Dell XPS 17 9700 Review: Arguably the Best Desktop-replacement Laptop

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Dell XPS 17 9700: At First Glance

With the XPS lineup, Dell has been consistently serving us truly high-end computers. The 15-inch Dell XPS 15 is an attestation to this, but most crucial to this review is the 17-inch Dell XPS 17 9700.

The Dell XPS 17 9700 is offering a lot even better than the top competing high-end laptops like the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The laptop starts at a big price of $2,100.00 in August 2021 when we published this article. However, it promises to meet your expectations of a laptop in this price range.

With that been said, let’s proceed to the discussion of its physical features and performances.

Dell XPS 17 9700: Design, Dimension & Weight

The Dell XPS 17 maintains the same sleek and quality build as its smaller siblings. A combination of aluminum, carbon fiber, and corning gorilla glass makes up the entire laptop.

Dell has made the laptop’s lid and bottom of silver aluminum – similar to the Dell XPS 15. The lid has a large Dell logo centered on it.

Two sturdy hinges support the lid making it easy to open with one hand. When you open the lid, the black interior comes into view.

The 17-inch gorilla glass display is surrounded by unbelievably thin bezels, thinner than those on the Dell XPS 15. Most interestingly, Dell has successfully managed to cram a 720 p resolution camera on the top bezel of the laptop.

Speaking of the webcam, although it doesn’t have a privacy shutter, it has a LED light to indicate that it is on. Also, the webcam quality is not so impressive as it gets a little grainy but it is still passable for quick unofficial video calls.

On a brighter note, the camera is IR enabled and it supports Windows Hello. Windows Hello is useful for logging in to Windows via facial recognition.

In addition to the facial recognition capability, the laptop also supports fingerprint recognition. Specifically, the power button located at the top right corner of the keyboard also serves as a fingerprint reader.

Dell has made the black soft-touch laptop deck with a carbon fiber coating. The deck houses the keyboard which is similar to that of the Dell XPS 15.

Despite the spacious deck estate available on a 17-inch laptop, the keyboard doesn’t have a dedicated Numpad. We can blame the lack of a dedicated Numpad on the two large speakers flanking both sides of the keyboard.

Speaking of the keyboard, the keys have decent sizes and they are backlit with two levels of brightness. Moreover, the keys are soft to the touch with 1.3 mm of key travel resulting in a fast typing experience.

There is ample space below the keyboard where the large touchpad appropriately manages. The smooth glass touchpad supports Microsoft precision drivers.

Moreover, the touchpad had no issues with palm rejections. Additionally, the integrated mouse buttons are responsive and not overly noisy when clicked.

Moving on to the input/output selections available on the Dell XPS 17 9700, most 17-inch laptops usually have as many ports as possible. However, there is an entirely different story here.

The laptop has 4 USB Type-C ports with support for Thunderbolt 3. You can use the USB Type-c ports to charge the laptop and connect to monitors via a USB-DisplayPort cable or adapters.

There’s also an SD card reader and a headphone jack on the laptop. However, it is quite unfortunate not to see an HDMI port, Ethernet jack, or USB Type-A port on a 17-inch laptop.

When it comes to dimension and weight, the laptop measures 374.4 x 248 x 8.6 mm and weighs 2,530 g. The Dell XPS 17 9700 is quite heavy and as expected, a 17-inch laptop requires a significant command of desk space.

However, it is lighter than most 17-inch laptops in the market. For instance, it is more compact than the Razer Blade Pro 17, which measures 395 x 260 x 19.9 mm.

Also, the Dell XPS 17 9700 is lighter than the Razer Blade Pro 17 which weighs  2,750 g. In contrast, in the 17-inch category of laptops, Dell XPS 17 9700 is heavier than the overly lightweight LG gram 17 which weighs only 1,338 g.

In conclusion, the Dell XPS 17 9700 is a sleek-looking laptop built to last with its shiny aluminum chassis. However, the port availability is not so impressive.

Bearing these in mind, I’ll rate the Dell XPS 17 an eight in this design, dimension, and weight section.

Dell XPS 17 9700: Processor (CPU) Performance

In terms of processors, some 10th generation processors power the Dell XPS 17 9700. The baseline configuration with the 4 Core Intel Core i5-10300H processor has an 8 MB cache.

