The most recent Dell XPS 15 with an OLED display (version 9520, starting at $1,449; $2,299 as tested) joins a long line of the brand’s flagship laptops and demonstrates the state of the art in desktop replacement systems.
With attention to the smallest details and solidity that few laptops can match, the XPS 15 9520 is as well-built as a laptop can be. You won’t find a better 15-inch laptop option if you’re looking for one that successfully balances portability and performance. Read our review before making a purchase; we’ll give you all the details.
Table of Contents
Pros And Cons Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
Pros
- Lightning performance with Intel 12th
- Gen CPUs Gorgeous 3.5K OLED touch display
- All-day battery life
- SD card slot
- Roomy and comfy keyboard
Cons
- USB-C ports require adapters for many uses
- GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU isn’t a powerhouse
- The 720p webcam is a little disappointing
- Expensive
Price And Release Date Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
- Starting price of $1,449
- To get the 3.5K OLED touchscreen you’ll pay at least $2,199
The Dell XPS 15 OLED 2022 is available now for a starting price of $1,449 on Dell’s website(opens in new tab). This set-up includes a 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1200) 60Hz display, a 12th generation Intel Core i5-12500H processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and Intel UHD graphics.
The most advanced configuration includes a Core i9-12900HK CPU, an Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti mobile GPU, 64GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and a 15.6-inch 4K (3840 x 2400) 60Hz touch screen. Priced at $3,579 is this model.
Our review unit costs $2,299 and includes a 15.6-inch 3.5K (3456 x 2160) OLED 60Hz touch display, a Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The only OLED display option is the 3.5K screen, and it looks fantastic in person.
Design Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
- Elegant, slim design
- Easy to carry around
Years of design iterations have resulted in a streamlined and uniform aesthetic, which the XPS 15 benefits from. The keyboard deck on my review unit has a silver chassis with a black carbon fiber top that is both elegant and understated in its ostentation. The angles are perfect. A stunning white woven fiber keyboard deck is also available with a frost chassis. In both situations, the keyboard deck feels warmer and cozier than bare metal.
The side edges of every model are the same: they are double-anodized and diamond-cut for aesthetic and practical reasons. This scratch resistance keeps the metal looking pristine even when peripherals are plugged in and out. The XPS 15 has the slimmest display bezels of any 15-inch laptop and a 92.9% screen-to-body ratio, giving it an ultra-modern appearance and a screen that appears to float in the air. Only HP’s Spectre x360 16, which is also more extravagant, offers a laptop with anything close to such an attractive design.
Ports Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
- Three USB-C ports
- USB-A and Ethernet adapters included
There are only three Thunderbolt 4-compatible USB-C ports, one 3.5mm audio jack, and one full-size SD card reader available for connectivity. The machine does come with a USB-C to USB-A adapter and an HDMI cable from Dell, but the absence of legacy ports is disappointing and one of the drawbacks of the machine’s ultra-thin chassis.
Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 provide strong wireless connectivity.
Display Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
- Vibrant and immersive InfiniteEdge display
- Streaming content and video games look incredible
For the XPS 15 9520, Dell offers three 15.6-inch displays with a practical 16:10 aspect ratio. Options include Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) non-touch IPS, UHD+ (3840 x 2400) touch-enabled IPS, and 3.5K (3456 x 2160) touch-enabled OLED. The latter was a feature of my review unit, and it was bright and colorful right out of the box with the typical deep blacks of OLED displays.
The OLED panel was excellent as usual, according to my colorimeter. The display is visible in all but direct sunlight thanks to its brightness of 391 nits, which is significantly higher than our 300-nit threshold. A white background and inky black text were produced by the extreme contrast ratio. The colors were extremely accurate with a DeltaE of 0.42 (1.0 or less is regarded as excellent), wide at 100% of sRGB and 96% of AdobeRGB, and wide. The AdobeRGB gamuts of the Asus Vivobook 15 OLED and ZenBook Pro 14 Duo were slightly wider but less precise.
Audio Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
- Rich audio quality
- Lows and highs sound clear even at high volume
The speakers on the XPS 15 OLED are among the best I’ve ever heard on a laptop. The powerful speakers can fill an entire room with sound while still being incredibly clear at high volumes. The laptop bass isn’t always great, but the XPS 15 didn’t fall short in that regard.
The speakers handled everything, from the thunderous shotgun blasts in Doom Eternal to the urban ambience in Cyberpunk 2077. In the Court of the Dragon by Trivium and Nevermore by Symphony X, for example, sounded a little thin on the high end but retained their power on the low end. I couldn’t find much that didn’t sound fantastic on the laptop’s speakers, including games, music, and podcasts.
The XPS 15 has Waves Maxx Audio Pro technology and professional tuning, as well as a variety of EQ presets in the companion app that is included, to further enhance the audio experience. Particularly when used with various musical genres, the presets do a respectable job of improving the sound. I was especially taken aback by how incredible movie trailers sounded when the Movie preset was activated. If you don’t want to rely solely on the presets, you can change the EQ to your liking.
