Dell XPS 15 9560 review – Core i7 CPU, 1050 GPU and UHD screen

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Specs Sheet
Design and exterior
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Noise, heat and speakers
Battery life
Price and availability
Final thoughts
Comments

By Douglas BlackDell XPS 15 9560, last updated on November 3, 2025

Dell XPS 15 9560

Summary: It took me a long time to figure out that the Dell XPS 9560 was the best Windows laptop out there for my needs. It’s beautifully designed, compact, and powerful. It packs a quad-core CPU, Pascal GPU, huge battery, and Thunderbolt 3—plus the the best 4k screen in a laptop out there. Sure, the TB3 is not full speed for eGPUs, and yes, the Core i7 configurations throttle due to power limits from the overheating VRMs, but while this laptop still has some flaws and niggles, it has no equal at the moment. Read on for the whole story.

Our score: 4 / 5
Price when reviewed: $999-$1999

THE GOOD

Nearly bezel-less UHD display with 100% Adobe GRB is still jaw-dropping
Strong performance
Robust construction
Large battery
Still the most compact quad-core 15-inch laptop on the market

THE BAD

TB3 port still half-bandwidth
Still buggy
i7 model VRM/TDP throttles under sustained load
Keyboard not up to par with the rest of the machine
Fingerprint scanner is hard to see

Table of Contents

Specs as reviewed
Design
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Emissions (noise, heat), Connectivity and speakers
Battery life
Price and availability
Issues
Final thoughts

Since its launch in October of 2015, the Dell XPS 15 9550 was hailed by many reviewers as the best 15-inch laptop around. Despite its rocky start plagued by hardware, software, and firmware issues (and some ongoing slight annoyances), the XPS 9550 maintained its crown throughout its commercial lifespan, although the competition had some decent attempts to usurp it.

In fact, I purchased the XPS 9560 somewhat begrudgingly after months of waiting and research. I thought there had to be another quad-core laptop with a slim design and Thunderbolt 3, but no—there still aren’t any, even to the day I write this.

So, to cut to the chase: Is the XPS 15 9560 worth buying if you need a laptop today? Yes—if you can tolerate a few bugs here and there and are willing to tweak things a bit. You should definitely spend on the pro-support warranty when buying, however.

Update: Our detailed review of the more recent Dell XPS 15 9510 is available here.

Update: Here are our thoughts on the updated Dell XPS models launched in 2024, the lightweight Dell XPS 13 9340, the compact Dell XPS 14 9440, and the new mainstream Dell XPS 16 9640.

The main questions I seek to answer in this review are whether or not it is worth upgrading to if you already have a 9550, and whether or not you should wait for something a bit more “perfect” instead. The XPS 15 9550 was also infamous for its bugs and quirks (something I spent a lot of time discussing in the original review and took a whole point off its rating because of), and I intend to discuss any bugs or issues encountered comprehensively. After all, these machines are not cheap (mine cost just a hair over $2000) and we should hold manufacturers accountable for their products and support.

As for the issue of VRM-throttling and thermals—how to tweak the XPS 9560 and augment its cooling system to accommodate the CPU and GPU will be the subject of a separate article.

Specs as reviewed

Screen	15.6” 3840 x 2160 (UHD) touch screen, IGZO IPS
Processor	Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2.8-3.8GHz
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (4GB GDDR5)
Memory	16GB DDR4-2400
Storage	Toshiba XG4 m.2 NVMe 1TB SSD
Connectivity	Killer Wireless AC-1535 (802.11ac, 2×2), Bluetooth 4.1, Fingerprint Scanner
Ports	1x Thunderbolt 3 (x2 3.0 PCIe), 2 x USB 3.0, HDMI, 3.5 mm audio, SD card reader
Battery	6-cell (97Wh)
Operating system	Windows 10 Professional
Size	(H) 357 x (W) 235 x (D) 17 mm
Weight	2 kg / 4.4 lbs – as configured

What makes the XPS 15 9560 stand out among its peers is not just its raw specs. Though the quad-core i7-7700HQ is a solid CPU and the GTX 1050 graphics is more than adequate for casual gaming, there are many laptops that can deliver these two components for hundreds less.

The combination of the XPS 15’s solid specs, stunning UHD display and high build-quality is what makes it so enticing.

Design

As the chassis is nearly identical to last year’s XPS 15 9550 model, we direct you to that review for a more detailed overview of the design and build quality.

The chassis in the 9560 is exactly the same sleek sandwich of anodized aluminum and carbon fiber on the 9550, and as before, it is extraordinarily stiff and resists both pressure and torsion very well. With the small exception of oil and fingerprints being more visible than average on both the carbon fiber palmrest and the aluminum lid, there is little to complain about here.

The one item area that could be improved a bit could be the fingerprint scanner. A key feature of the 9560, the fingerprint scanner has been added to the palmrest without much ceremony—in fact, it looks like they just cut out a square from the regular rest and the fitted it with the fingerprint sensor. It doesn’t look bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it does lack the high quality fit and finish of nearly every other aspect of the machine. It also blends into the dark carbon fiber finish of the palmrest, meaning that in all but the harshest lighting you’ll be searching with your finger to find it. If they didn’t want to add a border to the sensor in the palmrest, placing it in the trackpad would have been a better solution.

Other than being hard to see, the fingerprint scanner works fantastically. Once set up, it can quickly detect even a light touch of your registered finger in under half a second. Most importantly, it works reliably, unlike the finicky fingerprint scanner on my Xperia Z5.

Even if you have slightly damp fingers from washing your hands or sweat, it will still correctly match your prints and log you in. Given that this is a mere US$35 addition for so much more convenience, I highly recommend you spring for the Fingerprint scanner. If you need the Precision 5520 variant, you should know that the fingerprint scanner will not be available on it for another 1-2 months, according to my conversations with Dell reps. I would definitely recommend waiting for that option to become available before buying.

