Dell XPS 17 (2022) Full Review

The Dell XPS 17: A Premium Laptop with Compromises

I recently had the opportunity to test the latest iteration of Dell's XPS 17, a premium laptop designed for creators and professionals. The result is a device that checks all the right boxes in terms of performance, display quality, and build construction. However, as we delve deeper into the review, it becomes clear that this laptop comes with some significant compromises.

The first thing to note is the impressive performance of the XPS 17's Intel Core i7 processor, which outperforms last year's model by a whopping 44% in multi-core testing and a respectable 25-33% lead over the GTX 3050 graphics card. This translates to fast rendering times for video editing software, making it an excellent choice for content creators. However, as we'll discuss later, this increase in performance comes with a trade-off.

One area where the XPS 17 truly shines is in its display quality. With a stunning 4K resolution and a fast refresh rate of up to 120Hz, this laptop is perfect for those who need precise color accuracy and responsiveness. The QHD+ screen also boasts impressive color gamut coverage, making it ideal for graphic designers, photographers, and videographers.

The XPS 17's battery life is another area where it delivers. With a larger 97Wh battery, users can expect around 7-8 hours of everyday use, which is impressive considering the device's high-performance components. This is especially notable when compared to last year's model, which had a shorter battery life of around 5 hours.

However, there is one area where the XPS 17 falls short: its GPU. The laptop comes equipped with the same NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card as some of its competitors, but at a lower TGP (thermal design power) rating. This results in a slight decrease in performance compared to higher-end models like the RTX 3070. While this may not be a significant issue for most users, it's an important consideration for those who rely heavily on graphics-intensive applications.

The XPS 17's GPU compromise is likely due to its target audience: while the laptop is designed for creators and professionals, it's also marketed as a premium consumer device. As such, Dell may have had to balance performance with power efficiency and cost considerations. That being said, if you're willing to invest in a higher-end model with more powerful graphics, you can always upgrade later.

Another area where the XPS 17 lags behind its competitors is in its processor options. While the Intel Core i7 provides excellent performance, it's worth noting that the same processor is available in lower-end configurations for around $700 less. This raises questions about the value proposition of the XPS 17 at its current price point.

The final consideration to keep in mind when purchasing the XPS 17 is its design and features. While the laptop's build quality and display are top-notch, it lacks some key features that set other devices apart. For example, there's no option for an OLED or mini-LED display, which would have been a welcome upgrade.

Ultimately, the Dell XPS 17 is a premium laptop that checks all the right boxes in terms of performance, display quality, and build construction. However, it comes with some significant compromises, particularly when it comes to its GPU and processor options. If you're looking for an excellent balance of power and portability, the XPS 17 is certainly worth considering. But if you have your heart set on a device with more advanced features or a lower price point, there are other options available.

One option that caught my eye was the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X, which offers similar performance to the XPS 17 at a significantly lower price point. While it's not as well-built or feature-rich as the XPS 17, the ZenBook Pro 16X is an excellent choice for those who need a powerful laptop without breaking the bank.

Another option to consider is the MacBook Pro 14 or 16, which offer superior performance and battery life thanks to their Apple M1 Pro and Max processors. While they may not have the same level of customization options as the XPS 17, the MacBooks' all-around performance makes them an excellent choice for many users.

If you do decide to purchase the XPS 17, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to your usage patterns and expectations. For example, if you're not a heavy user, the laptop's battery life may last longer than expected. However, if you rely on resource-intensive applications or are always on the go, you may find that the XPS 17's performance and power consumption hold up well.

In terms of software compatibility, the XPS 17 should be able to handle most professional and consumer applications with ease. The laptop comes with a range of ports, including USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, and an SD card slot, making it easy to connect your devices and peripherals.

Overall, the Dell XPS 17 is a premium laptop that offers excellent performance, display quality, and build construction. However, its compromises in GPU options, processor choices, and design features may make it less appealing to some users. As with any device purchase, it's essential to weigh these trade-offs against your specific needs and expectations before making a decision.

