Dell XPS 13 9300 (Long Term Review) - Why I Hate It, and Why I KEPT It!

[@daftardisiniaja724]

We need more honest review like this for people who want to buy a laptop with limited budget

[@bencarterco]

Josh does some great budget reviews, look back to April for a super handy guide.

[@tkermi]

Yeah, great reviews.

[@j.t2548]

we need more PC reviews from Apple fanboys :D

[@jsjow]

This is a biased review, not an honest review.

[@-.-smile]

The most comprehensive laptop reviewer on KZbin. Reviewing aspects that matter the most to consumers, really refreshing. Nice one Josh, keep it up.

[@JustJoshTech]

Thanks ate :)

[@timmieboy37]

Hardly the most comprehensive review was it? Either user error or just an unlucky build on the laptop.

[@-.-smile]

timmieboy37 I’m not talking about this specific video. It was meant generally for all his videos.

[@savnet_sinn]

@@timmieboy37 This isn't even the review, it's a follow-up. How many reviewers do two videos on the exact same device? And "unlucky build" on three different laptops? Did you even spend the paltry five minutes required to watch the whole video?

[@masternobody1896]

@@JustJoshTech thanks for the knowledge than which laptop is worth to buy except for lenovo because i dont want china to spy on me

[@paulkoigi7566]

Hi Josh. Thanks for your consistently honest reviews. And no, I didn't laugh - your level of commitment is admirable

[@oerthling]

I own the 9300 (i7, 16 GB RAM, HD Display). 0 heat issues. 0 fan noise problems. 0 color/brightness problems. The only thing annoys me a bit us that I couldn't get it in a non-touch version. Touchscreen is a counter-feature for me. But not that big a deal. I'm running it with Ubuntu Linux though.

[@BioGear]

9300 Brightness issue- I worked out a 'fix' with Dell on the Display, uninstall and reinstall Intel Graphics Command Center, then shut off all adaptive brightness options again. It's THAT program screwing up the brightness. Want to test it? switch between LIGHT and DARK on-screen content. Hope that helps.

[@JustJoshTech]

Interesting. Would you mind joining the Discord chat and messaging me? I'd like to try it

[@wuzeldieduzel]

is there not a option in the dell bios to disable the auto brightness?

[@BioGear]

No, Del confirmed theres no DBC so updates or bios settings wont fix it.

[@jz9132]

Do you recommend not using the graphics command center at all? I want to recalibrate the colors for video playback and it seems to make Netflix or iTunes movies look much worse. Are all the post-processing (contrast enhancement, natural skin tone, etc) making things worse?

[@TeodorSt]

I managed to fix the brightness issue by going to Intel Graphics Command Centre > System > Power > Enable "Display Power Saving" and taking Power Efficiency down to 1 (highest graphics quality) via the slider. Then, having set the value at 1, switch off the option entirely. This fixed it for me. If it doesn't work, I'd suggest playing around with switching on and off this feature with Power Efficiency remaining at 1. All other power-saving features turned off, of course.

[@MelanCholy2001]

I mean, bloatware is bad enough (and awful subscription programs for lame "program -malware- upgrades"), but to get a decent laptop that is a *literal oven,* as in you can COOK on it, had me looking at (sigh) gaming machines. I love gaming machines ...for GAMES, but the racing stripes, and color lights on the lid that look like stupid energy drink logos, plus the flashing RGB keyboards, _just to get reasonable thermals for non-gaming applications,_ is cringe. Not to mention you're getting that FLASHY in a barely luggable (much less ultra or portable) laptop for a good chunk of change is a slap in the face (and a torch to your lap). I'm glad someone else is pointing out these sorts of issues with the latest batch of ovens. I mean laptops. Really, what would it take for these companies (Dell, HP, whoever) to put some reasonable _graphic settings out-of-the-box,_ and some kind of COOLING designed into these things?! And they don't even have removable batteries which I sorta fear moves them towards Galaxy Note 7 "IED" (explosive) devices. I _like_ them (the Spectre has horrible cord placement; I can't wait for that review!), and this general model of laptop seems sturdy overall, but I'm on my OLD 2014 laptop still, just trying to figure out these settings (HP Envy in this case) that might make this thing run cooler. Forget about privacy: the NSA and l33t haxorz would be scared to tap these laptops. I'm back to turning off as many background services as possible to see if these are in the realm of reason! IDK, it's plausible Linux is a good fit for these 2020 ultras, but we'd lose some of the win-only features.

[@juliusmarminge]

When is XPS 15 9500 review coming?

[@BlindMango]

Most of the issues are related to the stupid software Dell puts on the laptop. I deleted Dell PremiereColor which is one of the applications that alters the screen colors/brightness and is basically battling with the intel settings. Then went into the Intel Graphics Command Center and there was a setting in there which stopped random screen brightness behavior and the black screen issue when plugging in (I think it was the framerate setting actually changing when plugging the charger in) along with the Power tab in the Intel Graphics Center “System” section affecting random screen brightness changing. You're mostly better off Deleting 95% of the Dell software that comes with the laptop, it's bloatware trash and does a disservice to the laptop with that stuff installed. Dell needs to stop with all their pointless software. The only one that’s useful is Dell Power Manager but even then you can press F2 when it’s booting and control all that in the BIOS anyway! Also, disable HDR in windows settings while the laptop is plugged in as some mentioned in the replies, the way that works is a mess Also regarding the external monitor flickering, I'd almost say that was just the cable you were using lol

[@chrispereira2775]

how much would that affect things

[@troywalt4834]

Absolutely I ve have an issue with dell premiere color, for one year this has existed and still no fix coming from dell.

