I Don't Like The Battery Life of My Dell XPS15 9560 - Can I Buy a New Battery That's Better and Bigger than The Original?

activ8newbs on 20/12/2020 - 20:16

Hello Ozb,

I bought the Dell XPS 15 9560 about a year or two ago, and although I admit that I used to leave it on charge more than I needed to/should have, the battery quality turned out to be really bad…within a few months of "sub-par" battery etiquette (leaving laptop on charge overnight, most nights of the week), the battery has literally turned to crap.

Lasts about 10 mins on a good day.

With boxing day sales etc coming, depending on price, I'm considering getting a new/replacement battery for the laptop.

It appears that the battery I currently have is:

451-BBXZ : 3-cell 56 Wh Lithium Ion batte ry with ExpressCharge™
Battery,Primary,56WHR,3C,Lithium,Logic

  1. Do you recommend getting a generic replacement, or only original from Dell? Alternatively, do you have any other recommended trusted supplier?
  2. Would I be able to get a battery that's longer-lasting than the original? I.e. I would guess that means a battery more than 56Wh or more than 3c?
  3. Is it easy to change myself or would I need a technician?
  4. Would be ideal to spend sub-$100.

Also fwiw, I'd be happy to even wait a year or so to upgrade the battery so it can be "completely" dead by the time I upgrade it, but I worry that the particular battery may be discontinued etc as these sorts of products are often innovated more and more. Would I be better off to wait a year or two and benefit of a better price, or would I risk the battery no longer being available to purchase on the market?

Cheers,
Thanks

Computing Computer Dell Dell XPS 15 9560 Laptop

Comments

  • bobbified on 20/12/2020 - 20:23
    +1

    I used to leave it on charge more than I needed to/should have, the battery quality turned out to be really bad…within a few months of "sub-par" battery etiquette (leaving laptop on charge overnight, most nights of the week), the battery has literally turned to crap. Lasts about 10 mins on a good day.

    I thought most, if not all, laptops come with intelligent batteries these days and woudn't "overcharge" the battery if you left it plugged in. They're meant to bypass the battery if it's fully charged. Especially with Dells since they're business laptops and most of them are left plugged in all day. Are you sure you didn't get a faulty battery to start with?

    • Singu1arity on 20/12/2020 - 21:02
      +1

      They do bypass the battery once it's full, but that's generally not the problem. The laptop will try to keep the battery full unless the user tells the device to only charge to a certain % of total capacity. Batteries that are fully charged all the time degrade much faster than ones that cycle within a range or only partially charge. Most modern laptops have a way of changing the charging settings - the XPS range is done through the bios I believe.

      It then becomes a balancing act on whether to only allow the battery to charge to a portion of its capacity (which if you use the device unplugged means you have less total run time), or reduce the capacity to improve battery life (which is better if the device is plugged in a lot).

      OP - how old is your device? If it's less than 3 years and is really only lasting about 10 minutes, there's probably a good case to be made to Dell about getting your battery replaced for free. The XPS range are quite expensive relative to other devices and you could "reasonably expect" it to last more than 3 years without issue (under Australian Consumer Law).

      • activ8newbs on 20/12/2020 - 21:16

        Thanks for your in depth issue. I feared it would be a faulty battery to start with.

        Tbh my entire experience was HORRIBLE. This is my 3rd machine. First was actually xps 13. had wifi issues. Technician fixed. Then had motherboard issues. Then got sick of it and asked to refund for store credit and buy xps15. But I didn't get that. They charged me 20% IIRC as a restocking fee or something.

        Then I paid the difference from my pocket for new xps 15

        When I got xps15, again I had stupid issues. Even til today, the machine is crappy. Blue screens once a fortnight at least. Random restarts once a fortnight.

        Failure to install and update some drivers, at least once every couple months for no reason.

        But I just gave up. It was eating into my time far too much. The first few issues and transition from xps13 to xps15 spanned several months of back and forth.

        Would not recommend this btw if you hadn't already figured

        To answer your question….about 2 years old. Worth making a case!

  • frondono on 20/12/2020 - 22:26

    One of the 20000mah Xiaomi powerbanks will do what you need for your budget. you would need to get a usb-c to usb-c 100w cable for charging too. Just need to figure out how many watts you need.

    • frondono on 20/12/2020 - 22:31
      +1

      https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Xiaomi-ZMI-QB823-No-10-PRO-20000…

      This one comes with the cable needed.

      • activ8newbs on 20/12/2020 - 22:57

        This is amazing advice. Thankyou so much for this. Very good for my case because it's a simple cheap and versatile solution. And also can be used to charge my phone.

        Thanks

    • MementoMori on 21/12/2020 - 10:18

      Will this work?

      I was told by someone at JB that Dells can only be charged from 'Dell genuine chargers'

      Didn't seem right to me but I don't know for sure, I thought any USB-C would be fine

  • the1doood on 20/12/2020 - 22:53

    Many Dell laptops check if the battery is 'genuine' at BIOS level, hence generics may not work. I had to get one from Dell for mine which shipped from Singapore. Higher Wh, means more battery life. For your model you can find extended batteries from Dell. Alternatively get a quote from a local computer technician to get one for you with warranty and fit it. May be cheaper than Dell. Few I bought from ebay lasted only few days.

  • Drakesy on 21/12/2020 - 00:01

    I'm in the boat that even if you get a new battery your current computer will still drain it as fast as the previous one.
    Personally i've got a lenovo carbon x1 with a 4 year old battery and still get 4-5 hours consistently out of it, honestly wouldn't pick anything else.

    I'd sell it and get a computer with a credible 8-10 hour battery life.

  • xuqi on 21/12/2020 - 00:02

    I wouldn't buy a generic, they're usually inferior and won't last. I'd contact Dell, and order the largest capacity battery (97Wh) they sell for your model.

    Check Windows reliability to pinpoint what is causing your bluescreen issues.
    https://petri.com/solving-problems-using-reliability-monitor…

    Download & install the latest driver, BIOS, and firmware for your 9560. Dell have been updating their BIOS to address below on numerous models (Latitude, XPS, Inspiron, etc.) over the past year:

    • Modified battery algorithm to prolong lifespan and minimize risk of swelling.
    • Added charger parameter update for battery protection mode.

    The latest BIOS for the 9560 is v1.21.0 (released 20/11/2020), but they addressed battery issues listed above recently in v1.19.2 (released 19/06/2020).

    Also suggest updating the following:

    Realtek audio drivers, as a couple of their older releases were very unstable, and crashing Windows in our Latitude fleet of systems.
    Intel Wi-Fi & Bluetooth driver (if your system has the Intel chipset), the release before the current version (21.110.0.3), caused systems coming out of sleep mode to lose performance.

    Lastly, check & update the firmware on the your SSD drive if you find an update for it on the Dell site.

  • pupdog on 21/12/2020 - 10:24

    You can install a larger battery so long as you don't also have mechanical HDD installed, IIRC. It's easy enough to do but I did have to buy a special screwdriver - the screws are tiny. I bought a third party 97Whr battery over a year ago from a Chinese store on ebay. I just checked, and it's no longer for sale, unfortunately.
    I was disappointed with its battery life but this year I've been hammering it by using it all the time working from home. That said, I don't regret buying as it has extended the life of the machine.

    Try searching for the following:

    11.4V 97Wh Genuine new 6GTPY 5XJ28 battery for Dell XPS 15 9560 9550 i7-7700HQ

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