Dell XPS 15 9560 vs. Surface Book 2 13.5”: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Dell XPS 15 9560 and Surface Book 2 13.5” specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Dell XPS 15 9560 Pros

Reasons that Dell XPS 15 9560 is better than Surface Book 2 13.5”.

Supports larger memory

Dell XPS 15 9560 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Book 2 13.5”. It supports up to 32GB versus 16GB of system memory on the Surface Book 2 13.5”.

Max system memory size
Dell XPS 15 9560
32 GB
Surface Book 2 13.5”
16 GB
Supports faster memory

Dell XPS 15 9560 supports a faster memory speed than the Surface Book 2 13.5”. It supports up to 2400MHz versus 1866MHz of system memory on the Surface Book 2 13.5”.

Memory type and speed
Dell XPS 15 9560 - DDR4
2,400 MHz
Surface Book 2 13.5” - LPDDR3
1,866 MHz
15% larger display

Dell XPS 15 9560 has a 15.6-inch screen size 15% larger than the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 13.5”.

Display size
Dell XPS 15 9560
15.6-inch
Surface Book 2 13.5”
13.5-inch

Surface Book 2 13.5” Pros

Reasons that Surface Book 2 13.5” is better than Dell XPS 15 9560.

Significantly faster CPU performance

Intel Core i7-8650U inside Surface Book 2 13.5” has a 20% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-7700HQ inside Dell XPS 15 9560.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Surface Book 2 13.5” - Intel Core i7-8650U
3,879
Dell XPS 15 9560 - Intel Core i7-7700HQ
3,208
Surface Book 2 13.5” - Intel Core i5-8350U
2,982
Dell XPS 15 9560 - Intel Core i5-7300HQ
2,685
Surface Book 2 13.5” - Intel Core i5-7300U
1,777
Dell XPS 15 9560 - Intel Core i3-7100H
1,610
About 16% lighter

Surface Book 2 13.5” weighed 3.38 pounds, 16% lighter than the 4 pounds Dell XPS 15 9560.

WeightDell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Pound
4 lbs.
3.38 lbs.
Kilogram
1.81 kg
1.53 kg

Prices

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

Dell XPS 15 9560 Price
Dell XPS 15 9560 15.6in FHD InfinityEdge Display Intel Core i7-7700HQ X4 2.8GHz 8GB 256GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Silver (Renewed)
Dell XPS 15 9560 15.6in FHD InfinityEdge Display Intel Core i7-7700HQ X4 2.8GHz 8GB 256GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Silver (Renewed)
By Dell
$464.67
Dell XPS 15 9560 4K UHD Touch (3840 x 2160) 7th Gen Intel i7-7700HQ Quad Core 1TB SSD, 32GB Ram Thounderbolt NVIDIA GTX 1050 Win 10 Pro Fingerprint Reader Plus Best Notebook Stylus
Dell XPS 15 9560 4K UHD Touch (3840 x 2160) 7th Gen Intel i7-7700HQ Quad Core 1TB SSD, 32GB Ram Thounderbolt NVIDIA GTX 1050 Win 10 Pro Fingerprint Reader Plus Best Notebook Stylus
By Dell
$1,199.00
Dell XPS 15 9560 4K UHD Touch (3840 x 2160) Intel i7-7700HQ Quad Core 1TB SSD, 32GB Ram Thounderbolt NVIDIA GTX 1050 Win 10 Pro Fingerprint Reader (Renewed)
Dell XPS 15 9560 4K UHD Touch (3840 x 2160) Intel i7-7700HQ Quad Core 1TB SSD, 32GB Ram Thounderbolt NVIDIA GTX 1050 Win 10 Pro Fingerprint Reader (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,420.67
Surface Book 2 13.5” Price
Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver
Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver
By Microsoft
$339.00
$612.99 45% OFF
Microsoft Surface Book 2 15" (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB) (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Book 2 15" (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB) (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$564.69
$719.99 22% OFF
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$339.94
$378.00 10% OFF

Availability

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Released20172017
Release Date-
  • Introduced: October 17, 2017
  • Pre-ordered: November 9, 2017
  • Released: November 16, 2017
Pricing-Starting at 1,149$
Generations

Exterior

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
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)
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i5:
    12.3” x 9.1” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm).
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i7
    12.3” x 9.14” x 0.59”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
Weight
  • 3-cell battery models: 4 lb (1.8 kg)
  • 6-cell battery models: 4.5 lb (2.0 kg)
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i5:
    • Total: 3.38 lbs (1,533 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i7
    • Total: 3.62 lbs (1,642 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
Colors
  • Silver (CNC machined aluminum with carbon fiber composite palm rest in black)
Platinum
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.
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1.55mm travel.
    • Mechanical friction attaches the Clipboard to the keyboard.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Size15.6 Inches13.5 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.
  • Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (6M Pixels)
  • Display Density: 267 PPI
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1600:1
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Ports

