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🦉 WE READ 741 OWNER COMMENTS
Dell XPS: what owners actually say
Owners love the screen and Linux support but repeatedly hit coil whine, touchpad failures, and thermal throttling across generations
What owners complain about
- Coil whine COMMON
Multiple 9360 owners report audible coil whine under load; one returned the laptop because it was audible over music playing from the laptop's own speakers. Another owner called it 'pretty annoying.' A 9370 owner reported the issue was resolved on the newer model.
- Touchpad problems COMMON
Owners report jittery scrolling, unreliable right-clicks, and physical play in the touchpad. One user sent a 2016 XPS 13 in for repair three times before giving up; another switched to a trackball for nearly a year. A Precision 5530 (XPS 15 derivative) user calls the touchpad 'garbage compared to the MBP.'
- Thermal throttling SOME
A 9360 owner reports the i7 hits 100°C under 'little load' with CPU throttling kicking in, attributing it to a poor heat sink design.
- Build quality and support decline SOME
A long-time ThinkPad user who switched for the screen reports 'tons of issues around both build quality and support.' An IT professional says recent XPS units given to executives were 'pretty bad' and that Latitudes had better build quality. A budget-Dell owner warns Inspirons 'literally start to fall apart after like 3 months.'
- BIOS update bricking boot times FEW
After the 1.6.x BIOS update on a 9370, POST takes multiple minutes every boot; the first boot after update took nearly 15 minutes. Reinstalling firmware, downgrading, and factory resetting did not fix it. Dell offered to service it.
What owners love
- Screen quality
The display is a primary reason owners chose the XPS — one switched from ThinkPad 'because the screen was just so pretty.' The 4K panel on the XPS 15 9570 is praised for readability.
- Linux out of the box
Dell has shipped the XPS 13 with Ubuntu pre-installed for over a decade. Owners report Linux 'works well' with easily findable tweaks, and the Ubuntu model is notably cheaper than the Windows equivalent in European pricing (1599€ vs 1729€ for identical specs).
- Premium materials and weight
Owners compare the aluminum finish favorably to MacBook quality, saying it feels 'more refined and treated' than competitors. The XPS 13 starts at 2.7 lbs/1.23kg — under the MacBook Air weight.
- Price-to-value vs Apple
German pricing comparison shows the XPS 13 Ubuntu edition at 1599€ vs the MacBook Air at 2089€ and MacBook Pro i5 at 2489€ for comparable specs, a gap owners found significant.
Surprising patterns
- A keyboard firmware bug causes the 'w' key to appear 'stuck' in a pressed state even when physically un-pressed — the owner observed identical behavior on other units, suggesting a systemic issue rather than a one-off.
- An Apple 61W USB-C charger won't wake the XPS from sleep; owners must use a different USB-C charger to wake it first, then the Apple charger works — attributed to Apple not using the 15V Power Delivery profile.
- The XPS 13 Developer Edition with Ubuntu was announced and released surprisingly quickly after the webcam was moved to the top, with an HN commenter directly praising 'Barton & team' for the fast turnaround.
WHO SHOULD SKIP IT
Buyers who need a reliable touchpad, sustained performance under load without thermal throttling, or upgradeable RAM and storage in newer models should look elsewhere — and anyone sensitive to high-frequency coil whine should specifically avoid the 9360 generation.
Synthesised from 741 real owner comments across 5 platforms. Every point is grounded in the comments — no marketing, no AI guessing. How we do it →