Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 Review: And How to Get Windows 10 Pro OEM for $12.60

[@andrewmarcdavid]

My first experience with the Kaby Lake G is overall very good. Basically you are getting slightly above the performance of a GTX 1050. Not bad for a thin and light convertible. But it has below average battery life which may be a deal breaker for some. Let me know what you think.

[@03chrisv]

Great computer overall despite the "poor battery" life. My 3 year old laptop barely lasts 2 hours on a single charge so this XPS with its huge performance jump and 6-7 hour battery life would feel like a giant upgrade to me.

[@matt_mkv]

Have had this for about a week. The fans tamed considerably after I updated the BIOS and video drivers. Battery life is pretty mediocre... but lasts long enough for long-ish drawing session/light productivity that I didn't find it particularly annoying. I like the keyboard a lot more than I thought I would, I generally hate low-travel keyboards but this one feels great as Andrew mentioned.

[@ad78]

i bought win pro for my Matebook X Pro and used your discount code. it was super fast lol! thanks Andrew!

[@MadelnMachines]

I can't decide between this or the surface book 2.. The main downside of the surface is lack of repairability as I tend to keep my laptops a long time. The main uses will be watching tv / movies, producing music using the touch screen, general internet time wasting, some photo editing, maybe occasional gaming but I tend to use consoles so it's not a big deal. Is new dell keyboard likely to suffer from the same issues as the macbook keyboards?

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Both are good devices. I would lean towards the SB2 despite the lack of repairability. Better battery life is the key for me. But either way you should be fine as they are both excellent devices. The maglev keyboard is fine, so far no issues. But I do prefer the SB2 keyboard in my opinion. Better key travel.

[@Ron841000]

Best Buy is selling the Black version for 1,999.00 along with the pen. This is a great price compared to the Surface Book 2

[@matt_mkv]

This is the one I purchased! Finish looks fantastic. Up against the Surface Book 2 13", this thing is on par/faster, comes with a pen, covers more of the Adobe RGB color space, has Thunderbolt 3, and is $500 cheaper than the 16gig RAM version w/ GTX1050. If only the battery life was closer there wouldn't be much upside to the Surface Book 2 (at least the 13" version) especially for the price.

[@Ron841000]

In my usage style, 6 plus hours of battery life is great, in addition it having Rapid Charge via the ubc ports. Also the form factor is more durable than the Surface Book 2, as that hinge is vey delicate

[@blackice214]

Matthew Abrams The max spec for the Dell is 2500 and surface book 2 nice spec is at 2400. The surface book 2 beats it in everyway and I decided to go Microsoft . The keyboard on this Dell is horrible

[@matt_mkv]

blackice214 Hey man, the Surface Book 2 is a great machine as well, but performance is kind of apples and oranges here. The i7 in the Dell is capable of sustaining higher voltages for longer compared to the U chip in both versions of the Surface Book 2 as long as the GPU isn't being worked hard (like while gaming) In most tasks, real world performance and handbreak/decode benchmarks favors the Dell because of the G series processor . The RAM on the Surface Book 2 is low-power DDR3 as opposed to the higher speed DDR4 that is on the XPS. The only clear win here is battery life and the GTX1060 on the 15" version, which is $500 more than the similar-spec'd Dell that goes for $1999 at Best Buy (including bundled pen, another $100 for the Surface Pen). These were the finalists in what 2 in 1 I was going to buy, and if the 15" Surface Book 2 was the same price I very well may have bought it over the Dell. But as it is, $500/600 dollars is nothing to scoff at when comparing these two, especially when the Surface Book 2 isn't more powerful across the board.

[@blackice214]

Matthew Abrams Na the Dell has horrible thermals can't even make use of the i7 it throttles so bad it has less CPU performance than the sb2. The GPU is worse it has a 1050 performance like GPU . Bad battery life horrible keyboard and ram on laptops is similar not too much of a difference like on desktop. The SB2 wins easy. Now the regular xps is real nice but in a different category

[@carmennooner2027]

Thanks for the discount code for Windows 10 Pro. I just might take advantage of that. P.S. I received my set of Meko stylus' a couple of days ago and really pleased with them. I wasn't expecting to like them as much as I do because of, well, the low price! But I had to eat crow on these. So very glad I took advantage of the promotion and now have them next to my tablets. 😀

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Glad you like the Meko stylus. Good deal on the Windows 10 Pro for sure.

[@TallyHoTech]

Great review T. Its gets hot streaming videos. Wtf? SCDKey is great for cheap upgrades to Win Pro.