I completely agree above comment, always reinstaling OS from the scratch instead of factory image :-)

[@La-eh4jk]

I found the solution for this issue. The problem: HDR video is disabled by default on settings and that CAN'T be changed while in battery (However even if this option is turned off you still can play HDR videos, this doesn't make any sense but anyways). But you CAN change it while plugged in. Solution: Plug it in and Disable HDR WHILE plugged in, Keeping HDR disabled wont affect HDR videos. Let me know how it goes.

[@La-eh4jk]

support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4040263/windows-10-hdr-advanced-color-settings

[@chiquita_dave]

Thank you for this great review! I got the new XPS13 back in late April and it got virtually unusable after about 3 weeks. Every time I started it up in the morning, it would lock up or crash multiple times, even while doing mundane tasks like reading an article in chrome. It also developed this issue after a while where the volume slider did nothing. The program itself functioned, but it would sound the same if it was at 2 volume as it did at 100 volume. Factory resetting the PC didn't fix either of these issues. I was so disappointed. Going to stick with my old 2017 HP Envy for now.

[@andrewchen2967]

Thank you for the video. Can you possibly do a video about the rotating sales used by many pc vendors and when to get the best deals?

[@TheZafaroo]

this guy is the best honest guy pointing out all the problems on XPS which no one dares to share. Salute to this guy

[@timmieboy37]

Why the fear?

[@TheTommyPT]

I just keep on coming back to your channel. What you are doing is wonderful for the community, focusing on what really matters and not just looks and specs like other YTbers. Great job, keep on doing it, your honest reviews are greatly appreciated. Regards from Portugal

[@Erintii]

Great review as always. It describes issues my collegue had with XPS15: she paid well above 2,000$ for a computer and there was always something going on. As the result, when I was leaving the job, I gave her my old MB Pro 15.4''. She was happy even though this was 5 years old machine but still doing it's job.

[@Jonathan906]

I can't think of another reviewer with the courage to speak so plainly. Thank you Josh.

[@timmieboy37]

Courage? What's the worst that can happen to a reviewer?

[@mujjuman]

@@timmieboy37 they lose sponsorships and manufacturers stop sending them products to review

I just got this laptop. On the first day of having it, it started freezing. The screen would just freeze for no reason at all and would not come back unless I put it to sleep and then woke it up again. The track pad doesn't recognize me tapping on it sometimes, especially in the left lower corner. Called dell support and they couldn't figure out what's wrong with it. Can't decide if I should send it back. I mean spending 2k on something like that you would expect it to be perfect 🥺

[@Tom-lq9ib]

It's amazing that you actually followed up on this as I hoped you would following your original review! This video offers so much value to those considering purchasing this device, I hope as many people as possible get to see it. It's a shame that Dell has not been able (willing?) to iron out these issues through updates and that says quite a lot about the company's overall approach. This channel has earned a long-term subscriber for sure, please keep up the excellent work.

[@brainactivity737]

Update 1: I have now received the laptop and damn it looks gorgeous! Forgive me Lord as I have sinned and could not resist such beauty regardless of its flaws. Be warned though, that after seeing this laptop all other laptops will look mediocre at best. The new XPS 13 has truly raised the bar when it comes to looks and quality. Most importantly, I was deeply concerned with the heating issue. However, I can confirm that after I changed the setting to cool through the Dell Power Manager the difference is very noticeable. So, I have to disagree with Josh on this one. In fact, I am currently typing this comment while the laptop is on my lap. The 16:10 aspect ratio is perfect because it's a great balance between consuming video and productivity. The 3:2 aspect ratio Microsoft uses is too much for me and makes the experience of watching movies look out of date. In any case, if bad things start to appear I promise to leave another update, Thanks. You know Josh, sometimes I'm put off by some of the reviewers that constantly bash a product. However, I can definitely say that's not the case with you. I can see that you gave the laptop a chance and you wanted it to work, but it didn't. Moreover, you're not making a deal out of ports, but instead, you're pointing out important issues which should be fixed considering the high price tag. Damn I already ordered one! But after this review, I don't think I'll keep it. In fact, one of the important things for me is being able to use the laptop on my lab comfortably. I have the XPS 13 9380 (model), and it works just fine. I might end up getting an LG Gram.

[@shroomjak200]

so do you like the dell xps 13?

[@jperez1233]

I myself brought the new XPS 13 9300, and I also had to return it. As soon as I booted the machine I noticed horrible backlight bleeding in the top right corner (non touch model). It was extremely noticable on black screens, and while on pages with white backgrounds, the whole bottom portion of the screen was a nasty yellow that then faded to white towards the top of the screen. I was very disappointed at the screen, especially at the price point. Not to mention the more tolerable but obvious slow response time of the panel, you can see a trail as you move the cursor for example. The last hardware issue were the speakers. Yes they were loud but quality was so jarring, with crackling at even 70-80% of max volume, with almost complete distortion at 100%. Then lasty, of course, the windows 10 issues were there as well, which to me at this point is tolerable, just takes some work to adjust to a comfortable experience. But the hardware issues were so off putting, especially for such a high price point, with prices reaching and actually exceeding apple this year.

[@SerAbbas]

This is my issue with Dell. They’ve jacked up prices beyond Apple while nowhere near that level of polish. I returned an XPS 15 due to loud fan noise and overall bad speaker quality and a semi working power button that took multiple clicks to work. Not something you expect from a $1700 laptop.

