Dell XPS 13 9380 Owners Thread

I received mine about a week ago and have been using it intensively. Here are my impressions (and would of course love to hear from others). First, my model:

FHD 1080p Matte Non-Touch
Core i7
16gb Ram
"Frost White"

I cloned the 250gb hard drive it came with onto a new Samsung 970 EVO 1TB, and have been using that (the replacement process was super easy, once I was able to "carefully" pry the cover off).

My overall impressions are very very good, especially when compared with my XPS 9343 non-touch 1080p, i.e. the original tiny bezels model from 2015 which I liked very much but was getting too slow (it's now my backup computer).

Positives:
Display: Great. Very bright, brighter than the 9343.
Keyboard and track pad: Fantastic once I adjusted the trackpad to low sensitivity
Speed: fast! I don't have "waiting" issues anymore as I was having with the 9343 increasingly over the past year. I'll leave it to others to do actual benchmarks.
Battery life: good after an initial scare. Yesterday I was working on battery for the first extended period of time (just typing on Word and normal Firefox browsing), and the power drained completely in just over four hours, despite my having display brightness at roughly a third of max. This was unacceptable. So I did two things:
1. Changed the Power setting to "Dell"
2. Put the laptop in "Battery Saver" mode (just search for "Battery Saver") automatically whenever I'm using the battery (i.e. set the slider to 100%)
Now I'm getting a 10% reduction in battery charge per hour, i.e. roughly 10 hours of battery life, when the screen is set to just under 50% brightness. Thus "battery saver" mode has worked well for me - it still allowing me to do everything I need to on battery -- 10 hours is pretty good!
Appearance: very nice! I like the white/frost because sometimes I like to work out in the sun and the black surface of the 9343 would make that impossible on a day that's even just a little bit warm.

Ok but not great:
Speakers: I find they just aren't loud enough to clearly hear all videos (some are ok, some not).

Problems:
I've seen this reported before. The battery drains significantly while on sleep mode (the 9343 doesn't have this problem). I switched to "hibernate" when closing the lid, which works for me; these chips are so fast now that the extra few seconds coming out of hibernate is manageable.

Issues I haven't experienced: coil whine. I don't hear it. The fan comes on a decent amount of the time but is not too loud.

Looking forward to reading others' impressions.

 

Any reason why you went for the i7? Or was it just to get the 16GB RAM?

I don't think enabling the battery saver mode is a permanent or acceptable fix for battery life. Without knowing the full details of the "battery saver" power mode on your particular system, the default Windows 10 feature limits background app activirty and push notifications.

The huge dissapointment for me with the 9380 is the fact Dell feel it's acceptable to release a 2019 premium laptop with a base display spec that's non-touch.

 

I went for the I7 because of a combination of best-performance and avoiding waiting longer until the I5 was available with 16Gb (I definitely wanted 16GB) - as my need for a new laptop was becoming urgent.

When I get a chance I'll try without the battery saver mode and then report back on the difference (i.e. while still keeping the "Dell" power option). Personally when I'm on battery, which isn't too often, I don't care so much about the background/push-notification activity that "battery-saver" limits. I understand that you/others may feel differently.

 

Is DPC latency and audio popping an issue on this machine? Thanks.

 

I've listened to a lot of video/audio on this machine already and have heard no audio popping or problems of any kind. The speakers just could be a bit louder. I've also used Bluetooth to connect to speakers, which has worked fine. WiFi seems good as well. Based on this experience, I would have to say that DPC latency (as I understand it) is not an issue.

 

How many watts can you sustain under a stress on the CPU if you get rid of power limit throttling by using ThrottleStop to disable and lock the power limits in its FIVR menu and set the Turbo Boost Power Maxes to very high values in the TPL menu?

 

What audio drivers did you use? The original ones?
And, did you do a clean install of Windows or did you use the one it shipped with?

