Opinion | Any XPS 15 7590 "review" already out... isn't a review

As you are probably aware if you are reading this, latest Dell's XPS 15, the 7590, has recently begun shipping. Without naming any names here, I was inspired to write this quick editorial upon finding people online excitedly linking and posting about the findings of some "reviews" being published by some big-name publications. This will seem obvious to some of our more dedicated readers, but it bears a reminder: Any real review of a product as complex as a mobile computer will take weeks to form anything resembling an accurate conclusion.

You can benchmark a laptop and you can measure its technical aspects, but as we've learned the hard way with the XPS series or Apple's 2015-2019 MacBooks, it takes time for the actual quality of the product to reveal itself. Annoyances only reveal themselves after dozens of hours of daily usage. Stability is crucial, yet not detectable in initial benchmarks. Some design issues are simply not revealed in anything other than very specific usages that reviewers don't test for. Hardware defects may not be found without continued usage or time.

Being "first" is everything these days, especially in the hyper-competitive world of New Media and technology. So remember: It might have the word "review" in the title, it might be cleverly worded to make you think that it isn't basically an unboxing and first-impression, but don't be mistaken. Wait at least 2-3 weeks if not months before buying something purely off someone else's impression of it — even if it's from a name you recognize or trust.