The fingerprint scanner would benefit from a border of some kind.

Keyboard and trackpad

The 9560’s keyboard is exactly the same as last year’s 9550 and the XPS 13 9350/9360—which is to say, it is still a small letdown.

Given the price and overall quality of the laptop, it’s unfortunate that Dell has done the bare minimum here. The keys bottom out somewhat harshly and are a little on the light side for actuation force, which are exacerbated by the 1.3mm of travel. I have been using a Lenovo ThinkPad x230 for writing on the go the past few months, and the first hour or so back with the XPS 15’s keyboard nearly made me recoil in horror. I was afraid that the ThinkPad’s keyboard had perhaps ruined the XPS for me, but luckily I got used to it after a few hours. Again, it is a usable keyboard, but we know that Dell can do better—Latitudes have keyboards nearly as legendary as ThinkPads—so they really do seem to be resting on their laurels here. Alas. As with last year’s model, I’m still able to type quickly and accurately on the 10fastfingers typing test (I scored 101 WPM with only one error).

The touchpad is still the same excellent Microsoft Precision Touchpad. The pad’s surface is a glass finished with a soft-touch coating, and it feels absolutely fantastic to use. Being a Microsoft Precision Touchpad, it is fully compatible with Windows gestures.

However, Windows still has very limited options for configuring Precision devices. While you can configure gestures, typing guard, scrolling, and basics like clicks and tracking speed, you cannot configure anything regarding click-zones or palm-check. The only form of palm-check you can enable is to completely disable the pad after typing for either a short, medium, or long delay. This works for typing, but it doesn’t work at all for gaming, where you obviously need to use both the mouse and keyboard at the same time. This is the fault of Windows and not Dell, however.

Note: Some people have reported stiff or unevenly installed touchpads, or sticky/unresponsive spacebars, but I have to say that my deck has been perfect. If you do have a wonky spacebar, there are both quick and permanent DIY fixes that just take a few minutes (if you’re comfortable tinkering with your machine). If you call Dell for a repair, they will simply send a technician to come and do basically the same thing as the second repair.

Screen

The 9560 is available with both a non-touch matte FHD panel (1920 x 1080) or a glossy UHD (3,840×2,160) touchscreen protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. My model is equipped with the glossy UHD variety so I cannot speak to the quality of the FHD, but it is just as gorgeous a display as the UHD on the 9550 (if not moreso, as it’s allegedly 50 nits brighter). Dell advertises 100% Adobe RGB color gamut, and while I do not have calibration hardware on-hand, it is so incredibly vibrant that you will feel a sense of awe every time you turn your computer on.

If you’re trying to figure out whether or not it’s worth it for you to spend the extra US$300 on the UHD touch display, there are a few things that might influence your decision either way.

Firstly, the UHD is obviously glossy, while the FHD option is matte. If you will be working outdoors very frequently and don’t use touch, then this is a no-brainer that you’ll want a matte screen. Secondly, the response times on the UHD are a bit better than the FHD, meaning there is less motion blur when playing games or animations. My screen requires a pixel distance of about 60 on the UFO Chase Block Test before the trails of the blocks separate; according to responses of people I’ve talked with online, the average score for the FHD display in the XPS 15 is about 90. Thirdly, if battery life is of chief importance, going with the FHD display and a 97Wh battery will get you 3-4 more hours of use than the UHD model. Lastly, if you work with photo, video or other color-important media, then the color accuracy will absolutely be worth the extra money.

The other thing to note about the screen is that, like the XPS 13 9350, 9360, and XPS 15 9550 that came before it, its webcam will point straight up your nose from the left-hand side. If teleconferencing is a regular event for you, then you might want to look into another laptop (or an external camera).

The XPS 15’s infamous camera: not recommended for job interviews.

Note: I have experienced an annoying firmware bug that has been persistent in later BIOS updates from the 9550 until now. If brightness is set below 40%, the screen will periodically flicker black. I’m not sure if this is unique to the UHD screen, but it’s been an issue with the series for at least 6 months now and has yet to be fixed— despite multiple BIOS updates that claimed to address the issue.

Hardware and performance

The XPS 15 9560 improves upon the 9550 in two key areas: the Kaby Lake processor (in my case an i7-7700HQ CPU) and Pascal Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 graphics. Compared to the previous generation’s Skylake CPU, you’re looking at about a 10-15% and 7% increase in single core and multi-core performance, respectively. Beyond that, you’re getting hardware HEVC 10-bit and VP9 video decoding, which will help performance and battery life if watching or editing high resolution video. You also get the slightly faster integrated Intel HD 630 graphics, but since you’re also packing a GTX 1050, that is mostly a moot point.

The i7-7700HQ provides more than solid performance.

Speaking of the Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050—even as the weakest card in the mobile Pascal lineup right now, it delivers significantly more performance than the 9550’s last-gen GTX 960M, as you can see from this post.

In this case, whereas the 9550 got a Firestrike score of 3900, the 9560 hits about 5600—a 43% increase. It is nowhere near the power of a GTX 1060 chip (which would score over 10,000) to be sure, but it’s all the power that you can possibly cram into the XPS 15’s slim and tapered chassis at this point in time.

Some people are complaining about not getting a 1050 Ti if not the 1060 in this laptop, but unless they have found a way to break the laws of physics, that’s simply not going to happen. As it stands, the 9560 with an i7 will already get hot and reduce clocks under load.

The score of roughly 5600 is a major improvement over the 9550’s 3900.

Unigine Heaven Benchmark Score (Basic Settings).