I hope to receive my 9380 in the coming days somewhere and will share my experiences here as well once I receive it!

 

I ordered one it has shipped and should be here this week I ordered the I7 as well I wanted the 16gb ram and you can't upgrade the ram after.

I will be upgrading from the 9360 so I will let you know if it's worth it.

 

Could you please let me know what type of screen (matte/glossy) your 9380 system has as soon as you receive it? And if it has a matte screen, tell me what exact configuration you ordered? Thanks in advance!

 

I ordered the i5, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM model (1080p non-Touch). Will let you know once it’s here!

 

It came with Windows Home. I upgraded to Windows pro, then cloned the this drive to the new Samsung and reinstalled all my programs/migrated data.

I used the original audio drivers, made no changes.

 

Ive received it and can confirm it’s matte

 

Little update: I’m returning the XPS. First of all, I don’t like the matte look of the screen. It’s plain advertised incorrectly on the website, and I’ve literally had to convince the phone rep for 20 minutes that this actually was a mistake; he didn’t seem to want to believe me. Second of all, there’s weird small white wires exposed at the right sight of the hinge, below the screen. Third, the audio driver stops working randomly, and when plugging in headphones the audio just keeps on playing over the speakers. Fourth, the screen flickers very often. It just doesn’t seem like good quality, and I’m going to go back to my MBP. It just really sucks because I went away from the MBP because of keyboard problems, but this laptop unfortunately has even more issues.

I guess I’m gonna have to wait for a MBP redesign while using my MBP, cause I just can’t seem to find a reliable computer at the moment.

 

Be interested in seeing a picture of the exposed wires.

The audio driver might just require an update.

 

Unfortunately, I reinstalled Windows already, and repeatedly tried installing the latest driver from Dell. The issues seems to start when I wake the laptop from sleep.

As for the wires (at least, that’s what I think they are when looking really closely) they are hard to grab a picture of, this is the best I could do

 

Hi all,
I just ordered mine with Ubuntu and i was wondering if anyone else has got this one. I would like to ask a couple of questions. Thanks

 

I am with you on the Matte screen, my dell 24" touchscreen is matte, my notebooks screen is glossy, the glossy looks SOOOOO much better. I am, however, not with you on the MacBook thing. Terrible overpriced devices.

 

I'm sorry for you that you received a machine with these defects, sounds like a lemon. My 9380 hasn't had any of these issues in the three weeks I've owned it-- audio is smooth/fine, no wires visible, no screen flickers. It' just running the way it's supposed to and I'm very happy with it.

 

My 9380 came in yesterday, I'm pleased so far.

I chose the i7 processor, 256GB SSD, 16 GB RAM, standard display, White/Arctic White.

From an out-of-the-box user experience perspective it's always a bummer that the first 2 hours are spent updating Windows 10 and hardware/BIOS updates. Not specific to Dell or the 9380, but it's one of those little things that leave an impact on perception of quality.

One thing I've observed, not sure if it's by design or a setting, or specific to my particular unit, but I have noticed the wireless adapter seems to shut off when there's no activity for a period of time (2-3 minutes) and not plugged in. It fires right back up and connects quickly once needed. Not sure how I feel about it yet.

 

Has anyone else had any success in downloading the Thunderbolt Control Center from the microsoft store? I cannot and that makes my eGPU a very expensive paperweight......

If I try to install the old Thunderbolt Software, I get an error popup saying "This Thunderbolt application is not in use anymore and can be safely uninstalled"

 

Terrible, terrible, terrible. No end of issues with my brand new 9380 and TB16 Thunderbolt Dock. So much so that Dell has sent a replacement order. Let’s see if the problems are just with this machine or if they are symptomatic of the model.

 

I ordered mine yesterday to replace my 3 year old XPS13. It still works great but I get a BYOD bonus at work so I thought why not.