When it comes to pricing, the XPS 17 starts at around $1,500 for the base model, which includes an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. While this may seem steep for some users, the laptop's performance and features make it well worth the investment.

In conclusion, the Dell XPS 17 is a premium laptop that offers excellent performance, display quality, and build construction. However, its compromises in GPU options, processor choices, and design features may make it less appealing to some users. As with any device purchase, it's essential to weigh these trade-offs against your specific needs and expectations before making a decision.

If you're looking for an excellent balance of power and portability, the XPS 17 is certainly worth considering. But if you have your heart set on a device with more advanced features or a lower price point, there are other options available.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the brand new dell xps 17 9720 and it is so good i bought it twice seriously but given this looks identical to last year's model and the one the year before that is this just a case of del jarvoon hey guys i'm tom of techchap and if you saw my first impressions video of this then you'll know that i basically bought the wrong spec i skimped on the cpu the gpu but paid was way too much money for like 64 gigs of ram so i returned that one and bought this which is the top spec version with the i9 with the 3060 so we can really see what this new xps 17 can do now i always look forward to a new xps laptop especially the 17 and from what i read in the comments on my first impressions video those of you that have a seven team seem to love them as well and i totally get it it's an absolutely gorgeous laptop with this big 17 inch 16 by 10 screen with these super thin bezels and it's all squeezed into a lovely slim and compact aluminium chassis with dell's trademark carbon fiber palm rest and of course that lovely and massive track pad and performance is no slouch either you can spec this with up to a 12th gen i9 12 900 hk cpu an rtx 3060 gpu up to 64 gigs of ddr5 ram and up to 2 terabytes of pcie 4 ssd storage and of course the optional 4k touchscreen then there's the vapor chamber cooling a chiclet keyboard this is nice to use as ever and while there is still no numpad which i know frustrates some of you guys instead dell has shoehorned in some actually pretty good speakers up top there's a 720p webcam with windows hello plus we get a fingerprint reader in the power button and also having four thunderbolt 4 enabled usb c ports and a full-size sd card reader i pretty much have all the ports i need except of course for usb a and hdmi which is where this comes in dell bundles this little dongle adapter in the box so as long as you carry that with you you'll set all good stuff then but except for the cpu and the ram everything else is pretty much the same as the cheaper 2021 version and actually for most people i think that's gonna be a better buy if you can find one and the other issue with this is that the rtx 3060 graphics card i have in here is actually the same one as last year but with a lower tgp it's a 65 watt part rather than 70 watts also the entry level 17 starts at 2100 pounds in the uk or in the us it's about 1850 for the base model because that actually comes with a lower spec i5 and also no gpu it relies on the integrated graphics alone but then on the other side top spec models like this will cost you about 3 700. so for the best part of four grand if you want the super duper top spec model well it's worth considering if your money is better spent elsewhere so the main upgrade this year is the fact that we get intel's 12th gen h-series cpus which have a slightly redesigned architecture and also this comes with faster onboard iris xc graphics the other change for this year is the fact that we get ddr5 ram this is the new standard for high-end laptops although the faster speeds aren't really something you probably notice in everyday use and as i say that's pretty much it which does feel disappointing when we look at laptops from say asus where there's some pretty big innovation and we're getting high refresh and oleds and uh fancy asus dials they're you know really pushing the boat out with this i think maybe if we had wi-fi 6e which bizarrely we still don't or maybe even a 90hz or 120hz refresh or just something else it would be easier to recommend upgrading to it for me i was kind of hoping for an xbs17 plus style upgrade along the lines of the new xps 13 plus hopefully though that's more of a sign of things to come and fingers crossed we get a big revamp next year now the dell does have a slightly bigger 17-inch versus 16-inch screen on the macbook but you can see it's a little bit wider it's a little bit thicker although it's about the same weight with that 4k screen which does add a little bit to the weight it's a little bit lighter if you go full hd the build quality is still top notch there's no creaks there's no flexing and the tapering edges around the base give the sides a much slimmer appearance