XPS 15 2in1 9575 Dell Power Companion Compatibility

I haven't personally used one with the 9575, but I know that the previous Power Companions have been compatible with previous XPS 15 models (the 9550 and 9560), so I would expect that the USB-C Power Companion (PW7015MC) would be compatible with the 9575.  However, the same catch that applied on previous XPS 15s would also very likely apply here.  The XPS 15 has always required a 130W power supply, but the Power Companions all typically act as a 65W power supply.  The 18,000 mAh version (not available with a USB-C connector) can also act as a 90W power supply, but only when the Power Companion itself is connected to a wall outlet, and you can't use that version anyway.  This means that with this system, the Power Companion should only really be used to charge it while it's powered off, such as while it's in your bag and you're moving from one place to another so that you can have more battery life when you arrive.  That was the main use case it was created to support.  If you try to use it while the system is running, you'll see a warning that the connected AC adapter doesn't supply enough power, so the XPS 15 will throttle back its performance, and if you're using the dGPU, you may find that the built-in battery will continue to drain, just more slowly than it would have if the Power Companion weren't connected.  This of course means that if you have a heavy workload and you wait until your battery is almost dead to connect the Power Companion, your battery could still end up dying.

UPDATE: Looks like there's a newer version (PW7018LC) that includes 50% more battery capacity than the model I mentioned above, but its price is also 50% higher, and it still only acts as a 65W power supply, so you'll have the same limitation I described above, but you'll just be able to charge your XPS 15 back up farther.

>  ... This means that with this system, the Power Companion should only really be used to charge it while it's powered off, ...

No problem to use it when powered on. But it will indeed work in a restricted-power mode. Not a good idea if one intends to play heavier games (because the GPU is throttled really heavily) or other heavy workloads, but surely no problem for word-processing and light browsing. When "idling" like that, the XPS 15 uses about 5-20W and easily survives on a 45W charger. 

If you load it up, it may ramp up the clocks after a while and indeed discharge the battery after a while.  

I use a Pluggable Dock that only supplies 65 Wh of power. I was getting a warning every time I booted the computer, but found that there's a setting in the boot-up that can be toggled to prevent the warning.

Has anyone actually bought and used the https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/accessories/apd/451-bcev and used it with an XPS-15 9575 (2018) model? I found on my first conference that I get about 4-1/2 hours of use (note-taking in OneNote) with mine. I want to buy a power bank, but I want one that's compatible and actually provides at least one full additional charge.

Thanks for the help.

Ernie

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@ernienet wrote:

I use a Pluggable Dock that only supplies 65 Wh of power. I was getting a warning every time I booted the computer, but found that there's a setting in the boot-up that can be toggled to prevent the warning.

Has anyone actually bought and used the https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/accessories/apd/451-bcev and used it with an XPS-15 9575 (2018) model? I found on my first conference that I get about 4-1/2 hours of use (note-taking in OneNote) with mine. I want to buy a power bank, but I want one that's compatible and actually provides at least one full additional charge.

Thanks for the help.

Ernie

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You would be better off using a dock that didn't try to supply power.  Failing that, at least make sure that you have your system's actual AC adapter attached to the system in addition to the dock itself, and you may need to connect that first to make sure the system starts drawing from that source rather than locking to the dock.  Disabling the warning doesn't remove the actual problem.  The XPS 15 9575 is designed to have a 130W power source connected, so if you only attach a 65W power source, then in some situations you will likely find that the system will throttle its performance significantly and potentially even drain the battery to make up some of the power deficit -- but it will NOT drain the battery to the extent necessary to keep up normal performance levels.  If you're ok permanently cutting your system's performance back, then by all means keep doing what you're doing; it won't damage the system or anything.  Otherwise, you may want to consider one of the options I mentioned above, or of course using a Dell dock that IS designed to be able to supply up to 130W.  The WD15 with the 180W adapter and the TB16 with the 240W adapter will both supply up to 130W to an attached system.

If you go the route of connecting the AC adapter and your existing dock simultaneously, you can go to the BIOS Setup > Battery information section and it will show you the detected wattage of the power source it's using.  That will allow you to verify that it's drawing 130W in that dual connection scenario, and you would also be able to test whether connecting the AC adapter before the dock is necessary.

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@ernienet wrote:

I use a Pluggable Dock that only supplies 65 Wh of power. I was getting a warning every time I booted the computer, but found that there's a setting in the boot-up that can be toggled to prevent the warning.

Has anyone actually bought and used the https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/accessories/apd/451-bcev and used it with an XPS-15 9575 (2018) model? I found on my first conference that I get about 4-1/2 hours of use (note-taking in OneNote) with mine. I want to buy a power bank, but I want one that's compatible and actually provides at least one full additional charge.

Thanks for the help.

Ernie

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One more note to the other reply I posted to your post above.  As to the Power Companion, part of your confusion may be coming from confusing units.  Your Plugable dock provides 65 watts (W), not watt-hours (Wh or WHr).  Watts are a measure of power delivery rate, which is why you see this unit quoted on AC adapters and other power sources, like docks.  Watt-hours are a measure of energy capacity, which is why you see this unit quoted on batteries.  The XPS 15 9575's internal battery has 75 Wh of capacity, so a Power Companion with 65 Wh of capacity would not be able to fully recharge that system from 0%.  But separate from the capacity spec is the question of how fast the Power Companion can deliver its energy, which is where you look at wattage.  According to the specs in the manual on support.dell.com, that Power Companion can act as a 65W power supply when used on its own and a 90W power supply when the Power Companion itself is plugged into a wall outlet.  The XPS 15 9575 requires a 130W power source to operate at full performance, otherwise you can encounter the behavior I described in my post immediately above.  So this Power Companion might still be useful to you as a way to top up your battery while the system is shut down or asleep in your bag so that you have a full battery when you get wherever you're going, but it would not be a good choice as an AC adapter to use while you're actively using the system.

Has Dell released a new Power Companion option that would address my need?

When my XPS-15 is fixed (it got messed up by a Dell contract repair person trying to replace the motherboard which had a wobbly USB-C port), I need to go on a 10-day business trip and will need to resolve the issue of battery life.

I'm not able to find anything other than the PW7018LC, and I'm not sure, based on jphughan's response, if it's going to do what I'm hoping it will do - which is to extend my battery life when I'm stuck in a conference room all day without a power outlet to plug into.

Is the answer actually, "shame on me for buying a computer with awful battery life", or is there any workable solution for this situation?

Thank you,
Ernie

Hi,

I just got a 9575, too, and really need a power bank as I’m often in a place where I need to use it full time uninterrupted for 8 hours or more.

I’ve tried two other battery banks on Amazon, including one that charged a MacBook Pro just fine, and the 9575 just won’t use it.  Has anyone here ACTUALLY USED one that works with a 9575?

Thanks!

Dell has not designed or tested any power companion for Dell XPS 9575. The system is shipped with a 130 watt AC adapter.

- Ravi