Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen Review – Still The Best Touchscreen Laptop In 2023?
If you want a reasonably new touchscreen laptop in the market that also boasts an impressive 4k display, the Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen laptop is exactly what you are looking for. With a price tag of $1,799, it’s a fairly good laptop judging by its features and performance.
To know more about this laptop, read this review till the end and make the choice of whether or not you will buy this laptop in the best way possible.
Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Specifications:
The primary specifications of the Dell XPS 15 OLED 9520 Touch Screen laptop are:
| Release Date | March, 2022 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 15.6” UHD+ 4K OLED Touchscreen (60 Hz Refresh Rate) |
| Processor | 12th Generation Intel Core i7 12700H (14 cores, 20 threads, 4.7 GHz turbo clock speed) |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (4 GB DDR6) |
| Memory | 32 GB DDR5 4800 MHz RAM (2x 16 GB) |
| Storage | 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD |
| I/O Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C, 2x Thunderbolt 4 USB Type C, 1x 3.5mm microphone/headphone jack, 1x SD card slot |
| Camera | 720p 30 fps HD camera with dual array mics |
| Speakers | 2x 2.5 W stereo woofers, 2x 1.5 W stereo tweeters |
| Colors | Platinum Silver, with black interiors |
| Dimensions | 0.7” x 13.6” x 9.1” (Height x Width x Depth) |
| Weight | 4.6 lbs (2.1 kgs) |
| Price (2023) | $1,799 |
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Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Features:
The main features that I witnessed on the Dell XPS 15 touch screen laptop are:
Design
I really loved the design of this Dell XPS 15 touch screen laptop. It looks pretty aesthetic to the eye, giving it the premium feel that you can get from a Macbook. I loved the platinum silver color, which pops off. In addition, there are no extra whistles and bells like RGB lights found in gaming laptops. Instead, it relies on a minimalist design to keep things fresh.
The edges are sharper than most laptops, which proves Dell’s commitment to quality. In addition, this laptop is pretty durable with an aluminum chassis. The display hinge always stayed in place, with the laptop feeling very sturdy overall. Too bad I don’t want to drop it and throw it around to prove its durability!
However, the cooling system of this laptop is bad. After an hour of playing games, it started to get hot under the hood. Plus, its fans are noisy. This makes the laptop make a lot of fan noise after an hour.
Display
The main attraction of this Dell touch screen laptop is its 4K OLED touchscreen display. Most 4k laptops in the market have a 3840 x 2160 resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. Dell has decided to narrow this by removing some pixels. Therefore, this laptop has a 3450 x 2160 resolution, termed as 3.5k by Dell. However, this laptop has a 16:10 aspect ratio.
I was amazed by this screen, even though it has a 3.5k resolution. It’s pretty bright with 500 nits. As for quality, its colors and sharpness have been perfectly adjusted to make everything on the screen look vivid and crisp. Therefore, playing video games and watching movies will feel amazing. Plus, it’s powered by InfinityEdge and Anti-reflection features as well.
The OLED touchscreen display is pretty smooth and definitely one of this laptop’s main highlights. It’s pretty responsive, with the screen registering every gesture and touch I make accurately. Therefore, if you are a graphic designer or an artist, you cannot go wrong buying this laptop.
Keyboard, Touchpad, Speakers, And Camera
In my opinion, the keyboard and trackpad are the two areas where a bit more love is required, considering the price you will be paying for it.
The Dell XPS 15 touch screen laptop has a pretty standard-fare keyboard and touchpads. The keyboard has a simple backlit function, no RGB. In addition, it is also a standard keyboard, not mechanical. The trackpad available here is just another standard trackpad. However, compared to other 15” laptops, I felt the trackpad to be bigger than most.
The sound system of this laptop is pretty decent for its price. It has two woofers and two standard tweeters. Therefore, you will slightly be able to hear the bass drops with a bit more clarity.
The webcam is pretty bad. It has a lot of visual noise since it records video and images at 30 fps and 720p quality. If you want it for normal video chats, it’ll work fine.
Connectivity
There are plenty of ports in this Dell XPS 15 touch screen laptop. I was happy to find two Thunderbolt 4, type C ports. Their use will only continue to increase in the future as alternatives to DisplayPorts and PowerDelivery. In addition, this laptop also sports the standard USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C ports.
