 If you've spent a decent amount of time researching laptops, you've probably heard of the XPS series from Dell, which is probably the closest MacBook alternative that we have, in the sense that it never disappoints to bring performance and features. The XPS 159520 puts the most powerful available hardware in a very compact chassis, which will either make or break the laptop. XPS laptops generally look the same, and this one is no different. We have two slabs of aluminum with a slice of carbon fiber between them. The sides keep their glossy shine, while the bottom and lid are matte. The carbon is rubberized, giving you more grip. The XPS takes pride in its portability, weighing 1.84 kilograms and having an 18.54 mm profile. Similar to other devices in the family, the numpad is non-existent, with the extra space used for two large speaker grills. The keyboard offers slightly shorter key travel than what we expected, but the feedback is clicky, so typing is more than pleasant. The unit also has a backlight as well as a fingerprint reader inside the power button. The touchpad is huge and the glass surface makes for excellent gliding, while the tracking and responsiveness are among the best. That output is pretty limited, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB Type-C 3.2 Generation 2 port, which offers transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps, an SD card reader, and an audio jack. While there are both 3.5K and 4K displays, we chose the more sensible FHD plus option, which is pretty fitting for a 15.6-inch display. It has the trendy 1610 aspect ratio and gets very bright, peaking at 544 nits, while the contrast ratio is very high at 1710 to 1. The panel shines with its 95% sRGB coverage and Delta E value of 1.6 with our design and gaming profile. One advantage of the FHD panel is the longer battery life, as the GPU has fewer pixels to push. This, paired with the 86Wh battery pack and the Core i7-12700H, delivers 16 hours and 57 minutes of web browsing, or 13 hours and 58 minutes of video playback on a single charge, which is quite impressive and might be the longest that we've so far seen from an Alder Lake H-Series CPU. Only 2 per 100 people watching this video are subscribers. If you decide to just start following us, we'll be able to reinvest more in our laboratory thus making even more helpful videos for you. Thank you, you're awesome! Due to the laptop's relatively thin profile, this isn't the best performing Core i7-12700H that you'll find. On the contrary, it shows the lowest results out of any Core i7-12700H powered laptop that we've tested so far. On the GPU side, we have 2 options, the RTX 3050 and the 3050 Ti. The Ti model has an extra 5W headroom in its TGP, for 45W total. So while you won't be crushing games with it, you can still use it for creator work, which is its purpose inside this laptop. The laptop employs Torx head screws, so you might have to invest in a new set of tools in order to take apart the XPS 15. Thankfully, once inside, there's actually something to do, as there are 2 Sodium RAM slots for DDR5 RAM and 2M.2 PCI-EX4 slots that fit generation 4 drives. Unlike XPS 17, the 15-inch model doesn't have a vapor chamber, which gives an answer to the lack of performance. It is replaced by 2 heat pipes, fans, and heat sinks. Simply put, it can't keep the CPU or GPU in check, leading to throttling, with the GPU not even reaching its 45W TGP at all. While the laptop is relatively quiet, which might be the cause of the lack of performance, the outside temperature rises up to 48.3 degrees Celsius. While we're kind of disappointed that the laptop doesn't deliver top-notch performance, the Core i7-12700H is still powerful and the laptop has so many other good features. Is it the best choice for you? Well, now you know what to expect so decide for yourself. Or read our in-depth review, it will give you a lot more insights. The link is in the video description.