[@jperez1233]

Muhammad Abbas Thats around the exact price I paid, with a slight employee discount. It was so weird how, as you stated, unpolished it was overall.

[@mujjuman]

wow man this is so disappointing. i am sorry you had trouble with your 9300. thank you for sharing your honest experience with this. my xps 13 9350 from 2016 is running perfectly, runs COOL, quiet, and fast af. but i want more ram, larger trackpad, and smaller footprint with a 3:2 screen ratio. which is why im looking into upgrading to the 9300. i wonder if those problems will be addressed by dell soon.

[@deucexx733]

Muhammad Abbas if you think Apple laptops don’t have issues. Lol I’ve sent and heard many issues

[@deucexx733]

@shamur . it’s the point that every one worships the max like it’s perfect and doesn’t have problems. When something that’s Apple has issues it’s never Apple’s fault it’s always an excuse or somebody else’s fault but when any other company has an issues it’s that company’s fault.

[@arainla]

Have had mine in frost white with an i7 processor and love it and don’t have any heat or flicker issues you showed. It’s a great laptop and I am very happy with it.

[@bigdisme5622]

I dokt have any issues either, I can run cinebench all day long with zero issues

[@simont5944]

Still working good ?

[@bigdisme5622]

@@simont5944 sold it, got a x1 carbon instead

[@simont5944]

@@bigdisme5622 satisfied ? Will do same

[@bigdisme5622]

@@simont5944 oh yea solid

[@mikev324]

To fix changing brightness > go into BIOS settings (hit F2 on restart) > disable Dynamic Brightness Control in display options. Does this help?

[@Jake-ux7xp]

Mike V do you have this laptop? I was gonna pull the trigger on getting it but it looks like he isn’t the only person with weird issues or reliability problems

[@mikev324]

@@Jake-ux7xp What other weird issues have you heard of with the 2020? My main concern are the speakers. They're louder but are they as crips as previous models since speakers are now bottom facing which might muffle the sound a bit so less high frequencies. Any idea about that? Have you owned another XPS13 previously?

[@RosieGCL]

I so wish I would have come across your review sooner. Just purchased this last week, and it’s on its way to me. Needed it for distance learning in this new world. Oy. Fingers crossed when it arrives for me that I won’t hate it too much and have to return it.

[@jm56481]

How's yours? Mine sounds like a jet taking off from just watching youtube vids.

[@RosieGCL]

uwotm8 pretty good so far! I’ve noticed when I use it on the laptop metal stand with the vent slats it doesn’t make the noise as much for as long; however, when I just use it on the desk/table laying flat it does get quite loud. Otherwise, I am enjoying it.

[@jelek23]

After several videos I watched on your channel, today i decided to hit that subscribe button. It's simply because you purchased the product that you review so that you can give super honest review and provide long term review which is really crucial for something that costs a lot of money. Please keep the hard-work up and stay honest even if you finally reach millions of subscribers!

[@JustJoshTech]

Thanks!! and welcome

[@kennyz5021]

Wow this is the first negative video I've seen on the XPS 13 so far. I was planning on getting the two in one but after this, I might have to rethink my options 😔

[@tech_realm]

That isn't the first negative review. I have seen much more than this.

[@janubebo9106]

He is macbook fanboy ....i dont find any of this issue in my xps

[@kennyz5021]

@@janubebo9106 Oh okay thanks

[@tech_realm]

@@janubebo9106 It's really a matter of luck. Some people have issues, some don't. But the issues of the XPS seem to be everywhere, on a lot of laptops.

[@jasonbarlian3721]

Kenny Z I’ve been using an i7 XPS 13 since 2018 and have had multiple issues with it literally since day 1, the latest issue being a defective keyboard. Prior to this I had an X1 Carbon, which was absolutely bulletproof in terms of reliability. I would never buy anything other than a ThinkPad now, and I’ll be switching to a new 7th or 8th gen X1 very soon. The XPS might be pretty but it’s not worth the inevitable headaches.

[@stevenbell9589]

Regarding the screen flickering could be the cable I had the same problem changed the cable and all good

[@Victor-rz9du]

I bought my XPS 9300 back in July and when it arrived everything was good for the first month so I kept it. However after that, I gave it an update about a month and a half later and it was terrible. It would overheat and the fans starting rattling and the battery life would only last 4 hours. I contacted warranty as it was too late to return and they sent out a technician to replace my fans and had me update the entire system, bios and everything. This actually fixed everything, it only gets hot when I do graphic intensive things but web browsing and document editing it stays cool to warm to the touch and the fans only kick on occasionally and stay really quiet. Don't know if I just got lucky but the new update fixed a lot of stuff and I'm happy with my XPS, I have the core i5 8gb ram 256 SSD non touch.

[@dmunky87]

Thanks for your review. A lot of other tech reviewers are gushing over the XPS 13 and yours is the only voice of dissent I've heard so far. I also read that the batteries on the XPS 13 are only rated for 300 cycles before they drop to 80% life, compared to 1000 cycles on Apple's batteries. Not sure how I feel about that; at least the battery is replaceable. I was pretty excited about this laptop until these minor issues started popping up, which in aggregate are making me strongly reconsider. MBP might be a better option given build quality and the better benchmarks (which again, I've only heard you talk about). Appreciate the work!

