The Dell XPS 15 9560 Review: Infinity Edge Part Two
by Brett Howse on July 31, 2017 8:00 AM ESTWireless Performance
Dell has made a lot of updates to the XPS 15 9560, with a new CPU, GPU, and larger battery all contributing to a better laptop. The exception here is the wireless, which is a Killer Wireless-AC 1535 2x2:2 card in the review unit. The XPS 15 9550 we reviewed featured a Broadcom 3x3:3 card, which was easily the best performing wireless solution we’ve had a chance to test. Broadcom has been bought out, and they’ve dropped some of their products altogether, such as cellular modems, but they do still offer wireless products, but for whatever reason, Dell has now switched to the same Killer NIC they use in the XPS 13. They do offer an Intel Wireless-AC 8265 as well, but we can only test what we have.
The Killer Wireless-AC 1535 is not our favorite wireless NIC, although it has gotten better with driver updates over the last year or so. Performance is generally ok with the NIC, although not class leading by any means, but stability hasn’t ever been its strong suit. During the initial setup of the XPS 15, Windows 10 attempted to download the Creators Update, but the wireless disconnected twice during this process, causing the update to fail. That happens far too often with this NIC, especially if the drivers are not up to date.
Another issue that Killer needs to get on top of is that its OEMs using its products don’t seem to have any motivation to ensure that they are offering their clients the latest version of the Killer software suite, which has improved quite a bit since the previous Windows 8 style app. The new app has been out for quite a while, but despite this, Dell is shipping the XPS 15 with the older version.
Killer is one of the few manufacturers to offer a MU-MIMO NIC, so there are advantages to it (although the Intel 8265 also offers this) but the performance and stability are not as solid as the Intel solution.
Thermals
Compacting the XPS 15 with the Infinity Edge display could have been a cause for concern for performance, since there’s less internal room for fans and heatsinks, but as we saw with the previous generation, Dell has done the necessary engineering to allow full performance without any thermal throttling over time. To test this on the new XPS 15, we ran Dragon Age Inquisition for an extended time, and logged the temperatures and other statistics to file.
The XPS 15 with the NVIDIA GTX 1050 doesn’t have any throttling issues, even under maximum load for an extended period. The GPU temperature and frequency was incredibly stable throughout the test, at 77°C and 1202 MHz respectively.
Noise
The downside of good thermals is often noise, especially as laptops have gotten thinner and lighter. With a 45-Watt CPU, and discrete GPU, there’s a chance that good thermals will come at the expense of a loud laptop.
Luckily Dell has enough cooling capacity that it can be practically silent at idle, which isn’t the case for plenty of notebooks. If you like a quiet office, the XPS 15 would fit in well. Under load, the noise does ramp up, but it only gets to about 52 dB(A) with the SPL meter 1-inch over the trackpad. While plenty audible, for a notebook with a GPU, it is pretty reasonable.
Audio
Dell offers WAVES MaxxAudio Pro software to customize the audio experience, and it has a very nice interface to made adjustments to all aspects of the audio experience, with a great EQ and the ability to create and save profiles. It also lets you do some pseudo 3D affects to headphone audio.
The speakers on the XPS 15 are located on the bottom of the notebook, near the front, and they offer plenty of volume. The system was peaking close to 90 dB(A) with the SPL meter 1-inch over the trackpad, making this one of the louder notebooks around. As with all portable computers, the frequency response is not ideal, with a noticeable lack of depth in the response.
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Garrett S. - Monday, July 31, 2017 - link
How on earth is everyone using these Dell XPS 15 9560 models?I have purchased 2 brand new factory sealed models from Amazon, and both had defects. If you look under my name (Garrett S.), you will see that the screen shuts off, on/off rapidly like a strobe light in a club. Both laptops did this.
So, I recently ordered a factory refurbished unit from Dell, from a different reseller (again, because brand new factory sealed units were always defective), and the new one has the same issue. Screen randomly shuts off and flickers after a couple of hours. 3 laptops in 1 month.
Don't believe me? I've posted videos of the problem, on amazon, as a verified purchase under product review. Can't fake that...
Already sent off laptop number 3. Here goes laptop number 4, 5, 6, etc...
linster - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
When I read user horror stories like yours, I can't help but think other issues may be involved. Sure, you could be the anti-lottery winner, someone has to be on the other end of the luck spectrum. However, 3 laptops all having the exact same problem? Unless it was a bad batch, statistically highly unlikely. Have you thought maybe of testing to see if it's your environment. I don't know, maybe some type of electronic interference? Something other than just spectacularly bad luck?Garrett S. - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
It's not my power strips, electricity, humidity, environment, or anything else. Other users on amazon are posting similar images and videos of the exact same problem.The funny part is, these are brand new factory sealed laptops directly from dell, and even the refurbished ones from dell have the same issue, but it doesn't replicate itself immediately (it takes 2-3 hours of usage before screen starts flickering).