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Dell XPS 15 9560 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 Book 2 13.5” Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 2 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 1
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1
    Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort.
  • 2 x Surface Connect™
    1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking.
  • 1 x Headset jack
  • 1 x Full-size SDXC card reader
    UHS-II Performance

Internal Specs

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Processor
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-7100H
    2 cores, 4 threads, 3.00 GHz, 3MB Cache, 35W
  2. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300HQ
    4 cores, 4 threads, 2.50 → 3.50 GHz, 6MB Cache, 45W
  3. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.80 → 3.80 GHz, 6MB Cache, 45W
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.70 → 3.60 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-7100H
    Intel® HD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 950 MHz
  2. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300HQ
    Intel® HD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1000 MHz
  3. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ
    Intel® HD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1100 MHz
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Memory
  • 4 GB 8 GB 16 GB 32 GB
    2400 MHz Dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
8GB 16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 (Optional)
    Pascal Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1354 → 1493 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050
    Pascal Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1354 → 1493 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
Storage
  • 500GB/32GB SSD 512GB/128GB SSD
    Hybrid Hard Drive.
  • 256 GB 512 GB
    PCIe Gen 3 SSD.
128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
1 x M.2 2280 PCIe SSD

Connectivity

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Wi-Fi
  • Rivet Killer 1535
    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 4.1 technology

Battery

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Size
  • 3-cell smart lithium-ion 56 Wh
  • 6-cell smart lithium-ion 97 Wh
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i5:
    Total: 69Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 51Wh
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i7:
    Total: 75.3Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 57.3Wh
Battery Life-
  • Up to 17 hours of video playback
  • Up to 5 hours in tablet mode
Power Supply130 W power adapter
Power rated at 19.50VDC/6.67A.
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i5:
    44W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book with Intel Core i7
    100W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.

Software

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
OS
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro
Windows 10 Pro (Creators Update)
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 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    Bottom-mount front camera with fixed focus lens, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD) at 30 fps.
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
  • 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio
  • Stereo speakers professionally tuned with Waves MaxxAudio® Pro
  • Two speakers (2W x 2 = 4W total)
  • Dual-array microphones
  • Dual microphones
  • Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium
  • Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones
  • Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones

Misc

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
Inking-Supports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
0.1mm precision
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader in the power button
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Proximity sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
Security
  • Windows Hello with Fingerprint Sign in
  • Kensington lock slot
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box-
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
Warranty-One-year limited hardware warranty
More-Supports Surface Dial
Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.

Key Features

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”
At Glance
Released in
2017
16:9 4K UHD
15.6”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
4 lb
1.81 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
4C/8T, 2.80 → 3.80 GHz
Geekbench 5
852
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,208
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® HD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1100 MHz
Up to
32GB
2400 MHz DDR4
Dell XPS 15 9560 Ports
Nvidia Quadro
GTX 1050
4GB GDDR5
Released in Late
2017
3:2 3K
13.5”
2000p 60Hz
Weight
3.38 lb
1.53 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-8650U
4C/8T, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,106
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,879
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 620
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3
Surface Book 2 13.5” Ports
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 1050
4GB GDDR5

Comparison Summary

Dell XPS 15 9560 vs. Surface Book 2 13.5”

Dell has released the XPS 15 9560, a 15.6-inch machine, in 2017. It is powered by up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-7700HQ with a boost clock speed up to 3.80 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia Quadro GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5.

On the other hand, we have the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 13.5” was introduced by Microsoft around the same year in late-2017. It comes with up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-8650U with a boost clock speed up to 4.20 GHz. It has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5.

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Dell XPS 15 95601
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-7100H67460.94%
2
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300HQ84876.67%
3
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ85277.03%
Surface Book 2 13.5”1
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U81573.69%
2
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U86277.94%
3
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U1,106100.00%
01,106

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Dell XPS 15 95601
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-7100H1,61041.51%
2
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300HQ2,68569.22%
3
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ3,20882.70%
Surface Book 2 13.5”1
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U1,77745.81%
2
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U2,98276.88%
3
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U3,879100.00%
03,879

The Dell XPS 15 9560 has a 15.6-inch display which is considerably larger than the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 13.5”. In addition, the Dell XPS 15 9560 weighs 4 lbs. about 18% heavier than the 3.38 lbs. Surface Book 2 13.5”. Moreover, measured at 14.06” x 9.27” x 0.66”, the Dell XPS 15 9560 is considerably more portable than the Surface Book 2 13.5” at 12.3” x 9.14” x 0.9”.

Dell XPS 15 9560Surface Book 2 13.5”

Moving over to upgradability, Dell claims that the Dell XPS 15 9560 supports up to 32GB 2400 MHz DDR4 memory. It also comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace and upgrade in the future.

For Surface Book 2 13.5”, it supports up to 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 memory. Unlike Dell XPS 15 9560, 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.

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