Dell XPS 15 Laptop Review

If you’re in the market for a laptop designed to handle demanding gaming titles, look no further than the Dell XPS 15. This powerhouse packs an impressive amount of gaming-ready hardware into a sleek and portable chassis. A 13th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU and Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics processor are just the start of this laptop’s amazing capabilities, which also include a 1080p webcam for business meetings, a 256GB SSD, and 16GB of DDR5 RAM.

The XPS 15’s display is also an eye-catching feature, capable of reproducing a wide color gamut and reaching a maximum brightness of 471 nits. This makes the XPS 15 a great choice for graphic designers and other professional users who need a powerful laptop with a crisp and vibrant display.

This laptop’s industrial design is sleek and functional, with a durable aluminum shell that’s easy to grip and doesn’t heat up quickly when you use it for long periods of time. A recessed power button and keyholes for the USB-C ports are located on the left side of the keyboard, while the right side is home to two more USB-C ports, an SD card reader, and a headphone jack.

In terms of battery life, the XPS 15 can easily last through a full workday on a single charge with light to moderate usage. But the battery will degrade much faster if you’re using the laptop for more resource-intensive tasks like video and photo editing or intensive design programs.

Dell’s XPS 15 isn’t the best laptop for heavy gaming, but it can certainly handle most popular modern titles at 1920×1080 resolution with high to very high settings. It’ll struggle to run games with a higher refresh rate, however, and you may need to lower the game’s resolution or graphics settings.

I ran 3DMark Steel Nomad with this system, and it earned a score of 27842 points, which places it in the 94th percentile. Its performance in the memory test was a bit weaker, though, with a score of only 3385 points.

The Dell XPS 15 isn’t specifically built for gaming, so don’t expect it to have the specialized cooling solutions and high-refresh-rate screens you’d find on dedicated gaming laptops. Its i7 processor and Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU can easily handle most modern games, but you’ll need to lower the game’s resolution or settings to enjoy a smooth experience. The 3.5K OLED display is absolutely stunning, however, and makes this laptop a joy to use for media consumption and other productivity-focused tasks. The only real drawback to this machine is its speakers, which are positioned on the bottom of the chassis close to the front, obstructing your view of the screen when you’re working. This isn’t a big deal when you’re sitting at a desk, but it can be a little distracting when you’re on the go. The audio is still loud and clear, though, and plays music and podcasts at a reasonable volume.