Dell XPS 15 - Should I choose FHD or 4K for text heavy work?

[trzasku]

I have read dozens posts about 4K vs FHD XPS 15 but the opinions are divided - half of the users prefer the FHD version, the other half the 4K version.

 

I will use the laptopt mostly for office work - Excel, Word, Evernote, browsing the web and a bit YouTube - mostly work involing reading text. For this workload would you reccomend the 4K or the FHD version? Why?

The price is not important. Also the laptopt will be used mainly indoor in a moderate sun illuminated room.

[Darkseth]

Do you have any possibility to try it for yourself somewhere, somehow?

 

i personally dare to say: 4k.

Simply because you mentionied, how Text is very important.

Even on 13,3 - 14" i can see the benefit in having more than 1080p, since it's still not sharp enough, to "not see ANY pixels at all" (or the "pixel structure"). At least: I personally think, stuff on my Macbook Pro 13" Display looks noticeable better than on a 14" Thinkpad T-series with 1080p.

Plus, Windows doesn't have the very best Font rendering. There's even an App, that changes Windows' Font rendering to make it similar to MacOS (MacType).

FHD will absolutely work. But if you are even remotely sensitive for edges on Fonts, you might probably see a better, cleaner Text on 4k.

 

It's just more expensive, and reduces Batterylife. That's why most prefer FHD. Because it's "good enough"

 

However: I can't possibly know, how you would really percieve it. But i know, from FHD on 15", there is very visiblie room for improvement in terms of Sharpness.

[Commodus]

12 minutes ago, trzasku said:

I have read dozens posts about 4K vs FHD XPS 15 but the opinions are divided - half of the users prefer the FHD version, the other half the 4K version.

 

I will use the laptopt mostly for office work - Excel, Word, Evernote, browsing the web and a bit YouTube - mostly work involing reading text. For this workload would you reccomend the 4K or the FHD version? Why?

The price is not important. Also the laptopt will be used mainly indoor in a moderate sun illuminated room.

Stick with FHD. 4K looks great, but it'll kill battery life and will largely be wasted when you're mostly working with text.

 

I really wish Dell (and other Windows PC vendors, for that matter) had an in-between option like 1440p, although Microsoft's poor resolution scaling is partly to blame for that.

[trzasku]

@Darkseth and @Commodus Thank you very much for your time and help  Battery is not a concern because it will be plugged most of the time.

My main concern is however the reflections on the 4K monitor. Do you think they improved the screen coating in the XPS 15 9500 compared to the previous versions?

[Commodus]

1 minute ago, trzasku said:

@Darkseth and @Commodus Thank you very much for your time and help  Battery is not a concern because it will be plugged most of the time.

My main concern is however the reflections on the 4K monitor. Do you think they improved the screen coating in the XPS 15 9500 compared to the previous versions?

That's a good point. I haven't heard of significant improvements to the coating, so if glare is going to be an issue, I'd lean FHD.

[trzasku]

56 minutes ago, DriftMan said:

If you are not going to use it outside, get the FHD. My biggest concern about FHD is the max brightness. Anyway, you can spend the difference to get a nice monitor.

If only inside, would you choose 4K for my workload?