Dell XPS 17 9720 (2022) review

Dell XPS 17 9720 (2022): the 12-core refresh of a proven formula

The Dell XPS 17 9720 is the 2022 step of the big-XPS ladder: $840 buys a Core i5 12500H — a 12-core, 16-thread part — with a GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile and 64GB of memory. The graphics score of 72.55 matches its 2021 predecessor exactly, a high-tier reading nearly nineteen times the class median, while overall performance at 71.67 stays high-band and office work improves to 94.46, top-tier.

Where it holds up

The Alder Lake processor is the real upgrade: twelve cores and sixteen threads give the office index (94.46, top-tier) and the creative axes room to breathe — photo design at 91 is top-tier, with 3D modeling and engineering CAD both at 59, a tick above the 9710's 57. The 64GB memory ceiling doubles the class median, gaming lands at 64 mid-tier, and value at 52.4 is a fair mid-band placement for the capability on offer.

Where it falls short

Mobility at 24 — 62.5 percent below the class median — is the named weakness, and portability at 22 sits in the low band; like its sibling, this is a desk machine wearing an ultrabook badge. The 3050's 4GB of video memory remains the 2022 constraint on texture-heavy work. And unlike the 9710, the value story is only mid-tier: the newer platform costs $101 more while the 9730 above it costs just $114 more again — the middle child's usual squeeze.

Price and depreciation

The ledger holds no baseline price, so the projection runs rate-only at a modeled 10 percent per year. On $840 that implies roughly $84 of expected first-year loss — a moderate schedule. Positioned between two siblings at $739 and $954, this machine's resale will track the family curve; buying the middle year rarely buys depreciation advantages.

Alternatives to consider

The XPS 17 9710 (2021) at $739 saves $101 with the same 3050 and 64GB, trading the 12-core CPU and some office headroom. The XPS 17 9730 (2023) at $954 is the stronger upgrade: an RTX 4050 with the batch's best GPU reading at 84.46, photo at 95, and gaming at 76 high-tier. Outside the family, the Pro Max 16 Premium at $765 posts value at 87.4 top-tier with a newer RTX Pro 1000 — the value-first alternative to any of the XPS 17 trio.

Bottom line

Fairly priced for the class. The 9720 is the even-handed middle of the XPS 17 ladder — a 12-core CPU, top-tier office and photo, 64GB — with mobility of 24 as the standing invoice and a value reading that neither shames nor rewards it. Buy it when the $840 midpoint genuinely fits the budget; otherwise step down to the 9710 or up to the 9730.