As with the 9550, the 9560’s internals are all immediately accessible after removing the T5 and Phillips screws from the back. You should note that there are metal clips that help keep the back on and make it very hard to get the back off the first time. Just be sure you’ve unscrewed the Phillips-head screws beneath the hatch, and pull at each edge slowly and firmly until you get some give.

The SSD is easily upgradable with just the removal of a screw, though if yours comes with the 1TB SSD, you probably won’t need to do that. Dell is shipping the 9560 with two different SSDs at the moment: Samsung and Toshiba (and judging by the firmwares on the website, may add a third: LiteOn). However, the Toshiba XG4 drives are between ⅓ and ½ the speed of the Samsung PM961s.

The 1TB drive in my unit is the Toshiba XG4, unfortunately, meaning I have decent read speeds (1700Mb/s) and much slower write speeds (800Mb/s). It’s downright disingenuous that despite paying the same price and getting (allegedly) the same specs, users will be getting such disparate performance. Dell seems to be sending the units with the PM961 to reviewers and shipping the XG4 out mostly to consumers, and they should be called out on this. Shame.

The Toshiba drive is between 1/3 and 1/2 the speed of the Samsung.

One more aspect of performance that warrants some discussion is the 9560’s Thunderbolt 3 port. You might notice that on Dell’s website, under the Thunderbolt 3 (TB3) specification it lists “(2 lanes of PCI Express Gen 3)”. This is listed because Dell previously advertised their implementation of TB3 as “up to 40Gbps”, but because of hardware design the bandwidth is actually limited to 16Gbps for most use-cases (8Gbps of the TB3’s 40Gbps peak are reserved for Display Port).

Chief among these situations is using an external GPU: With proper implementation of Thunderbolt 3, there will be just enough bandwidth available to enable two-way data transmission; that is, if a monitor is attached to the eGPU itself, the data has to only go in one direction. If the data is displayed on the internal screen, it not only has to go from the computer to the eGPU and then to the monitor, but double-back from the eGPU and feed the data upstream to the computer concurrently. This already stretches the limits of TB3’s 40Gbps bandwidth, but on laptops like the XPS 13 or 15 with half the PCI lanes, it means that performance of external GPUs will be extremely limited on the internal screen, to the point where the internal GTX 1050 will be much faster in all but the highest resolution/detail rendering than the attached card, no matter its power.

Again, this is something that Dell could have fixed for the refresh, but elected not to—likely for financial reasons. It doesn’t affect using an eGPU much with external monitor, so it will be up to whether you need to use the internal display or not.

Emissions (noise, heat), Connectivity and speakers

The XPS 15 9560 is comfortable to use during light tasks. The machine is of course cool during idle, and during light tasks such as web browsing and word processing, the CPU hovered around 45C. After undervolting (-120mv), I was able to get those light use temperatures down to 40C. The fan is off or inaudible during casual use (35db, or equal to ambient noise), and there is no coil whine present either. Regarding coil whine, some users have reported that it is related to the model of AC adapter they received. Certain runs have coil whine, while others do not. If you do have coil whine on your unit, you might try swapping the adapter before exchanging the whole unit.

Under heavy load such as benchmarks or gaming the 9560’s fans kick up to a very audible 47db. While playing games or benchmarking, the keyboard does get warm, but never uncomfortable like my painfully hot Razer Blade did. The cooling design uses dual fans (one for CPU, one for GPU) which intake air from the bottom grill and expel it through the tucked away grille that faces the hinge. Like most other laptops, you should avoid using the laptop on any soft surfaces that can block the intake vents. Using it on my lap, however, was never a problem.

If you have the i5 model, you don’t need to worry as much about throttling. As the i5 has fewer threads and lower frequencies, it produces much less heat than the i7.

Owners of the i7 model, however, will have to do a bit of tweaking in order to get the maximum performance out of their machine under load. The VRMs (Voltage Regulator Modules) in the 9550 and 9560 series are located in an area of very limited airflow directly above the main heatsinks and will sometimes get too hot, triggering thermal throttling. On my i7 model, I’ve noticed that as the CPU and GPU work harder (Overwatch is a game that I can get this happening consistently from; just turn off Vsync), the GPU edges closer and closer to its priorize temperature of 78C (significantly lower than Maxwell GPUs’). If the GPU goes above 78C, Power Limit throttling will occur due to an imposed TDP limit (sometimes as low as 8W), tanking your framerates.

Generally, this can be helped by repasting and ensuring the heat sinks have strong pressure on the GPU, VRAM, and CPU, but why buy an i7 if you can’t use it? To get my machine to not throttle after 10 minutes of Uningine Vally on a loop, I had to repaste, undervolt, add thermal pads around the VRM (Voltage Regulator Modules) and heatsink, and more—but I will discuss these further in their own dedicated article.

Power Limit Throttling drastically reduces the available wattage for the CPU.

The heinously buggy Dell Broadcom 1830 3×3 card of the 9550 has been replaced for a slightly more functional (but theoretically slower) 2×2 Killer 1535 combination wireless ac/bluetooth card. The standing recommendation for the XPS 9550 was to throw the card in the garbage and order an Intel 8260 card to replace it, but luckily that is not completely the case this time around. While the Killer 1535 card did initially ship with buggy drivers that caused connections to drop over 2.4GHz, the most recent drivers have solved this problem. If you are looking for WiDi capability and maximum performance, however, feel free to upgrade to an Intel 8265—it’s not an expensive upgrade.

The speakers are the same diagonally-firing speakers as before, and just as before, my suggestion is still to put them facing upward by the keyboard. I’m not sure why Dell hasn’t done this, but it’s probably related to why the keyboard isn’t great and the Thunderbolt 3 has half the lanes—maybe they’re afraid of making a laptop that’s just too perfect. They sound alright, but lack the clarity and bass of some other laptops such as the MacBook Pro or Razer Blade. They’re definitely more than adequate for a thin and light laptop like the XPS 15, however.

