Dell XPS 17 review: An excellent workhorse or coding laptop… if you can afford it

The Dell XPS 17 is a laptop computer that desires to be just about all issues to all folks. Nicely, all folks apart from these on a decent price range.

It has type, critical productiveness energy, it might probably play video games up there with a number of the greatest, and we have even used it as an ultraportable as a part of our testing. That vast display screen and highly effective {hardware} means it is an ideal laptop computer for coding and programming. We’re certain that it might be an incredible pupil laptops too, however on the worth Dell is asking, it is restricted to a choose few.

So, what is the worth for all this? Our precise Dell XPS 17 spec prices £3699/$2999, which alone guidelines it out for, effectively, nearly everybody.

Nonetheless listening? In case you’re trying to drop that a lot money on a laptop computer, we predict you may discover quite a bit to love right here.

Dell XPS 17: Worth and availability

Dell XPS 17 laptop

The rear of the Dell XPS 17 laptop computer. (Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

The Dell XPS 17 sequence started in 2020. You would possibly recall listening to about this vary a decade or extra in the past, however this large mannequin is comparatively new.

This explicit iteration was introduced in February 2023, and rolled out to markets internationally a bit after.

As is widespread with Dell PCs, there are a number of specs out there, however just like the MacBook Professional vary, none come low-cost. Essentially the most inexpensive prices £2299 within the UK on the time of evaluate, $2049 within the US.

Our evaluate spec has an official worth of $3,549.00/£3699 and offered direct from Dell for $2,999/£3299 at evaluate.

Dell XPS 17: Design & usability

Dell XPS 17 laptop

Entrance view of the Dell XPS 17 laptop computer. (Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

Aluminum and carbon fiber weave design
A bit too heavy for all-day portability
Glorious construct high quality

Dell has began to mess with components of its traditional laptop computer design not too long ago, with the mildly wild XPS 13 Plus. However the Dell XPS 17? That is the Dell type we all know and, principally, love.

Its lid is aluminum, as is the underside. The within is decked out in a carbon fiber weave, designed to spice up rigidity. It is a sublime, serious-looking design. And whereas it has been round for ages, the Dell XPS 17’s super-slim display screen borders imply you are not going to mistake this for one thing launched years in the past.

However is it truly moveable? Not in a standard sense. The Dell XPS 17 weighs 2.44kg, a full kilo greater than what we take into account superb for on a regular basis roving use. Nevertheless, its small display screen borders and sub-2cm thickness imply it can match right into a normal-size rucksack simply advantageous.

We spent every week utilizing the Dell XPS 17 out and about with no subject, however do have a take into consideration whether or not it is likely to be too heavy if that’s your plan week-after-week. Take into consideration one thing just like the LG Gram 17 or 16 if you’d like true low-weight portability.

Nonetheless, we had no worries about its resilience out on the street. The steel lid is sturdy, the keyboard plate beautiful and stiff. It is what we anticipate from Dell’s venerable XPS line.

Dell XPS 17: Show

Dell XPS 17 laptop

The Dell XPS 17’s 4K show seems nice 4K touchscreen, although an OLED possibility would have been good. (Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

As much as 4K decision
Good most brightness
Glorious colour saturation

One key motive to place up with that weight is the Dell XPS 17’s XL-size display screen. It is available in two flavors, a Full HD type show and the 4K 3480 x 2400 monster we’ve right here. That is of the more and more widespread 16:10 ratio, which makes busy apps really feel extra roomy whereas leaving simply small black bars above and beneath widescreen movies.

The Dell XPS 17’s colour depth is implausible, overlaying 99.9% of the Adobe RGB gamut in response to our colorimeter instrument. It is pro-grade colour saturation. Most brightness of 544 nits makes mild work of writing paperwork outdoor on a sunny day, and is sort of 10% increased than Dell’s personal declare.