than it actually has and i do still really like the carbon fiber it almost has a soft touch feel to it although it does still get smudgy over time not sure about this webcam though look at that noise the quality really isn't very good and certainly not as good as what you get on the macbook pros or even the new uh asus zenbooks with their upgraded 1080p webcams this is still 720p it's on the top bezel and even with this really good lighting quality is a bit nap if i'm honest but while i have you i want to show you this surf shark vpn they are very kindly sponsoring this video and if you are a regular on the channel then you'll know that i use this all the time as you know vpns are incredibly useful for accessing content and websites that are in other countries and also more importantly staying safe online as it helps to prevent tracking and ads and malware and all those nasty things and for me that's one of the big reasons i use shark because we have this clean web tool you can also get the app for pretty much every device and there's even browser extensions it's so simple and easy to use but the best part is if you use the code tech chat or click the link below you can get 83 off and three months extra for free i think everyone should be using vpns and i would definitely recommend trying out surf shark let's talk about the screen though because there are still two options same as last year either a full hd plus non-touch screen or a 4k plus touchscreen which is not only sharper but it's also a bit more color accurate and the 4k version gets the nicer sort of edge to edge glass bezel bring up this one this is actually the xps 15 which i'm working on a video for this is a full hd version and you might be able to see well the bezels are still very thin they are actually a little bit proud of the screen and they are plastic it doesn't look quite as premium as the 4k version which you'll also see is a glossy rather than matte screen but we do get an anti-reflective coating you can see obviously the difference in the reflectivity this is the 15 but you'll get the same experience on the full hd with the 17. so while i think for me i would go 4k because i want the extra sharpness i want the extra color accuracy because i do photo and video editing i think particularly 17 inch with the bigger size you're gonna sort of really appreciate the 4k resolution a bit more than on the 15 but as i say full hd is cheaper it's matte and it's also going to give you a much better battery life now flipping it over and unscrewing the base we can get a much better look at that vapor chamber cooling system which is much beefier than the system we get on the xps 15. and also of course unlike a macbook pro you can upgrade the ram and the ssd if you want as for temperatures well last year's 17 did get pretty toasty around the keyboard especially under load but i'm pleased to report things do seem to be cool this year whether it's the efficiency gains with the cpu or just because we're having a lower tgp gpu and i ran a 20 minute time spy stress test which showed no appreciable drop in performance and it was the same story when i ran furmark and prime95 together for another 20 minutes it's also silent for most of the time with the fans only really wearing up during sustained loads to be fair it's no macbook pro which is pretty much silent all the time but for a windows laptop it's mostly unobtrusive it's no surprise that this top spec model that costs nearly four grand is pretty quick and in my everyday use with raw photo editing and editing 4k 10-bit 422 footage in premiere pro it performed really well and for the most part it's the premium experience you would expect at this price but the big surprise for me was just how much faster this new cpu is versus last year's i9 in cinebench the new 12th gen i9 was 21 faster in single core and a whopping 44 faster in multi-core and it's a similar story in the geekbench 5 single core test while in multi-core it was a full 50 faster than last year however as i mentioned earlier on there is a compromise and that is the gpu which is the same rtx 3060 in the higher end model like i have here the same graphics card but with a 65 watt rather than a 70 watt tgp so it's actually gone down in power which results in a five percent slower score in an opencl geekbench test and a six percent slower score in time spy which is not exactly what you want to see now this really is designed as a sort of creator laptop or semi workstation if you will but you can of course still play games on it and by dropping the resolution to a more sensible full hd plus you can max out graphic settings and still hit 60 fps and frequently a lot more than that but we are still limited by that 60 hertz panel and actually results were pretty similar to what i saw with last year's model mainly because we're more cpu bound at this resolution and less subject to the lower tgps but importantly the 3060 is anywhere from 25 to up to 33 faster than the 3050 and it comes with an extra 2 gigs of vram which will come in handy at the higher 4k resolution so i reckon the 360 is