General Performance Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
- Adept at everyday computing
- Decently speedy file transfers and video encoding
The XPS 15 can easily handle demanding workloads thanks to its 12th-generation Intel Core processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD. Even when I had more than 20 Chrome tabs open, ran a YouTube video, and was chatting on Slack, the laptop never slowed down or stuttered. It can perform numerous tasks at once.
The XPS 15’s multicore score on Geekbench 5.4, which gauges overall performance, was 11,258. Alienware x14 received a score of 13,353, while the MacBook Pro 16-inch received a score of 12,683.
The Dell XPS 15 took 5 minutes and 42 seconds to finish our Handbrake video editing test, which entails downscaling a 4K video clip to 1080p. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (5:58) is slightly quicker than this, but the MacBook Pro 16-inch (4:48) is slightly slower.
When asked to copy 25GB of multimedia files, the XPS 15 OLED is able to do so at a swift 1,637 MBps. This outperforms the Alienware x 14 (1,156 MBps) and Zephyrus G14 (1,260.45 MBps).
Gaming Performance Of Dell XPS 15 OLED
- Solid gaming performance
- On par with dedicated gaming laptops
Our XPS 15 has a laptop graphics card from Nvidia, the RTX 3050 Ti, so it also functions well as a gaming laptop. On the laptop, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI benchmarked at 40 frames per second at 3.5K resolution. The game’s 1080p frame rate was 60 frames per second. The majority of non-gaming laptops cannot match those solid frame rates, despite the fact that this particular game is not particularly technically demanding.
I started God of War and Doom Eternal for my own testing. I expected Doom Eternal to run at a frame rate of between 85 and 100 at medium settings because it is a highly optimized game. Even when battles became chaotic, it operated with buttery smoothness. God of War on PC maintained a framerate between 30 and 40. Though it’s lower than the 60 frames per second that the majority of PC players would prefer, this is comparable to how it performed on the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Despite not being promoted as a gaming laptop specifically, the Dell XPS 15 is a capable gaming laptop. In terms of performance, it’s almost on par with specialized devices like the Alienware x14.
Keyboard And Touchpad
- Dell uses one of the largest touchpads on any 15-inch Windows laptop
- The fingerprint sensor still requires you to wait for the PC to boot
As was already mentioned, the palm rest is made of black carbon fiber, and the Chiclet-style keyboard is also black. The keyboard is accurate and comfortable, but it could be better compared to, say, a ThinkPad X1 Extreme, given that ThinkPads are known for having the best keyboards. While it’s not quite as quiet, I will admit that I do prefer the force curve a little bit more. The key depth on ThinkPad computers from Lenovo is, in my opinion, too long, and they occasionally lack a modern feel.
Camera
- Weak 720p camera
Although the XPS 15 exudes quality in every way, its mediocre 720p webcam is an exception.
Even in a well-lit setting, I appeared washed out and grainy. A webcam of this quality is unacceptable given how significant video conferencing has become over the previous 2.5 years. To avoid coming across as a pixelated mess to people you are video chatting with, I would advise using one of the best webcams.
Battery Life And Heat
- 10-hour battery life
- Runs a bit hot
The 7-hour battery life of the Dell XPS 15 2021 didn’t exactly win us over. Thankfully, the model from this year lasts a lot longer. Even though the new XPS 15’s battery isn’t as long-lasting as the MacBook Pro M2, it should still be adequate to last you an entire workday.
The XPS 15 lasted for 10 hours and 5 minutes on Tom’s Guide battery test, which involves continuous web browsing at 150 nits of screen brightness. In the same test, the Dell XPS 15 OLED 2021 from last year lasted less than 8 hours, so this represents a significant improvement. The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 (8:06) and Alienware x14 (5:35) are easily defeated by the 2022 model, which now lasts more than 10 hours in our battery test. With 15 hours and 31 minutes of battery life, the MacBook Pro 16-inch outperforms it.
The XPS 15’s underside reached a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit during our standard heat test, which involves stroking the device with a heat gun after streaming 15 minutes of full HD video. Temperatures above 95 degrees are typically regarded as uncomfortable. The heat the laptop generates won’t be a problem if you’re using it on a desk, though.
Our Verdict
A superb Windows laptop that is ideal for work and graphically demanding games is the Dell XPS 15 OLED. All of it is in there.
The Alienware m15 R4 and Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) are both excellent options if you’re searching for a gaming laptop that compares to the XPS 15 OLED. The Alienware x14 is a good option if you’re looking for a less expensive alternative, even though it doesn’t have an OLED display.
Nevertheless, there is something to be said about a dependable laptop that performs the necessary tasks. While the Dell XPS 15 OLED is more of the same, that same is pretty darn awesome. This is the best Windows ultraportable if you need one.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy A03s