Dell XPS 15 review

Since the release of the Adamo XPS at the tail-end of last year, Dell's XPS brand has lain dormant. But it's finally resurrected the brand for the release of its latest 15.6in and 17in models, and the first to arrive in the PC Pro Labs is the 15.6in XPS 15.

It cuts a striking dash, although initially for all the wrong reasons. Our review unit arrived with an unpleasantly kitsch Product (RED) motif scrawled across its lid; think surrealist meets 1960s wallpaper and you're halfway there. Thankfully, there are another 148 designs to choose from - for a £34.50 premium.

Whichever lid takes your fancy, the rest of the XPS 15 remains demurely finished in lashings of silver and grey and that, coupled with its smoothly rounded edges and stylish curves, makes for a great-looking laptop. The chassis feels surprisingly stout for such a modestly priced model.

The only concern is that the lid feels slightly insubstantial. Apply pressure to the garish design and the plastic fouls the panel underneath, resulting in a visible rippling effect onscreen. And at 39mm thick and a weighty 2.86kg, it isn't particularly portable either.

Inside, there are no such worries. Processor options start with Intel's Core i3 and rise through the ranks, while Nvidia Optimus graphics switching technology partners Intel HD Graphics with a Nvidia GeForce GT 420M chip or, in the priciest Core i7 model, a GT 435M.

Our review unit struck the middle ground with a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5-460M, 4GB of DDR3 memory and Nvidia's GeForce GT 420M, a combination that helped it to a good score of 1.61 in our application benchmarks. And in our gaming tests it wasn't until we reached our mid-level test (run at 1,600 x 900 pixels and Medium detail in Crysis) that the average frame rate slowed to 24fps. This leaves the XPS 15 trailing dedicated gaming notebooks, but in front of most others. It's more than nippy enough for casual gaming.

Meanwhile, the graphics-switching technology helps the XPS 15 sweep past its rivals in the battery life stakes. With 5hrs 46mins in our light-use test, falling to 1hr 16mins when pushed hard, the XPS 15 leaves most desktop replacement laptops for dust. You might not want to carry it around very often, but it's nice to have the option to balance it on your knee without having a mains lead trailing from the rear.