After all, the MacBook Professional 16 can go a lot brighter nonetheless, with 1000-nit customary brightness and 1600-nit HDR. However on the Home windows facet, that is among the many brightest large-screen laptops we have seen.

There’s only one slight weak point. Distinction is simply OK at 1000:1 to 1370:1 relying on the display screen brightness. In case you use the Dell XPS 17 in a darkened room to observe a film, you’re going to discover that the “blacks” aren’t actually that black. Whereas that is regular for an LCD, we’re now in an age the place OLED screens, which have near-perfect black ranges, are fairly widespread in laptops. It’d definitely be a succesful laptop computer for picture modifying, however in the event you’re critical about it, we might advocate springing for one thing with an OLED show just like the HP Spectre x360 16.

Different elements to notice right here embody that the Dell XPS 17 has a touchscreen, lovely-looking edge-to-edge glass, and makes use of a normal 60Hz refresh fee. We do not assume that is a lot of a difficulty for work, however gaming laptops sometimes have a lot faster-reacting shows nowadays.

Dell XPS 17: Keyboard & touchpad

Dell XPS 17's keyboard.

The XPS 17’s keyboard is large, however regardless of the dimensions it would not have a devoted quantity pad, which could put some customers off. (Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

High-tier glass touchpad
Good, though pretty regular, keyboard design
Highly effective audio system

The Dell XPS 17 would not take the standard strategy to keyboard design for a laptop computer this measurement. You’d often see a separate NUM pad off to the facet, as was as soon as the conference for something 15.6-inch or bigger. Right here, you simply get the core array of buttons, in an effort to hold the keyboard centered with the display screen.

The keys aren’t fairly as deep as these of a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and never fairly as snappy because the mechanical designs of some gaming laptops. However they’re deeper than these of a MacBook, and really feel nice for long-form typing.

Their really feel is barely mushy fairly than clicky, and typing is not too noisy, till you begin hammering the house bar, which might generate a superb clack when whacked. The keyboard additionally has a multi-stage white backlight, as you’d hope.

The spare house to the left and proper of the keys is given over to the speaker array, a quad-driver setup that sounds good. There’s actual quantity and projection right here, plus a superb quantity of bass for a laptop computer.

It is rather less of a effectively composed and built-in sound than the MacBook Professional 16, however that laptop computer set a really excessive bar.

Dell XPS 17 trackpad.

The Dell XPS 17 has a spacious and comfy trackpad. (Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

The Dell XPS 17’s touchpad is superb too. It is a big, ultra-smooth pane of textured glass with a traditional mechanical clicker, fairly than the haptic type Apple has used since 2015, and others have experimented with in newer years.

There’s nothing fallacious with this older type. The Dell XPS 17’s pad has a velvety-feeling clicker, just like these of Microsoft’s prime Floor laptops earlier than the corporate began taking part in round with largely inferior haptic designs.

Engaged on this laptop computer feels nice, with one subject.

The Dell XPS 17’s webcam is behind the instances in tech phrases. It’s a 720p digicam, at a time when most premium laptops have began to make use of not less than 1080p cams. There’s extra to digicam picture high quality than decision, however the tender picture right here doesn’t sit effectively with the laptop computer’s worth and its in any other case constant prime quality degree.

Dell XPS 17: Efficiency & options

Dell XPS 17 laptop CPU badge.

Our XPS 17 got here with a strong Intel Core i9-13900H CPU. (Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

Glorious all-round efficiency
Not superb for hardcore avid gamers due to lower-power GPU

The Dell XPS 17 is an actual efficiency laptop computer, notably within the spec we’ve. It makes use of Intel’s top-end Core i9-13900H CPU, 32GB RAM, a 1TB SSD and the Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card.

This seems like a killer line-up, and it’s. However you need to bear one necessary factor in thoughts if you’re taken with graphics efficiency.