definitely worth paying the extra for but also as my benchmarks show there really isn't a big difference between the i7 and the i9 given they're basically the same chip just with a small base and boost clock difference so the takeaway is if you're thinking about buying this i would go with the i7 with the 3060 16 gigs of ram or maybe 32 if you are doing more intensive like video editing but you can always upgrade it yourself later and also a one terabyte ssd that is the configuration i would recommend battery life is actually pretty decent although obviously it varies depending on your use and also the spec you go for and of course whether you have the full hd or the 4k screen but unlike the xps 15 all models of the 17 come with a larger 97 watt hour battery which means the full hd plus xbs17 is gonna give you the longest battery life one hour of youtube used around 13 of the battery compared to 15 on last year's model and actually 19 on the 2020 version so the battery life is actually a little bit better and on average you can expect around seven or eight hours of everyday use so the big question should you actually buy this well yeah i think it's still worth considering i do like that in the us and i guess some other countries there is the i5 non-gpu option which is actually a lot cheaper so if you just want a big premium 17-inch laptop but for me i always consider the 17 a bit of a work laptop i can edit on this at home or when i'm traveling and it does pretty much everything i need the elephant in the room though is that it's just a bit boring there is not that much new here the cpus are a good deal faster so if the programs you're running are very sort of cpu demanding then that may be worth the upgrade but then the compromise is that lower power graphics card and it really is long overdue either an oled or a mini led option and of course a high 90 or 120 hertz refresh rate what i would consider though is if you can find it if you don't mind the slightly older 11th gen i7 and slower ddr4 ram you can get otherwise an identical 2021 xps 17 with an rtx 360 and 16 gigs of ram and one terabyte and a 4k screen for almost 700 less than this as an alternative i would definitely take a look at the new asus zenbook pro 16x which i think gives you a lot more for your money i personally would suggest getting the macbook pro 14 or 16 instead the performance with the m1 pro and max even on battery life it stays cool and quiet constantly you never hear the fans we get the pro motion screen as well as better speakers a better webcam i just think it's a better all-round laptop laptop but what about you would you consider buying the new xps 17 and also if you've got any questions at all let me know in the comments below and if you enjoyed the video a cheeky little like and subscribe would be very much appreciated and i'll see you next time right here on the tech chat oh and don't forget to check out surf shark vpn click the link below or use the code tech chat to get 83 off and three months extra for freethis is the brand new dell xps 17 9720 and it is so good i bought it twice seriously but given this looks identical to last year's model and the one the year before that is this just a case of del jarvoon hey guys i'm tom of techchap and if you saw my first impressions video of this then you'll know that i basically bought the wrong spec i skimped on the cpu the gpu but paid was way too much money for like 64 gigs of ram so i returned that one and bought this which is the top spec version with the i9 with the 3060 so we can really see what this new xps 17 can do now i always look forward to a new xps laptop especially the 17 and from what i read in the comments on my first impressions video those of you that have a seven team seem to love them as well and i totally get it it's an absolutely gorgeous laptop with this big 17 inch 16 by 10 screen with these super thin bezels and it's all squeezed into a lovely slim and compact aluminium chassis with dell's trademark carbon fiber palm rest and of course that lovely and massive track pad and performance is no slouch either you can spec this with up to a 12th gen i9 12 900 hk cpu an rtx 3060 gpu up to 64 gigs of ddr5 ram and up to 2 terabytes of pcie 4 ssd storage and of course the optional 4k touchscreen then there's the vapor chamber cooling a chiclet keyboard this is nice to use as ever and while there is still no numpad which i know frustrates some of you guys instead dell has shoehorned in some actually pretty good speakers up top there's a 720p webcam with windows hello plus we get a fingerprint reader in the power button and also having four thunderbolt 4 enabled usb c ports and a full-size sd card reader i pretty much have all the ports i need except of course for usb a and hdmi which is where this comes in dell bundles this little dongle adapter in the box so as long as you carry that with you you'll set all good stuff then but except for the cpu and the ram everything else is pretty much the same as the cheaper 2021 version and actually for most people i think that's gonna be a better buy if you can find one