Note: My unit displayed an issue exactly the same as the 9550 did, where the computer wouldn’t recognize any headphones plugged into the 3.5mm jack. The issue required an audio board replacement.

Battery life

Dell has bumped up the capacity of the larger battery from 84Wh to 97Wh—roughly a 15% increase. That increase, plus the increased efficiency of Kaby Lake, adds up to a significantly longer runtime with the UHD screen and 97Wh battery.

Whereas I struggled to hit 6 hours on the UHD/84Wh 9550, I regularly hit 8 hours on the 9560 (Balanced power mode running Chrome with multiple tabs, youtube, Google Docs, etc.). If you use Edge and tweak your settings, I’m sure you’ll be able to get even better battery life.

As someone who moves around a lot throughout the day and needs a computer to last, this is one of the spec upgrades that I’m happiest with on the 9560 over the 9550.

Price and availability

The XPS 15 9560 is available in most western countries already and will begin rolling out to Asia soon. You can get them from Dell, Amazon (which has more shipping and warranty options), or the Microsoft Store.

Prices range from US$999 for the most basic model with an i3 and no GPU up to US$2550 for a fully decked-out i7/UHD/32GB/1TB model.

At the moment, there are no refurbished 9560 models available, but if you wait another month or so, I think we’ll start seeing lower-priced refurbs out on eBay and the like. Refurbished Dells are a great buy, because they are not only hundreds cheaper, but they tend to actually have less issues (in my experience). Plus, you get a free warranty upgrade.

Issues

The launch of the 9560 has gone a bit better than the 9550’s. Of course, saying that is like saying losing one leg is better than losing both of your legs: it’s technically an improvement, but it’s still a pretty shitty event. And so, while the 9560 has had fewer show-stopping bugs than the 9550 did on release, it’s still very much a work in progress:

Screen flicker on lower brightness settings (no fix)
Intel HD graphics locking up frequently (solved with latest drivers from Intel)
Nvidia drivers BSODing (stay with stock Nvidia drivers from Dell)
Audio jack not working with Dell drivers (fixable)
Many units report high battery wear of around 10% right out of the box
My TB3 port was broken, prompting a mainboard replacement.

But even with all these bugs and issues, the fact remains that, right now, there is still no laptop that offers everything the XPS 15 9560 can.

Final thoughts

It took me a long time to figure out that the 9560 was the best Windows laptop out there for my needs. It’s beautifully designed, compact, and powerful. It packs a quad-core CPU, Pascal GPU, huge battery, and Thunderbolt 3—plus the the best 4k screen in a laptop out there. Sure, the TB3 is not full speed for eGPUs, but that won’t affect many people. Yes, it throttles due to power limits from the overheating VRMs, but that can be stopped with thermal pads and disabling turbo when gaming. While the XPS 15 9560 still has some flaws and niggles, it has no equal at the moment.

The following list is what led me to the 9560 by deduction:

The Razer Blade 14 has inferior battery life, a worse display, large bezel, and terrible QC/support. Gets better graphics though.
The Gigabyte Aero 14, Aorus X3 and ThinkPad T470p have no TB3.
The Alienware 13R3 is very big and heavy (5.7lbs), has “gamery” looks and a huge bezel/footprint.
The MSI GS43VR has an incredibly ugly design, non-premium construction and bad battery life. Again, better graphics.
The MSI GS63VR is the same as the above, plus a bigger footprint.

Update: Our detailed review of the more recent Dell XPS 15 9510 is available here.

So, the XPS 9560 is not perfect, but it is the best Windows laptop around, in my opinion. If you are looking for a powerful laptop that looks great while fitting in your bag and is mostly future-proof, this is it. It’s worth the upgrade if you have a 9550 as well, I think. The fingerprint scanner, GPU, and battery life are major quality-of-life upgrades that are worth the loss of selling your 9550 on eBay and moving up to the 9560.

But…. if you can wait until May, the Lenovo 720 15” looks like it will eat the 9560’s lunch. Or, of course, it could be equally (or even more) flawed as the 9560. With computers, so much is in the execution of the details, and there’s no way of knowing if waiting months more will be worth it. If you need a laptop now, the Dell XPS 15 9560 is the one to get.

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Review by: Douglas Black
Douglas Black - Editor. Douglas is a technical writer, educator, DJ, and music producer based in Florida, USA.

45 Comments

Lance

March 6, 2017 at 4:15 am

Good review, thanks.
You say the keyboard is horrible. I've been having repeated characters with mine, something like 1/10 times writing something like 'same' I'll get 'samme', is that anything you noticed?
- Douglas Black
  
  March 6, 2017 at 4:17 am
  
  Hi Lance,
  
  I've never experienced anything like that. Is it always the same key? You could try taking the caps off and cleaning it. If not, it sounds like you should have it serviced
  - Lance
    
    March 6, 2017 at 10:09 am
    
    I've had a keyboard replacement and then a mb replacement. It seems to primarily be I,m,n,c,r characters. But usually in some sequence. Other people are having it too. Some suggest it's the way we type, but I've never had a keyboard like this before.
    There's a couple of threads on Reddit about it
    
    https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5xm38e/xps_9560_keyboard_stil_repeating_after_replaced/
  - Same problem in past
    
    May 13, 2018 at 7:37 pm
    
    Oh. This used to happen a lot, along with wireless not reenabling itself after sleep.
    
    Both seemed to have been resolved months ago without my noticing. Can't remember a single issue in a long while.
    
    I've been on top of updates and also use their tb16 thunderbolt dock since March which has a bunch of firmware that may or may not affect things.
    
