Is Dell XPS 2020 the king of the Windows-running, portable and powerfull laptops?

If I asked you to think about a lightweight but powerful laptop to rule them all, what would you say? Who might be the king over here, the Windows – running arch nemesis of the MacBook Pro? Would it be HP, Dell, Asus, Lenovo, Razer? I’d say Dell XPS. This one has its own diehard fans, fanatic loyalists, so to speak. I personally know some of these enthusiasts – two programmers, a graphic designer, a video editor and a tech journalist.
Whether Dell XPS is a first-class opponent to MacBook Pro or not, everyone has heard of this laptop. It’s not just some other model belonging to Dell’s huge array. It is THAT model. Dell XPS is its own brand. And don’t even think about talking it down in front of the fans, or else…If you still have doubts, feel free to have a look on the specialized forums. Leaving this aside, let’s discuss the XPS, the newest and the shiniest model, sporting a chassis that’s slightly adapted to the demands of the current year.
DESIGN, BUILD AND CHASSIS
The chassis has maintained its popularity for nearly five years. And this new one is top notch, period. This XPS is shinier than previous models, though I enjoyed the old models’ black edges a bit more. The margins are built using CNC Diamond Cut, which gives them that sparkling, shiny aluminum look. But that’s more of a personal preference matter, of course, although it’s likely that the laptop’s new design will be appreciated by many.
The signature build of the XPS, that carbon fiber layer surrounding the touchpad and the keyboard, really gives the laptop a cool, profound contrast between its exterior – the generous aluminum layer on the lid – and its bottom side – made of metal as well. The carbon fiber layer has a nice look and feel, and it does a pretty good job at keeping most of the finger marks away, too. But don’t expect too much. Nevertheless, it’s a great improvement, unlike the 2016 model, which was literally a magnet for fingerprints.
The screen has made it into 2020 as well. And I don’t mean this just because of the near bezel-less display. But I must admit, a 93% display-edge ratio is really impressive! This one is a concrete example that a near bezel-less display with integrated webcam on the top is not sci-fi stuff anymore.
And while it’s true that the webcam is extremely tiny (2.25 mm) and has better lenses for better video quality, Dell has managed to adjust the webcam placement so that you won’t shock everyone once you open it during an online meeting.
DISPLAY
An actual touchscreen protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6. It features UHD+ resolution, which makes it the perfect choice for photography enthusiasts. This XPS does not have the classic OLED display. However, it’s SHARP panel, nor only as a matafor, but it is also made by Sharp, is an absolute beast – 100% of sRGB 100% of AdobeRGB and 96% of P3. And these are actually the results of our tests, not just Dell advertising.
We did not neglect the brightness and contrast, either. This XPS scores a max brightness of 508 nits and 1600:1 contrast. Its DisplayHDR 400 certification is not really mind blowing, since the HDR1000 Mini LED displays (take the MSI Creator 17, for example) have been around for quite some time.
There’s a tiny, yet important difference. The new XPS comes with a 16:10 display, unlike the 16:9 the whole market has been obsessed over. With this, Dell heard the voices of countless video and photo editors and delivered a display which can actually show much more content, and that’s a hell of a leverage.
TOUCHPAD AND KEYBOARD
We’re talking about a HUGE touchpad. No, really. It covers almost half of the restpad, and it’s one of the biggest – if not the biggest – touchpad a Windows laptop ever had. But a gargantuan – sized touchpad does not necessarily imply high performance. Personally, I feel that it doesn’t really match the quality and complexity of a trackpad designed for an Apple laptop. But it delivers, nonetheless. I didn’t encounter any instance of accidental touches that would lead to an annoying cursor misplacement on the screen.
The keyboard, however, is gorgeous. For me, it was one of the best keyboards I’ve ever used. It’s fast, the keystroke is pleasant and denotes security. I really appreciated its lighting customization. You can edit it in BIOS, set your preferred duration, both when the laptop is plugged in and when it runs on its battery.
SOUND
Here comes another cool design feature. The placement of the speakers. And by speakers we mean four of them – two 2.5 W woofers and two 1.5 W tweets, reaching a total of 8 W – the two main ones outlining the keyboard. Besides the high audio quality, it’s safe to assume that this positioning is more of a practicality matter. However, the speakers grill is prone to collect a lot of dust and filth, and the color scheme (black) will pretty much highlight this.