and the other issue with this is that the rtx 3060 graphics card i have in here is actually the same one as last year but with a lower tgp it's a 65 watt part rather than 70 watts also the entry level 17 starts at 2100 pounds in the uk or in the us it's about 1850 for the base model because that actually comes with a lower spec i5 and also no gpu it relies on the integrated graphics alone but then on the other side top spec models like this will cost you about 3 700. so for the best part of four grand if you want the super duper top spec model well it's worth considering if your money is better spent elsewhere so the main upgrade this year is the fact that we get intel's 12th gen h-series cpus which have a slightly redesigned architecture and also this comes with faster onboard iris xc graphics the other change for this year is the fact that we get ddr5 ram this is the new standard for high-end laptops although the faster speeds aren't really something you probably notice in everyday use and as i say that's pretty much it which does feel disappointing when we look at laptops from say asus where there's some pretty big innovation and we're getting high refresh and oleds and uh fancy asus dials they're you know really pushing the boat out with this i think maybe if we had wi-fi 6e which bizarrely we still don't or maybe even a 90hz or 120hz refresh or just something else it would be easier to recommend upgrading to it for me i was kind of hoping for an xbs17 plus style upgrade along the lines of the new xps 13 plus hopefully though that's more of a sign of things to come and fingers crossed we get a big revamp next year now the dell does have a slightly bigger 17-inch versus 16-inch screen on the macbook but you can see it's a little bit wider it's a little bit thicker although it's about the same weight with that 4k screen which does add a little bit to the weight it's a little bit lighter if you go full hd the build quality is still top notch there's no creaks there's no flexing and the tapering edges around the base give the sides a much slimmer appearance than it actually has and i do still really like the carbon fiber it almost has a soft touch feel to it although it does still get smudgy over time not sure about this webcam though look at that noise the quality really isn't very good and certainly not as good as what you get on the macbook pros or even the new uh asus zenbooks with their upgraded 1080p webcams this is still 720p it's on the top bezel and even with this really good lighting quality is a bit nap if i'm honest but while i have you i want to show you this surf shark vpn they are very kindly sponsoring this video and if you are a regular on the channel then you'll know that i use this all the time as you know vpns are incredibly useful for accessing content and websites that are in other countries and also more importantly staying safe online as it helps to prevent tracking and ads and malware and all those nasty things and for me that's one of the big reasons i use shark because we have this clean web tool you can also get the app for pretty much every device and there's even browser extensions it's so simple and easy to use but the best part is if you use the code tech chat or click the link below you can get 83 off and three months extra for free i think everyone should be using vpns and i would definitely recommend trying out surf shark let's talk about the screen though because there are still two options same as last year either a full hd plus non-touch screen or a 4k plus touchscreen which is not only sharper but it's also a bit more color accurate and the 4k version gets the nicer sort of edge to edge glass bezel bring up this one this is actually the xps 15 which i'm working on a video for this is a full hd version and you might be able to see well the bezels are still very thin they are actually a little bit proud of the screen and they are plastic it doesn't look quite as premium as the 4k version which you'll also see is a glossy rather than matte screen but we do get an anti-reflective coating you can see obviously the difference in the reflectivity this is the 15 but you'll get the same experience on the full hd with the 17. so while i think for me i would go 4k because i want the extra sharpness i want the extra color accuracy because i do photo and video editing i think particularly 17 inch with the bigger size you're gonna sort of really appreciate the 4k resolution a bit more than on the 15 but as i say full hd is cheaper it's matte and it's also going to give you a much better battery life now flipping it over and unscrewing the base we can get a much better look at that vapor chamber cooling system which is much beefier than the system we get on the xps 15. and also of course unlike a macbook pro you can upgrade the ram and the ssd if you want as for temperatures well last year's 17 did get pretty toasty around the keyboard especially under load but i'm pleased to report things do seem to be cool this year whether it's the efficiency gains with the cpu or just because we're having a lower tgp gpu and i ran a 