Dell XPS 15 9500 vs. Surface Laptop 3: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Dell XPS 15 9500 and Surface Laptop 3 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Dell XPS 15 9500 Pros

Reasons that Dell XPS 15 9500 is better than Surface Laptop 3.

Much faster CPU performance

Intel Core i9-10885H inside Dell XPS 15 9500 has a 147% better multi-core CPU performance score than the AMD Ryzen 7-3780U Microsoft Surface Edition inside Surface Laptop 3.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Dell XPS 15 9500 - Intel Core i7-10875H
6,874
Dell XPS 15 9500 - Intel Core i9-10885H
6,788
Dell XPS 15 9500 - Intel Core i7-10750H
5,412
Dell XPS 15 9500 - Intel Core i5-10300H
3,747
Surface Laptop 3 - Intel Core i7-1065G7
3,722
Surface Laptop 3 - Intel Core i5-1035G7
3,691
Surface Laptop 3 - AMD Ryzen 7-3780U Microsoft Surface Edition
2,741
Surface Laptop 3 - AMD Ryzen 5-3580U Microsoft Surface Edition
2,438
Supports larger memory

Dell XPS 15 9500 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Laptop 3. It supports up to 64GB versus 16GB of system memory on the Surface Laptop 3.

Max system memory size
Dell XPS 15 9500
64 GB
Surface Laptop 3
16 GB
Upgradable memory

Dell XPS 15 9500 comes with two SODIMM slots that allow you to replace or upgrade when needed. On the flip side, you can't upgrade RAM on the Surface Laptop 3 since it has onboard memory.

MemoryDell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Slots
x2
Onboard
TypeDDR4LPDDR4X
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to Nvidia Quadro GTX 1650Ti 4GB GDDR6 vs. integrated

15% larger display

Dell XPS 15 9500 has a 15.6-inch screen size 15% larger than the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3.

Display size
Dell XPS 15 9500
15.6-inch
Surface Laptop 3
13.5-inch

Surface Laptop 3 Pros

Reasons that Surface Laptop 3 is better than Dell XPS 15 9500.

Supports faster memory

Surface Laptop 3 supports a faster memory speed than the Dell XPS 15 9500. It supports up to 3733MHz versus 2933MHz of system memory on the Dell XPS 15 9500.

Memory type and speed
Surface Laptop 3 - LPDDR4X
3,733 MHz
Dell XPS 15 9500 - DDR4
2,933 MHz
About 31% lighter

Surface Laptop 3 weighed 2.79 pounds, 31% lighter than the 4 pounds Dell XPS 15 9500.

WeightDell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Pound
4 lbs.
2.79 lbs.
Kilogram
1.81 kg
1.27 kg

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Dell XPS 15 9500 Price
Dell XPS 15 9500 15.6 inches FHD i7-10750H 16 512GB SSD GTX 1650 Ti XPS9500-7002SLV-PUS (Renewed)
Dell XPS 15 9500 15.6 inches FHD i7-10750H 16 512GB SSD GTX 1650 Ti XPS9500-7002SLV-PUS (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,098.95
Dell XPS 9500 15.6" FHD Non-Touch Business Laptop, 10th Gen Intel i7-10750H, Windows 11 Pro, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, Fingerprint Reader, Backlit Keyboard
Dell XPS 9500 15.6" FHD Non-Touch Business Laptop, 10th Gen Intel i7-10750H, Windows 11 Pro, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, Fingerprint Reader, Backlit Keyboard
By Dell
$1,699.00
Dell XPS 15 9500 (Latest Model) 15.6-inch Laptop Intel Core i7-10750H 10th Gen 32GB DDR4 RAM 1TB SSD, 4K UHD+ (3840x2400) 500-NIT Touch NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Ti 4GB GDDR6, Windows 10 PRO (Renewed)
Dell XPS 15 9500 (Latest Model) 15.6-inch Laptop Intel Core i7-10750H 10th Gen 32GB DDR4 RAM 1TB SSD, 4K UHD+ (3840x2400) 500-NIT Touch NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Ti 4GB GDDR6, Windows 10 PRO (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,399.94
Surface Laptop 3 Price
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive (PKX-00003) Matte Black (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive (PKX-00003) Matte Black (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$299.00
$319.00 6% OFF
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5" Touch-Screen – Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model) – Platinum with Alcantara (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5" Touch-Screen – Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model) – Platinum with Alcantara (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$445.01
$489.99 9% OFF
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 (2023) - 12.4" Touchscreen, Thin & Lightweight, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD SSD, with Windows 11, Platinum Color Copilot
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 (2023) - 12.4" Touchscreen, Thin & Lightweight, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD SSD, with Windows 11, Platinum Color Copilot
By Microsoft
$653.03
$799.99 18% OFF

Availability

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Released20202019
Release DateRelease Date: May 13, 2020
  • Introduced: October 2, 2019 (Microsoft October Event)
  • Pre-ordered: October 2, 2019
  • Released: October 22, 2019
PricingStarting at $1,299.99
  • Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) › Starting at 999$
  • Surface Laptop 3 (15”) › Starting at 1,199$
Generations-

Exterior

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Dimensions13.56 x 9.07 x 0.30 - 0.71 in (344.40 x 230.30 x 7.70 - 18 mm)
Width: 13.56” (344.40 mm)
Depth: 9.07” (230.30 mm)
Height: 0.30 - 0.71” (7.70 - 18 mm)
  • Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”)
    12.1” x 8.8” x 0.57” (308 mm x 223 mm x 14.5 mm).
  • Surface Laptop 3 (15”)
    13.4” x 9.6” x 0.57” (339.5 mm x 244 mm x 14.69 mm).
Weight
  • Non-touch with 56Wh: 4 lbs (1.83 kg)
  • Touch screen with 86Wh: 4.5 lbs (2.05 kg)
  • Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”)
    • 2.84 lb (1,288 g)
      Sandstone and Matte Black
    • 2.79 lb (1,265 g)
      Cobalt Blue and Platinum
  • Surface Laptop 3 (15”)
    • 3.40 lb (1,542 g)
Colors
  • CNC machined aluminum in platinum silver with carbon fiber composite palm rest in black
  • Edge-to-edge Corning® Gorilla® Glass 6 on touch panel
  • Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”)
    • Metal
      Matte Black Sandstone
    • Alcantara
      Matte Black Platinum
  • Surface Laptop 3 (15”)
    • Metal
      Matte Black Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Full size, backlit chiclet keyboard.
  • 5.91 x 3.54 in (150 mm x 90 mm) touchpad with multi-touch gesture support.
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size backlit keyboard with the soft-touch feel and full 1.3mm travel.
    • Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 115 mm x 76.66 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Size15.6 Inches13.5 Inches
Info
  • 15.6-inch FHD+ non-touchscreen
    1920 x 1200, IPS, 145 PPI, 500-nits brightness, 1650:1 contrast ratio, 100% sRGB, InfinityEdge Anti-Glare, Non-touch support, 4.41W.
  • 15.6-inch UHD+ IPS touchscreen
    3840 x 2400, IPS, 290 PPI, 500-nit brightness, 1600:1 contrast ratio, 100% AdobeRGB, InfinityEdge, Anti-Reflective, Touch support, 10.4W.
  • Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”)
    • Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (3.4M Pixels)
    • Pixel Per Inch: 201
  • Surface Laptop 3 (15”)
    • Resolution: 2496 x 1664 (4.15M Pixels)
    • Pixel Per Inch: 201
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch
  • Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
  • 10nm Oleophobic Coating
  • 100% sRGB color, individually calibrated

Ports

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Dell XPS 15 9500 Ports
Image Source: Dell
Left (3)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort 1.2, Power Delivery
  • 1 x lock slot
Right (3)
  • 1 x USB-C
    USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort, Power Delivery
  • 1 x full-size SD card slot
    v6.0
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
Surface Laptop 3 Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 1 x Full-size USB 3.0
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2
    Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort.
  • 1 x Surface Connect™
    Supports charging and docking station.
  • 1 x Headset jack

