Dell XPS 15 9550 vs. Surface Pro 3: Full specs comparison

We have comprehensively analyzed the technical specifications for the Dell XPS 15 9550 and Surface Pro 3 models. Our report includes intricate details such as the CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

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Dell XPS 15 9550 image

Dell XPS 15 9550

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Surface Pro 3

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Dell XPS 15 9550 Pros

Reasons that Dell XPS 15 9550 is better than Surface Pro 3.

Newer manufacturing

2015 vs. 2014

Much faster CPU performance

Intel Core i7-6700HQ inside Dell XPS 15 9550 has a 148% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-4650U inside Surface Pro 3.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Dell XPS 15 9550 - Intel Core i7-6700HQ
3,073
Dell XPS 15 9550 - Intel Core i5-6300HQ
2,409
Dell XPS 15 9550 - Intel Core i3-6100H
1,597
Surface Pro 3 - Intel Core i7-4650U
1,236
Surface Pro 3 - Intel Core i5-4300U
1,234
Surface Pro 3 - Intel Core i3-4020Y
782
Supports larger memory

Dell XPS 15 9550 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Pro 3. It supports up to 32GB versus 8GB of system memory on the Surface Pro 3.

Max system memory size
Dell XPS 15 9550
32 GB
Surface Pro 3
8 GB
Supports faster memory

Dell XPS 15 9550 supports a faster memory speed than the Surface Pro 3. It supports up to 2133MHz versus 1600MHz of system memory on the Surface Pro 3.

Memory type and speed
Dell XPS 15 9550 - DDR4
2,133 MHz
Surface Pro 3 - LPDDR3
1,600 MHz
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to Nvidia Quadro GTX 960M 2GB GDDR5 vs. integrated

30% larger display

Dell XPS 15 9550 has a 15.6-inch screen size 30% larger than the 12-inch Surface Pro 3.

Display size
Dell XPS 15 9550
15.6-inch
Surface Pro 3
12-inch
Has three more ports and slots

Dell XPS 15 9550 has more ports and slots count than the Surface Pro 3. It has nine versus six amount of ports and slots on the Surface Pro 3.

PortsDell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Battery gauge buttonYesNo
full-size SD card slotYesNo
HDMIYesNo
headphone jackYesYes
lock slotYesNo
microSD card slotNoYes
Mini DisplayPortNoYes
power portYesNo
Surface ConnectNoYes
Thunderbolt 3YesNo
Type Cover portNoYes
USB-AYes x2Yes
Total96
More versatile connectivity

Dell XPS 15 9550 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Surface Pro 3. It has six versus four commonly used ports and slots on the Surface Pro 3.

PortsDell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
headphone jackYesYes
USB-AYesYes
full-size SD card slotYesNo
HDMIYesNo
microSD card slotNoYes
Mini DisplayPortNoYes
power portYesNo
Thunderbolt 3YesNo

Surface Pro 3 Pros

Reasons that Surface Pro 3 is better than Dell XPS 15 9550.

About 55% lighter

Surface Pro 3 weighed 1.76 pounds, 55% lighter than the 3.9 pounds Dell XPS 15 9550.

WeightDell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Pound
3.9 lbs.
1.76 lbs.
Kilogram
1.77 kg
0.80 kg