I'm from Mexico and got it straight from Dell, the i5, 8gb 256gb ssd and 1080P screen bundled with a 2 year warranty is around $1800 USD! I like XPX13 a lot but I bet I could have gotten a better deal with another brand. however, Dell is the only manufacturer that offers NBD on site support in Mexico so I had very limited options.

I'll bet getting it in 2 or 3 weeks. The upgrade I'm hyped the most for is the PCIe SSD, as my current XPS has some issues with Chrome just saturating the i/o of the SSD.

 

So. I have had my 9380 for about a month and the problem that you have stated about Chrome saturating the i/o of the SSD is still present on mine. I have the i7 latest generation chip in mine. Coupled with this the machine has multiple event errors logged every time it boots up and regularly has BSOD which I think is due to the TB16 Thunderbolt dock. Oh and sound drivers intermittently stop working which then forces me to troubleshoot. Rather than proving NBD onsite Dell have just shipped complete replacement system. Hoping I just got a random dud but if the same problems persist on the new one I’ll be sending it back for a complete refund.

 

I ended up doing a lot of driver updates and a fresh install of Win10 and my 9380 has been way more stable. No issues with the Thunderbolt ports, wifi drops, etc. Also discovered that a firmware change to my router (Arris) was causing the wifi drops. It would drop every time the router automatically shifted the laptop between the 2.4 and 5 ghz bands. I ended up splitting the two bands and manually connecting to one, and no more drops.

 

Hi everyone,

I ordered a 9380 with the following specs:

Full HD display
i7
16 gig rams
256 SSD

I will be using it with an aorus gaming box (the 2070). I've been reading a lot that doing a fresh install of windows could potentially bust performance/avoid any potential issues. Just curious what the best way to do this would be. I know that windows 10 now offers a "fresh start" option which is supposed to restore the laptop to original windows 10 settings without any bloatware, however would it be better to get a windows 10 USB boot? Also, once I do this, what drivers exactly am i supposed to install? I would guess th emost important one is the wifi driver so that I can get windows update to install most of them by itself, but then how would i know whether any drivers are missing?

Thanks for your help.

 

I did a fresh start -- it seems to hold onto the drivers. IF you do the USB boot, you'll definitely want to grab the drivers off the Dell website before starting.

 

decided to put in an ssd I took out from my razer blade and all hell broke loose. trying to boot into bios is an all day affair and once there, cursor doesn't move at all..
the hells going on, I just want to get into usb recovery.


how do I boot from usb recovery image?

 

I am really curious to hear your guys' experiences with 9380 after a few months of regular, every day usage regarding the battery life and the heat this thing generates.

I've had 9360, and replaced the battery twice in the last 3 years I've had it simply because it degrades in no time, and the original one held about 7-8 hours of charge max, on the lowest setting, minimal usage, 40-50% screen, etc. Even less than that if I actually use it for anything more intensive than simple browsing with more than 5-6 tabs (about 4-5 hours, tops).

Nowhere near the advertised 19hr battery life they were pushing (and still are pushing) on their website for that model.

And then after 3-4 months of usage the battery life would deteriorate so much that after full charge it would last about 2 hours tops, at minimal/optimal power setting and minimal app usage. As in, I had to have it plugged in at all times if I wanted to get anything done.

Pure false advertising if you ask me, as I couldn't achieve even half of that on any of the minimal/lowest settings possible that would allow a human to do any work on that laptop. Which, at that price tag put it in a whole different "battery life" category with much cheaper laptops, in my opinion.

And the heat this thing generates.... phew. If I held it on my lap directly, I'd probably cook my own nuts and sterilize myself within the hour (for the lack of a better description).

Are you guys seeing any of those issues on 9380 (or if you do after a few months, please share here).

And what's the longest you've ever had that battery last on a regular usage cycle (nothing too crazy like video editing and crunching photoshop while having 40 browser tabs open)?

Just curious... as I want to hear some real life stats, not these benchmark and estimated stats Dell keeps pushing.

