Dell XPS 17 9700 Vs Precision 5750: Which is Better?

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BUY NOW	BUY NOW
DELL PRECISION 17 5750	DELL XPS 17 9700
PROS	PROS
Sleek and compact design. Good battery life.	Bright, immersive, 16:10 display. Impressive CPU and graphics power. Slim bezels and attractive design.
CONS	CONS
High temperatures on load.	Average quality webcam. Not for everyone.

SPECIFICATIONS

DESIGN

Dell Precision 5750

When it comes to design, this is an all-metal premium design. It also has that titan gray color. It gives off a nice sleek and modern look and with a starting weight of 4.7 pounds for the entry-level model or 2.13 kilograms not too heavy for a mobile workstation.

We have the stepped-up model with a bigger battery 5.58 pounds or 2.53 kilograms, still very light for a mobile workstation. Keep in mind, the XPS 17 has the same footprint as the Precision 5750. Just like the Dell XPS 15 and 17, this also has a 16 to 10 aspect ratio.

Just like the Dell XPS 13 and 15, this also has an improved keyboard. This has really good tactile feedback, good key travel, and it does have a multi-stage backlight that allows you to get worked on in a dark room or a dimly lit environment.

It also has a very spacious nicely sized precision touchpad that works really well, all the gestures are working well, and two-finger scrolling is buttery smooth. I don’t have any issues as far as any loose trackpad or touchpad on this.

Dell XPS 9700

The build quality is excellent, and I compared it to the MacBook Pro because it’s a little bit different in its purpose. I think MacBooks are built like luxury products where everything looks and feels very expensive which they achieve with the blasted aluminum.

The XPS laptops are built to be strong and practical, so things like the soft-touch finish on the interior that feels like silicone makes it more comfortable to use and also acts as somewhat of an insulator, so the surface doesn’t feel as hot under load compared to bare metal.

The hinge tension is tuned basically perfectly, it’s got very little screen wobble if you’re buying the touchscreen model but still able to be open with one hand but not really because there’s no groove for you to get any leverage to open the screen.

The magnets basically require you to use both hands to open the screen when fully closed. Once you open it like half an inch, then you can open it all the way with one hand. Most of the exterior is bead blasted and anodized aluminum but the rear of the laptop uses a brushed finish.

So, there’s a bit of an inconsistency in terms of aesthetics but other than that, I think it’s one of the most well-made laptops on the market currently.

It’s using the same keyboard as the XPS 13 and 15-inch laptops which have been completely changed since the previous 2019 models. This keyboard I would describe as being quite soft overall, so the tactile bump is not very strong and the bottom out is also cushioned quite a bit.

You can imagine it sort of like having a layer of silicone beneath the switch, this is not necessarily a bad thing because some people may prefer a softer and more comfortable typing experience rather than something that blasts your hands with tactile feedback.

If your job consists primarily of typing like a developer or programmer and you don’t want to use an external keyboard, then get a Thinkpad, otherwise, this is one of the better laptop keyboards. It’s not great but it’s perfectly fine if you’ve never used a 2012 MacBook Pro or a Thinkpad because those really set the bar.

The trackpad on this is so large. I haven’t experienced any issues with palm rejection on any laptop ever, so the extra real estate for gestures is something I personally appreciate.

Tracking accuracy is really good in both quick and small movements. You can position your cursor exactly where you want it and do it consistently. It’s like one of two or three Windows trackpads where I have that level of confidence in its accuracy.

The click is also dampened meaning, it feels soft and cushioned which also makes it significantly quieter compared to the 2019 XPS laptops.

DISPLAY

Dell Precision 5750

The star of the show would be its 17-inch display. It has a resolution of 3840 by 2400 which’s a UHD plus resolution. It’s an IPS display with excellent black levels, great contrast, good color accuracy, and it also covers the color gamut really well.

You’re looking at a 100% sRGB, 99% adobe RGB, 91% of the p3 wide color gamut, and 96% NTSC making this an extremely good choice for those creative professionals that do Lightroom, Photoshop, and of course video editing.

It comes in a very bright 531 nits making this a good choice for both indoor and outdoor use, only beat out by the Dell XPS 15 9500. You’re looking at super slim equal bezels all-around and that’s the same as the Dell XPS 13, 15, and XPS 17. Overall, this is a fantastic display.

Dell XPS 9700

Just like with the XPS 15, the screen is easily the highlight feature of this laptop. The particular unit that I’m reviewing comes with a 4K touchscreen which is not what I would personally recommend. The XPS 15 with a 1080p panel looked really good, it also measured really well.

According to the other reviews I read, measurements of the 1080p panel were substantially better in every category except for the Adobe RGB color gamut than the 4K but that’s very infrequently used.

I would recommend most people including content creators to opt for the 1080p panel instead, you’ll also get better battery life, you won’t have to deal with reflections, you won’t have any scaling issues in windows, and it will be cheaper than the 4K display.

As far as the 4K Panel that I have with this review unit, the measurements are good but not outstanding. The only class-leading aspects are the contrast ratio and the color gamut.

If you do opt for the 4K panel, it seems to only be for touchscreen and HDR support, so it doesn’t look very compelling given the additional extra dollars that you pay on top of an already excellent display.

BATTERY

Dell Precision 5750

There are two battery options. You can get a three cell 56-watt hour battery or the larger 97-watt hour battery it’s a 6 cell battery and that’s the one that we have for review and it did around 9 hours on continuous web surfing test over Wi-Fi at 150 nits. Interestingly enough, this came with the smaller 90-watt hour power supply, not the larger 130-watt power adapter.

Dell XPS 9700

Inside, it’s running a 97-watt hour battery which pushes out around 7 hours of light use which I didn’t expect but other reviews seem to report similar hours. So, if you want to make it through a full 8-hour workday, get the 1080p panel instead and you should get 9 hours pretty comfortably.

WHICH TO BUY?

The Precision 5750 will be a must-buy one if you’re a mobile professional that needs to do high-end video work, 3D CAD rendering, any kind of architectural work, this will definitely get the job done. You’ll love that stunning 17 inches UHD Plus infinity edge touch display, that’s vibrant and sharp.

The optional Xeon processor is great for that added horsepower and I love that NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 discrete GPU it’s the Max Q design and outstanding speakers which is a quad-speaker setup working really well. Even though this is not perfect, this will get the job done.

As an overall laptop, I think the XPS 17 9700 did an excellent job except for the performance and I think for most people that’s probably going to be the deciding factor.

Almost the Precision 5750 and XPS 9700 are similar. The Precision 5750 is the professional model of the XPS 9700. So, if you want a performance-oriented laptop, then you should choose the Precision 5750.

Jaskaran Singh

Jaskaran, a tech enthusiast from childhood, inspired by his father, began his tech journey by rooting Android phones. He now writes on various tech topics, aiming to simplify complex ideas for a broad audience. His writing is direct, concise, and flows effortlessly, making tech topics accessible and engaging.