Razer Blade 15 vs. Dell XPS 15

There is some degree of crossover between these two laptops, making choosing a bit more difficult. Both are capable of gaming, though the Blade 15 is currently the absolute best gaming laptop. Both can be used by folks such as photographers and videographers, too, and both look just fine sitting around the meeting room table. But ultimately, your primary purpose for the laptop is going to be where you make the decision.

Razer Blade 15 vs. Dell XPS 15 tech specs

Both of these laptops have a lot of great hardware inside them. Overall, power goes the way of the Razer Blade 15, but the XPS 15 is no slouch. Both now use the latest 12th Gen processors from Intel, with CPUs up to the mighty Core i9-12900HK available in both devices (configurations with 11th Gen Intel CPUs are available as well). Both laptops also feature NVIDIA's cutting-edge 30-series GPUs, though the Razer Blade 15's GPU options cap out at the 3080 Ti while you're limited to a weaker 3050 Ti with the Dell XPS 15. With that said, the Dell XPS 15 does have options for integrated Intel UHD Graphics or Intel Iris Xe Graphics, both of which will appeal to people that have no interest in gaming and simply want to get light productivity work done.

Both of these laptops are stylish and are pretty compact for 15-inch laptops. You have 4K display options on both, but the latest Blade 15 revision kicks it up another notch with an OLED 4K touch panel if you're prepared to pay a premium for it, and it comes factory calibrated with a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut. Dell, by contrast, has removed the option for a 4K OLED panel from the XPS 15, though the 4K display it does have still looks phenomenal. There's also a newer 3.5K OLED option on the Dell XPS 15 that offers a strong balance between clarity and power usage.

Ultimately, whether at the entry-level spec or at the highest tier, neither the Blade 15 or XPS 15 disappoints on hardware. The XPS 15 certainly has an edge with battery life since its specs draw less power, but you're not left wanting for connectivity on either, and both of them have Thunderbolt 4 and Microsoft Precision Drivers for the trackpad. Choosing which you should get comes down to a fairly simple question.

To game, or not to game?

If you're considering the Razer Blade 15 at all, then there's a strong chance it's because you want to do some PC gaming. While there are some differences in performance away from gaming, those are easier to compromise than if you really want a top-tier gaming experience.

The XPS 15 has options for the RTX 3050 as well as its Ti version, and both of these are fairly competent for laptop gaming. It's by no means an absolute beast, but it's capable of playing new titles at reasonable frame rates with only moderate sacrifices when it comes to graphics. Outside of gaming, it offers excellent performance for tasks such as video editing — without getting insanely hot or completely destroying the laptop's battery life. If gaming is a secondary priority, then the XPS 15 is overall a slightly better choice.

Razer's slogan is "for gamers, by gamers," and if gaming on your laptop is your biggest priority, then the Blade 15 is the clear winner of this matchup. Firstly, you can get the best Max-Q GPUs from NVIDIA in the Blade 15, which boast real-time ray tracing and significant performance improvements over previous-gen cards. It's essentially a beastly desktop gaming PC in the shape of a laptop, which is fantastic.

You can also get a 360Hz FHD display, which is absolutely insane on a laptop and means you can game at incredibly high frame rates without the need for an external monitor. If you'd prefer something sharper and don't mind lowering your maximum frame rate, there are also stellar QHD and 4K UHD screens available with refresh rates of up to 240Hz and 144Hz, respectively.

Both of these are incredible laptops that have amazing hardware, plenty of power, and are easily portable enough to take anywhere you need them. But if you really want to game at the best possible level as well as get your work done, then the Blade 15 is the better choice.