If you want to connect external devices like the Steelseries Siberia 200 or the Xbox Duke Controller, you can do so with these ports. However, judging by the number of ports we get here, I would say it’s pretty low. I expected more ports for the price I am paying for this laptop.
Battery Life
The battery life of this laptop is substantially lower than most laptops that I have tested so far. I’ve constantly used this laptop in 4k settings because that’s what this laptop is marketed as. However, I was surprised to find that its 4k screen is not optimized with its battery, which lasts approximately 4 hours – browsing the internet, that is. When it comes to watching movies and playing in 4k, it lasts for only 2 hours. It’s equivalent to watching two episodes of Netflix’s Wednesday or a single movie.
However, the battery lasted a lot longer when I used it in 1080p mode. Here, my browsing experience lasted 7 hours, while my gaming and Netflix sessions lasted for 4 hours.
Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Performance
Coming to its performance, the Dell XPS 15 touch screen laptop is pretty good. Be it for productive work, gaming, watching movies, or browsing – the laptop feels pretty fast. This can mainly be attributed to its use of 32 GB of RAM and the latest 12th Generation Intel Core i7 processors.
I would highly suggest this laptop if you are a designer. The 4k touchscreen will be highly beneficial for digital artists and Photoshop users.
However, if you wish to play Overwatch 2 at its full glory- you can do so. The RTX 3050 Ti is good enough to run most modern AAA games at Medium settings, being better than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan. However, for competitive titles like Valorant, I would recommend playing them at 1080p for maximum frames.
Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Reviews: What Customers Have To Say
To get a better understanding of how well this laptop works, I have quoted some Dell XPS 15 Touch screen customer reviews from various websites. Have a look at these reviews and learn what customers have to say about this laptop!
Phil (5 stars):
“So far, so good! The battery life is excellent, and the laptop is powerful and functional. Though I didn’t opt for the fancy OLED screen, the 4k screen is of excellent quality. The machine runs games smoothly at high quality. The only issue I have with the laptop is that the GPU seems prone to screen-tearing when playing games. I imagine this is fixable through the NVIDIA software.”
TechFan (4 stars):
“I’ve had this laptop for less than a week, and it’s already one of my favorites. It’s powerful, fast, and has an excellent touchscreen display. The OLED display makes the screen darker, and the colors are vibrant.
I’m not really a fan of the white finish, so time will tell if it gets dirty or is easy to keep clean. The touch sensor is not as easy to use as some of the other brands available. I instead opted for facial recognition, which is much easier to use.
Other than the white finish, the only complaint I have is about the lid. Most laptops have a cutout that allows you to open them with one hand. However, other than that, this thing is nice!”
Gary Alan (1 star):
“I actually bought Two of these, One New directly from Amazon and One Refurbished from a Seller on Amazon. Neither of these QHD Laptops Would Go Bright enough to look at the screen…Only when they were charging…And No Power saving Mode was on either laptop. It seems to be this Dell XPS 15 with Qhd. I Do Not Recommend it. I bought a Lenovo with QHD, and it has no problem going bright enough. I leave it at 70% Brightness, and it’s more than enough brightness. With the (2) Dell XPS 15’s I bought, at 100% brightness, it was barely 50% bright. That obviously won’t work. I immediately returned both.”
My Overall Experience With Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen
I recently got to try my hands on the Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen and there were things that i experienced which were niot detailed in other reviews online.
I’m going to delve into the intriguing world of the Dell XPS laptop’s performance, and trust me, it’s a ride full of surprises. Strap in as I take you through the highs and lows of this cutting-edge machine and my experiences with the same.
Overheating Woes
In a recent deep dive, I uncovered some eyebrow-raising revelations about the Dell XPS laptop’s performance. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room—the central processing unit (CPU). It seems this powerhouse faced a consistent conundrum: overheating.
We’re talking temperatures that soared to a concerning 99 to 100 degrees Celsius during some seriously intense tests. The heat wasn’t just a passing phenomenon; it hung around and made its presence felt, subsequently affecting the laptop’s performance. Long story short, the XPS decided to dial back its performance as things heated up.
Performance Plunge: A Cinebench Showdown
One observation stood out like a sore thumb—the decline in Cinebench R23 scores. Picture this: as the CPU temperature climbed, the performance took a nosedive between the 10-minute and 30-minute marks. This, my friends, is a clear-cut case of thermal limitations rearing their heads.
