Dell XPS 15 9570 Laptop Review

Since the 9550’s first release in October 2015 till the present day, the XPS 15 has only grown in popularity. One of the main goals of review samples provided by OEMs like Dell is to raise brand recognition and exposure. Of course, they also hope that the reviewer would give the product (at the very least) a favorable review. With the XPS 15 9570, Dell recognized that demand for the product had risen to an all-time high. Even capitalized on it by offering pre-order gift cards for a chance to be among the first to buy. Not sending out review units only benefits the business because any in-depth coverage would inevitably reduce the enthusiasm (which the consumer base admittedly built themselves), resulting in fewer XPS 15 9570 devices sold.

You might argue, “But this is the most powerful XPS 15 ever!” and, of course, you’d be correct. However, if you take a closer look at the XPS 13 9370 and the XPS 15 9575. You may begin to understand why Dell is taking its time to provide these laptops to reviewers. A new cooling system, Hello IR camera, updated chassis, and a totally new (and fantastic) spun glass option were all included in the XPS 13 9370. The XPS 15 9575 was a brand-new convertible computer with a maglev keyboard and the latest Intel/AMD hybrid 65W chipsets. The Dell XPS 15 9570 sports a new fingerprint sensor on the power button and a centered nose camera. But otherwise seems to be a straightforward drop-in upgrade. The 9570 seems to have been added after the 9370 and 9575. Though is it?

The 9570 will be closely examined in this review to ascertain whether it truly is the XPS family’s neglected member or the lineup’s dark horse leader for 2018.

Dell XPS 15 9570

Technical Specifications

pros and cons

Dell XPS 15 9570 Review

Display

The Dell XPS 15 9570, like its forerunners, comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass-protected glossy UHD touchscreen (3,840 x 2,160) or a non-touch matte FHD display (1920 x 1080). The screens are 400 nits brighter this year than they were last year, which is the only difference. Edge-to-edge glass on the matte display, as found on the XPS 13 9370, and a 1080p touch option. As found on the XPS 15 9575, these are features I would have wanted to see, but Dell has chosen not to provide either.

The same issues that affected the 9550 & 9560 are still reported to exist because the upper assembly hasn’t undergone any additional changes than the brightness. Wonky lighting, backlight bleed, and off-centered panels are things to watch out for (the last two are especially common in the FHD model).

My unit’s matte FHD screen offers an even brightness distribution and coloration, with a maximum brightness of about 390 nits. Since it is always clearly visible thanks to the peak brightness and superb matte finish in daily usage. I typically leave it between 20 and 30 percent. Given my prior XPS 15 (both FHD and UHD variant) experiences, I was pleasantly surprised by the general quality. There are 2 moderate sources of backlight leakage, which are the lower left and right corners, as well as some mild bleed across the entire bottom. This panel does appear to be almost exactly in the middle of the bezel.

The one thing about the FHD panel in this device that I don’t like is that it still has a hard plastic bezel around it rather than the edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass design that the XPS 13 9370 uses for both FHD and UHD SKUs. Although it doesn’t feel or look bad, it is rather dust- and scratch-prone. I also wish the FHD pane had the option for a touch version, like in the 9575.

Design & Built

We refer you to that review for a more thorough analysis of the design and build quality. Because the chassis is almost identical to that of the XPS 15 9560 model from a year ago. The webcam has been centered, the fingerprint scanner has been moved to the power button, and the Dell logo is now embossed in a lighter silver to match the XPS 13 9370’s lid style rather than the darker black of prior iterations.

Everything else has remained the same. The fact that the 9550’s design hasn’t changed at all while it has remained one of the most attractive laptops available speaks volumes about how far ahead of its time the 9550 was when it was released. But at this time, the design is unquestionably dated, and I am eagerly anticipating a thorough chassis makeover. Little has to be changed, but the webcam should be the main focus. It shouldn’t be at the bottom of the display, as MSI’s GS65 has demonstrated.

The only internal modifications to the ports are that the TB3 port now has a complete 4-lane PCIe implementation. The Dell XPS 15 9570 kept its full-size (albeit half-depth) SD card slot, unlike the XPS 13 9370.

Keypad & Touchpad

The keyboard on the XPS 13 9370 has slightly larger key areas and firmer feedback than the keyboard on the 9360. Unfortunately, the 9560’s keyboard does not appear to have received a similar upgrade; it is identical to the 9560 from the previous year. I immediately notice a difference when switching between my two XPS systems: the Dell XPS 15 9570’s keys feel a little bit mushier than my 9370’s.

