xps 15 Dell XPS 15 9520 (56 Wh battery) – only 3h battery life under light use?

[kBoltzmann]

Hi everyone,
I recently bought a refurbished Dell XPS 15 9520 from a professional seller in Germany (1-year warranty, 30-day return policy). Specs:

• i7-12700H

• 64 GB RAM

• 1 TB SSD

• Intel + NVIDIA graphics (RTX 3050)

• Battery: 56 Wh (original config, not upgraded)

I’ve noticed the battery life is way below expectations. Here's what I tested:

• Started at 100% battery at 13:12

• Light use: YouTube, Prime Video, web browsing

• At 15:18, I was at 51%

• Started a Steam + game download (22 GB) (just download, not playing)

• By 16:03, battery hit 5%
  → Total runtime: about 3 hours

I’ve already applied power-saving tweaks on Windows:

• Set to best power efficiency

• Disabled NVIDIA GPU for browser/media apps

• Wi-Fi in power-save mode

• Brightness around 50%

• TLP/powertop considered for Linux

Battery report shows:

• Design capacity: 54,891 mWh

• Full charge capacity: 46,786 mWh (~15% wear)

This wear seems acceptable for a used device, but the battery life is just too short, even with light load. I was hoping for 5–6h minimum.

 

My options now are:

• Ask the seller to replace the battery (possibly with the 86 Wh one)

• Replace it myself (I'm willing if it's worth it)

• Try Linux/Ubuntu to gain better runtime (but wear remains)

• Return the laptop entirely

 

Questions:

• Anyone using an XPS 15 9520 with either battery config? What’s your real-world battery life?

• Is 3h normal for a 56 Wh battery with ~15% wear?

• Would you recommend swapping in an 86 Wh? Any known issues with thermals or fit in this model?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice — especially if you’ve dealt with battery upgrades or dual-boot setups!