The Core i5 processor’s frequency starts at 2.50 GHz but you can increase it to 4.50 GHz using Turbo Boost.

Also, there’s the mid-range configuration with the 6 Core Intel Core i7-10750H processor with 12 MB cache memory. This processor has a base frequency of 2.60 GHz that can be boosted to 5.0 GHz using Turbo Boost.

Moreover, there’s also another configuration with an 8 Core Intel Core i7-10875H processor with 16 MB of cache memory. The Core i7 processor has a base frequency of 2.30 GHz and can be increased to 5.10 GHz via Turbo Boost.

Additionally, the high-end configuration uses the 8 Core Intel Core i9-10885 processor with a 16 MB cache. The Core i9 processor has a base frequency of 2.40 GHz that can be boosted up to 5.30 GHz via Turbo Boost.

The Dell XPS 17 9700 model I reviewed was equipped with the core i7-10875H processor. The laptop was powerful enough to handle various computing tasks such as web surfing, photo-editing, and decent gaming.

To determine the Dell XPS 17 9700 processor performance alongside its competitors, I used the Cinebench R15 benchmark test. The Cinebench R15 is a real-world benchmark tool that evaluates a computer’s hardware performance.

Consequently, the Dell XPS 17 9700 recorded 1,658 points in the test. The laptop exhibited an impressive top-of-the-chart performance which we can attribute to its faster 10th Gen processor.

Specifically, the Dell XPS 17 9700 outperformed the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch which recorded 1,392 points in the same test. The MacBook Pro was running a 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9980HK processor.

Similarly, the Dell XPS 17 9700 outperformed the Razer Blade Pro 17 which recorded 917 points. Meanwhile, the Razer Blade was running on a 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9750H processor.

Finally, the processor’s performance of this laptop is impressive, this is evident from the benchmark result. Hence, I’ll rate the Dell XPS 17 9700 an eight in this aspect.

Dell XPS 17 9700: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Dell XPS 17 9700 employs a 2933 MHz DDR3 memory with a standard size of 8 MB. Speaking of which 8 GB of RAM is sufficient for average users.

However, for users that perform heavy multitasking, the good news is that you can beef up the memory to 64 GB. There are two RAM slots on the motherboard enabling users to upgrade the RAM size as required.

The Dell XPS 17 9700 model I reviewed shipped with 16 GB of memory. With 16 GB of memory to utilize, my test model was an excellent multitasking device.

The laptop’s multitasking ability was evident from running about 25 Chrome tabs. I was also streaming a video on Netflix.

Additionally, I was working on multiple word documents.

Despite these multiple activities, the Dell XPS 17 9700 ran smoothly without breaking a sweat. In addition to the multitasking test, I also put the laptop to a PCMark 10 benchmark test.

A PCMark 10 benchmark is a real-life test tool for comprehensively evaluating the overall performance of Windows 10 PCs. For this benchmark test, more score indicates better performance.

Based on the test result, the Dell XPS 17 9700 scored 5,156 points.

In comparison with the competitors, the Dell XPS 17 9700 performed below expectation. Specifically, the Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR recorded a significantly higher score of 5,965 points.

Additionally, the Razer Blade Pro 17 also performed better than the Dell XPS 17. Specifically, the Razer Blade Pro 17 scored 5,263 points in the same test.

There is no macOS version of the PCMark test. Hence it was impossible to get the Apple MacBook Pro to undergo the same test.

Finally, in the PCMark 10 test, any score above 4,000 points is impressive and the Dell XPS 17 9700 exceeded this point. However, its performance is below that of the competitors I checked it against.

Therefore, I’ll rate the memory performance of the Dell XPS 17 9700 a six.

Dell XPS 17 9700: Storage Options & Performance

Handling the storage of the Dell XPS 17 9700 is a PCIe Gen3 M.2 SSD which takes up to 2 TB. The laptop also has a full-size SD card reader for storage expansion.

The Dell XPS 17 9700 model I reviewed shipped with a 1 TB SSD.

1 TB is a sufficient storage space for storing files and pictures. Moreover, users that need more can upgrade to a 2 TB storage.

The 1 TB SSD in my test model recorded speedy copy rates. Specifically, it copied about 26GB of files in 34 seconds at a transfer rate of 789.6 MBps. 

In evaluating the laptop’s performance, I used the AS SSD sequential read test. The AS SSD sequential read test is used for evaluating the speed it takes a storage device to read a 1 GB file without using the OS cache.

