The new Dell XPS 17 is probably one of the most beautiful and elegant laptops you could get in
2022. It's almost non existing bezels and tall 16 to 10 display will surely turn some heads whether
you're getting some work done at your favorite cafe, or writing down notes in your class.
Dell's XPS laptops have become a top choice for creators over the past several years.
Ever since the XPS 15 and XPS 17 moved to the new, sleeker design with a beautiful
"infinity edge" display, they've become favorite Mac alternatives for PC users
who care more about screen quality and portability than gaming performance.
The XPS 17 in particular – with its more powerful graphics options, ultra-large 16:10 display,
and the (optional) power of a top-performing 11th Gen Intel Core i9-11980HK CPU – is an
interesting option if you're looking for a laptop that can do double duty as a desktop replacement.
DESIGN
It's probably not a surprise that the Dell XPS 17 is a stunning laptop.
All silver with a Dell logo on the back, it stands out as a MacBook Pro competitor.
Unlike the MacBook, it has a soft finish on the deck, which makes the laptop much more
comfortable to use. If you are having a tough time discerning the XPS 17 from the XPS 15,
you're not alone. The two laptops are nearly indistinguishable for the overall design, but
the XPS 17 is notably more massive, and heavier. Considering how well refined the XPS line is,
this is an excellent decision by Dell. You are getting a premium all-metal exterior, soft-touch
interior with carbon fiber, and four USB Type C ports, all of which support Thunderbolt 4. There
is also a handy SD card reader, which makes sense for creative professionals. The size is deceptive,
however. While it is big and bulky, it's not that much larger than a Surface Book 3 15-inch.
Dell lets you open the display with one hand, and while carrying around a 5 and a half pounds
laptop is not light, it feels astonishingly dense thanks to it being packed to the gills
with a giant 97 watt hour battery. There's not a whole lot else to say here. Dell's XPS design is
exceptional on the XPS 13 and XPS 15, and that carries over to XPS 17 with much success.
SPECS
Classifying the XPS 17 is a bit difficult, since between its size and power, it can do a bit of
everything, including video editing, some decent gaming, productivity, engineering, music creation,
and anything that requires both a lot of processing oomph and a massive 17-inch screen.
It is a workstation, but one that leans into the prosumer and premium angle instead of pure
business. For 2022, Dell has added options for Intel 11th Gen H-series processors,
and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs, instead of last year's RTX 20 series. RAM is also now faster,
going from 2,933 MHz to 3,200 MHz. There is also now an option for 8 terabyte in storage.
Our review sample is configured with Windows 10 Home, a Core i7, 32 gigs of RAM, 1 terabyte SSD,
RTX 30 60 GPU, 17-inch UHD-touch display, and costs just above 2 thousand dollars. That is
certainly not cheap, but any self-respecting PC user should be drooling at that spec list.
DISPLAY
Don't let the 17-inch screen fool you. It may seem small compared to laptops with 17.3-inch panels,
but the laptop's 16:10 aspect ratio matters. Yes, we know,
17.3 is more than 17—but if you actually measure the vertical and horizontal height of the 17-inch
16:10 panel on the XPS 17, it’s actually slightly larger than 17.3-inch panels in viewable area.
What’s impressive about the XPS 17 9710 is that while it offers a screen slightly larger than a
17.3-inch 16:9 laptop, its footprint is only an inch wider than most thin-profile 15.6 gaming
laptops. That’s 26 percent more viewable screen space in a laptop just an inch wider. So yes,
if you want as much panel packed into the tiniest possible laptop, the XPS 17 is your answer.
The 17-inch Sharp IGZO display is the centerpiece of the XPS
17. It is the reason you should want to buy this laptop. This screen is simply the
best-looking laptop display of any PC on the market right now, period. Here's why.
Dell gets a commendation for being the first to re-embrace 16:10 aspect ratios,
which is found here too (most laptops still use 16:9). When opened, the XPS 17 is a wall of
pixels with razor-thin bezels on all four sides. There is more to see with this screen aspect,
especially at 17 inches and a spectacular 3840x2400 resolution. When using the XPS
17 on your lap (yes, it does fit), the screen creates a very immersive experience.
Keyboard, trackpad, camera
Looking down at the XPS 17's massive deck and the keyboard, they're sized perfectly with
decent-to-shallow travel for the keys. Again, Dell is not doing anything radically different from the
XPS 15, matching a recent redesign for 2020, with slightly larger keycaps making them easy targets
for your fingers. It's not only a good-feeling keyboard but is fast too. There is a little flex
with the keyboard deck and ample two-stage backlighting, which provides superb contrast
against the dark keys. Fans of number pads are going to lose their minds looking at the XPS 17.
In some ways, it is a fair point as laptops this huge almost always include that feature.
I do not miss it one bit. I never use number pads, and the near-perfect symmetry of the keyboard,
massive flanking speakers, and trackpad are a much better tradeoff for creative professionals.
If you need a number pad, you can buy one as an accessory.
The trackpad is huge going wider than the spacebar by three more keys. It is exceptionally smooth and
powered by Microsoft Precision drivers. I had no issue with palm rejection, although I could see
where it may be a concern depending on how you type. Clicking is consistent with no dead zones
(save for the upper corners), and it is thankfully not very loud. Unlike the early builds of the XPS
15, I had no loose or rattle issues with the XPS 17's trackpad. The camera is where things
get a bit dicey. Dell uses a micro cam to fit in the ultra-thin bezel. It is just 720P and not of
good quality. It gets the job done, but since web cameras are significantly more critical in 2021,
it would be nice to see Dell try a bit harder on the next version for quality. There is no privacy
shutter to disable the camera, though there is a white LED to let you know it is in use.
Dell XPS 17 CPU performance
"Performance" is part of what matters in a sleek performance laptop like this,
so let’s kick things off with a look at the XPS 17 in Cinebench R15, an older version of
Maxon’s 3D rendering benchmark. Cinebench loves more CPU cores and threads, and we
see Intel’s 11th-gen Core i7 offer outstanding performance compared to a stack of older CPUs.
It’s even slightly faster than the desktop Core i9 CPU in the original Alienware Area 51m R1,
a gaming notebook that was far thicker and heavier in your bag. Due to the larger size and additional
thermal breathing room, the XPS 17 ships with an NVIDIA RTX 3060 with 6GB GDDR6 memory
compared to the GTX 1650 Ti in the XPS 15. When combined with the powerful Core i7-11800H
and 16GB of RAM, there is not much the XPS 17 cannot handle. The Core i7-11800H
performs better than the smaller XPS 15 thanks to improved heat pipes and increased thermal space.
BATTERY
Our last result is perhaps the test that matters to people: Battery life. We loop a 4K video in
airplane mode with earbuds in place until the battery dies. We use Windows 10’s built-in Movies
& TV app which is the most efficient media player we’ve ever seen. With its 95 watt hour battery,
the XPS 17 9710 coughs up an impressive run time at just under 10 hours. Most gaming laptops we’ve
seen hit around 7 hours at best—and that’s with 1080p panels. Higher-resolution screens typically
eat a third of battery life so the XPS 17’s performance is even more impressive in many ways.
Don’t think you can get 10 hours on all tasks as
video playback is basically cruising for laptops today.
If you perform GPU- or CPU-intensive workloads, you should expect far less battery life.
BOTTOM LINE The truth is the XPS 17 actually threads
that needle quite well. You’re getting the maximum amount of screen real-estate in a laptop, but in a
package that’s only an inch wider than most thin 15.6-inch gaming laptops. Even against the new
crop of 16-inch laptops, you’re still getting a considerable amount more screen real estate.
In addition to giving you slightly more screen,
the Dell XPS 17 9710 is also considerably less bulky than 17.3-inch gaming laptops.
Yes, its RTX 3060 can’t run with an RTX 3080—but the fact is most Adobe applications quickly hit
diminishing returns beyond an RTX 3060 so why carry that thick 17.3 inch gaming laptop around
with its 2.5 pound brick if all you’re getting is a 15 percent improvement in performance?
To sum up, if you want to pack the largest screen you can into the sleekest laptop possible,
and spend a big chunk of time running Adobe apps, it would be pretty hard to beat the
XPS 17 9710 . Sure, that’s definitely a niche, but it’s not a bad niche to be in.