I got my new XPS17(2022) today. From what I have currently tested, the fans are hearable depending on load. Eg. while compiling a bigger Visual Studio project, the fans startet do blow audible. On the other side, while typing here, no fan to hear. Will have a closer look on that the next days.
I'm currently waiting for the delivery. The XPS 9720 had been ordered by my company 2 weeks ago, don't know the exact delivery date (as it is an leasing computer that is ordered by a sub company).
Regarding thermal performance I'm not that sure about it performing that bad. The last year model had a significant better thermal footprint than the models before, but we will see.