In the test, the laptop recorded a sequential read speed of 195.4 MBps. Meanwhile, the Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR recorded 245 MBps while Razer Blade Pro 17 recorded 208.3 MBps.

In comparison with the two competitors, the read speed recorded by the Dell XPS 17 is slower. Therefore, I’ll rate the storage performance of the Dell XPS 17 9700 an eight.

Dell XPS 17 9700: Graphics Card Performance

The graphics of the Dell XPS 17 9700 are handled by different GPUs depending on your model’s configuration. You can get a configuration with the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630.

The UHD Graphics 630 has a base frequency of 350 MHz and a boost frequency of 1,250 MHz.

Furthermore, there is another configuration with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti which has a 6 GB dedicated VRAM. Moreover, it has a base frequency of 1,500 MHz which can be increased up to 1,770 MHz.

Additionally, the highest graphics configuration of the Dell XPS 17 9700 is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with a 6 GB VRAM. The RTX 2060 GPU has a base frequency of 1,365 MHz which can be increased to 1,680 MHz.

The Dell XPS 17 9700 model I reviewed shipped with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card. The RTX 2060 was a decent handler for various graphical activities including watching videos, photos editing, and more.

For games, the laptop was capable of playing single-player titles at a resolution of 1080p and a high-quality setting. However, the laptop will not play games at 4K resolution.

Practically, I played Rise Of the Tomb Raider at 1080p resolution. Consequently, the laptop played the game at medium and very high presets where it recorded 93 fps and 80fps respectively

In comparison, the Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR recorded 108 fps at medium preset and 97 fps at very high preset. Also, the Razer Blade Pro 17 recorded 116 fps at medium preset and 112 fps at very high preset.

Furthermore, I tested the laptop using the 3DMark Fire Strike test. 3DMark is a benchmark test that evaluates the 3D rendering capabilities of gaming computers.

For this benchmark test, the more a laptop scores the better.

In the test, the Dell XPS 17 9700 scored 12,462 points. Once again the Dell XPS 17 9700 performed below the competitors.

Specifically, the Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR scored 16,885 points, and Razer Blade Pro 17 scored 15,743 points.

Finally, it is not very hard to see why the competitors performed better in the gaming and benchmark tests. This is because the competitors use the more powerful RTX 2070 graphics.

In conclusion, the Dell XPS is not categorized as a gaming laptop though it has a similar graphics configuration to its gaming counterparts. However, it delivered playable frame rates in our gaming test and its benchmark result also exceeds the average score in its category.

Hence, I’ll rate the Dell XPS 17 9700 an eight in this category.

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Dell XPS 17 9700: Battery Life & Performance Review

The Dell XPS 17 9700 is powered by a 3-cell 56 WHr lithium-ion battery. Also, there is another configuration with a 9-cell 97 WHr lithium-ion battery.

Dell has advertised the 3-cell battery to deliver up to 14 hours of battery life. Meanwhile, the 9-cell battery is expected to deliver up to 24 hours of battery life.

However, the expectations that Dell has set applies to the models with a full HD resolution screen. However, my test model is equipped with a more powerful 4K screen which translates to lesser battery life expectancy.

The model I tested shipped with the 9-cell 97 WHr battery. To determine the battery performance of the laptop and its competitors I performed a video playback test.

The test involved streaming an HD video repeatedly until the battery drains. Consequently, the Dell XPS 17 lasted 9 hours 6 minutes while the MacBook Pro 16-inch lasted 8 hours 20 minutes.

In terms of battery performance, the Dell XPS 17 9700 is a strong challenger of the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch. Moreover, the battery life of the laptop is an impressive feat considering its powerful high-resolution display.

Finally, I’ll rate the Dell XPS 17 9700 a nine for its outstanding battery performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Dell XPS 17 9700 is a good-looking 17-inch laptop – sleeker and lighter than most 17-inch laptops. Additionally, the laptop has a brilliant screen and impressively performs everyday tasks.

Most impressively, the battery performance of the Dell XPS 17 9700 is category-defining. However, all these do not come at a low price, and the laptop is not without flaws either.

Finally, if you want a larger screen size than the 15-inch Dell XPS 15 has to offer without losing out on power and performance, then the Dell XPS 17 is a top choice if you can afford it.

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