Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17 Review (2022)
The Dell XPS 17 redefines the 17-inch laptop
New Dell XPS 17 9700 17 inch UHD Plus Laptop (Silver) Intel i9-10885H 10th Gen, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6, Windows 10 Home, 17-30.99 inches
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17 - GOOD or BAD
GOOD
- Stunning, immersive display
- Impressive CPU and graphics power
- Comfortable keyboard
- Attractive, slim design
BAD
- Can get expensive
- Weak webcam
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: SPECS
- Price: $1,371 starting
- CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H/Core i7-10750H/Core i7-10875H
- RAM: 8GB/16GB/32GB/64GB
- Storage: 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB NVMe SSD
- GPU: Intel UHD Graphics/Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti/RTX 2060
- Display: 17-inch InfinityEdge Display (1920 x 1200 or 3840 x 2400)
- Battery: 97WHr
- Size: 14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 inches
- Weight: 4.65 pounds (starting), 5.53 pounds (maximum)
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17 - Overview
Dell XPS 17 is back in a big way. Dell's biggest new laptop is actually even smaller for its form factor - offering workstation-grade power in a chassis that is comparable to many 15-inch notebooks. And thanks to its massive 4-sided Infinity Edge display, the XPS 17 offers the largest and most immersive screen you can find on a laptop.
The XPS 17 stands out from its younger siblings with more powerful graphics options that are ideal for content creators and gamers. It runs impressively long on the charge of a 4K laptop and provides emerging speakers to boot. While once you start dodging it can be quite expensive, if you want a huge, gorgeous display within the great performance and true beauty of the design then one of the best laptops to buy the XPS 17 is.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Price and availability
The Core i5 version of the Dell XPS 17 has a list price that is barely under $ 1,400 and is currently marked up to $ 1,273. This is as cheap as the Core i5-10300H / 8GB / 256GB SSD configuration.
Up a notch, Dell has a $ 1,899 XPS 17, which gives you a configuration that gives you a Core i7-10750H CPU, a 512GB SSD, and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti graphics. Like all other models, it is currently on sale for $ 1,714.
Those who need even more graphics can check the $ 2,849 configuration (currently $ 2,351), which extends the GPU to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q while increasing RAM and storage respectively. 16GB and doubles up to 1TB. We reviewed the $ 2,999 (but just $ 2,351) XPS 17, which packs a Core i7-10875H CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and RTX 2060 graphics.
If you still need more RAM or storage, you can upgrade to 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for an additional $ 294 for each add-on.
The Dell XPS 17 surfaced in summer 2020, and as of this writing, the latest Dell XPS 17 does not yet have support for the latest 11th Gen Intel Tiger Lake processors, which offer bumps in performance and efficiency.
However, Dell is not ignoring these new chips. The Dell XPS 13 and Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 received a Tiger Lake refresh, so it's possible that the new CPUs may soon be coming to Dell's biggest mainstream laptops.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Design
With the razor-sharp construction, which borrows the design of its smaller XPS 13 and XPS 15 siblings, the Dell XPS 17 is one of the most beautiful 17-inch laptops I have set my eyes on.
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Everything that makes the XPS Series stand out is preserved on Dell's largest laptops, including its attractive silver aluminum exteriors, a comfortable soft-touch deck, and an almost bezel-less Infinity Edge display. While the interior of the XPS 17 looks great in black, I wish it also offered stunning Arctic White color options similar to its smaller XPS 13 sibling.
Measuring 14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 inches and weighing 4.65 to 5.53 pounds depending on your choice of screen and battery, the XPS 17 feels heavy but is impressively wide for the size of the laptop. It is slightly larger and heavier than the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and will certainly command a good amount of desk space or room in your backpack.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Display
The latest XPS 13, 15, and 17 all benefit from Dell's new 4-sided InfinityEdge display, which cuts the thicker bottom bezel for a truly seamless display that's almost all-screen. And that design stands out more than ever on the XPS 17's beautiful 17-inch, 3840 x 2400 display, which packs a screen-to-body ratio of 93.7% that's as ideal for serious multitasking as it is for you. Movies and shows have to be lost in favorites.
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The XPS 17 provided satisfyingly dark black colors, which made the on-screen text attractive and easy to read, and icy blue waters on the backdrop of the laptop came out of the display. And thanks to the huge real estate and minimal bezels, I found working in split-screen mode to be a good option for my normal multi-monitor setup.
Disney's The Lion King reboot looked absolutely stunning on the XPS 17's display, which allowed me to create the tiniest crease on Rafiki's face, as well as incredibly realistic computer-borne hair on Mufasa and Simba. The film looked quite colorful to boot, contrasting well with the baby blue sky meadows and brown rock formations.