Prices

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

Dell XPS 15 9550 Price
Dell XPS 15 9530 15.6'' FHD+ (Intel 13th Gen 14-Core i7-13700H (Beat i9-12900H), 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, Arc A370M) Business Laptop, Backlit, Fingerprint, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, Platinum Silver
 Dell XPS 15 9530 15.6'' FHD+ (Intel 13th Gen 14-Core i7-13700H (Beat i9-12900H), 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, Arc A370M) Business Laptop, Backlit, Fingerprint, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, Platinum Silver
By Dell
$1,638.00
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Genuine Dell 130W(watt) Tip 4.5mm Slim Power AC Adapter for dell XPS 15 9530 9550 9560 9570/Precision M3800 5510 5520 5530 Laptop Charger (HA130PM130/DA130PM130) Power Supply
 Genuine Dell 130W(watt) Tip 4.5mm Slim Power AC Adapter for dell XPS 15 9530 9550 9560 9570/Precision M3800 5510 5520 5530 Laptop Charger (HA130PM130/DA130PM130) Power Supply
By Dell
$31.34
$37.41 16% OFF
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Dell Original XPS 15 Laptop Charger 130W(watt) AC Power Adapter(Power Supply) with 3 Prong Power Cord - Precision M3800 5510 5520 5530,XPS 9530 9550 9560 9570
 Dell Original XPS 15 Laptop Charger 130W(watt) AC Power Adapter(Power Supply) with 3 Prong Power Cord - Precision M3800 5510 5520 5530,XPS 9530 9550 9560 9570
By Dell
$33.00
$37.33 12% OFF
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Surface Pro 3 Price
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (256 GB, Intel Core i5)(Windows 10 Professional 64 bit) (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (256 GB, Intel Core i5)(Windows 10 Professional 64 bit) (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$237.99
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Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet (1631) Silver - 256GB, 12in, Windows 8, Intel Core i5 - Renewed
 Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet (1631) Silver - 256GB, 12in, Windows 8, Intel Core i5 - Renewed
By Microsoft
$148.00
$238.00 38% OFF
See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Pentium® Gold - 4GB Memory - 64GB eMMC - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model)
 Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Pentium® Gold - 4GB Memory - 64GB eMMC - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model)
By Microsoft
$384.22
See at Amazon

Specs Comparison

Availability

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Released20152014
Release Date-
  • Introduced: May 20, 2014
  • Pre-ordered: May 20, 2014
  • Released: June 20, 2014
Pricing-Starting at 799$
Generations

Exterior

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Dimensions14.06 x 9.27 x 0.45 - 0.66 in (357 x 235 x 11 - 17 mm)
Width: 14.06” (357 mm)
Depth: 9.27” (235 mm)
Height: 0.45 - 0.66” (11 - 17 mm)
11.50” x 7.93” x 0.36” (292 mm x 201.3 mm x 9.1 mm)
Width: 11.50” (292 mm)
Height: 7.93” (201.3 mm)
Thickness: 0.36” (9.1 mm)
Weight
  • 3-cell battery models: 3.9 lb (1.78 kg)
  • 6-cell battery models: 4.4 lb (2.0 kg)
  • 1.76 lbs (800 g)
Colors
  • CNC machined aluminum
  • Edge-to-edge Corning® Gorilla® Glass NBT™ on 4K Ultra HD display
  • Carbon fiber composite palm rest with soft-touch paint
Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Full size, backlit chiclet keyboard; 1.3mm travel.
  • 4.13 x 3.15 in (105 mm x 80 mm) touchpad with multi-touch gesture support.
  • Surface Type Cover
    • Not included
  • Keyboard:
    • Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys
    • Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12)
    • 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys;
    • LED backlighting
  • Trackpad:
    • Precision glass trackpad.
    • Supports up to three-finger multitouch gesture.

Display

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Size15.6 Inches12 Inches
Info
  • 15.6-inch WED FHD non-touchscreen
    1920 x 1080, IPS, 141 PPI, 400-nit brightness 100% sRGB, InfinityEdge Anti-Glare, Non-touch support.
     
  • 15.6-inch WED UHD touchscreen
    3840 x 2160, IPS, 282 PPI, 350-nit brightness, 100% AdobeRGB, InfinityEdge Anti-Reflective, Touch support.
  • Resolution: 2160 x 1440 (3.1M Pixels)
  • Density: 216 PPI
  • ClearType Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Touch: 10 point multi-touch
  • Surface Pen support

Ports

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Dell XPS 15 9550 Ports
Image Source: Dell
Left (5)
  • 1 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), PCIe Gen 3 x2, DisplayPort, Power Delivery
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), PowerShare
  • 1 x HDMI
    v2.0
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
  • 1 x power port
Right (4)
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), PowerShare
  • 1 x full-size SD card slot
  • 1 x lock slot
  • 1 x Battery gauge button
Surface Pro 3 Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
Left (1)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
Right (3)
  • 1 x Mini DisplayPort
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.0 (5 Gbps)
  • 1 x Surface Connect
    Charging, Docking Station
Bottom (1)
  • 1 x Type Cover port
Under Kickstand (1)
  • 1 x microSD card slot