Internal Specs

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Processor
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 4.50 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 5.00 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 5.10 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  4. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.30 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.20 → 3.70 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. AMD Ryzen™ 5 3580U Microsoft Surface® Edition
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.10 → 3.70 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 4MB L3 Cache, 15W
  4. AMD Ryzen™ 7 3780U Microsoft Surface® Edition
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.30 → 4.00 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 4MB L3 Cache, 15W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  3. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  4. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7
    Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
    64 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7
    Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
    64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  3. AMD Ryzen™ 5 3580U Microsoft Surface® Edition
    Radeon™ Vega 9 Graphics
    9 Graphics Cores, 1300 MHz
  4. AMD Ryzen™ 7 3780U Microsoft Surface® Edition
    Radeon™ RX Vega 11 Graphics
    11 Graphics Cores, 1400 MHz
Memory
4 GB 8 GB 16 GB 32 GB 64 GB
2933 MHz Dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
  • Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”)
    • 8GB 16GB
      3733 MHz LPDDR4X RAM
  • Surface Laptop 3 (15”)
    • 8GB 16GB
      2400 MHz DDR4 RAM
Discrete GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 Ti with Max-Q (Optional)
Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR6 128-bit, 1035 → 1200 MHz, 1024 CUDA Cores.
-
Storage
256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 2TB
Removable M.2 2230/2280 PCIe® 3x4 NVMe™ SSD, Up to 32 Gbps.
128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
Removable M.2 NVMe SSD
Fans Number2-

Connectivity

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Wi-Fi
  • Rivet Killer AX1650s
    Up to 2400 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g, WiFi-4 (802.11n), WiFi-5 (802.11ac), WiFi-6 (802.11ax)
  • Rivet Killer AX500s DBS
    Up to 1774.50 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g, WiFi-4 (802.11n), WiFi-5 (802.11ac), WiFi-6 (802.11ax)
  • Surface Laptop 3 (13.5”) Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.
  • Surface Laptop 3 (15”) Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth
  • Rivet Killer AX1650s › Bluetooth 5.0
  • Rivet Killer AX500s DBS › Bluetooth 5.2
  • Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology

Battery

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Size
  • 3-cell smart lithium-ion 56 Wh
  • 6-cell smart lithium-ion 86 Wh
45.8 Wh
Battery LifeFull HD+ model
  • Up to 24 hours (productivity tasks).
  • Up to 16 hours, 52 minutes (streaming Netflix).
UHD+ model
  • Up to 13 hours, 52 minutes (productivity tasks).
  • Up to 8 hours, 27 minutes (streaming Netflix).
Up to 11.5 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply
  • 90 W USB Type-C power adapter
    Power rated at 5VDC/3A, 9VDc/3A, 15VDC/3A, 20VDC/4.5A.
  • 130 W USB Type-C power adapter
    Power rated at 5VDC/1A, 20VDC/6.5A.
  • 60W power supply with USB-A (5W) (65W total)
  • Supports Fast Charge (0-80% in about one hour)

Software

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
OS
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro
Upgradable to Windows 11
  • For Consumer: Windows 10 Home
  • For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro
Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps
  • Microsoft Office 30-days trial
  • McAfee LiveSafe™ 12 Month Subscription
Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    Top-mount front camera with fixed focus lens, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD) at 30 fps.
  • Infrared camera
    576 x 360 (VGA) at 30 fps for Windows Hello Facial Recognition.
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 720p HD front-facing video camera
Audio
  • Realtek ALC3281-CG
  • Studio quality tuning with Waves MaxxAudio® Pro and Waves Nx® 3D audio
  • Quad-speaker design with 2.5W x2 woofers and 1.5W x2 tweeters = 8W total peak output
  • Dual microphone array optimized with Waves MaxxVoice supporting VoIP - Microsoft Cortana capable
  • Dual far-field Studio Mics
  • OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
Inking-Supports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader in the power button
  • Ambient light sensor
Security
  • Windows Hello with Fingerprint Sign in
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
  • Wedge-shaped lock
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box-
  • Surface Laptop 3
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
Warranty-
  • One-year limited hardware warranty
  • Commercial: Advanced Exchange warranty service with expedited device replacement
More-Supports Surface Dial
Supports off-screen interaction only

