Dell XPS 15 OLED (2021) review

Our Verdict

Dell'southward XPS 15 OLED is a pricey, powerful machine with an eye-catching screen that effectively straddles the line between sleek ultraportable and beefy gaming laptop.

For

three.5K OLED display impresses with beautiful contrasts
Remarkable operation
Spacious, comfy keyboard
Svelte chassis still looks groovy

Against

Disappointing battery life
720p webcam delivers grainy, washed-out images

Tom'south Guide Verdict

Dell'due south XPS 15 OLED is a pricey, powerful auto with an eye-communicable screen that effectively straddles the line between sleek ultraportable and beefy gaming laptop.

Pros

+
3.5K OLED display impresses with beautiful contrasts
+
Remarkable performance
+
Spacious, comfortable keyboard
+
Svelte chassis still looks great

Cons

-
Disappointing battery life
-
720p webcam delivers grainy, done-out images

Dell XPS 15 due west/ OLED specs

Price: ~$2,400 (as reviewed)
Brandish: fifteen.half-dozen-inch OLED touchscreen (3,456 x 2,160 pixels)
CPU: Intel Cadre i7-11800H
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 512 GB SSD
Ports: 3 Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, headphone jack, microSD carte reader
Size: 13.57 x 9.06 x 0.71 inches
Weight: four.2 pounds

The Dell XPS 15 OLED 2021 (from $2,299, $2,399 as tested) is a premium upgrade to 1 of our favorite laptops here at Tom's Guide. The about recent models pack enough power to rival gaming laptops, while still delivering reasonable bombardment life and a nearly bezel-less screen in a slim, elegant chassis.

The XPS 15 2020 is one of the best laptops y'all can buy, and now Dell has improved upon it past offering a 2021 version sporting a three.5K OLED brandish. The company added a similar OLED display option to its smaller XPS 13 recently, and we plant the Dell XPS 13 OLED to be a pregnant improvement over the base model, making it one of the best Windows laptops on the market.

Later spending some time with the OLED-equipped version of its bigger sibling, it's articulate to me that this trend of augmenting ultraportables with high-quality OLED displays is a very good thing for anyone who cares about image quality. The Dell XPS 15 OLED is a significant comeback over the base of operations XPS 15, and while it will toll you nearly $1k more than the base model, the benefits yous get — both in terms of sheer display quality and improved components — brand this a worthwhile investment.

Dell XPS xv OLED review: Price and configurations

OLED display effectively a nearly $1,000 upgrade
Await to pay at to the lowest degree $2,300 to go it

The 2021 Dell XPS 15 without OLED has a starting cost of $one,273. To get the model with the optional OLED display, make sure to select the "New XPS 15" pick considering you desire the newer XPS 15 9510, non the older XPS fifteen 9500.

Our XPS 15 OLED review unit arrived decked out in Arctic White and packing an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD. To purchase the same model directly from Dell or All-time Buy right at present, y'all'd pay nearly $2,399.

Dell XPS 15 OLED review — (Paradigm credit: Futurity)

Upgrading from the default FHD+ LCD brandish to the three.5K OLED touchscreen is technically nearly a $1k upgrade, because Dell is only offering it on mid-level and college configurations. Currently, yous can only get the OLED screen in an XPS 15 configured with (at minimum) an 11th Gen Intel i7 CPU, a discrete 45W Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 16GB of RAM (instead of the base of operations 8GB), and a 512 GB SSD (rather than the default 256GB).

With all of those upgrades the XPS 15 with OLED has a starting price of $two,299, though you can pay fifty-fifty more than for additional RAM, storage, or upgrades to the GPU and CPU. You can likewise shell out an extra $50 to get the center-communicable Frost/Chill White paint chore, though the default Platinum/Black XPS color scheme is hardly unattractive.

Dell XPS 15 OLED review: Pattern

Slim, attractive chassis withal a bit hefty at 4.two pounds
InfinityEdge blueprint continues to impress

The design of the Dell XPS line has earned numerous shoutouts hither at Tom's Guide, and for good reason: the slim chassis looks good on a desk, and when you open it upwards in that location'south an incredibly thin bezel effectually all four sides of the 16:x display that makes it feel more immersive than about laptop screens.

Dell XPS 15 OLED — (Image credit: Future)

Our XPS 15 review unit measures 13.57 ten 9.06 ten 0.71 inches and weighs 4.ii pounds, meaning it'due south just a smidge smaller and lighter than the Intel-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro. In applied terms, the XPS 15 is pretty portable but a bit heavy to be carrying around all day — you could stash it in a backpack or satchel pretty hands, but you lot'd never forget you were carrying information technology.

I should annotation that the laptop volition exist slightly lighter if yous opt for a model without a touchscreen; nonetheless that will also prevent yous from getting the OLED brandish, as that's only available as a touchcreen.

Dell XPS fifteen OLED review: Ports

Enough of USB-C ports
Included USB-C to USB-A adapter is a overnice bear on

The XPS 15 OLED has a decent option of ports for a laptop of this size. Along the correct border you'll find the 3.5mm audio jack, a microSD bill of fare reader, and a USB-C port.

On the left edge are ii more USB-C ports, too every bit a security slot yous can slide a Kensington lock into to keep the laptop secured to something while you, say, step away to order some other java.

Having USB-C ports on either side makes plugging in the USB-C ability adapter a sure-fire, and those of you who still have treasured USB-A laptop accessories might be mollified to know that Dell does at least include a USB-C to USB-A adapter with the XPS 15 OLED. It's a modest touch on, but a nice one that I'd similar to see more laptop vendors copy now that USB-C ports are condign the norm.

Dell XPS 15 OLED review: Display

OLED display looks fantastic with rich colors and impressive dissimilarity
iii.5K resolution bully for entertainment, less so for reading text

The 3.5K OLED brandish is the star of this XPS 15 OLED, and in person I'm pleased to report that it makes images, videos, and games look gorgeous. But really it's the OLED part, rather than the 3.5K part, that makes this such a meaningful upgrade.

Sure, the screen's native 3,456 x two,160-pixel resolution is impressive, especially when watching high-res videos, but during general use I dubiety you'll notice it much. In fact, information technology makes reading text on the 15.6-inch brandish a painful practice unless you turn on Windows' born brandish scaling.

"This OLED display delivers the kind of item your centre is accustomed to seeing in everyday life, yet rarely glimpses while watching videos on a laptop screen."

Nevertheless, the fact that this is an OLED display makes watching 4K HDR content on the XPS 15 a joy. Considering each pixel on the OLED screen is its own individual light source that tin be switched on or off independently, blacks look exceptionally nighttime, colors look vibrant, and contrasts between light and shadow wait astonishing.

While rewatching Good Omens, for example, I noticed that not merely did the colors await great, but there were discernible gradiations in the light shining through Aziraphale'southward white pilus, or playing across Crowley's black coat. In short, this OLED brandish delivers the kind of detail your eye is accepted to seeing in everyday life, yet rarely glimpses while watching videos on a laptop screen.

Dell XPS 15 OLED review: Audio

Sound sounds loud and clear
Bass lacks punch

Music sounds pretty proficient coming out of the XPS xv's speakers, which kick out the jams through sparse speaker cutouts located just beneath the keyboard deck on either side of the laptop. This helps them sound articulate and loud even when you accept the XPS xv on a lap or table.

They practise get loud, besides; I was able to hear Marvin Gaye'southward Inner Metropolis Blues playing clearly on the laptop even when I was a few rooms away and the laptop was set up to 50% volume. Vocals audio warm and vibrant, while the bass in songs like Massive Assail's Angel and Katy Perry's Dark Equus caballus is articulate but lacks punch.

Dell XPS fifteen OLED review: Operation

Excellent all-around operation
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU makes this a decent gaming machine

Performance-wise, this beauty is a beast. Our XPS 15 review unit with its Intel Cadre i7-11800H processor handled my daily workload with ease, and when put to the test managed to reach an boilerplate score of 7,477 in the Geekbench five.4 multicore CPU benchmark. That's a remarkable score, as information technology beats the pants off the xv-inch Samsung Galaxy Volume Pro 360 (5,575) the AMD-powered 15-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (vi,748), the MacBook Pro with M1 (five,945), and fifty-fifty the Razer Blade 15 Avant-garde gaming laptop (6,662).

In our file transfer speed exam, which clocks how quickly a laptop can copy 25 GB of multimedia files, our 2021 XPS 15's 512 GB Yard.two NVMe SSD hit a transfer rate of 825.six MBps. That'south quite good, and faster than the 15-inch Surface Laptop four (372.49 MBps), though not equally speedy as the Samsung Galaxy Volume Pro 360 (869.v MBps).

If you're looking to do some video editing, the XPS 15 won't let you down — at least, if you configure it like our review unit with an i7 CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and an RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPU. With those specs, our XPS 15 OLED completed our Handbrake test (which times how long it takes the laptop to transcode a 4K video down to 1080p) in 8 minutes and 10 seconds. That's less fourth dimension than it took the Galaxy Book Pro 360 (16:24) or the 15-inch Surface Laptop four (viii:21), though not quite as speedy as the M1-powered MacBook Pro (7:46).

Our XPS 15 review unit is a pretty decent gaming car too, thanks to its afore-mentioned discrete Nvidia GPU and the beefy 11th Gen i7 CPU. When we ran it through the Sid Meier's Civilization 6: Gathering Storm graphical criterion, the XPS 15 accomplished an average 67.one frames per second running the game at 1080p and 41.9 frames per 2d at its native iii,456 x 2,160 resolution.