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

I have the Yoga C940, identically equipped to your XPS 13. It has none of the problems you identified. It's a 14" with a fat bottom bezel, so it's not as tiny as the XPS, but I find it makes for much better ergonomics. The one problem it does have is that sometimes when resuming from sleep the screen won't go past half brightness, going back to sleep and resuming again fixed it.

[@MrPalamarek]

I watched you original video prior to purchasing my own 9300 with I7, 16gb ram, 512hd, 4k screen, and I have to say that I have none of the issues that you bring up. I purchased mine for $1800 CAD. I regularly get 9-11hrs out of the battery with the screen brightness at 70% (which I find to be a very usable brightness). I use mine for a lot of document creation, MS Word, Excel, web conferences, design work, etc. On my lap it does sometimes get warm, but never have I thought that its way too hot. I really like my XPS 9300 a lot and the screen size is almost identical to the "14 inch" on the X1 carbon. I should mention that I also have an X1 Carbon (same specs but no 4k screen $2400 CAD), but I prefer using the XPS as it is nicer to work with. The X1's keyboard just seems old and clunky after typing on the XPS for awhile, but I've never liked long travel keys. I also don't like the side vent on the X1 as it dumps a ton of heat out there to the point of being uncomfortably hot sometimes though it is useful on a cold winters day as a hand warmer - no joke. As a long term user of the X1 (18months of use) it is working well, battery used to last all day now does not (11+ hrs now down to 7 ish), the track pad's right click feature has issues and stops working intermittently. Overall, I'll be interested to see how the XPS fairs in 18months, but after having having mine since mid April, I'm still very much impressed with it in the short term.

[@mash_1ne]

Hi Josh RE the auto brightness, it’s not the same issue as old XPS had with dynamic brightness control in BIOS. Can you try this? Settings > System > Display > Windows HD Color "Play HDR games and apps" --> OFF This should also resolve flickering. As HDR brightness shifting is power intensive it probably explains why it only happens while powered as I’m guessing this pseudo HDR algorithm is off when on battery. Some also disabled "Enhanced Power Savings" in the intel iris control but not sure if this step is required.

[@rafsd3608]

I went against his advice and bought this laptop, assuming that maybe he just had a few flukes. Well, I guess mine was another fluke because I've had an awful experience with this thing. First of all, it arrived in the mail 5 days later than Dell said it would. After owning it for 24 hours I've issues with the screen not turning on, the USB ports not connecting to my devices, the IR camera not working, the brightness randomly changing despite no changes to my environment, and the speaker volume not being adjustable. I've spent about 4 combined hours on the phone with technical support just trying to make it functional. For $1800, this has been the most expensive brick I've ever purchased. I'm currently writing this review as I'm on hold with sales to return it. DO NOT BE LURED IN BY THE GORGEOUS EXTERIOR OF THIS MACHINE. For the price point this laptop is nonsensical. It cannot do the bare minimum of just functioning as a laptop. I'm not going to be buying another Dell for a long time.

[@Pronoob88990]

that's why high end windows ultrabook can't compete with MacBook series, they just doesn't work, for same price range, MacBook's user experience is just so much better

[@chrisboateng5975]

@@Pronoob88990 I'd have to argue that the razer Blade stealth, Asus g14 or the MSI prestige 15 compete fairly well

[@rememberrohit]

This is one of the most honest and detailed reviews , I have seen. I have owned Dell Studio XPS 1640 for last 10 years and had fair share of heating issues with some minor upgrades helping along the way. This year I got Macbook Pro 16 (First mac ever for me) and so far loving the heat management and general stability of the system. I use it for Engineering applications (CFD) and Writing, browsing etc. Josh's comparison video containing a recommendation for MCB Pro 16 and having most points for all types of users was really helpful. Thank you, Josh! Keep up the good work.

[@JustJoshTech]

Thanks @Rohit!!

[@Mahin277_]

Did you turn off the auto brightness from the BIOS? You can completely turn it off in the BIOS.

[@robertpendzick9250]

Changed the battery on my xps 15 9550 (4 years old) which reupped the use time from 1.5 hr. to 10 and cooled the unit down to cold on the legs. Now why won't my old VGA monitor display through the Aukey 12 in one hub connected by the thunderbolt port? Flashed once on the monitor screen, monitor works on another computer through VGA port, Windows 10.

[@handlemonium]

Can you please review the $250 Acer Swift 1 from Ebay and the 15-inch laptops from Eluktronics? The former because it offers specs and build quality one would usually find in laptops that cost $100-$150 more (based on nearly all the reviews I've read online about it) and the latter because Bob of All Trades does a really great reviewing & recommending them in depth, but not not many other channels have looked into them.

[@mullins6227]

Great review! Thank you for being honest about the issues with this laptop.

[@Adoalexme]

2:52 The issue can be easily solved. I had the same problem. This can be fixed by going into the display settings, clicking on "Windows HD color settings", and turning off "play HDR games and apps". It worked for me, and I hope it helps:) (the display gets turned off and on because it has to switch to HDR, which is only enabled when the device is being charged)

[@KevinNguyenTu]

What is the battery life differences between the 4K vs non 4K screen? Is it that significant?

[@MrLeadpb]

One area where Dell never pass Apple. I have to return 3 XPS in 2018 where I mostly return Apple's because I did not intend to buy it at first place.

[@danielbrandes9967]

josh, i have an xps 9370 (late 2018) which i love. my screen also goes blank for a second or two when i hook up to a dock or external monitor. i never occurred to be that it would be abnormal, until your comment about it in this video. what causes it, and what was your fix?