    Hopefully yours has or will be resolved soon.
Tom

March 6, 2017 at 4:57 am

Good review,

I can't describe how frustrating the XPS 15 series have been. They're so close to perfection but Dell consistently has (the same) issues on product release. Combined with questionable QC (improper heatsink contact… still) and horrific customer service (you're right, pay for the premium service or you will regret it). It's just annoying for what should be a premium product. It should not just be good, it should be exceedingly good in every aspect.

I'm in the same boat as you, It's still the best Windows laptop for my use case by a country mile.
- Douglas Black
  
  March 6, 2017 at 4:59 am
  
  Agreed. I will give the Yoga 720 a very good look on release
  - Tom
    
    March 6, 2017 at 5:36 am
    
    Aesthetically I think the Yoga 720 looks.. bad.
    
    It'll almost be a shame if it's good in every other regard. No excuse not to get it.
    
    T
Kyle

March 6, 2017 at 5:08 am

Good review. But I believe the new thinkpad P51 is directly comparable to the XPS 15, not the thinkpad t470p as it is only 14" and doesn't pack a dGPU. As a matter of fact, I don't recommend the t470p at all as it has serious cooling and power draw issues, resulting in an abysmal battery life and performance, not to mention heavier weight and lower quality materials used on the chassis compared with other thinkpad X,T and P series released in 2017. If you're looking for a quad-core ultrabook with no need for dGPU, look into Dell Latitude 14,15 5000 series (kaby lake – e5480,e5580) with the largest capacity battery configuration. Holiday discounts for these two laptops go up to 35%.

Dell XPS 15 9560 vs Lenovo Thinkpad P51

I don't own a desktop or a tablet so a laptop is my main and only device. Thus, it needs to be both portable and powerful, with battery life of at least 10 hours.
config preference: fhd non-touch, 97/90wh battery, i7/xeon
anti-4k reasoning: scaling issues, 25-30% shorter battery life, reflective display on the xps, poor color accuracy and brightness with pwm flickering on the P51 (although it does come with an aes wacom pen)

similarities: kaby lake quad core, 4GB VRAM GPUs of similar caliber, ddr4-2400 dual channel slots, m.2-2280 pcie 3.0 x4 nvme ssd slots, 15.6" fhd non-touch matte IPS displays, 1x usb type-c 3.1 gen-2 thunderbolt-3, large batteries, realistic 10hrs battery life, under 2.6kg, better than average build quality, precision touchpads, fingerprint sensors & IR cameras for windows hello sign-in, better services than other lines of laptops from same/different manufacturers

respective pros & cons (not in any order of importance)
XPS 15 pros:
1) better gpu performance with pascal GTX 1050 4GB vs Quadro M2200M 4GB on the P51 (better gaming)
2) slimmer bezels = smaller footprint
3) lighter (2kg vs 2.6kg)
4) slimmer (20mm vs 30mm)
5) slighly better battery life (97wh vs 90wh)
6) better display (brightness:350nits/contrast:1500:1/color gamut:98% sRGB,63% adobeRGB)
7) slightly better internal dac chip and much better speakers
8) 5-level battery level indicator lights vs tiny 1 on the P51 on the back (very hard to see)

XPS 15 cons:
1) terrible keyboard (in terms of travel, actuation force and layout)
2) 2 lane thunderbolt-3 vs 4 on the p51 (currently using GTX 1080 eGPU and will definitely use a thunderbolt-3 NAS and a portable pcie-nvme ssd when it comes out)
3) chin-cam (lots of conferences and skyping to do)
4) slow display response times, a.k.a the 'ghosting issue' (plays mostly fps games)
5) quality-control & stability issues, both hardware and software wise e.g. coil whine, defective screen, uneven clickpad, broken hinge, unrecognized sd-card, buggy drivers on many, many components
P51 pros:
1) business grade durability (possibly the best in the market at this price point) with 'MIL-STD 810G' certification and engineering with great attention to detail & ergonomics
2) better cooling & lower power consumption = less throttling under sustained load
3) easily user-replaceable/upgradable parts + removable battery (e.g. three batteries = 30hrs battery life)
4) better keyboard (lots of typing to do)
5) trackpoint – useful when the touchpad occasionally fails me
6) touchpad with two rows of dedicated left/right/middle buttons vs clickpad on the xps
7) hinges can open 185 degrees vs 130 degrees on the xps
8) one hand openable lid
9) 4x ram slots = max 64GB ram vs 2x on the xps
10) don't have to compromise between battery life and extra drives 2x m.2-2280 pcie-nvme slots + 1x 2.5" 7mm drive bay + 90wh battery vs 1x nvme slot + 97wh battery or 1x nvme slot + 1x 2.5" 7mm drive bay + 57wh battery
11) great i/o ports selection – 1x usb type-c 3.1 gen-2 thunderbolt-3, 4x usb type-a 3.0, 1x hdmi 1.4, 1x minidisplayport 1.2, 1x rj-45, 1x 3.5mm audio combo, 1x sdxc uhs-2 sd-card reader, 1x smartcard, 1x expresscard 34mm (can buy a 2x usb type-a 3.0 ports adapter card should you need more usb ports), 1x thinkpad dockingstation port, 1x kensington lock vs 1x usb type-c 3.1 gen-2 thunderbolt-3, 2x usb type-a 3.0, 1x hdmi 1.4, 1x kensington lock, 1x 3.5mm audio combo, 1x sdxc uhs-1 sd-card reader
12) optional pantone color-calibration sensor
13) array of 'business security features' – win10pro bitlocker, opal ssd, computrace tpm, vpro, expresscard, smartcard etc (although definitely vulnerable to determined criminals/organization/feds/agencies)
13) optional WWAN LTE modem
14) better wifi stability & performance (intel wireless-ac 8265 vs killer wireless-ac 1535)
15) has gigabit-ethernet
16) sd-card reader is uhs-2 vs uhs-1 on the xps, meaning the read/write speeds are 2x<
17) very silent fans compared to the xps during load
18) better cpu performance with selection of i7-7700hq/i7-7820hq/xeon e3-1505-v6(i7-7820hk equivalent)/xeon e3-1535-v6(i7-7920hq equivalent) vs i3-7100h with no dGPU/i5-7300hq/i7-7700hq on the xps
19) customizable hardware configuration during purchase vs no customization on the xps
20) can buy and use with thinkpad docking stations

