The 15-inch Dell G15 has been one of my go-to suggestions for a cheap game laptop for the past few years. Not as stylish as Alienware and not as plain as an Inspiron. Parents of kids and teens who want their first game laptop have been especially happy with my G15 suggestions. There’s also a newer version with a 16-inch screen called the G16.
This is where most of Dell’s attention has moved. The G15 usually starts at just under $1,000, but the G16 starts at $1,339. Both can be set up in many of the same ways. