Dell XPS 17 Review: Who should buy this 3.6 lakh rupee laptop?
And what should you know before you buy one.
Published By: Manik Berry | Published: Nov 03, 2023, 12:20 PM (IST)
Highlights
- The laptop is crafted out of a single block of CNC aluminum with carbon fiber accents.
- XPS 17 looks discreet but is packing an Intel i7 chip with RTX 4070 graphics.
- You can buy this laptop at a starting price of Rs. 3,22,000
The full form of Dell XPS eXtreme Performance System, and was first used in the 1990s. Since then, the company has maintained the lineup with top-of-the-line specifications and build. We recently received the latest Dell XPS 17 (9730) for review, and it looked like an everyday office machine out of the box.
While the premium build is apparent, I certainly did not expect it to pack the specifications that it had. There's only an Intel Core i9 sticker on the machine, and unless you read the box for specs or boot the laptop and check, you can't tell that this is packing an NVIDIA 4060 GPU. That said, let's get the specifications out of the way first, and get started with the review.
Dell XPS 17 specifications
| Specifications | Dell XPS 17 (9730) |
|---|---|
| Processor(s) | 13th Generation Intel Core i7-13700H 13th Generation Intel Core i9-13900H
Processor |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 (60W) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 (60W) |
| Display | 17-inch 4K UHD+ (3840x2400) touchscreen500nits peak brightness |
| Memory | 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe 4 SSD (Up to 8TB supported) |
| Keyboard | Full size, backlit chiclet keyboard; 1.3mm travel |
| Webcam | 720p IR camera with Windows Hello |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.3 |
| I/O | 4x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) 1x Full size SD card reader 1x 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack Wedge-shaped lock slot 1x USB-C to USB-A v3.0 & HDMI v2.0 adapter |
| Audio | 2x 2.5W Woofers 2x 1.5W Speakers 8-Watt audio output |
| Battery | 97Whr battery |
| Power Adapter | 130W AC adapter (USB-C) |
| Dimensions (inches) | 14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 |
| Colours | Platinum Silver exterior, Black interior |
Design and build
Coming to performance, this is an area where the XPS 17 comes into its own element. I used this laptop as my primary machine for almost two weeks. In this time, I played Farcry 6, GTA V, and Valorant on the XPS 17. While usage is one thing, the laptop shows its performance even in benchmarks like Cinebench.
The specifications alone make sure that the laptop breaks no sweat in handling heavy tasks. I even tried running the Cinebench multi-core test in the background with around 20 tabs open on Chrome, and the XPS 17 handled it really work. You can feel the heat coming out the laptop under heavy workflows, but it didn't get hot to the touch. So, in short, the XPS can handle heavy workloads, keep itself cool, and look like discreet in the process.
Dell XPS 17 Battery
You'll get roughly two to three hours of gaming at maximum settings, depending on which title you play. In terms of office work I used it with around 10-15 Chrome tabs open, working on Canva, with Farcry 6 minimized and ready to play. Under these conditions, the Dell XPS 17 lasted around six hours. Then I closed Farcry and went on with the same workflow the next day and got close to 8 hours of battery.
After a full day of work, you can plug it into the 130-watt USB-C adapter. In my testing, the charger could power the machine from 15 percent to 85 percent in one hour 50 minutes. Charging speeds slow down when you reach the 80 percent mark, but it charges to 100 percent in around two hours 30 minutes.
Dell XPS 17 review: Verdict
It has great build quality, really good display and speakers, and powerful performance, but it is still a confusing machine. The Dell XPS 17 starts at Rs 3,11,000, with the top-spec model coming in at Rs 3,64,289. That said, there are plenty of other powerful options from ASUS, HP, and MSI that undercut this price by a massive margin.
For instance, you can get the MSI Creator Z17 HX at Rs 2,50,000, or the HP OMEN Transcend 16 at Rs 2,00,000. Moreover, if you give up on the screen real-estate, there are options like the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 in the mix. But one thing that works in Dell's favour is the all-rounder nature of the laptop.
The three laptops I mentioned above do undercut the XPS, but they also lack one or the other capabilities of the XPS. So, in my opinion, Dell isn't trying to price it right, but to check all the boxes. You can do anything from office work to gaming and video editing on the Dell XPS 17, and the maxed out specifications make sure it remains future-proof for a long time.
With that said, my verdict for this machine is that Dell is targeting creators, video editors, and professionals who want a powerful portable machine, without compromising on the screen real-estate, graphics, or any other aspect. The exuberant price also means that even casual gamers could go looking for something else. However, Dell has created the XPS 17 for either the professional or the enthusiast, and this is a great option for both users.
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