P51 Cons:
1) noticeably worse screen (brightness:250nits/contrast:700:1/color gamut:58% sRGB,37% adobeRGB)
2) noticeably heavier unit
3) keyboard backlight bleed
4) dreadful speakers
5) larger and heavier default charger
6) although not as many as on the xps, minor stability issues do exist but are mostly fixed within 3 months with bios updates

negligible factors:
1) bezels – simply don't understand all the hype with thin bezzels. Samsung&LG laptops had thin bezzels for a decade. Thinkpad P51 makes good use of extra bezzels as keybaord keys are big, key space is wide, and they've managed to put two rows of dedicated click buttons, along with (though disappointing)front-facing speakers. Plus I've always found thick bottom and side bezels to be very useful when opening the lid and when adjusting display angles.
2) aesthetic appearance

*Note: For the XPS 15 9560 the non-touch fhd ips-display with 97wh battery option is only available in the US and some selected countries, in only one configuration – i7/16GB-memory/512GB-ssd(1750USD). However, I'd rather buy either the i5 or lowest i7 configuration at the official dell US website, then swap out the 2.5" hard drive and 57wh battery with a 97wh battery through either trade/backorder/ebay.
Also, the Thinpad P51 battery is rated 90wh but comes with either 90, 93 or 96 according to the battery manufacturer. So if you're lucky, you get the big one.

approximate cheapest total price possible for similar configs purchased within the US market and directly imported from overseas:
1) XPS 15 9560: i7-6700hq cpu/gtx1060 gpu/fhd non-touch display/97wh battery/16GB memory/512GB ssd/backlit keyboard/fingerprint reader = i7/1060/fhd/8GB/256GB(1450USD – 250USD holiday discount = 1200USD) + 97wh battery(110USD) + used/holiday sale Samsung sm961/960 pro 512GB ssd(280USD) + used/holiday sale 16GB ddr4-2400 so-dimm g-skills/crucial memory(85USD) – 8GB stock memory (likely samsung/sk-hynix ram) resell(60USD) – 256 stock ssd (likely either samsung pm961/toshiba/lite-on) resell(140USD) – 2.5" hdd and caddy with 57wh battery resell (90USD) = total 1385USD for buyers in the US
1200USD + 25% approx import tax + shipping(120USD) + all other parts = total 1805USD for international buyers

2) Thinkpad P51: i7-6700hq cpu/quadro m2200m gpu/fhd non-touch/90wh battery/16gb memory/512gb ssd/backlit keyboard/fingerprint reader/expresscard slot/smartcard reader = i7/m2200m/fhd/8GB/512GB 7200rpm hdd(1650USD x 57/100(43% holiday discount) = 950USD) + used/holiday sale Samsung sm961/960 pro 512GB ssd(280USD) + used/holiday sale 16GB ddr4-2400 so-dimm g-skills/crucial memory(85USD) – 8GB stock memory (likely samsung/sk-hynix ram) resell(60USD) – 512GB stock hdd resell(25USD) = total 1230USD for buyers in the US
950USD + 25% approx import tax + shipping(120USD) + all other parts = total 1587.5USD for international buyers

My pick is the P51, mainly because of the much superior build quality, ergonomics, removable battery and the incredible percentage-based price drop during the holidays.

Obviously they're quite similar yet very different machines. With the right choices however, users can purchase either at a very affordable price.

Three other big refreshes are around the corner in mid 2017 as well: HP ZBook 15(15",m2000m,2.5kg,96wh), Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW(15",960m,2.2kg,96wh) and Dell Precision 17 5000 – 7510(15",m2000m,2.6kg,99wh). The ux501 is even rumored to pack a 1060, which would potentially put it on par with high-end lightweight gaming laptops such as the Razer Blade 14(14",1060,1.8kg,75wh), Gigabyte Aero 14(14",1060,1.8kg,94wh) and the Aorus X3-V7(14",1060,1.9kg,94wh). Of course, if all you need is a 1060 card in a slim and light body and don't need more than 3 hours of battery life, then the MSI GS43VR and GS63VR should be your top budget picks.
- Douglas Black
  
  March 6, 2017 at 5:17 am
  
  Wow Kyle, thanks for that in depth comment! For me I'm not willing to go over 4.5 lbs
  - Kyle
    
    March 6, 2017 at 5:47 am
    
    Well for one thing, I live in remote Asia and in here, any electronics manufacturer services are terrible and overpriced. But with business laptops I never need to opt for any warranties, other than the default 1-year-depot. If something breaks by some miracle, I can order parts from china which arrives in 2 days.
    
