If you thought that Dell’s XPS 15 was the perfect prosumer laptop, you’d be wrong, because the company made it even better with a bigger screen, smaller bezels, a bigger trackpad, and more.
Back in May, Dell introduced the first redesign for the XPS 15 that the laptop has seen in five years. It wasn’t surprising though, because the XPS 13 got the same treatment back at CES, and now the whole lineup follows the same design. When I reviewed last year’s model, I thought it was nearly perfect, with a beautiful 4K OLED display along with powerful specs. As it turns out, there was room for improvement in just about every area. That’s exactly what Dell did. Just about every aspect of the XPS 15 is improved in the new model, from a larger screen to a larger trackpad, and much more. The XPS 15 9500 starts at $1,258.99 (everything is $59 off, so these are actually priced more like $1,199.99, and $2,199.99 for the model that Dell sent me). That model comes with the FHD+ display, along with an Intel Core i5-10300H,8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD. Also, the non-touch displays have a smaller battery, and are a half-pound lighter. The model that Dell sent me is not a pre-configured option on its website. I found a similar one that has a Core i7-10750H processor, and after instant savings, it actually comes out to the same price of $2,199.99 as the custom one with the Core i7-10875H. As I mentioned, the new XPS 15 is the first redesign that the lineup has seen in five years. We did, however, see some elements of the new design in 2018’s XPS 15 2-in-1, but this is more along the lines of the XPS 13 redesign that we saw earlier this year. The chassis is 344.72×230.14x18mm, whereas last year, it was 357x235x17mm. That means that while it’s just a bit thicker, it does have a smaller footprint, all while packing in an even larger display. Dell has always touted a certain size screen in the footprint of a PC that’s one size smaller, but now it’s taken it up yet another notch. It’s quite impressive. The weight is the same, at 4.5 pounds, which is fine for something with these kinds of internals. The color of the new XPS 15 is the same as it’s always been, with the silver exterior and black interior. However, the sides are now a glossy silver color, making it look a lot more modern and flashy than the black sides that were on its predecessor. Dell also recently announced that for the first time, the XPS 15 is available in a second color. It now comes in Frost, with an Arctic White woven glass palm rest, a flavor that’s already been available on the XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1. As far as ports go, there are fewer than before, although I’m fine with it. On the left side, there are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which can be used for connecting high-resolution monitors, an external GPU, a dock, and more. On the right side, there’s a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, an SD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio jack. In other words, Dell made the bold decision to remove USB Type-A ports from this PC. It’s not particularly surprising, since we’ve already seen this move on the XPS 13, XPS 13 2-in-1, and the XPS 15 2-in-1, but it’s something to be aware of. I think USB Type-A is something that might just be taken for granted in laptops this size. It does come with an adapter though. Speaking of adapters, the barrel charger that I’ve spent two years complaining about is finally gone. I started complaining about it when I reviewed the XPS 15 2-in-1, which didn’t have the barrel charging port and shipped with a 130W USB Type-C charger. Every time there was a new XPS 15 after that, I asked why it didn’t come with a USB Type-C charger, and was always told that it hasn’t been redesigned yet, but of course, now it has. Also, to be clear, you can use any of the three USB Type-C ports for charging. Dell is the only company offering this wattage of USB Type-C charging. That’s because Power Delivery is capped at around 100W, so if you use any other charger on this PC, it’s going to charge slowly. It really feels like Dell took a step back and rethought every aspect of the XPS 15 when they redesigned it.
