape, size, and features. Let’s take a closer look.

For starters, the XPS 15 is more compact than before, particularly in its width. The current 9500 model measures 0.71 by 13.6 by 9.1 inches (HWD), trimmer than the previous version (0.66 by 14.1 by 9.3 inches). The materials remain the same: The lid and chassis are made of aluminum, and the keyboard deck is a soft-touch carbon fiber. These give the XPS 15 a quality feel, though it’s not the lightest laptop at 4.5 pounds. It definitely feels hefty, so it would have been nice to trim some of the weight. The 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro, for instance, is just a touch lighter (4.3 pounds), but that’s with a slightly bigger display, and the complex 15-inch Microsoft Surface Book 3 comes in at 4.2 pounds.

All of this slimming down took place while making the screen larger, taking up more of the laptop’s overall size. Super-thin bezels add up to a 92 percent screen-to-body ratio, and the display now sports a 16:10 aspect ratio with more vertical pixels than the former 16:9 layout. The higher percentage of display looks more modern, and aesthetically more pleasing to me.

The actual display quality is superb. We have the optional 4K-resolution (3,840-by-2,400-pixel) touch panel on our model, and the screen is incredibly sharp and vibrant. The screen is rated for HDR 400, maxes out at 500 nits of brightness, and covers 100 percent of the Adobe RGB spectrum and 94 percent of DCI-P3. The XPS 15 panels have looked pretty stunning for years (even more than usual on the model I tested last year, in an optional OLED-screen configuration), and this is no different. The alternative option to our panel is a full HD (1,920-by-1,200-pixel) non-touch screen.

The size and the screen are not the only physical changes. For one, the new model features up-facing speakers (you can see them alongside the keyboard in the photos above and below), pushing the sound to the user more directly than the down-facing speakers of past models.

As far as laptop speakers go, the XPS 15 sounds excellent, and the sound carries farther without having to blast the volume. Additionally, and following in the footsteps of Apple’s MacBooks, the XPS 15’s touchpad is now gigantic, making it much easier to pan and scroll. The keys seem mostly unchanged, comfortable to type on with moderate travel and white backlighting.

Port Changes and Configuration Choices

Another big change is in the port options. The last model included both USB Type-C and USB Type-A ports, as well as a variety of other options, but this version does a lot of streamlining. Other than an SD card slot and a headphone jack, the only physical connections on this XPS 15 are USB-C ports, with two on the left flank and one more on the right. The two on the left include Thunderbolt 3 and DisplayPort support, while the right-side port offers just DisplayPort support, and all three can be used to charge the laptop. 

USB-C is fast and convenient, but some may be worried about their USB-A peripherals. Fortunately, Dell smartly includes both USB-C-to-USB-A and USB-C-to-HDMI adapters in the box. While it can be an annoyance carrying around an adapter or two and making sure they’re always with you when needed, it’s better than making you buy them, too.

The updates naturally extend to the internal components. Our $2,299.99 configuration includes a 10th Generation Intel Core i7-10875H processor, 16GB of memory, a 512GB solid-state drive, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU, and the 4K touch display. There are some set base models, but with Dell’s configuration options, you can essentially configure whatever combination of components you want within this laptop’s wheelhouse. 

This includes options for integrated graphics rather than our Nvidia GPU, while other components max out at 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage. There is no OLED screen option currently, despite its presence on the past model. One thing to note is that different capacities of battery are tied to the GPU option: A 56WHr battery comes with the iGPU, and discrete GPU configs get the 86WHr option. Also worth keeping an eye on: Core i9 processors will be available for the XPS 15, but they were not ready at review time.

Performance Testing: All-Around Proficiency

To contextualize PC Labs’ performance testing, I put together a batch of similar laptops to compare to the XPS 15. These are all premium 15-inch laptops to make the comparisons an even and relevant playing field, though prices and components do differ. 

Most obviously, I included the previous version of the XPS 15 ($2,649 as tested), with its high price tag in part owed to its optional OLED screen. The 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro ($3,899 as tested) is of course the biggest non-Windows competitor for this laptop, and a pricey one at that as configured. (Much of the increased cost is down to the 2TB SSD option.) The other two are more interesting comparisons, since the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB is a more creator-focused laptop (but its $2,699 price as tested and specs make it relevant here), while the Microsoft Surface Book 3 ($2,799 as tested) is a high-end marquee detachable laptop with no direct equivalent.

PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance suites developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL (formerly Futuremark). The PCMark 10 test we run simulates different real-world productivity and content creation workflows. We use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet jockeying, web browsing, and videoconferencing. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of the system’s boot drive. Both tests yield a proprietary numeric score; higher numbers are better.

Next is Maxon’s CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC’s suitability for processor-intensive workloads.

Cinebench is often a good predictor of our Handbrake video editing trial, another tough, threaded workout that’s highly CPU-dependent and scales well with cores and threads. In it, we put a stopwatch on test systems as they transcode a standard 12-minute clip of 4K video (the open-source Blender demo movie Tears of Steel) to a 1080p MP4 file. It’s a timed test, and lower results are better.

We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image editing benchmark. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG test image. We time each operation and add up the total. As with Handbrake, lower times are better here.

The XPS 15 performed well in all of these tests, as you’d expect from an expensive laptop with a current-generation Core i7 processor. You may notice the previous XPS 15 posts superior numbers, but it’s important to note that our particular configuration of that laptop was kitted out to the max with a Core i9 chip, which the MacBook Pro also possesses. The Apple laptop is excluded from the Windows-based tests, but generally, the Core i9 is a superior performer, as expected. 

This year’s configuration is less expensive, though, so in that regard, the XPS 15 and its new-gen processor hold up well, even compared to the Core i9 systems. The PCMark 10 result demonstrates that the XPS 15 can power through everyday tasks (you’d expect no less from a laptop at this price), while the media tests show it’s capable for photo and video editing, though not to be confused with one of Dell’s Precision workstations. I wouldn’t classify it as a specialist media editing machine as the Apple and Gigabyte are, but it’s about as close as you can get for a general-use laptop. 

Graphics Tests

3DMark measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. We run two different 3DMark subtests, Sky Diver and Fire Strike, which are suited to different types of systems. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to midrange PCs while Fire Strike is more demanding and made for high-end PCs to strut their stuff. The results are proprietary scores. 

This is the first laptop we’re testing with the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU, a new-for-2020 entry-level-to-midrange option. (Nvidia introduced it a couple of months ago at the same time it announced its Super versions of several mobile GeForce RTX GPUs.) It performs right in line with its expectations, a modestly powerful GPU that’s certainly much better than integrated graphics, but short of the more powerful options seen on gaming laptops and pro models for content creators. 

The Aero 15’s RTX 2070 Super (Max-Q) is the most potent GPU in this group, and you can see the difference in power. Again, that laptop is aimed more directly at creative pros or designers more likely to need GPU acceleration, while the XPS 15 is a more modest 3D performer. The GTX 1650 Ti is also capable of light gaming, unlike integrated graphics.

Normally, we also report the results of another synthetic test, Unigine Superposition, but it repeatedly failed to run to completion on the XPS 15. This happens occasionally, and is more to do with a software conflict with this benchmark than any real issue with the laptop.

Battery Rundown Test

After fully recharging the laptop, we set up the machine in power-save mode (as opposed to balanced or high-performance mode) where available and make a few other battery-conserving tweaks in preparation for our unplugged video rundown test. (We also turn Wi-Fi off, putting the laptop in airplane mode.) In this test, we loop a video—a locally stored 720p file of the same Tears of Steel short we use in our Handbrake test—with screen brightness set at 50 percent and volume at 100 percent until the system quits.

The battery life of our XPS 15 model is pretty long, though it doesn’t measure up to some of the competitors. The time is still respectable when taking the 4K display into account, since these traditionally drain batteries much faster than lower-resolution screens. With that in mind, the 12 hours of runtime is good, giving you plenty of hours off the charger. Some of the alternatives definitely last longer, particularly the MacBook Pro, and I have to point out that the others aren’t exactly slouches in the resolution department. Overall, the XPS 15 may not be the longest-lasting option, but it’s comfortably in the usable range.

A Desktop Replacement at the Top of its Class

The Dell XPS 15 (9500) is a smart refinement of an already well-regarded laptop. The previous design was in need of a facelift, and it successfully received one, in addition to updated components. The 2020 design is sleeker, the features are improved, and the base parts are faster than before, and give you better configuration options for your budget and power requirements. It’s not a radical redesign, but definitely an improvement, especially when you see the two side by side.

There are no major downsides here. The system performs as well as other premium laptops, and at a relatively good price considering its feature set. All of this is to say that the 2020 edition is one of our favorite desktop replacements, putting the XPS 15 back in the Editors’ Choice seat for this class of laptop.

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