And only anecdotally, I had plenty of fun playing reasonably demanding games like Battletech and Apex Legends on the XPS xv OLED, and they were able to maintain at least thirty frames per second with all graphical settings cranked upward to the max.

Dell XPS xv OLED review: Keyboard, touchpad and touchscreen

Keyboard and touchpad are spacious and comfortable
Touchscreen works peachy, but beware fingerprints

The keyboard on the XPS 15 is nice and big, with plenty of room for my unwieldy mitts to spread out beyond the keys. Each key is large enough that you shouldn't experience too cramped, fifty-fifty during frenetic typing sessions, and later a chip of adjustment I was able to comfortably hit 110 WPM on the 10fastfingers.com typing test. There'due south also a fingerprint reader built into the power button in the top right corner of the keyboard, making it like shooting fish in a barrel to lock/unlock the laptop with a tap of your finger.

The touchpad nestled below the keyboard is easy and painless to apply, and I never had whatsoever trouble clicking, dragging, and swiping my way through Windows. It picks upwards Windows gesture commands well also, if that's how you like to become around.

The touchscreen is equally easy to use, though you'll inevitably smudge upwardly the 3.5K OLED display if yous use it often. Keeping your hands clean (distressing, Cheetos fans) and tapping lightly will assist go along the display smudge-gratuitous, but even in my limited time reviewing the laptop I wound upwards leaving some fingerprints on the screen. For best results, pack a screen cleaning cloth in your laptop bag and use information technology regularly.

Dell XPS xv OLED review: Webcam

720p webcam delivers grainy, washed-out images
IR cameras allow you to use Windows Hi facial logins

The 720p webcam built into the top bezel of the XPS 15's OLED display is serviceable, but information technology won't assist you look your all-time. Information technology captures images that appear grainy and slow, and during my early morning time video calls the webcam made me appear fifty-fifty more haggard and done-out than usual.

Dell XPS 15 OLED review: webcam test — (Prototype credit: Future)

While laptop webcams are rarely worth writing abode about, they should be, especially now that we're seeing so many more people working from habitation due to the COVID-19 threat. Nosotros've begun seeing 1080p webcams appear in notebooks like the HP Elite Dragonfly Max and the Framework Laptop, and it would be great to see the XPS line follow suit.

However, the XPS fifteen does have the IR camera required to let you log in with your confront via Windows Hello, if that'southward what y'all're into.

Dell XPS 15 OLED review: Estrus

Gets warm nether pressure level, but never a lap-scorcher

The XPS 15 tin become a bit warm when y'all're playing games or running other demanding applications, just during my hands-on testing I never once felt uncomfortable or feared a scorched lap. I rarely noticed any appreciable fan dissonance, either, except when playing games.

When we permit the laptop run a high-res video for 15 minutes and swept a heat gun across it, we found the chassis never got hotter than 98 degrees Fahrenheit. The hottest bespeak proved to be along the top of the keyboard, right above the F6 key.

Dell XPS 15 OLED review: Bombardment life

Disappointing 7-hour bombardment life

Sadly, the battery life on the OLED-equipped XPS xv isn't great. In our battery examination, which sets the laptop to ceaselessly browse the web via Wi-Fi with its screen brightness set up to 150 nits, our XPS xv review unit lasted vi hours and 58 minutes.

That'south enough to unplug and work at a coffee shop for a few hours, just it'due south not good enough to let you become away with leaving the charger at home all 24-hour interval. In add-on to the added power describe of the discrete Nvidia GPU, the loftier-res screen may exist partly to blame, as 4K displays oft bleed battery faster than 1080p screens.

Other laptops of this size with lower-resolution screens have much better battery life, including the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 (13:30), Microsoft's 15-inch Surface Laptop 4 (12:03), and the 16-inch Intel-powered MacBook Pro (10:55).

Dell XPS xv OLED review: Verdict

All in all, the Dell XPS fifteen OLED is a dandy machine that effectively straddles the line between sleek ultraportable and beefy gaming laptop. I wish the price wasn't quite then steep, only at least when you beat out the requisite $2k+ to get the OLED upgrade you lot're also getting a great Nvidia RTX laptop GPU and a powerful Intel Core i7 CPU packed inside the slim, attractive chassis.

However, if you don't need all that power you can shop around to find similarly-sized OLED-equipped laptops for less. Samsung's 15-inch Galaxy Volume Pro 360, for example, is an excellent ii-in-1 laptop with a beautiful AMOLED brandish and great bombardment life that'due south about a thousand bucks cheaper. Sure, there'south no option to add a discrete graphics card and the AMOLED display is but 1080p, but if you're not planning on doing much serious gaming you lot'll hardly notice.

All the same, if you're looking for a slick Windows ultraportable with an heart-catching display and enough muscle to play most games at respectable frame rates, the Dell XPS 15 OLED volition serve you well.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more a decade of feel covering both for outlets like Game Programmer, Blackness Chapeau, and PC World magazine. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom'south Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.