Still type rapidly and precisely on this keyboard, though. I may be able to get 110 WPM on this keyboard compared to roughly 100 on my XPS 13 9370s because I have been using these keyboards for the previous three years. Although the 9370’s keys do have superior feedback, it’s possible that the somewhat lighter actuation force needed on this keyboard helps me type more quickly.

Even still, I think it’s a pretty good keyboard and prefer it to the alternatives. It surpasses the Asus ZenBook keyboards, which I thought to be overly mushy and difficult to press, and is undoubtedly superior to the recent MacBook keyboards. Although the Aero 15’s keyboard is off-center and likely has the finest feedback of the 9570’s rivals, typing on a lap is extremely uncomfortable.

In terms of typing on the lap, the upgrade from the XPS 13 to the 15 is really obvious. With an XPS 13, working in a confined area (such as a plane or bus) is very feasible. But the XPS 15’s width and depth increase the likelihood that you will accidentally elbow someone next to you or knock the person across from you with the screen.

All native precision gestures are supported by the Microsoft Precision trackpad. Which functions as one would anticipate for input on a cutting-edge flagship device. Glass is used for the surface, which tracks nicely. My only complaints are that it is rather simple to unintentionally hit the right click instead of the left. And that there is no way to totally get rid of the inactivity delay that is imposed on the trackpad when a key is pushed. This can be made better by setting the overall sensitivity to “most sensitive,”. However, doing so can result in undesirable behavior, including excessive cursor movement. However, Dell cannot be held accountable for Microsoft’s dumbing-down of and removal of essential Windows capabilities since these issues are completely in its court.

Audio

The loudspeakers are identical to the downward-firing ones from previously, and I still have the same complaints: the MaxAudioPro software is glitchy, the 3.5mm socket occasionally fails to detect headphones (or switches back when headphones are unplugged), and the speakers are subpar. I must emphasize that you should always switch off the MaxAudio improvements if you are working with audio of any kind because I frequently heard popping and clicking in my headphones (but not speakers).

When I realized that the MaxAudio “enhancements” were to blame for my music’s clipping and hollow quality, I was relieved. I had been frightened that my collection had become ruined (I am a DJ). Since the XPS 13 9350 and XPS 15 9550 were the devices that initially introduced these audio difficulties three years ago, it’s more than time Dell got their act together and fixed the audio problems. Beyond more reliable audio drivers, my recommendation for upcoming generations still stands for upward-firing speakers on the sides of the keyboard.

Performance

Performance of the CPU and GPU (albeit not necessarily at the same time; more on this later) is where the Dell XPS 15 9570 outperforms the 9560. For comparison, the following list of the chips’ primary features is provided:

It is a welcome improvement for the Dell XPS 15 9570 as the i7-8750H improves the i7-7700HQ by about 10% in single-core performance and 25% in multi-core performance. My recommendation is to skip the i5 SKU of the 9570 entirely and instead choose a refurbished or used 9560 for much less money because the i5-8300H is only a little percentage quicker than the previous i7-7700HQ and lacks the extra cores of the i7-8750H. The 9570’s cooling system is severely inadequate to handle the i9, thus Dell also offers an i9-8950HK option for a large price premium above the i7-8750H. However, everything I have seen so far about the laptop leads me to believe that this is merely marketing.

CPU

A solid single-core score and an exceptional multi-core score from the i7-8750H demonstrate its superiority over the i7-7700HQ from the previous generation.

In Cinebench R15.0 multi-core test, the i7-8750H performs admirably, with a score of 1117. Even single-core performance between the i7-8750H and the i7-7700HQ shows a noticeable improvement, while it still falls short of the leap made possible by the addition of 2 cores and 4 threads.

I run a loop of the Cinebench Multi benchmark ten times, tracking the results for each run to calculate the average, and to see how the CPU performs under sustained stress. It’s also fascinating to note that the Cinebench loop’s average run actually outperforms the multi-core benchmark’s initial run. I think this is because of the 9570’s delayed fan profile, which prevents the fans from initially accelerating quickly enough to keep the CPU cool. However, it appears the CPU is able to keep itself cool and maintain greater speeds while the fans are operating at full capacity, as demonstrated in the Cinebench loop. It is highly astonishing and noteworthy that the looping score of the 9570 is over two times higher than that of the 9560.

GPU

Let’s see how big of an improvement this 1050Ti Max-Q is over the GTX 1050 in the 9560 as Max-Q cards are generally to be 10-15% weaker than their Max-P counterparts:

Even though the hexa-core i7-8750H CPU achieved noticeably higher physics scores than the GTX 1050. The overall Fire Strike score of 6875 shows barely more than a 20% performance boost over the GTX 1050. The graphics scores for Fire Strike alone show an increase of about 17%. Only 6% more performance appears in Unigine Heaven 4.0 (Basic), a benchmark for computer and graphics card-based gaming.