[@douglee3839]

I ordered the XPS 13 i7 4K on the Dell website on May 5th. It's scheduled to be delivered this afternoon. All the reviews on this laptop are glowing except for yours Josh, and two others. It's madding that I forked out all that money based on all the good reviews, then starting reading these bad reviews, but thanks Josh for your warnings. Upon receiving the laptop, first I will clone the drive. Then after updating Windows 10 plus all the drivers and removing any bloatware, I plan to study each and every process running in task manager to make sure each is vital and not consuming resources. If I have to do a fresh install of Windows and reload the essential drivers I will try that too. I also plan to try 1080p resolution when not plugged in to extend the battery life. I really can't understand with the same chipset, it would run so much hotter than the MBP. I think the answer lies in the software settings & driver updates and once fixed this will be a lovely machine. This is my first Dell and as you know they receive your order then build your machine with parts on hand, so it's not like they have ten thousand of them sitting in a warehouse. Are their differences between the builds? This has been their manufacturing practice for many years. The latest MBP looks the same as my 2009 and 2015 MBPs. I am getting really tired of the dated Apple look and here is finally a laptop that looks like its from the year 2020. I'll post back with my own findings in a few days. If anyone would like to type in below with their own 'fix' comments to address the items raised by Josh please do. It would help a lot. Example: The 2 second flicker when switching battery power is caused by HDR being switched on. Someone else has posted the fix to prevent the Killer Wifi from intermittently dropping, Teodor Stefanov has posted a comment below to fix the brightness concern, etc....

[@nickaba66]

Hey man, do you have any updates? I am one click away buying it. Thanks in advance.

[@douglee3839]

@@nickaba66 I just received the laptop this afternoon (May 27). Unboxing it, I had a big smile on my face. My initial impression is the build quality is very high; as good as anything from Apple, maybe better. It stands out as a smaller, thinner and lighter laptop compared to my 2015 MBP. I weighted them. The Dell is 300 grams lighter. When you turn it on for the first time you are greeting by Cortana who guides you through the initial Windows 10 set-up. Then you are taken to Dell Support Assist. From a screen it runs Get Drivers & Downloads/Scan Hardware/Clean Files/Tune Performance/ Optimize Network. Then, once you log into your Dell account, the details of your computer build and extended warranty (which I purchased as an adder) are displayed. While all the updated drivers were installing, the fans came on at mid speed but were not very loud. I entered the Dell Power Manager app and set the thermal management to Quiet and the fans immediately turned off. All the updates happen automatically, there is no need to go on a hunt to download them from the Dell website. Next, I opened Windows Update in Settings and downloaded all the remaining Windows updates. The 4K screen is gorgeous and I plan to simply switch the resolution to 1080p and lower the brightness a bit to extend my battery life when on the road. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the power brick that Dell provides. It's small. Dell provides in the box both a wall cord and a two prong adapter so the transformer connects directly to the wall socket. This leaves you a single shorter cord from the wall to the USB C plug. Not bulky at all. A single tie strap and the whole thing will fit in your pocket. The speakers are fine and are plenty loud at 60% volume. Sure the sound will distort a bit if you crank the sound up to 90%. The speakers had to fire down because of this laptop's small form factor. The computer runs warm but not super hot. The WiFi seems to be running fine at good download speed. There have been no WiFi drop outs. I have not noticed any ghosting, glitching, flickering, brightness changes, or anything else out of the ordinary when opening or closing windows or starting videos. The brightness buttons work fine. I currently have the screen mode in cinema display and was watching a movie in iTunes. The picture was crisp and noticeably sharper with better resolution than 1080p. Do not buy the 4K if you desire maximum battery life, work in a bright room or outside because the screen coating is reflective. There are a few people that have had problems with this laptop. Maybe they got an early run production unit? So far this is a dream laptop which definitely lives up to the hype. It's day one. I'll post again if I experience any problems. I will hook it up to my 4K display monitor, play with it when the battery is at low charge, and anything else I can think of, to see if I can shake out any glitches

[@douglee3839]

Another comment, do not buy this laptop if you are on a limited budget because there are a lot of good budget laptops out there that will meet your needs just fine. I am a retired mechanical engineer who had a great career. I buy the best then hold onto it forever. Buy a cheap laptop, wait for the stock market to crash again, use the difference to buy some Microsoft or Apple stock. This would be my advice to anyone young and just starting out.

[@micanalnotienenombre]

Thanks for those videos. I have to say there's none I trust more than you for laptop related matters. Keep up the good work! Reviews that matter ✌🏻.

[@greenchutneyman]

I just bought the i5 8gb 512ssd version with non touch. I hope it's one that doesn't have any of the issues you are taking about. Lots of thanks from Australia for your clean and honest review.

[@ebere9438]

I've just bought that today. Have you had any issues with yours?

[@yguo3260]

thanks for always giving the detailed review that other KZbinrs never talks about. turn of the hdr option or turn it on also at battery mode solved the windows grey out problem on my unit. hopes to know whether the undervolting helps on reduce the over heat issue.

[@testus86]

What is with the 15inch model? Is it better? Thinking about it. Need a new one for music production also.

[@vipercat3822]

Really love your honest way of making reviews and how blunt you are with quality mistakes and no sugar coating it. Keep up the great honest reviews, very helpful!

