Besides the super impressive XPS 13 Ultrabook announced today at CES, Dell also is refreshing their XPS 15. The XPS 15 is my primary laptop that I reviewed a few months ago and it is still one of the best on the market.
The 2015 version steps things up by replacing the QHD+ touchscreen with an ultra-high 4K resolution (3840 x 2160) display. Unfortunately, that is really about all that is new.
Surprisingly, this newer XPS 15 does not feature the 5th generation Intel Broadwell chipset. Instead, everything is identical between this and the 2014 version except for that improved display.
No word on battery life, although we already saw it at 2.5 hours remaining when it was at 68%. We suppose if you can push 5 hours out of a 4K display that is not too bad. However, I would have liked to see some of the same 'wow' power and attention to detail the XPS 13 received.
I will say that Dell did an excellent job with scaling. In using the OS for a few minutes, there were no "OMG things are so small!" moments, which is great for those who are considering this device. Indeed, the only time you could tell this was a 4K display is when you zoomed in on text and saw zero artifacts or jaggedness. Impressive, indeed.
The XPS 15 with 4K display goes on sale in early February, which we will follow up on at that time. For now, see our hands-on video!
