- The all-in-one PC category is always a challenge,
because there's compromises to be made.
But Dell thinks they have a solution with the
XPS 27, which just had a revision.
Today I'll tell you what's awesome about it,
and what's not, stay tuned.
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There are two Hallmark features,
and I'm talking about the XPS 27.
One is obviously that 27-inch display.
It is 4K, near bezel-less, actually those bezels are
thinner than the surface studio,
so kudos to Dell for making that happen.
But it's also the ten-speaker sound system
which hangs just below it.
Now, a lot people have complained that the XPS 27
is a little bit ugly, because of that giant chin,
but hey, it packed in 10 speakers,
plus a Windows Hello Camera all into that,
making the payoff quite significant.
Let's talk a little bit about that display.
Obviously it's 4K, 3840 x 2160,
and it comes in two versions.
There's a non-touch, and touch.
I happen to have the touch version here,
and it's pretty awesome.
It's also a very color-accurate display,
making it very ideal for people
who work in video and photo editing.
Worth it, because it gets 100% sRGB,
which isn't that hard, a lot of laptops get that,
but it also gets 100% Adobe RGB,
which is definitely (mumbles) difficult,
and it make this one of the best displays
that I'll ever use.
Now, there is a down side here.
You cannot use a pen with it.
That's where the Surface Studio gets its edge is,
a lot of people use it for drawing and artistry work,
where you can't do that with the Dell XPS 27.
Getting back to those speakers,
there are 10 of them.
I won't go through each one, as it is quite a bit,
but it's 50 watts per channel, it gets very loud.
For instance, when I'm using Windows,
I need to keep the volume at 10 just to use it normally.
If it goes up to 80, it's about as loud as I can tolerate.
And it goes over to 100 decibels when fully maxed out.
It's pretty impressive,
and it makes it one of the best sound systems available.
Now it won't complete with your home stereo system
if you're into audio file,
and for a lot of people,
this is easily the best sound system
you'll get with any PC.
Alright, let's talk a little bit about build quality here,
this is CNC Machined aluminum.
It is the XPS Line, so as you would expect,
it is super high quality.
Of course, it also weighs around 40 pounds,
or 17 kilograms, which is not light,
so you wouldn't wanna move this around too often.
That base also has rubber feet on it, making it very secure.
Now, in terms of hardware, there are two versions.
There is a Intel Core i5-7400, so that's KB-like,
and there's also a Intel Core i7-7700,
but with those R Quad-Core Processors,
we have the 7th-Gen Core i7 model here,
and it's very powerful.
It also comes with 16GB of RAM,
but it can go up to 64GB if you pop open that back panel.
For display graphics you get two options as well.
There are of course, the Intel HD Graphics 630,
which isn't that powerful.
You'll get that with the Core i5 version and that's it.
Summing up though, to the Core i7 model,
you get the new AMD RX 570 with 8GB of GDDR5 video memory,
and that's a very impressive video card,
and that's actually a big step up
from the previous generation,
and it almost doubles the frame weight.
For instance, when we're playing Gears of War 4,
we used to get around 40 frames per second
on medium settings at full HD.
That now goes over to 90 frames per second.
That's a huge improvement.
That also means this desktop is now VR Compatible
with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift,
and of course Windows 10 Mixed Reality Ultra.
So that's a really impressive setup right there.
When it comes to ports,
there are quite a lot in this device,
and it's a little bit complicated.
On the side there's a USB 3.0 port, along with PowerShare,
and a full SD card reader.
I really like the placement here, it is quick access.
Turning to the back, there are four USB 3.0 ports,
one HDMI out, one display port 1.2,
and two Thunderbolt 3 Type-C Ports on the back,
which are really impressive.
You also get gigabyte ethernet in one audio out.
Now let's talk about those Thunderbolt 3 ports,
that sounds awesome, but like all Thunderbolt 3's,
there are exceptions.
So, you cannot use an eGPU with this,
such as the Razor Core.
I tried it myself, and it says it's not supported.
Now that could be part of the driver and firmware,
and that's related to the Thunderbolt 3 hardware,
and that may be updated in the future,
but as of right now, it does not work.
Also, as far as I know, this device cannot be used
as a dummy display.
So if you connect up a laptop to it,
via HDMI or Type C, it does not project automatically,
so those ports are only output and not input.
Finally, for internal storage there is 500GB of SSD,
and that's the Samsung PM961,
at least in the high-end version.
On the low-end you're going to get a Hybrid system.
Now that SSD is excellent.
It gets some of the best read and write times
I have come across.
Now all this comes in a very expensive package,
costing $2600 for the high-end,
although the $1399 price tag for the low-end is not so bad.
Overall though, I really like the XPS 27,
and had no issues with it.
There are a few things I didn't care for,
for instance the ports on the back were hard to access,
but once you've used it and set it up,
you're pretty much good to go.
You also can't use a pen with this device,
and for some people, that's gonna be a bummer.
That's where the Surface Studio obviously gets the leg up.
So who is this device for?
I really think if you do photo or video editing,
this is an excellent choice.
That GPU is gonna help you out a whole lot.
It's also good for people who like to watch
and consume media,
or who need a really good sound system.
And don't forget, you can do some gaming with this.
I wouldn't qualify this as a gaming PC,
but you can definitely do first-person shooters here,
and get a solid experience.
So, if you have the cash and you're tight on space,
I highly recommend the XPS 27.
So there's a quick overview of the Dell XPS 27,
which is now available.
If you want my full review,
make sure you head to Window Central,
where I've deep-dived into benchmarks,
and more information about this device.
If you like this video, give us a thumbs up,
and don't forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching, take care everybody.
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