    The build quality alone for those workstations are totally worth it. Before last year, I always thought thinkpads denting the floor and breaking doors was a big bluff. Until I got my P50, which slipped from my lap one sleepy night and made a crater on the floor. Made my landlord pretty mad haha.
- Kyle
  
  March 6, 2017 at 5:33 am
  
  Okay, I know it looks real long and boring but in my defense, the comment system ate indentations and spaces.
- KurtB
  
  March 8, 2017 at 12:21 am
  
  Kyle, is it possible you're talking about the Lenovo P50? Because the P51 isn't released yet…
  
  I really can't wait till the P51 is reviewed. My finger is already floating above the 'Buy me' button of the XPS 15 9560, but all the issues I'm reading is holding me. For now, the only two announced devices that can persuade me away from the XPS are maybe the Lenovo 720 and possibily the Lenovo P51. But I can't keep waiting. Really a shame that reviewers aren't getting their review devices way before the release…
  - Douglas Black
    
    March 8, 2017 at 12:27 am
    
    The p51 would be great if it had a smaller footprint/bezels and a centered keyboard
Yahtadi

March 7, 2017 at 12:39 pm

Nice review as always, one thing i really wanted to know. Please answer anyone

This kind of laptop use 2 internal fans for cooling right? If i go to this laptop with i3 and no dGPu configuration, how many fans will stay? 1 or 2? if 1, the mainboard will be different with the 2 fans right? whats the rest? I mean, 1 fans and the bigger mainboard that replacing the other fans's place, whatd component that be? another M.2 SSD slot?

Thanks, any answer would satisfy my years thirsty of this question
- Douglas Black
  
  March 7, 2017 at 7:41 pm
  
  That's a very good question. I've never seen anyone review the i3 version. The precision allows the i5 without a GPU as well. I'd guess that it would be a different board and heatsink design.
Bryant

March 10, 2017 at 12:08 am

Where's your article about what you had to do to get the i7 and GPU to not throttle themselves? I'm having that issue with mine pretty badly.
- Douglas Black
  
  March 10, 2017 at 12:15 am
  
  Bryant,
  
  I've solved it in mine by changing Nvidia setting "pre-rendered frames" to 2 and padding *only* the VRM chokes to the case bottom. I haven't written the article yet because I'm still trying to confirm the exact problem and ensure that it's a reliable method.
  - Bryant
    
    March 10, 2017 at 12:16 am
    
    Cool thank you very much. I'll keep an eye out for the article.
Fabio

March 11, 2017 at 10:59 am

I'm really interested in this machine but all those flows that might be present in such a premium machine make me question if it's good or not. I'm interested also in the new HP Spectre X360 15, that is a bit cheaper with specs almost on par with this that is better on some aspects (keyboard, webcam in the right place but still with small bezels, touchscreen with a pen), but it has a low power processors. Can't HP and Dell merge their products in a perfect one?

However, are the 16 GB of ram one in one stick with an internal slot free or not?
- Douglas Black
  
  March 11, 2017 at 11:01 am
  
  The memory will be 8×2 paired. They told me it would be 1×16, so I complained and got 100 USD back
  - Fabio
    
    March 12, 2017 at 9:51 am
    
    Too bad, just a single 16 GB would be great for upgrades. Thank you!
Mastafu

March 17, 2017 at 4:38 pm

Great review, good to hear about coil whine. To bad that such expensive laptop still has so silly issues with keyboard and camera.
As to best possible option, how about ASUS Zenbook Pro UX550. It will be great option with even better GTX in it.
Ryan

May 29, 2017 at 12:10 pm

Nice review
I also have a XPS15 9560 with i7, UHD, 16G and 1TB SSD,and the only problem I am facing to is the overheat. I can't play Cs:go because the cpu frequency will be as low as 0.8Ghz or something in just few minutes. I can't enjoy LOL with friends because it could face the same problem. Even when I am working with Autodest Inventor 2017, with the ray tracing function on, it happens too!
I mean, why should I buy an i7 and 1050 with the performance I cannot fully use? When this laptop gets overheat, it's performance is at an even lower level than my old Dell latitude e6440 with i5 4200.
I heard that Dell has changed the EC software for XPS15 9550 by publishing a newer BIOS update last year, which helps 9550 totally get away from overheat without any DIY or CPU voltage configure.
I just hope this happen to my 9560 very soon.
I bought this laptop this Feb. it's should be a great system, but it has failed me so far.
Jurgen

May 30, 2017 at 7:44 pm

Great reviews by the readers. Completely different to the above review by D. Black (the site owner?). I too fell into the trap and bought it. XPS15 9560, UHD 4K, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD.

It is what others say. A half-product. There are many, many bugs and defekts. Too many for the laptop with this name, Dell, to be acceptable. Very good screen, nice design, solid aluminium housing. That is all.

Despite all the specs it doesn't perform, it gets hot, it is bizarre (keyboard) to use, the pad is not slick and easy to glide the fingers on, contrary to what D. Black says above, the plastic top is supposedly of carbon, but it strongly attracts the sweat and the grease, and it is almost impossible to clean it off. Cooling fan is noisy although they all say it is quiet, and it does nothing to cool the laptop. What slows down the heat is the thick aluminium plate between you and the processors. Put your hand at the heat vent and you'll see what I mean. Your hand will get burned with the heat!

I will return mine too. Asus has a nicer and better model, which is also 2 years old now, but still better. A new version is coming out soon so I'll wait for it. Dell is just not good, despite the name and the fame. Deficient in every way. And I ahevn't even commented on the lack of the connections (USB, ethernet, everything)It is a disaster really…
Tim

July 1, 2017 at 7:32 pm

FANTASTIC review, thanks! Your honesty and thoroughness are much appreciated. I got just over 2 years from my 9550 (including UHD touchscreen), and while I loved it, the bugs were frustrating. I replaced the modem, the hard drive, the keyboard, and the inner receptacle for the AC adapter. I should have replaced the audio jack too, and the flickering screen issues never went away. Still, I didn't have to look around long to decide that the only thing out there I saw that was even close to what I wanted was the 9560. LOL

So I bought the maxed-out version (i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, etc., although I passed on the fingerprint scanner), and I have to say, I'm loving it. Absolutely worth the upgrade from the 9550, imo. Everything about it feels like what I wish the 9550 had been. No hesitation,, my favorite computer yet — which I say while also completely agreeing with everything you said. The Toshiba hard drive is stupid. I wish they'd just offered an option to pay more for the Samsung, which I may do anyway…but again, I'm not currently feeling the need. I think you're right about Dell being afraid of the possibility of their own perfection — TB3 is a real selling point, but hardwiring TB2 speeds is a buzzkill.