Users on reddit are posting the same thing. Users on amazon are showing verified purchased review videos of the problem. The Dell XPS 15 9560 laptop on amazon has 3 out of 5 stars which is a great improvement, compared to when it was released. When laptop was released earlier in the year (march?) the laptop had 2 out of 5 stars. Guess what? Not one review had a "manufacturer's response" posted which other computer makers often do.
That leads me to believe that dell doesn't give a flying **ck.
Because all of the brand new laptops have the same problem, I tried dell manufacturer refurbished. Same problem. Customers are returning defective laptops to dell (which is why it's labeled refurbished on the bottom), and the same problem exists.
Why? Most likely, the dell "technicians" are simply turning on the laptop, and if the screen turns on, they immediately ship the device. However, the problem occurs after 2-3 hours of regular web browsing or word processing usage. The screen shuts off and on, and off, and flashes and gets progressively worse, similar to a strobe light. Perhaps the dell "technicians" can't/won't test longer than 5 seconds verifying if the screen simply turns on? The problems *ALWAYS* show after a couple of hours use.
If there is something wrong with my environment, then why do all the product reviews of this laptop on amazon show 3 out of 5 stars (previously 2 out of 5 stars)?
Perhaps everyone's environment is terrible around the world! My environment consists of a very clean table in the dining room. You can see my dining room table on the video posted on amazon, under garrett, in the amazon verified reviews, along with everyone else's. Just be careful you don't have a seizure from watching the strobe like effect that the laptop screens display.
It's ok. Shipping is free.
If I were you guys, I would buy stock in UPS. They are beginning to know me on first name basis. I see this happening all year on this model of laptop from dell.
ddriver - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
Bad karma. I've had lots of dell products, laptops included, never ever had a problem with any of them. Not a single unit manifested any kind of problem during the warranty period, most were working well after double the time until they were sold on the cheap.Garrett S. - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
Once again... respectfully ddriver...Why on earth does the product have 3 out of 5 stars (2 out of 5 stars in first month during release) on amazon for this dell xps 9560 laptop, with verified purchase reviews? Most people buying the product on the most popular online retailer in the U.S. is having the same problem I am having. Review the Dell XPS 9560 on amazon. 3/5 is the review, which is better than it was a short while ago, 2/5. That's the lowest I've ever seen of any product on Amazon.
How is this karma directed towards me? Why is everyone else having the same problem? Check out reddit. There are hundreds of negative reviews of the same thing.
Oh wait a minute... Maybe everyone purchasing these Dell 9560 XPS 15 laptop models have a specific vendetta against Dell and they all want to get even at Dell... Strange that everyone was waiting for years, and they are all choosing now, and only 1 specific newly released model, and they are all showing pictures and videos of the problem... verified purchases...
You're right! It's a conspiracy.. You are onto something here bro....
Glock24 - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
From what I've read in forums and other people's experiences, Dell's QC is pretty bad. If you are lucky, you'll get a good unit and it may last over 10 years. But a lot of units have faults and are very problematic.rrinker - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
You know what they all have in common? They were purchased through Amazon. You know what is really really bad? Amazon's shipping and packing. They actually sent me a hard drive which was in the static bag LOOSE IN A BOX with just one piece of crumpled paper for packing. It was, as I expected, DOA. When contacting them for a replacement, I specifically mentioned the poor packaging. Replacement one came - PACKED EXACTLY THE SAME WAY! Luckily this one worked, although what sort of life span it will have is still up in the air. It's multiply backed up so it's just an annoyance at having to tear the box apart if (when) it dies. I left two blistering packaging feedbacks. That takes some kind of special to pack a hard drive like that. At the same time I bought a power supply. It was encased in foam inside the OEM box, PLUS they placed that inside another larger box totally packed with air bags. Really boggles the mind. Wonder if Amazon's involvement with shipping the laptops is causing an issue. I hope Amazon doesn't warehouse these - even here in the northeast there are reports of the inside of the local Amazon distribution center getting well over 100 degrees on a sunny day.Glock24 - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
I've had many problems with Dell laptops in the past, from cheap Inspirions to expensive Latitudes. The problems include keyboard failing, motherboard dying, one Latitude melting, LCDs failing, etc. Luckily the client had extended 3 year warranty, and Dell repaired or replaced the units, but even the replacements failed in less than a year. Those were systems from 2012 to 2015. Since then I don't recommend Dell anymore.Seems like they are no better now.
Sancus - Tuesday, August 1, 2017 - link
I bought an XPS 9560 and had zero problems with it. I've used my display for 12+ hours at a time and no flickering or anything like this.I suspect a software issue if it's that reproducible, though. I'm not saying that the rate of defects on the 9560 is acceptable, just adding a report of someone who has had no problem.
Rc1138 - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - link
In my case screen flickering issue was solved with uninstall of dell premium color software that was incompatible with new gpu drivers (though that was on 9550)