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Yes, a bit warm not sure what’s going on as it has 2 fans and supposed to have a good cooling system. Can’t beat $12.60 US for Win10 Pro

[@Ron841000]

With such "great" performance features, having a battery life over 6 hours is not a deal breaker plus with the usb-c ports for charging has "fast charging"

[@blackice214]

kopmd j ehh surface book 2 is way better

[@awkwardpenguin855]

Did the pen come in the box? Or purchased separately?

[@borlach321]

Have you compared this to the new HP 2-1 with Vega graphics? HP has the web cam and speakers in the right position. This was a very good review.

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Thanks! I really appreciate it! I will be reviewing the HP Spectre x360 15 with Kaby Lake G very soon.

[@borlach321]

No problem. I have been holding out for these new machines and waiting to see if new models might carry the AMD CPU's. The Ryzen is in many desktop's now, but not so many laptops. Hoping that will change.

[@zahar027]

I still dont get it why i need a 15" slab of tech and why the review for xps15 9570 is being delayed

[@winterspeck6476]

Cooling is worse then expected.. seems like the surface book 2 13" beats it in almost all aspects (sick battery life, lighter, better keyboard, better cooling system + GTX 1050)

[@andrewmarcdavid]

As you know I love the Surface Book 2 (both the 13 and 15 inch version), so I can't argue.

[@winterspeck6476]

Andrew Marc David Nice review though! Maybe its just too thin for proper cooling of the internals. Looking forward to your review of the new HP Spectre x360!

[@Ron841000]

Surface Book 2 is more expensive and does not have Thunderbolt ports

[@winterspeck6476]

kopmd j yeah the price is ridicolous but if you go with the top end model of the XPS your also at 2.400€.. I think SB2 just needs Thunderbold 3 and USB C in the Tablet.

[@Ron841000]

I like the fa ct that the xps has 4 usb c ports, with 2 being Thunderbolt 2. This future proofs the system. Also in reality with much of the functionality on computers in Cloud based, one can get away with 256 GB of storage and not risk running out of storage space or slowing down your system.

[@ayiqwas6363]

Great review as always. I have been waiting for your Lenovo X1 carbon 2018 review. When are you going to do?

[@Osiris.666]

Top review very interesting and informative! Great work thank you Andrew! PS: I am still in buying mode so I am not sure which one yet. Do you know if there will be a 13 2 in 1 update coming? Cheers, Ian

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Haven't heard anything from Dell regarding an updated 13 2-in-1 but I wouldn't be surprised if we do see one.

[@CarlosRodriguez-ly1ec]

can you charge it with a powerbank?

[@CarlosRodriguez-ly1ec]

what about the fans?? are they noise on daily task ??

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Not too bad for daily tasks, but you will notice them when trying to push this machine.

[@CarlosRodriguez-ly1ec]

Andrew Marc David but when is plugged in the fans get loud on daily task?

[@andrewmarcdavid]

When plugged in the fans will kick in after moderate use. For light use rarely, but anything that requires graphics power you will hear the fans.

[@highendcheaptech9705]

Great review. Looks like a great notebook/laptop, too bad about the battery and the price. I will get this shared in the next few hours.

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Thanks Tim!

[@TimPearcy]

No sweat, shared as promised!

[@03chrisv]

You just have to buy when Dell does their promotions. You could have gotten the exact XPS in this review for almost $500 off during their labor day promotion.

[@diegoandres607]

you are the best , i love your video !

[@LZentertainments]

Great review. Thank you! Best one out there. Is there any way you could save my life and tell me if this would be able to be charged probably from a USB-C/thunderbolt 3 monitor? Can it deliver enough power?

[@andrewmarcdavid]

I will test it tonight and let you know.

[@LZentertainments]

Andrew Marc David looking very much forward to that!

[@LZentertainments]

Andrew Marc David did you ever test it? :)

[@jonattias24]

Please review the new HP Specter 360x (vega m) model

[@andrewmarcdavid]

I will be reviewing it very soon.

[@SerjStar]

Hella nice now my Asus all in one i7 8550 and nvidea gtx 1050 is dead to me though I still get a touchscreen and 4k screen I want that more faster hardcore tech but dam its expensive it was by luck I even was able to get what to got for eyewatering 1150 $

[@MohamedAmirios]

On eBay you can buy Windows 10 Pro licence for 3€ ;)

[@andrewmarcdavid]

Sometimes hit or miss with ebay. I have bought a couple of those keys from ebay where they were not valid and had to have seller send different key.