But here in the real world, every computer I've ever owned has called for some kind of compromise. In this case, the tradeoffs are completely worth it to me. We'll see what happens if it starts bugging out, but so far, I'm genuinely impressed by the step up. My 9550 is just back from the shop (the last time I'll ever repair it), and even though they look identical on the outside, both even with brand new keyboards, I can immediately tell which one is which is by the feel of the performance.

Perfection would be nice, sure, and it's exasperating that some of Dell's fumbles could so easily have been avoided. But to me this was an easy call, even coming from a 2.5 yr old 9550. ESPECIALLY coming from the 9550.
- Douglas Black
  
  July 1, 2017 at 8:37 pm
  
  Appreciate the kind words, Timothy. I myself have comeback to the XPS 15 after trying the Yoga 720, gigabyte aero 15, and macbook pro 15. This time, though, I went to a microsoft store to buy and inspect it in person for issues :)
David K.

July 30, 2017 at 11:44 am

My wife and I were about to buy 2 of the XPS 15 16Gb of ram 1tb ssd yesterday… so, after reading some issues with the battery folks were having with this and the 9550 I thought before I bought a $2400 notebook I want to know what the replacement cost of the 97 watt battery was… and I have to say, I was floored…. According to both models web pages on Dell under accessories they state the battery is no longer Available… then I went to amazon… Product Discontinued… What the heck do you do with a $2500 Laptop when the battery is dead and not available anywhere… It becomes a $2500 anchor for you next boat… I Cancelled orders for 2 of the machines immediately…. That is CRAZY that Dell has discontinued selling the replacement batteries.. I'm sure glad I found out before we took delivery.. By the way, the Battery is Not Warrantied by Dell Either so your screwed.
N0name

July 31, 2017 at 1:05 pm

Question regarding noise.
I do own XPS 15 9530 (UHD + 512GB SSD + i7) and did returned XPS 9550 (UHD + 512 GB SSD + i7) due to noise (and other issues).

Problem that I had with 9550:

When running on battery everything was fine, fans did spin down and turned off on 1-5% (variable) CPU utilization, but when connected to AC, at same 1-5% CPU load (aka. only desktop + OS background apps), fans did kick in to around 1k-2k RPM making it audible. This issue is not present in my old 9530 unit and fan profile behave exactly same on battery and AC.

Question:
Does fans in 9560 behave on AC and battery same or do they have problem like described above?

Reason why this is important for me is that I do work usually in night (programmer) and having audible noise is both distracting and irritating (of course I do talk about light use cases).
amir meamarpour

November 10, 2017 at 12:10 pm

hello guys, it is possible to attach a gtx1080 to this laptop ???
- Douglas Black
  
  November 10, 2017 at 7:48 pm
  
  Sure, but anything faster than a 1060 will be a waste of money
  - amir meamarpour
    
    November 11, 2017 at 12:53 pm
    
    so you mean that buying a laptop equipped with GTX1070 or 1080 is better than a laptop equipped with GTX1050 and use a graphic box for it ??
  - Douglas Black
    
    November 11, 2017 at 1:04 pm
    
    No, I mean a graphics box with a card better than a 1060 is a waste of money. A graphics box (with TB3) is not worth it for any laptop with a 1060 or better, and even in some situations not as good as a 1050ti. Check out the benchmarks at this comparison I did for notebookcheck here: notebookcheck.net/Razer-Core-Benchmarks-Analysis-and-Compatibility-Is-it-Worth-it.213526.0.html
Michael

November 18, 2017 at 4:12 pm

Hi Andrei, I'd really appreciate help deciding which laptop to buy. I currently have a budget i3 Asus as my travel laptop, it's the second one I've had but both have slowed down hugely or had big issues for me at some point so I am bit wary of Asus, but they have some of the best choices on the market still and it was probably just bad luck. My primary purpose is travel and work, I don't do video editing, may do some light gaming. I'm considering between:

Asus Zenbook 430 (14" 1.25kg i5 256GB SSD 8GB RAM) £850
Asus Zenbook 530 (15" 1.63kg i7 512GB SSD 8GB RAM) £999
Asus Zenbook 490 (14" 1.30kg i5 256GB SSD 8GB RAM) £999 (from £1400) for Black Friday.
Dell XPS 15 9560 (15" 2.00kg i7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM FHD Non-touch) £1235 refurbished.

I can't tell if it'd bother me to switch to a smaller 14" screen and smaller keyboard. 13" felt too small for me when I tried in a shop.

I've somewhat ruled out the 430 as I'd like to have the 512GB SSD for another £150, even though it seems like a great model. 490 I thought had 512GB but the one on sale only has 256GB unfortunately. Or maybe I'm valuing the extra space too much considering cloud storage is easy.

The XPS 15 seems like the best overall (apart from the webcam and weight) but is of course more expensive and refurbished. I've never bought a refurb before, are they generally fine?

Is it worth going for the XPS 15 or would I be fine with the Zenbook 530?

Are there any quirks of each individual model I should be aware of that might deter me?

Thanks,
Michael :)
- Andrei Girbea
  
  November 20, 2017 at 5:47 am
  
  I'd say no. The XPS 9560 is a great laptop, but from what you're saying you're not going to need the quad-core HQ processor or that dedicated graphics. I'd go with the Zenbook 530, preferably a version with Nvidia graphics if available, for those moments when you'll want to play your games. The only major drawback you should consider is the fact that the RAM is not upgradeable, 8 GB are perhaps enough right now, but might not be down the line with multitaksing.

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Dell XPS 15 9560 review – Core i7 CPU, 1050 GPU and UHD screen

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