You can lower the screen resolution and get better battery life than the XPS 15, but neither laptop is the most portable. Neither laptop was particularly impressive, nor did it last longer. In our tests, the XPS 15 lasted about an hour longer in each of our tests (web, video, and benchmarking) thanks to the Specter x360 15’s power-hungry AMOLED display. However, you can buy the XPS 15 with a Full HD display, which means if you want more longevity then you have that option. Dell listed 83 watt-hours on the XPS 15, while the Specter x360 has 82 watt-hours.

And while the XPS 15 is slightly smaller, both will take up some space in your backpack. Neither of these machines is particularly light, weighing in at over four pounds. But the XPS 15 is simply a faster laptop, and that’s important in the 15-inch class. It’s also brighter at over 400 nits and there’s a Full HD option which is also very good if you want to save battery life.Įach of these 15-inch machines offers the kind of performance you might be looking for in a larger laptop, and both have displays creatives crave. wider (by a few percentage points) and excellent accuracy. The XPS 15, on the other hand, has a superior 4K IPS touchscreen (no stylus support) that offers significantly better contrast than HP’s IPS version, but it can’t quite compare to the Spectre’s AMOLED display, a slightly better color gamut. There’s currently no Full HD option, but there is an AMOLED screen that’s extremely bright and has class-leading contrast and the most accurate colors you’ll find on a Windows 10 laptop. The Specter x360 has a very good 4K (3840 x 2160) IPS touch and pen-enabled display that offers good contrast, an average color gamut with good accuracy, and just below our preferred 300 nits of brightness. Their screens are another area where these laptops deviate. The XPS 15 will be a few frames per second faster, though. As long as you’re willing to keep graphics details at reasonable settings, you’ll be able to play most modern games on both the XPS 15 and the Specter x360 15. Both use the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, but HP uses the slower Max-Q version. The same goes for gaming, where laptops are again built with similar but not exactly the same components. In our CPU tests, the XPS was the clear winner thanks to being equipped with an octa-core Core i7-10875H. Also, while HP maxes out at 16GB of RAM, the XPS 15 can be upgraded to 64GB. While the HP Specter x360 15 can be equipped with a 45-watt, six-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, which is fast enough for moderately demanding creative tasks, the XPS 15 can be configured with up to eight 10th-generation cores. The Dell XPS 15 resumes its position as the more powerful of the two laptops. The Specter x360 15 has a more prominent design and better connectivity, but the XPS 15 takes better advantage of its size to pack a useful 16:10 display. Both laptops support Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. The XPS 15 is all-in on USB-C, with three Thunderbolt 3-enabled ports plus a full-size SD card reader and 3.5mm audio jack. The Specter x360 15 has two 40 gigabit per second (Gbps) Thunderbolt 3-compliant USB-C ports, a USB-A 3.1 port, and a full-size HDMI port. Both touchpads support Microsoft’s far superior Precision Touchpad protocol.Ĭonnectivity is strongly in HP’s favor. It’s much bigger than the Specter x360 thanks to the extra space for the keyboard due to the 16:10 screen. The XPS 15, however, has a much better touchpad. Both laptops seem equally robust.Īdditionally, both enjoy excellent keyboards with plenty of travel and a precise feel, although we prefer the HP version due to its springier mechanism and slightly deeper. The Dell is also heavier at 4.5 pounds versus 4.23 pounds. The bezels are closer now that HP has shrunk the Specter x360 15 to much more modern dimensions. The XPS 15 looks the part, too, with a more conservative black, silver, and carbon fiber aesthetic that’s better suited to a conference room setting.īoth laptops have 15.6-inch displays, but the XPS 15 has a 16:10 aspect ratio that’s better for productivity and a slightly higher 4K+ (3840 x 2400) resolution. The most exciting new color Poseidon Blue meets subdued Dark Ash Silver to create a truly beautiful design. Every edge, along the lid, the case, even the keyboard, is chiseled at angles that resemble fine jewelry. HP calls this the “gem cut” version, and for good reason. We’ll be frank: the Specter x360 15 is more amazing laptop.

Hp spectre x360 15 vs dell xps 15