Dell XPS 15 (2020) Review: The Best All-Around Laptop?

The XPS series from Dell has always been a personal favorite of mine. In fact, the laptop I use for my day-to-day activities and tasks is the old Dell XPS 13 from 2019. And up until now, it’s still working really smoothly and does the job for me without a fuss. But for today, let’s take an in-depth look at our full Dell XPS 15 (2020) review and see if this laptop is as amazing as its predecessors.

One of the latest generations from Dell’s XPS line, the XPS 15, features a much slimmer frame and a little more screen-pixel real estate thanks to the even thinner bezels, which I find crazy because the bezels from their older models were almost non-existent. Apart from that, the new XPS 15 also boasts having the newest Intel and Nvidia components as well as a touchscreen 4k display.

To find out more, just keep scrolling to read our review below!

See Where The Dell XPS 15 Ranks In Our Top Picks For The Best Laptops For A Small Business.

Overview Of The Dell XPS 15 (2020)

The Dell XPS 15 packs a lot of tremendous power and punch for a laptop that’s built in a chassis this thin and lightweight. At the same time, this brand new design didn’t let Dell sacrifice or compromise its internal components or features that are sure to enhance your overall experience with this particular device.

The 10th Gen Intel Core processors integrated into the XPS 15’s system deliver desktop-caliber creativity to your laptop, which is typically only available or seen on your standard desktop computers. Just from this specific feature alone, this puts the Dell XPS 15 right in front of the competition.

When you take a closer look, you’ll notice a gorgeous brilliant display with 500 nits of brightness and a spectacular 4k resolution with touchscreen capabilities, a really comfortable keyboard, outstanding speakers for your music listening pleasure, as well as a fantastic and satisfying touchpad. These are only a few of its many impressive features and there’s more to this laptop than meets the eye.

That being said, you can also choose between a few XPS 15 variants. Whether you want the Intel Core i5 10th Gen or the Intel Core i7 10th Gen, 16 GB of RAM, 32 GB of RAM, and up to 64 GB of RAM, and if you want the graphics card with NVIDIA GTX 1650Ti or the regular Intel UHD Graphics. It is up to you to decide based on your preferences and requirements for a laptop.

This laptop isn’t perfect, but it’s the one that comes closest to being so. So, if you have a few thousand dollars to spend on a laptop, regardless if it’s for personal use, work, or school, you really can’t go wrong with choosing the Dell XPS 15 (2020).

Features & Specifications

Check Out Dell’s Preview Of Their Latest XPS 15 Laptop Below.

Want To Check Out Other Laptop Units? Click Here To Read Our List Of The Best Laptops For A Small Business This 2021.

What We Like About The Dell XPS 15 (2020)

Design & Build

The new design the XPS 15 is now sporting is one of the things that make me excited over it, especially after several years of seeing the same boring, bulky chassis it used to have. Upon closer look, the changes are somewhat similar to those Dell made to their XPS 13 earlier this year too.

For some, these changes made to its overall appearance may seem insignificant or small but they truly add up a lot of improvement and enough upgrades that make this device look really sleek and even stylish.

The most noticeable change is its more slimmed-down bezels as the latest XPS 15 now has the new four-sided Infinity Edge display from Dell, giving you a larger display and more screen real estate as it foregoes the chunky bezel at the bottom of the screen found in previous models.

The 2020 XPS 15 is also housed in a more compact frame than previous models, especially in terms of width. This new model is smaller than the previous XPS 15 too, measuring only 0.71 x 13.6 x 9.1 inches (height, width, length) compared to the latter that was 0.66 x 14.1 x 9.3 inches.

As for its weight, the XPS 15 weighs about 4.5 lbs. It’s not the most lightweight laptop out there but with how powerful the hardware this laptop has in its system, we’re not really complaining about the few extra pounds it has.

When it comes to the latest XPS 15’s build quality, the materials used to make the laptop are the same as before. The lid and chassis are still composed of aluminum, with a soft-touch carbon fiber keyboard deck that feels comfortable to rest your wrists on compared to a cold metal surface most laptops have.

All in all, the XPS 15 has a really classy and premium feel to it that will really appeal to a wide range of people.

Performance

With an Intel Core i7-10875H processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, the Dell XPS 15 is clearly aimed at the “professional” market, though I can imagine students will also appreciate this type of hardware.

However, the XPS 15 is not strong enough for the tasks professional video editors or 3D artists do, but it’s certainly powerful enough for someone who does that stuff as a hobby or simply wants an all-around laptop without facing any kind of issues with every computer activity they do.

To sum it up, the Dell XPS 15 delivers professional-level performance in a compact and light chassis that won’t slow you down as you work through your daily tasks. Sure, the GPU choice could have been more powerful, but that would certainly require Dell to build a more robust (and heavy) cooling system which will add up to the unit’s overall weight.

Display

The incredibly thin bezels the XPS 15 has is one of the main reasons this is such a popular product for a wide range of consumers. Whether you’re a creative professional who needs a bright, color-accurate display for work or simply enjoy watching high-definition shows and movies in your spare time, you will surely appreciate the superb screen the XPS 15 has.

Not to mention, you have a few options on which display quality you want to get from the XPS 15. You can either get the optional 4K-resolution (3,840 by 2,400-pixel) touch panel, which is wonderfully sharp and colorful. The screen is HDR 400 certified, has a maximum brightness of 500 nits, and covers 100% of the Adobe RGB spectrum and 94% of DCI-P3.

On the other hand, there is also a full HD (1,920 by 1,200 pixel) non-touchscreen display as an alternative to those who aren’t really aiming for 4K screens and want to cut down on costs.

Our Least Favorite Thing

Battery Life

Don’t get me wrong, the XPS 15’s battery life isn’t bad at all. It’s actually pretty decent but it could definitely be improved as I have seen other laptops perform longer than this one. For casual tasks like routine email checking and browsing, you can easily get up to 10 hours on this unit. However, with streaming high-resolution content, the battery drains a lot faster, giving you around 6 hours of usage at most.

Not Suitable For Hardcore Gaming

Personally, this isn’t a huge con as I don’t really like to rely on laptops when gaming but I figured this is something to keep in mind in case some of you are gamers and are eyeing this laptop for your gaming needs. While the Dell XPS 15 (2020) can perform smoothly in almost every task you throw at it, its gaming capabilities are severely lacking especially if you’re planning to play demanding AAA titles.

While the GTX 1650 Ti is technically a gaming GPU, the Dell XPS 15 is nowhere near a gaming laptop. The thin and light chassis design isn’t really compatible and doesn’t lend itself to long gaming sessions where heat could create performance issues or concerns. At most, this laptop’s gaming capabilities will be limited to you playing games at 1080p on medium settings.

Though I reckon games that don’t rely too much on heavy graphics might work for you. But if you’re looking for a laptop for hardcore gaming, it’s best to look for another model or perhaps think about building your own PC.

In A Nutshell

After giving you a breakdown of what we liked and disliked about the Dell XPS 15, here is a narrowed-down list of the good and the bad with this near-perfect laptop.

Our Final Verdict

Now that we have reached the conclusion of our Dell XPS 15 (2020) review, I must say that this is certainly the closest any manufacturer in the market can get to a perfect laptop as of writing. It’s definitely one of the best laptops you can get your hands on right now and you’ll be hardpressed to find real faults on this model.

Do you already own the Dell XPS 15 (2020)? Or are you still on the fence about purchasing it? Let me know in the comments section below if you have any insights or questions to share with us. We’d love to hear all your thoughts about this product!

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