Key Features

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3
At Glance
Released in Mid
2020
16:10 4K UHD+
15.6”
2400p 60Hz
Weight
4 lb
1.81 kg
Up to
Intel Core i9-10885H
8C/16T, 2.40 → 5.30 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,196
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,788
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
Upgradable up to
64GB
2933 MHz DDR4
Dell XPS 15 9500 Ports
Nvidia Quadro
GTX 1650Ti
4GB GDDR6
Released in
2019
3:2 2.5K
13.5”
1664p 60Hz
Weight
2.79 lb
1.27 kg
Up to
AMD Ryzen 7-3780U Microsoft Surface Edition
4C/8T, 2.30 → 4.00 GHz
Geekbench 5
721
Single Core
Geekbench 5
2,741
Multi-Core
With integrated
Radeon™ RX Vega 11 Graphics
11 Graphics Cores, 1400 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
3733 MHz LPDDR4X
Surface Laptop 3 Ports

Comparison Summary

Dell XPS 15 9500 vs. Surface Laptop 3

Dell has released the XPS 15 9500, a 15.6-inch machine, in mid-2020. It is powered by up to an octa-core Intel Core i9-10885H with a boost clock speed up to 5.30 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia Quadro GTX 1650Ti with 4GB GDDR6.

On the other hand, we have the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 was introduced by Microsoft about a year earlier in 2019. It comes with up to a quad-core AMD Ryzen 7-3780U Microsoft Surface Edition with a boost clock speed up to 4.00 GHz. It has an integrated graphics option up to Radeon™ RX Vega 11 Graphics (11 Graphics Cores, 1400 MHz).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Dell XPS 15 95001
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H1,06188.71%
2
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H1,13494.82%
3
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H1,19299.67%
4
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H1,196100.00%
Surface Laptop 31
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G71,00283.78%
2
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G71,08890.97%
3
AMD Ryzen™ 5 3580U Microsoft Surface® Edition70358.78%
4
AMD Ryzen™ 7 3780U Microsoft Surface® Edition72160.28%
01,196

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Dell XPS 15 95001
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-10300H3,74754.51%
2
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10750H5,41278.73%
3
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10875H6,874100.00%
4
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10885H6,78898.75%
Surface Laptop 31
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G73,69153.70%
2
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G73,72254.15%
3
AMD Ryzen™ 5 3580U Microsoft Surface® Edition2,43835.47%
4
AMD Ryzen™ 7 3780U Microsoft Surface® Edition2,74139.87%
06,874

The Dell XPS 15 9500 has a 15.6-inch display which is considerably larger than the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3. In addition, the Dell XPS 15 9500 weighs 4 lbs. about 43% heavier than the 2.79 lbs. Surface Laptop 3. Moreover, measured at 13.56” x 9.07” x 0.71”, the Dell XPS 15 9500 is much bulkier than the Surface Laptop 3 at 12.13” x 8.79” x 0.57”.

Dell XPS 15 9500Surface Laptop 3

Moving over to upgradability, Dell claims that the Dell XPS 15 9500 supports up to 64GB 2933 MHz DDR4 memory that you can upgrade with two memory module slots on the motherboard. It also comes with two M.2 slots that users can easily upgrade and install an additional SSD to expand the storage on the device.

For Surface Laptop 3, it supports up to 16GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4X memory. Unlike Dell XPS 15 9500, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Luckily, it has a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace or upgrade when needed.

Comments

Ask questions or share your thought and experience about the comparison between Dell XPS 15 9500 and Surface Laptop 3.

Loading Comments...