The Dell XPS 15 9560 Review: Infinity Edge Part Two
by Brett Howse on July 31, 2017 8:00 AM ESTFinal Words
The XPS 15 9560 is not an all-new machine. That change came with the previous 9550 model, when Dell moved to the new Infinity Edge design. As with the XPS 13, the design is a clear winner, and Dell offers one of the best looking laptops in this category. All of the changes with the 9560 model were all inside, and the changes are mostly result in a better device.
Dell continues to place the webcam below the display on their Infinity Edge laptops, which makes it a less than flattering look when leveraging the webcam, and perhaps for those same reasons, they’ve chosen to go with a fingerprint reader on the keyboard deck as a method to provide Windows Hello biometric login. The fingerprint reader is fast, and accurate, and the only real issue discovered is that it can be difficult to locate in a dim environment, since it blends in almost perfectly with the keyboard deck. A small LED light around the fingerprint reader would help, but this is a small issue.
The aluminum clamshell still looks great, several years after it debuted with the XPS 13, and the soft-touch keyboard deck does show fingerprints, but feels nice on the hands. The added heft of the 15.6-inch over the XPS 13 is noticeable, and the XPS 15 doesn’t feel quite as compact as its smaller brother, even though it’s a 15.6-inch laptop in about the same form factor as most 14-inch models.
Dell has to be commended for keeping the advantages of the XPS 15 intact when making the system smaller. Rather than switching to Ultrabook class parts, like some of their competition, they’ve kept the performance capabilities of a larger notebook. A full quad-core 45-Watt CPU, coupled with a NVIDIA GPU to compliment the integrated GPU, offers significantly more performance than smaller laptops.
The new Kaby Lake based Core i7-7700HQ, despite having the same architecture as the outgoing Skylake model, is indeed a performance bump thanks to the improved 14-nm process from Intel. Dell offers up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM as well, along with up to 1 TB of SSD storage. There’s plenty of capability here for almost any workload you’d need to do on the go.
The star of the show is the NVIDIA GTX 1050, which offers up to 50% more performance than the outgoing GTX 960M. Dell has also chosen to go with the 4 GB GPU instead of the 2 GB model we tested last year. Maxwell was already a solid performer, but the gains that NVIDIA made with Pascal may not be seen again for a while, thanks to the gains moving to a much newer, FinFET process.
Dell could do a bit more work on the display, and despite the gamut bug we are seeing with this review unit, they don’t individually calibrate the displays even with the PremierColor branding of their wide-gamut UHD display. The application to control this does offer quite a bit of configuration, but Dell could more easily market this to photographers and other creators that want accurate colors if they spent a bit more time on the display. Once calibrated, it’s great, but most people don’t have the tools to do this, so a factory calibration would be ideal.
The increased battery capacity is also a boon, and Dell claims up to 19 hours with the FHD version of this notebook. Although that is likely best-case, the battery life was definitely better on this new model than the 9550 model we tested last year. Still, if you’re a road warrior, the FHD version is likely the best bet. In fact, the FHD version is likely the best bet for most people, since few would take advantage of the wider gamut of the UHD version regardless.
The wireless is the one step backwards. The XPS 15 we reviewed last year featured a Broadcom 3x3:3 wireless NIC, which offers plenty of performance, assuming you have a router than can handle 3x3. It was the first laptop we tested where it never felt necessary to hook it up to Ethernet for copying large files over. The same thing can’t be said of the new XPS 15 9560, which has dropped Broadcom and moved to Killer. The performance drops significantly, thanks to losing one of the spatial streams completely compared to the Broadcom solution, but the stability was not as solid with the Killer. Dell also ships the ancient Windows 8 style network manager software from Killer, rather than Killer’s newer, nicer suite. It would have been nice to see the Intel 8265 that Dell does offer, if only because we've not had a chance to put that NIC through its paces.
Still, that one issue isn’t enough of a reason to not recommend the XPS 15. It continues to be one of the best 15.6-inch laptops on the market today. Dell has kept the performance intact as they shrunk the chassis, unlike many of the other 15.6-inch models from the competition. The aluminum and carbon fibre look is stunning, and other than the less than ideal location of the webcam, Dell’s design wins far more than it loses. If you’re looking for a larger notebook than an Ultrabook, you’d be doing a disservice to yourself to not at least check out the XPS 15.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
82 Comments
View All Comments
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)