Because I'm either going to upgrade my 9360 with 9380... or buy something else completely different that ACTUALLY lasts 10+ hours during normal usage (any suggestions on those models are welcome too).

 

Try looking up a good battery life optimisation guide, and follow it. The idea is one should minimise idle consumption / background activities, so that the CPU is at low clock as much as possible. This may vary a lot depending on stuff you've got installed, and there are services in the operating system you can turn off. Mind which web browser you're using, use an extension to suspend inactive tabs, etc.

The new devices may not be the best idea now because Modern Sleep seems to drain battery much faster than old S3 which has been forcefully removed.

Li-ion batteries tend to have a lifetime of roughly 500 cycles, degradation within a year or two is expected unfortunately if you work on battery regularly. You can extend lifetime by not charging to the max when not needed (set max charge level to 90%, min 85% using Dell Command | Power Manager).

 

Man, that's disappointing to know. The only issue I've had with this computer is that and I was counting it to be solved by now...

No docks here. That issue just doesn't make any sense to me. I have a gaming desktop and the same google account is logged on it (same extensions, etc) and it works just fine.

 

I've had the FHD version of the 9380 for over a month now, 16gb RAM, installed my own SSD - Samsung EVO, Windows 10 Pro. I haven't experienced any heat issues (yes it gets warm but not bothersome) despite working on this laptop on my lap for hours a day. Battery life with the FHD display set to around 40% seems to be 8 to 10 hours with "normal" use - i.e. web surfing, emails, a few tabs open, Office documents. For me, I've been really happy with this laptop, no problems others have mentioned - e.g. no audio dropouts (although I do wish the audio was a little louder).

 

I'm seeing 15+ hours battery life pretty consistently on the current BIOS. It does get toasty if I leave it on my lap for extended periods. My guess is the current BIOS favors passive vs active thermal management.

 

Wow, that's a lot of battery life! I haven't tried the battery for an extended period on the current bios, previously as mentioned I've been averaging about 9. Do you have any settings in particular that you altered to get that much, e.g. are you using "Dell Power Plan," lowering monitor resolution to minimal, setting "battery saver" to a high percentage?

 

I'm using 'Best Battery' setting and 'Dell Power Plan'. Display off after 3 minutes, sleep at 5 minutes.

 

Thanks!

 

I've been pleased with the laptop thus far. I have the I7 for the 16gb RAM and went with the 4k monitor as well. The 256gb drive it ships with is slow (SK Hynix PC401) so I replaced that with a 512gb EVO+ right away (max write speeds went from 800MB/s to 2.9GB/s in ATTO). I was getting a fair amount of thermal throttling; after trying a few different thermal compounds and adding a thermal pad, that has gotten much better as well. I've posted some additional info on my setup here.

Edit: I did a clean install of 10 Enterprise. I didnt use any of the drivers off of Dell's website (all done via Windows update). I did use an old version of Thunderbolt Control Center from Dell as the latest wont install for me via the Microsoft Store.

 

just ordered the matte display,
what other complaints are there for the matte display?
coming from a MBP retina, would have preferred the 4K
gloss might be harder to work out doors for longer periods plus shorter battery

sorry about your defects. does anyone else have any negatives about the matte?
was looking at the ubuntu version as well, but the arctic white wasn't an option for the specs needed,
curious to hear what people have to say though

 

My only complaint so far is the power button is a little sticky.
I'm coming from a 9370 with 4K screen, the 4K definitely has more color saturation but on a 13" laptop that's about the only benefit I can see. The 4K also comes with a significant battery impact and shows fingerprints.

 

My power button is fine so this is likely a quality control issue.

 

So I started using mine after transfering all my files. I'm happy overall.
It's replacing XPS13 I got 3 years ago. They are basically the same size except from the back where this one is slightly shorter.



Good
- Much less bloatware than the last time I got a new laptop. Other than drivers and manufacturer software, I have only encountered the McAffee AV stuff
- It's fast (I got the i5 with 8gb RAM)
- My favourite part is the material the palmrest has. It's so comfortable for the hands.
- Both keyboard and touchpad feel great

Not so good
- It gets hot from the bottom and fans can get loud when under load
- I prefer the older silver color. This one is less dark, almost white
- I get random screen flickering. Not very bad but still there.
- Automatic brightness control is evident which I find a bit distracting

All in all I think it's a good product. Hopefully it will last as long as my last XPS13.

 

Can anyone please offer more details on the panel used for the FHD matte screen option this year? Is it the same Sharp LQ133M1 as last year? Something like HWinfo can easily show that.

Also, there should be an option to disable the Dynamic Backlight Control in the BIOS, like on the 2018 model. Is it still there?

 

Been following the thread since January so thanks for the helpful info so far!

I ordered an XPS 9380 which should arrive later this week.

Any recommendations appreciated for:
- SSD replacements
- WiFi cards

Thanks for the help!

 

Check what SSD you get when you receive the laptop, Dell uses different vendors for SSD's in these laptop. Mine is with a SK Hynix 512 GB PC401 which is a decent SSD but not fast when compared to Samsung Evo 970. But few people can notice differences in actual usage between different NVME SSD's.

As for Wifi you cannot change the card, it's integrated (soldered) into the motherboard. Only thing you can do is use an external card if you don't like the Killer card's performance.

I'm now on my third XPS in a month's time, previous models were 9370 and 9570. All these plus my current one had that same Killer chip and the only one which had probelms with it was the 9570. So test it properly when you get it - my 9380 Killer chip has been working quite reliably so far. The only thing i can notice are somewhat lower transfer speeds with my old N-series Wifi box compared to Intel receivers, but the total difference is something like 10%.

 

My 4K Touch model came with the same Sharp panel which was used in the 9370 and i've seen other reports like this around the web. For some reason the 9380 with a FHD panel hasn't really been rewieved by any usual sites, i wonder why is that?

 

Thanks for the details and will do some benchmarks on the SSD. I bought it from the business side of dell.com so maybe diff components?

I got the FHD so will report on that once I get the laptop.

 

I also got benchmarks of these two SSD's with that Crystaldisk software if you need them. This computer is also with the 1 year onsite-warranty so i think it came from the same "pool" as yours. The benchmarks show differences between the PC401 and Evo 970 but i'm not shure if the difference is noticeable in actual computer usage.

I was hesitant of the 4K screen initially but the more i use it the more i like it..

 

Interesting. All I could find is this article ( https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-...Review.409356.0.html#toc-display-4k-uhd-touch ) that talks about AUO panels for both the UHD and FHD versions. Did you get yours in the US? Perhaps they now ship with different panels in different regions?

 

Somewhere there on Notebookcheck's comments there's a guy who asked Dell where are they sourcing their panels and i think they replied that they come from both AUO and Sharp.

I've read several comments that at least outside of the US Dell seems to still use the Sharp panel in many 9380 computers right now. My computer is from Europe.

 

Got mine yesterday with the 4k panel. First time I have ever bought a dell laptop. Have been forced to use them at work for years though. Mine has had no major issues at all. I also like that the screen is very easy on the eyes, I don't have headaches or anything while looking at it. Mine is a sharp panel so this came as a suprise to me as the sharp panels are supposed to use pwm (pulse width modulation). Something weird is that the display colors became much nicer after running dell and windows updates. Not sure why. Anyway, as much as I love the display, I would get the full hd panel if I had to do it all over again as the difference between this and my old 1080p sony laptop are not that great. The 1080p dell panel also has better battery life at 15 hours or so according to reports while on this one I got 7 - 8. Just my two cents.

 

Could someone run a DPC latency test with LatencyMon software please (at least 10 minutes while normal use)? I'm considering purchase for audio work.