In the more recent Time Spy benchmark, the 9570 greatly outperforms the 9560. The 9570 scores 2433, which is a 33% increase over 1820 obtained by the XPS 15 9560 with an i7 and GTX 1050.

I carried out three stress tests to look for GPU and CPU slowdown under realistic gaming loads:

The first consisted of a loop of the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark for 20 minutes. I only saw one slight decrease in power limitations, which did not appear to have an influence on performance. As opposed to the 9560’s customary significant throttling after less than 10 minutes. It is encouraging to observe that the thermals of the successor appear to be superior right out of the box.

I then took things a step further by running TS Bench while doing the Heaven loop. Although this is simulating a rare use case, it is useful to evaluate how the system responds under pressure.

Then I advanced the situation by running TS Bench while performing the Heaven loop. Even though this is a hypothetical use case, it is helpful to test how the system performs under stress.

Our 3DMark synthetic test appears to be throttling, which is unfortunate. Because 3DMark Graphs show that the CPU maintained a constant speed of 4.0GHz at 70C throughout the test while the GPU maintained its prioritized temperature of 77C. However, the GPU automatically reduces its clock speed in order to maintain this temperature, giving this stress test a failing grade.

It is a pleasant surprise that the Dell XPS 15 9570 appears to be better optimization. This the for reliable gaming performance at stock settings than the 9560 and 9550.

Battery

Dell raised the 6-cell battery’s capacity with the 9560 from 84Wh to 97Wh*. The battery size doesn’t change because 99Wh is the maximum permissible for plane travel. The 9560 had almost 2 hours greater battery life than the 9550 due to the efficiency of the Kaby Lake update and 15% larger battery capacity. However, Coffee Lake is substantially less power-efficient at idle and significantly more power-hungry under multi-threaded stress. So I anticipate a little drop in battery life rather than a gain with this generation.

While the CPU uses less than 1W when it is idle, the i7-8750H consumes over 75W of AC power when it is fully charged. Because keeping the CPU active with indexing or other processes will dramatically reduce battery life. It will be crucial to manage background tasks while using battery power. Also, keep in mind that the UHD touch display will consume much more power under any load. So if you’re trying to decide if the display is worth the battery drain. You should plan on the UHD/i7 SKU having a 20–30% less battery life.

The battery is already indicating 9.9% wear after two calibration attempts, indicating that its true capacity is 87Wh. I also requested a replacement battery, and that one too had 9.9% wear. The battery is operating as designed, despite the fact that I have seen multiple internet testimonials of individuals having 10% wear or less right out of the box. According to my conversations with Dell support, which came to a conclusion with that comment. I hope it’s not suspicious that the “97” Wh battery is actually a regular 87 Wh battery. If it were, I imagine that by now everyone would have realized it. I must, however, point you that the battery’s issue is still present.

Overall, battery life is respectable for a powerful laptop of its size. But regrettably, it is not an upgrade over the 9560. The hexa-core Coffee Lake-H chips’ substantially higher potential maximum power drawn from the CPU is one of their disadvantages. If you are not careful about the types of applications you have running. This has the tendency to severely affect battery life.

Conclusion

The HP Elitebook 1050 G1, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme, the HP ZBook Studio G5, the Asus ZenBook Pro UX580, the 2018 Razer Blade, the Gigabyte Aero 15X, and the MSI GS65 are all current alternatives to the Dell XPS 15 9570. However, the XPS 15 9570 does not have any direct rivals. Razer Blade lacks biometric authentication and after-sales support/service; MSI GS65 has a dim panel. Much poorer build quality, and more ostentatious looks; Aero 15X lacks biometrics, a centered keyboard, and build quality; ZBook Studio G5 is noticeably chunkier. Asus ZenBook Pro UX580 is larger and more expensive with less build quality; and so on.

Due to the fact that this is the third version of the same design for Dell’s popular XPS 15 series. I have tested it more rigorously than I would a similar laptop from a different OEM. It would be dishonest of me not to address my complaints, which include poor WiFi connectivity, and initial instability. The absence of a Windows Hello camera, the absence of a 1080p touch option, & a general sense that the XPS team at Dell prioritized other products over this.

Nonetheless, I must admit that the Dell XPS 15 9570’s resilience to my rigorous testing has pleasantly surprised me. Even though the 9570’s GTX 1050Ti Max-Q graphics card provides a noticeable boost in performance over its predecessor’s. It’s the incredible amount of processing power that comes standard in this package that really sets it apart. Despite its flaws, I still suggest the XPS 15 9570 since it is the only thin and light laptop now available with a hexa-core CPU. Moreover, excellent build quality, a compact footprint, affordable cost, extensive support, and a full complement of features.