[@neelsievandyk4569]

Heyy Josh! Thank you soo much for your QUALITY videos. I really enjoy that some creators put so much effort in their videos. It's really helpful. Speaking of creators, the relative new MSI Modern 14 series is part of the new MSI Creator's series. For some reason there are very little content and reviews of this mid-range laptop, as I think it has kind of great specs for the price. I would appreciate a review! Thanks again for quality!

[@cjt940]

This is what i call a review,not those bullshit other youtubers say Oh dIs gOoD DaT GooD,and ooohhh EveRyTHIngS BeAutIfUl. This is the only laptop channel by far that actually reviews laptops

[@jitvimol]

I totally agree with this honest review. I have been using Dell xps 13 7390 4k i7 16gb ram 512 HD for a month and it's very annoying. Problem with laptop awake in the middle of the night, display flickering from time to time (this is so bad), display flash when connecting to external monitor. It's a headache to keep solving the problem (and some still not fixed!)

[@mujjuman]

i am so sururpsied and disappointed to hear of problems with the xps. my xps 13 9350 from 2016 has been running perfect. looks like i will hold onto it for longer

[@jlryder97]

Mental note to rewatch this review every time I find myself bewitched by the rich display and sleek design when I'm in the store...

[@waytodawn1913]

Honestly 😂😂

[@victorhernandezjr2256]

Thanks to this vid, I was literally a moment away of buying this laptop in store, but I decided to look for some review. And I found yours, I actually watched the first one. I wonder if there's an improvement at this point.

[@name4379]

Guys it’s the beginning of August 2020 now, does anyone have an update on these issues? Has everything been fixed or do the issues remain present?

[@juliansamuel225]

Hi I have the 9380 (2019) . I faced the issue where the screen suddenly turn flurocent .. the solution lies where you need to go the boot screen and switch off a 'feature' . I dont quite remember the name . Hope this helps

[@juliansamuel225]

I dont face this issue anymore

[@hantus7523]

The screen flicering can be fixed by going into the BIOS and looking through the video settings, when you are there disable the eco power adjustment for the screen (i forgot the actual name for it) and that basicly solved my problem hope this helps

[@india24khabarlive]

For editing which best laptop ... macbook pro or Dell...model

[@MrBludhaven]

About your brightness issue, I think it's the CABC issue I had with my XPS 9370. I was able to turn it off in the bios. Great review btw, subbed!

[@PrateikSangekar]

had the brightness changing problem on my XPS 15 7590 whenever i switched to fullscreen on Netflix app, but got resolved over time on its own, software updates maybe

[@anupampanta9497]

I have a Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2 in 1 (7391) and the problem mentioned in 3:27 is same for me too. Just bought this laptop 2 days earlier and already annoyed by this issue.

[@saatvikpuranik]

Confused between MacBook Air and Dell XPS 13. Please help!!

[@cuttingedgecool7235]

Josh I respect your due diligence and thoroughness!

[@JustJoshTech]

Thank you

[@vollandt]

I have the XPS 13 9300 and the 7390 (2 in 1), both with the same (maxed specs ) i7-1065G7, 32gb, 4k. When I compare the machines side by side running the same apps, the internal temps readings and fan noise is similar between the two. The only difference is that bottom getting so hot on the 9300, where the 7390 is only a little warm at most. I much prefer the keyboard and lower weight of the 9300 over the 7390. But the 7390 is my daily driver because of the 9300 heat issue.

[@Stan_sprinkle]

The screen flashing when plugged in / unplugged can be fixed if you turn off Windows HDR (if you have the 4k model). It switches frame rates and flashes when HDR gaming is turned on.

[@Apenschi]

Thanks!! Very helpful! Please do another one in 2 or 3 month!!

[@vincerooz]

Thank for such a honest review! Do you think the MSI Prestige 15 is a better option? I'm struggling here, don't know what to buy between the new Macbook Pro 13 and the MSI Prestige 15 ...

[@MooImaHippo]

Thanks for the longer term review when so many put out loving reviews for the XPS 13. I think too many are trying to get into the thin form factor when it just isn't sustainable, whether in an Intel or AMD chip. We can only choose 1: form factor with quiet fans or high performance with loud fans + heat.

[@crashjose]

Oh god thank you so much for your honest comments and the easy way you describe all the details to reconsider this as an option, I am looking to replace my 13 inch Toshiba Portege Z30 which have served as it was supposed to do and I put my eyes on this 13 windows pc, it seems like everything point to the MBA and MBP 13, I prefer W10 over Mac OS, I found windows far more productive and office have a lot of features that I can't see in the mac's version

[@ReZPhotography]

I was about to order the new XPS 15 and remembered that XPS laptops are plagued with this content adaptive brightness thing that Dell has always refused to turn off. Then stumbled upon your video, which reminded this to me even more. I guess I'll wait for reviews from the new 15" XPS to see if that's also an issue there. Keep up the good work!

[@Stan_sprinkle]

I returned mine last week, I'm keeping the $1799 MacBook Pro. The Mac is just a friggin joy to use. Took me a couple weeks to get back into the MacOS workflow, but I love it again.

[@abvmoose87]

I havent iew this or his former but im gonna take a guess it has to do with cooling problems, also guessing he chose to go with the uneccesary high dpi displays exacerbating the issue.

[@laurentb.2064]

Hello Josh. We are end of July now. Do you know if Dell had fixed most of the issues you raised in your review ? Thank you. Take care.

