Dell XPS 17 9720 (17-inch, 2022)

Solid productivity performance Good gaming performance Excellent build quality Great keyboard and touchpad Superior IPS display Classic design

Dramatic drop in battery life Webcam is just 720p No Wi-Fi 6e Productivity performance unimproved

“The XPS 17 9730 is a disappointing update, and it's losing its leadership position.”

Outstanding build quality Streamlined good looks Thin and light Excellent productivity and creative performance Solid midrange gaming performance Superior IPS display Great keyboard and touchpad

Expensive Limited collection of ports Some thermal throttling

“The Dell XPS 17 9720 is fast, thin and light, and lasts surprisingly long on a charge. Toss in a superior IPS display and you have a highly portable creative workstation.”

Great-looking, sturdy chassis ; Fantastic high-resolution touchscreen ; Good everyday creative power ; A crisp, comfortable keyboard

Other processors are faster ; Not the best port selection ; Expensive ; Middling battery life

As usual, the Dell XPS 17 looks superb, and it has a sensational display, good keyboard and plenty of power. Dell could certainly have gone further with the design, though, and you’ll find some missing features – and a hefty bill if you want beefier...

Maintains earlier version's slim, classy design ; Beautiful 4K touch-display option ; Strong overall performance with new 12th Gen Intel CPU ; Graphics options up to GeForce RTX 3060 ; Four Thunderbolt 4 ports

Pricey as configured ; No OLED screen option ; Subpar 720p webcam is disappointing for the price ; USB-C ports only

The updated 2022 Dell XPS 17 adds Intel’s latest 12th Gen "Alder Lake" CPUs to its winning design, amping up this already impressive laptop. It remains one of our top picks among 17-inchers.

Expansive 17-inch 16:10 display ; Thin chassis ; Incredible battery life

High price without OLED display ; Low-wattage GPU limits 3D performance ; Low-res 720p webcam

The Dell XPS 17 9730 boasts a sharp design, thin chassis and long battery life, but the lack of an OLED display will be a dealbreaker for many graphics pros.

Big, high-res screen ; Enough graphics power for creative and mainstream gaming ; Slim design for such a large laptop

Low-res webcam ; Minimal ports

But when it comes to sheer performance and big-screen gaming on the go, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than the Dell XPS 17 without straying into gaming laptop territory. And that way lies heavier, hotter, and more expensive laptops with even worse...