While the overall performance wasn’t exactly terrible, it wasn’t setting any records either. I’ve got the performance chart to prove it; the XPS didn’t quite match up to its top-tier rivals.
Fanfare and Roaring Cooling System
Let’s talk about the cooling system—more like the “go big or go home” approach. The fans were in full-blown party mode during my tests, generating a noise that was not easily ignored, even from across the room.
A 4K video export test was tackled in a respectable 3 minutes and 57 seconds, but it wasn’t exactly the star of the show. The fans managed to dial it down a bit during lighter tasks, but concerns about heat remained. The keyboard stayed usable, but I did feel the heat on a few occasions. Resting the laptop on my lap revealed that the chassis had a warm side too.
The Price of Power: Battery Limbo
Considering the hefty $1,999 price tag, the battery discrepancy definitely raised an eyebrow or two. Sure, Dell didn’t promise us the world when it came to battery life, and the XPS 15’s 86 Whr battery isn’t exactly massive.
But let’s face it, seeing a device drain so swiftly feels like a tough pill to swallow. After all, portability is supposed to be a shining star in the laptop’s arsenal.
Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop: Best Alternatives To Keep In Mind
The best alternatives for the Dell XPS touch screen laptop are:
1. Asus 2-In-1 Q535
This is what I think about the Asus 2-in-1 Q535:
“This laptop is a pretty decent Asus touchscreen 2 in 1 laptop. It has sub-par performance when it comes to using graphically intensive productivity applications. However, it’s not meant for gaming because of its weak graphics card.”
| PROS | CONS |
| ➕ Excellent 4K touchscreen display. | ➖ Fewer connectivity ports than peers. |
| ➕ Great processing power. | ➖ Underperforming graphics card. |
| ➕ Good looks and design. | ➖ Below-average battery life. |
| ➖ Too expensive for the specifications offered. |
2. HP 17z
Here are my thoughts on the HP 17z laptop:
“In terms of entry-level computers, the HP 17z is a wise purchase. Although it might not be the lightest of these alternatives, you get a well-rounded machine that can fill a variety of needs for the price.
This laptop can handle all of your responsibilities, whether they are work tasks that demand you to switch between several applications or study tasks that include hours of web browsing. Additionally, you may use a super-wide display to view your preferred TV series or movies when it’s time to unwind. The best part is that you may perform all of these tasks for around half a day on a single charge.”
| PROS | CONS |
| ➕ Amazing 17.3” screen | ➖ Lacks a backlit keyboard |
| ➕ Soft and comfy keyboard with a 10-key numeric keypad | ➖ No SD card reader |
| ➕ Lightweight and slim design | ➖ Poor buy for gamers and more graphic-intensive professionals |
| ➖ Only 256GB storage space |
Read More: Steelseries Siberia 200 Review – Is This A Good Gaming Headphone?
Frequently Asked Questions! (FAQs):
I have answered several questions related to this Dell XPS 15 touch screen laptop. They are as answered below:
Ans: If you wish to turn on touchscreen mode on any Dell XPS laptop, you can do so by:
1. Run the Dialog Box by pressing the Windows + R buttons together.
2. After you open this dialog box, type this command – devmgmt
3. When the Device Manager opens up, click on the Human Interface Devices option.
4. Here, navigate to the touch screen option and click on HID-Compliant touchscreen.
5. Now, click on Enable.
Ans: Dell XPS laptops are any day better than Dell Inspiron laptops. This is because XPS laptops are marketed as higher-end premium laptops with better specs than Inspiron laptops.
Ans: Yes, this laptop will be good enough for students, especially Arts students. They can really make great use of the 15” 4k touchscreen display for graphical presentations and designs.
Final Verdict: Is The Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Worth Buying In 2023?
In my opinion, the Dell XPS 15 touch screen laptop is a pretty good laptop. The build quality and design of this laptop are excellent. The main highlight of this laptop is the 15” 4k touchscreen display, which is pretty impressive by my standards. However, it has a bit too few ports on the sides, along with cooling issues and abysmal battery life. I would recommend buying this laptop in 2023 if you can get it on sale, preferably.
| PROS | CONS |
| ➕ Amazing 15” 4k touchscreen | ➖ Poor battery life |
| ➕ Decent gaming performance | ➖ Cooling fans make lots of noise |
| ➕ Pretty good performance for designing and production applications | ➖ Should have had some more connectivity ports. |
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