20 minute time spy stress test which showed no appreciable drop in performance and it was the same story when i ran furmark and prime95 together for another 20 minutes it's also silent for most of the time with the fans only really wearing up during sustained loads to be fair it's no macbook pro which is pretty much silent all the time but for a windows laptop it's mostly unobtrusive it's no surprise that this top spec model that costs nearly four grand is pretty quick and in my everyday use with raw photo editing and editing 4k 10-bit 422 footage in premiere pro it performed really well and for the most part it's the premium experience you would expect at this price but the big surprise for me was just how much faster this new cpu is versus last year's i9 in cinebench the new 12th gen i9 was 21 faster in single core and a whopping 44 faster in multi-core and it's a similar story in the geekbench 5 single core test while in multi-core it was a full 50 faster than last year however as i mentioned earlier on there is a compromise and that is the gpu which is the same rtx 3060 in the higher end model like i have here the same graphics card but with a 65 watt rather than a 70 watt tgp so it's actually gone down in power which results in a five percent slower score in an opencl geekbench test and a six percent slower score in time spy which is not exactly what you want to see now this really is designed as a sort of creator laptop or semi workstation if you will but you can of course still play games on it and by dropping the resolution to a more sensible full hd plus you can max out graphic settings and still hit 60 fps and frequently a lot more than that but we are still limited by that 60 hertz panel and actually results were pretty similar to what i saw with last year's model mainly because we're more cpu bound at this resolution and less subject to the lower tgps but importantly the 3060 is anywhere from 25 to up to 33 faster than the 3050 and it comes with an extra 2 gigs of vram which will come in handy at the higher 4k resolution so i reckon the 360 is definitely worth paying the extra for but also as my benchmarks show there really isn't a big difference between the i7 and the i9 given they're basically the same chip just with a small base and boost clock difference so the takeaway is if you're thinking about buying this i would go with the i7 with the 3060 16 gigs of ram or maybe 32 if you are doing more intensive like video editing but you can always upgrade it yourself later and also a one terabyte ssd that is the configuration i would recommend battery life is actually pretty decent although obviously it varies depending on your use and also the spec you go for and of course whether you have the full hd or the 4k screen but unlike the xps 15 all models of the 17 come with a larger 97 watt hour battery which means the full hd plus xbs17 is gonna give you the longest battery life one hour of youtube used around 13 of the battery compared to 15 on last year's model and actually 19 on the 2020 version so the battery life is actually a little bit better and on average you can expect around seven or eight hours of everyday use so the big question should you actually buy this well yeah i think it's still worth considering i do like that in the us and i guess some other countries there is the i5 non-gpu option which is actually a lot cheaper so if you just want a big premium 17-inch laptop but for me i always consider the 17 a bit of a work laptop i can edit on this at home or when i'm traveling and it does pretty much everything i need the elephant in the room though is that it's just a bit boring there is not that much new here the cpus are a good deal faster so if the programs you're running are very sort of cpu demanding then that may be worth the upgrade but then the compromise is that lower power graphics card and it really is long overdue either an oled or a mini led option and of course a high 90 or 120 hertz refresh rate what i would consider though is if you can find it if you don't mind the slightly older 11th gen i7 and slower ddr4 ram you can get otherwise an identical 2021 xps 17 with an rtx 360 and 16 gigs of ram and one terabyte and a 4k screen for almost 700 less than this as an alternative i would definitely take a look at the new asus zenbook pro 16x which i think gives you a lot more for your money i personally would suggest getting the macbook pro 14 or 16 instead the performance with the m1 pro and max even on battery life it stays cool and quiet constantly you never hear the fans we get the pro motion screen as well as better speakers a better webcam i just think it's a better all-round laptop laptop but what about you would you consider buying the new xps 17 and also if you've got any questions at all let me know in the comments below and if you enjoyed the video a cheeky little like and subscribe would be very much appreciated and i'll see you next time right here on the tech chat oh and don't forget to check out surf shark vpn click the link below or use the code tech chat to get 83 off and three months extra for free\n"