CONNECTIVITY
For this XPS, we can kiss the traditional USB – as used by Apple – goodbye. We do have, however, an included adaptor, unlike the expensive ones sold separately (I’m looking at you, Apple!). Therefore, Dell left the Type-A USB in favor of three Type C ports for charging, Power Delivery and DisplayPort. In addition, two of these ports feature Thunderbolt 3.
And since the display is pure gold for photographers and video editors, Dell saved a special SD Full slot, instead of a mini-SD. That’s something you don’t get to see too often these days.
UNDER THE HOOD
Let’s also talk about specs, shall we? The XPS comes with an Intel Core i7 – 10750H, whose architecture is a bit old-fashioned – 12 nm. Not a big deal, as my MacBook Pro actually has a similar CPU architecture, while people are still waiting for Intel to reach 7nm. Surprisingly enough, the laptop’s surface is not a victim of overheating; the middle of the keyboard has an average of 44-45° C, which isn’t really bothering, considering heavy use. If you choose to be gentle and just browse the web, for example, the temperature does not exceed 35° C.
The noise never went past 43-44 dB, although the evac flaps on the back could barely withstand the punishing airflow. However, the fan noise did not stay under the radar – it can be loud. And that’s understandable, because the chassis is forced to fight a merciless, hungry CPU.
Graphics-wise, XPS has a GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, which aids the laptop in CUDA processing, but it’s not really the best choice for gaming. For the sake of completion, I tried to run some games, to see what XPS is capable of – 33 FPS in Metro Exodus on High, Full HD, 45 FPS in Far Cry 5 and a benchmark score of 3578 in 3DMark TimeSpy. So you can casually play some popular AAA’s, but don’t expect a full-time gamer moment. On the other hand, the XPS does such a splendid job at running office apps and photo-video editing software that it actually rivals some gaming laptops. And this is a reminder of future laptops sporting fancy next-gen graphics.
BATTERY LIFE
Here things were not so good. I had high hopes regarding the 86 WHr battery. Despite setting the brightness at 100 nits after having activated Extended Battery mode and getting rid of that raging 20% brightness default setting and Better Battery, PCMark Moder Office lasted for only 5 hours. Perhaps something kept on draining the battery in the background and we couldn’t do anything to save the poor soul.
APPS AND CONNECTIVITY
Drawing inspiration from Huawei Share, Dell Mobile Connect helps you link the smartphone and the laptop without having to resort to those pesky wires. In theory. In practice, it is a nightmare. After having spent countless minutes trying to properly set it up, we could only witness how buggy and complicated the app actually is. Not to mention the frustrating account creation gimmick.
As if this wasn’t a pain in the neck already, some phones managed to connect to the app, some didn’t. I tried connecting my Galaxy S20 FE and the app detected it as S8. Afterwards, it failed to detect it again. The iPhone attempt was extremely glitch-y and only after I used a Huawei P30 it managed to work more or less. Can’t say too much, since Dell were not really invested in optimizing this feature or, God forbid, come up with their own ecosystem. It’s a shame, and although not everyone cares about this feature too much, the winners of this chapter might be Apple and Huawei.
BOTTOM LINE
At the end of the day, XPS is still the king of the Windows all-rounders, and the fans have all the reasons to love it. To me, the experience with XPS mimicked the use of a Mac almost entirely. And the price really adds to this similarity. XPS has the same price and specs as my MacBook Pro 16.
I’ve noticed this before, regarding another laptop model. In fact, it tends to be even more expensive. Such is the case of several Razer or Dell laptops, which can reach a price higher than even the most expensive MacBook Pro models.
Bear in mind that this is an XPS 15, and I don’t even want to think about how expensive the XPS 17 is! And despite its ridiculous price, XPS has a solid community of buyers. But the price is somehow understandable, given the characteristics and lack of an alternative.
For this XPS, the most obvious and beautiful perks are the gorgeous display, the outstanding performances for such a thin-and-light model, and its excellent design and build.