Dell makes use of a power-limited model of the Nvidia RTX 4070 that places a big restrict on efficiency. For instance, in 3DMark’s Time Spy take a look at the Dell XPS 17 scores 8799 factors. A maxed-out gaming laptop computer with an RTX 4070 that may draw as much as 140W would possibly rating as a lot as 12000 factors. And a desktop RTX 4070? You are taking a look at 16000 factors.

Dell says it’s restricted to 60W. Utilizing the MSI Afterburner app we truly noticed it frequently attain 70W when there was energy to spare i.e when the CPU was utilizing little or no. However, certain, 60W is the conservative max.

Excessive energy and low-power playing cards all bear the “RTX 4070” title, however the Dell XPS 17 solely affords a bit over 50% of a house gaming PC with such a card.

However does it matter? The Dell XPS 17 is clearly not a laptop computer made primarily for gaming. And it might probably nonetheless play Cyberpunk 2077 comfortably, not least as a result of this era of playing cards has a function referred to as body era. That is just like the body interpolation utilized in TVs, however a lot smarter, and might effectively over double body charges in supported video games.

After all, in the event you’re the XPS 17 proprietor Dell truly has in thoughts, you might be extra probably to make use of the GPU energy for video modifying or 3D modeling extra typically than gaming.

The Dell XPS 17 can play video games, however isn’t particularly made for the job. You may hear this in its fan habits too. Essentially the most smart workstations and gaming laptops sacrifice slimness in an effort to home a cooling system that’s delicate, and avoids the high-pitch whine widespread in slim PCs. Dell’s XPS 17 doesn’t whine, however it does have a treble part that’s more durable to disregard because the followers begin to decide up the tempo.

Dell XPS 17: Battery life & connectivity

Dell XPS 17 laptop

Facet view of the Dell XPS 17 laptop computer. (Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

All-day battery life for mild jobs
You’ll want an adapter or dock for older connectors

The Dell XPS 17 has an XL-size 97Wh battery. Add simply 10% extra and also you wouldn’t legally be capable of take this laptop computer on a airplane.

Now we have seen experiences that this laptop computer solely lasts 3.5 hours between costs, however that has not been our expertise in any respect. In PC Mark’s Trendy Workplace it lasted 10.5 hours precisely. This take a look at is designed to emulate regular workplace job workloads, if admittedly together with durations of sitting round doing nothing.

After utilizing it exterior at most brightness, working with out breaks, our testing says you may anticipate the Dell XPS 17 to final slightly below six hours of sunshine work. That is all excellent news contemplating this laptop computer has a reasonably shiny display screen of 4K decision. These high-res shows can at instances be critical energy hogs.

Like all laptops this highly effective, the Dell XPS 17 wants a bigger, heavier energy provide than, say, a MacBook Air. It’s a 130W provide, however remains to be a lot trimmer than the common gaming laptop computer PSU.

You would possibly anticipate traditional USB-A ports in a laptop computer of this type, however there are none. There’s loads of potential to increase this with a dock, although, as a result of the Dell XPS 17 has 4 ultra-fast Thunderbolt 4 connectors. Dell throws in a primary dongle to show one in every of these right into a USB-A and HDMI 2.0 port.

Different connectors on the Dell XPS 17 embody a combi headphone/mic jack and a full-size SD card slot.

Must you purchase the Dell XPS 17?

The Dell XPS 17 is a strong, fashionable laptop computer that impresses on a number of fronts, and faces two essential roadblocks.

That is an costly laptop computer, similar to the Apple MacBook Professional 16, and extra workstation-style energy is accessible for much less from some fanatic gaming laptops. The Dell XPS 17 can be not that portable-friendly, not like the smaller fashions on this household.

Nevertheless, laptops like this present that the outer components of design and construct are extra than simply superficial. In addition to feeling stable, the Dell XPS 17 has a top quality keyboard and a very good touchpad, which levels-up the on a regular basis really feel of utilizing the PC. If you need a strong, well-built laptop computer with a big display screen and you’ll abdomen the value, then the Dell XPS 17 is a implausible selection.

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.