[@LighterPvP]

Thank you so much for this review. I hope the Spectre x360 is good, I will be awaiting for your review on it. :-)

[@Mad.Maxx.77]

Love your reviews but I think my 9300 is excellent. Mine is an i7, 16GB, 512GB, 4K touch. I got it for $1635 with that 17% discount code. I wouldn't try video editing or any other GPU or CPU-intensive work on it, but for my writing/editing/research work and streaming content, it's tough to beat. The chassis gets a bit warm after several hours, but not anything close to the point of not being able to use it on my lap. I've never cared for the Alpine white finish on the XPS 13. Glad I avoided it after what you reported. Great work, as always, Josh!!

[@timmieboy37]

Thats strange, i7 and 16gb of memory would be a piece of cake when it came to video editing.

[@Mad.Maxx.77]

@@timmieboy37 Oh, I'm sure it could do the job, but it would cause a lot of heat in such a small chassis.

[@jdmdavidmai]

Can I ask you how your battery life for just word doc use and normal usage?

[@Mad.Maxx.77]

@@jdmdavidmai I haven't measured it officially, but found that disabling the touch screen function gives it a nice boost in battery life

[@ericc705]

Wow! I just got tired of my xls 13 issues and ordered a x1! Yeah I have heat and quality issues with the xps too. Thx for the video!

[@mattroe4585]

Unfortunately I didn't have a good experience with my XPS 13 with the i5 either. It ran VERY hot, even while doing basic things like internet browsing, the fan noise was really annoying, and kicked on almost immediately, and worst of all, 4 days into having it, the laptop died!! Froze up, turned off, and then wasn't able to turn the screen back on whatsoever. Called Dell support and they couldn't do anything but tell me to send it back. I told them they could keep it and I'm waiting on my XPS 15 to arrive now. Hopefully it'll be better.

[@khaldounal-nuaimi3594]

Honestly thank you so much for doing those follow ups. I really appreciate them!

[@DANISH75]

Wish i had seen this before buying it. The issue i faced which was most annoying is with Killer Wifi Card which knows the router wifi off when the machine restarts and connect. fan noise issue ofc . had screen brightness flickering which got fixed after updates. now thinking abt returning it

[@awesomedudd]

I don't know about this model, but the XPS 13 9370 model you were able to turn off the auto brightness setting in the BIOS

[@sawantpraveen]

Superb honest review. However will XPS 15 be performing a similar way even if a bigger chassis? Hoping for XPS 15 review, as I'm eyeing that laptop to buy,

[@skip741x3]

my 1st reaction to ur video title was "How can you Not like this Xps?" Then after listening to ur review, you bring up alot of valid and deal breaking points...The thermal issue is a real pity, you stated even the i5 suffers from it! this is 2020, the era of 10 and 7nm cpus and this is Still an issue? wow! If any new laptop was burning my lap while just websurfing or watching youtube, it would be unaccptable.

[@dcallan1]

The XPS 13 9300 has a bundled utility called Dell Power Manager to allow you to change the settings. The cool option allows for lap use. Unfortunately, we are limited by physics and the laws of heat transfer. If you want something this thin and light, with this much potential for power, you'll have to compromise by changing the setting when switching from actual lap use to desktop/table use. The new 15" and 17" models have enough space for the new thermal design. I have the new 9300 and have been using it successfully. It's not perfect, but it's as close as I've had.

[@sqlstevereno3889]

I think you'll enjoy the spectre x360 13. Hopefully you get the OLED version. I can't comment on the Dell, but I have the Inspiron 13 2 in 1 and I had to disable turbo mode in the BIOS due to heating issues. I think this is common with Dell laptops. After I did that the laptop runs fine. I'm really pleased with the HP so far...no overheating issues, good performance and battery life and a fantastic screen. Appreciate you sharing your experience with the Dell...was going to pick one up due to the favorable reviews but preferred the build and screen of the HP.

[@maxweinbach3996]

I have the xps 13 i5 non touch. No issues with screen or heat. I am not impressed by the battery life however; which you did not mention so I might be an outlier.

[@jeromeserre]

Same for me. Don't understand the benefit of touch screen when compared to the downsides (less battery life, glare issues, greasy fingerprints...) Works perfectly fine. My dream computer come true!

[@wanderseeme]

Just bought the same XPS 13 9300 i7 version as you did, what bothers me the most is the fan noise! I keep hearing a pretty high pitched sound from the small fans when they work, so the subjective noise is definitely audible under load. What I have to do is turning off TurboBoost, set Windows Battery Mode to lowest, and set Dell power management mode to Quiet. Only in this way the computer's fans won't turn on repeatedly. IMHO, the fan noise is the most frustrating problem XPS 13 9300 has!

[@vivek_v]

On battery, the screen dimming is not because of the adaptive brightness; it is because of the smart lcd technology in laptops that have been around for years. The smart LCD technology dims the display when it is displaying dark colors to save brightness. By the description of your problem, it seems that the smart lcd is changing the brightness and colors when you don't want it to. I have yet to find a fix for this, but the occasional annoyance for me is worth the extra battery life.

[@dom9882]

Hey Josh. So why did you keep the 9300 in the end? I’m trying to decide between the 2020 MBP 13 (with 10th Gen i5) and the XPS 9300 (UHD/i7/16gb) but you’ve ripped the 9300 to pieces. Maybe rightfully so. Been using my old MBP 15 since 2012 which is now malfunctioning. I’ve become bored with OSX and the Apple laptop design hence the XPS interest. Guess I’ll be sticking with Apple then.