Internal Specs

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Processor
  1. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-6100H
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.70 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 35W
  2. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300HQ
    4 cores, 4 threads, 2.30 → 3.20 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 45W
  1. 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-4020Y
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 11.5W
  2. 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4300U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.90 → 2.90 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4650U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.70 → 3.30 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-6100H
    Intel® HD Graphics 530
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 900 MHz
  2. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6300HQ
    Intel® HD Graphics 530
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 950 MHz
  3. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ
    Intel® HD Graphics 530
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
  1. 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-4020Y
    Intel® HD Graphics 4200
    20 Execution Units, 200 → 850 MHz
  2. 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4300U
    Intel® HD Graphics 4200
    20 Execution Units, 200 → 1100 MHz
  3. 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4650U
    Intel® HD Graphics 5000
    40 Execution Units, 200 → 1100 MHz
Memory
  • 8 GB 16 GB 32 GB
    2133 MHz Dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
4GB 8GB
1600 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M (Optional)
    Maxwell Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1033 → 1098 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
-
Storage
  • 500GB/32GB SSD 512GB/128GB SSD
    Hybrid Hard Drive.
  • 256 GB 512 GB
    PCIe Gen 3 SSD.
64 GB 128 GB 256 GB 512 GB
SSD

Connectivity

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Wi-Fi
  • DW1820A
    Up to 867 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g, WiFi-4 (802.11n), WiFi-5 (802.11ac).
  • Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth 4.1
  • Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology

Battery

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Size
  • 3-cell smart lithium-ion 56 Wh
  • 6-cell smart lithium-ion 84 Wh
42.2 Wh
Battery Life
  • Up to 17 hours
* Tested on 84 WHr battery, FHD panel, SSD models.		Up to 9 hours of web browsing
Power Supply130 W power adapter
Power rated at 19.50VDC/6.67A.
  • 36W proprietary power supply
    • USB-A output: 5W
    • Surface Connect: 31W

Software

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
OS
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro
Windows 8.1 Pro
Free upgrade to Windows 10
Built-in Apps
  • Microsoft Office 30-days trial
  • McAfee LiveSafe™ 12 Month Subscription
Microsoft Office 30-days trial

Camera & Audio

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    Bottom-mount front camera with fixed focus lens, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD) at 30 fps.
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video
  • 5.0MP rear-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video
Audio
  • Realtek ALC3266 with Waves MaxxAudio Pro
  • Two speakers (2W x 2 = 4W total)
  • Digital-array microphones
  • Front and rear-facing microphones
  • Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound

Misc

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
Inking-Supports Surface Pen
256 levels of pressure
N-trig Active Pen technology
Sensors-
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
Security
  • Kensington lock slot
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
In the box-
  • Surface Pro 3
  • Surface Pen
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
Warranty-
  • One-year limited hardware warranty
More-
  • Mechanical features: Signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting
  • Kickstand with a full-friction multiposition hinge to 150 degrees
  • Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability
  • Physical buttons: volumes, power

Key Features

Dell XPS 15 9550Surface Pro 3
At Glance
Released in
2015
16:9 4K UHD
15.6”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
3.9 lb
1.77 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
4C/8T, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz
Geekbench 5
798
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,073
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® HD Graphics 530
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
Up to
32GB
2133 MHz DDR4
Dell XPS 15 9550 Ports
Nvidia Quadro
GTX 960M
2GB GDDR5
Released in Mid
2014
3:2 2.1K
12”
1440p 60Hz
Weight
1.76 lb
0.80 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-4650U
2C/4T, 1.70 → 3.30 GHz
Geekbench 5
632
Single Core
Geekbench 5
1,236
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® HD Graphics 5000
40 Execution Units, 200 → 1100 MHz
Configurable up to
8GB
1600 MHz LPDDR3
Surface Pro 3 Ports

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