The XPS 17's benchmark score supported its impressive real-world performance, as laptops reproduced an impressive 171.6% (anything above 100% is ideal) of the sRGB color gamut. It also gets very bright, measuring an average of 504 nits of brightness on our light meter. They both topped the numbers we saw on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which covered 113.9% sRGB gamut and changed to 429 NIT brightness.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Performance
Packing a 10th-generation Intel Core i7-10875H processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB NVMe SSD, the XPS 17 chewed up everything I did without losing a beat. I regularly worked in split-screen mode, with more than a dozen Chrome tabs open, while bouncing between programs like Slack and Spotify, and never experienced any slowdown as I stacked tasks. gave.
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The XPS 17 scored an impressive 7,740 on the Geekbench 5 general performance test, topping the 7,250 seen from our 16-inch MacBook Pro (Intel Core i9 CPU, 32 GB RAM). Dell's machine took 8 minutes and 41 seconds to transcode 4K video to 1080p in our handbrake test, slightly behind the MacBook Pro's 8 minutes.
The 1TB SSD in our XPS 17 proved to be faster, with approximately 26GB of files copied for a transfer rate of 789.6 Mbps in just 34 seconds. While this is not an apple-to-apple comparison, the MacBook Pro's best-in-class SSD changed to a blistering right speed of 2,805 on the Blackmagic Disc Speed Test.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Graphics
The XPS 17 has a major advantage over its younger brothers: discrete Nvidia 20-series graphics. Armed with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU capable of ray tracing, the XPS 17 turned in strong results on our graphics tests - and could also double as a solid gaming laptop. This difference certifies the XPS 17 as part of Dell's XPS Creator Edition line as well as Nvidia's RTX Studio series, making it suitable for basic graphic design, photography, and music production.
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To that end, the XPS 17 scored a strong 848.6 on the Pugetbench Photoshop test, which measures how well a system can open a large image and make various modifications to it. This is much better than the 786.5 results we get from our XPS 15, which packs a weak GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU.
Dell's laptops handled a series of large AAA titles in 1080p at the influential Framerates, including Assassin's Creed Odyssey (42 fps), Borderland 3 (47 fps), and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (48 fps). The MacBook Pro is a bit more limited when it comes to game compatibility, and its Radeon 5500M GPU is reduced to 27.2 fps on the older Rise of the Tomb Raider title.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Audio
Thanks to its large stereo speakers and integrated Waves MaxxAudioPro software, the XPS 17 filled my apartment with a fast, rich sound. The somber electronic pop of Haim's "I Know Alone" immediately struck my head thanks to its deep, plucky bass and pounding electric drum. The drum and bass suppressed the track's resonant vocals just a tiny bit, but I was still able to hear every melody and harmony clearly.
The energetic pop-punk of New Found Glory's "Shook By Your Shaved Head" proved equally impressive on XPS 17, bringing the track's chunky distorted guitars, bouncy bass, and sizzling drums to the front and center. The vocals sounded a bit low in the mix again, but not so much as to be completely lost in the instruments. When I switched to the gloomy indie rock of Phoebe Bridgers' "Chinese Satellite", the singer's airy vocals were incredibly clear and tucked in nicely during the rocking outro of the guitar and drum tracks.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Keyboard and touchpad
Each keyboard in Dell's latest XPS series sounds great, but the XPS 17 might just be my favorite of them all. Thanks to their deep 1.3mm travel, soft-touch coating, and fast response, the XPS 17 keys remained a joy to type on throughout hours of work documents and emails to keep them afloat. I was blazing through the 10fastfingers typing test at 102 words per minute, higher than normal, with an almost perfect accuracy rate, and my fingers bounced around Dell's keyboard the entire time.
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The XPS 17’s massive 6 x 3.5 touchpad was similarly comfortable, allowing me to pinch to zoom and perform multi-finger gestures without any resistance.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Webcam
The XPS 17's webcam is fully serviceable, and I admire how Dell has managed to cram a full camera into the small top bezel of their latest laptop. But in the era of frequent video conferencing, I really want to see Dell and other top laptop manufacturers stepping into this department. The photos I took made my face look speckled, pixelated, and washed out - this camera would still work for quick calls, but if you plan on twitching or streaming, you can choose one of the best webcams Would like to Stay on zoom calls throughout the day.
Best Gaming Laptop 2022 - Dell XPS 17: Battery life
For a large, powerful laptop with a 4K display, the XPS 17 lasts impressively long on a single charge. Dell's notebook lasted 9 hours and 4 minutes on our battery test, including continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi.
While you'll get more juice from one of the XPS 17 workdays, the 16-inch MacBook Pro lasted for more than 10 hours and 55 minutes. On the plus side, the XPS 17 beats the 4K version of its smaller XPS 15 siblings, which lasted just 8 hours on our test.