[@j.t2548]

So where's the explanation as to "why I kept it" ? Why did you keep "a disappointment"? pretty clickbaity title

[@pdxportlandia]

exactly,

[@mcmom7828]

Man you make wonderful precise explanation about the computers I really appreciate big uppp

[@krishnavamshitadla3387]

Why not include the surface laptop 3(13.5in) in the alternatives?

[@davdatong]

Hat to return my XPS 9300 as there was a problem with the thunderbolt connection as it couldn't connect to my widescreen monitor. :(

[@t3fLoN77]

My XPS 9300 Review: I contacted Dell support because I was tired of my 9300 burning my fingertips and blue screening. Literally all you have to do is close the lid and plug in the power and it will overheat and blue screen with a PDC watchdog error. Dell’s “solutions” were the following: in order to defeat the blue screen from simply charging it while sleeping, you have to do a full shutdown just to charge the device. This is completely unacceptable in 2020. I want to slam the lid shut and charge it, period. And their solution about it running so hot was to disable Intels Turbo mode in bios. While this does in fact decrease the heat output, it also decreased the performance significantly. The performance with turbo on is acceptable, with turbo off is like going back in time 10 years as far as boot performance and app launch times. I showed the Dell rep all the blue screen logs and she tried to explain to me that this was a Windows error, not the device. I explained to her that I had reformatted it 3 times fully reinstalled everything, no difference. Just two days ago the “Dell Update” module loaded a couple drivers, I think one was a sound driver, instantly blue screened the machine. It’s a Dell machine using Dell update pulling Dell drivers, how much easier should it be? Without all of these quirks this could be a nice machine, looks nice, performs well when it works. But with all the baggage that comes with it, its a complete disaster. I don’t want to spend the first 20 minutes of my day everyday fu@king around with system restores, hard restarting to clear a blue screen, driver failures, etc. I want to flip the screen open and get to work. And I dont know whos idea it was to have the screen constantly toggling between different brightness modes but that is also a joke. I’ve tried disabling in every place I could find and it still happens. Dells official solution of not being able to charge while sleeping is unacceptable. Dells solution to disable turbo boost and cut performance in half, unacceptable. You pay for “xtreme performance”, which is literally what XPS stands for, then Dell has you disable the performance to keep from melting your fingertips off. For you XPS 9500 folks, the cooling is the exact same design as on the 9300 and I imagine the performance/results will be similar, though I cant say for sure as I only have tested the 9300. As much as I wanted to like this machine, its way too problematic. Very, very disappointed with this machine and also Dells responses.

[@AlexKCheung]

I have been eyeing the 7590 (2019) model. Does it have the same issues?

[@bekhruzniyazov6600]

no

[@Pepper.123]

I got this one in OLED recently. No issues to report so far and much cheaper as I got it on sale

[@dejansasic2523]

Yes it has, I bought mine two months ago and had to return it, because display had uneven brightness on following links you can see what was going on www.reddit.com/r/DellXPS/comments/cusys5/xps_15_7590_brightness_uneven/ www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/69outd/uneven_backlighting_xps_15_fhd_screen/ now I'm looking into something else, but will wait a bit until there is full review of 7590 2020 model.

[@Boss-sv4oq]

Very well explained....i watched some of your videos and I like it very much..

[@UTR1]

Josh have you tried toggling Intel DPST for the brightness issue? Looks like a new owner of an XPS 15 solved their dimming problems with this.

[@tazbir1cs]

The overheating and auto-brightness issues are with XPS for some time. I used a 9360 model. I was trying to control the brightness there as well. failed to do it.. It was super annoying. Sold it at march 2020 because the heat was unbearable(it's summertime in Bangladesh== very hot). Now using a X1 Carbon 7th Gen. Happy with the laptop so far. I do mostly programming. It handles my day to day programming very efficiently.

[@tonybologna4210]

Are you planning to review the Ideapad Slim 7? Seems promising, possibly comparable to higher-end laptops

[@JustJoshTech]

Yes I am thanks!

[@tonybologna4210]

Just Josh thats awesome. I havent seen that much attention for the ryzen ideapad line and would love to hear your thoughts on build quality and stuff

[@montaderali8656]

Hi Josh please I need help which laptop is better for a 1300$ budget I don't know if I should get the new xps 15 or mackbook pro base model altho I want it for 2d animation and light video editing is there a better option for such budget

[@jiashengtang4268]

I had an XPS15 that has a flickering issue when turning on Bluetooth. I got rid of it by installing a fresh copy of Windows. Maybe it could be a fix!

[@isbestlizard]

I hate that Dell don't allow custom fan curve. Like, running at 20% all the time ramping up to 100% as soon as the temp exceeds 50 degrees. Their crappy default curves do something like let it sit at 99 degrees, thermal throttled for 30 seconds before thinking they might want to spin up.

[@math6844]

Never had any of these problems, love mine and would recommend to anyone. Do you research and watch more reviews than just this one if you’re considering one

[@felixagustinus4358]

Me neither, i watched the previous video after I purchased mine. And I was preparing my self for a disappointment. After it arrived, it works perfectly fine without any issues. Idk how he got shit tons of problems on his unit.

[@mujjuman]

hi josh you are great. thank you. i will watch all of your other videos

[@NaveenKumar_boi]

heyy josh.. if you want to reduce the thermals of this laptop try reducing the maximum processor state in the power options to 99% instead of 100%. there is a bug which will give you the max clock speed with reduced thermals that might help. 😉

[@JustJoshTech]

A video on this is coming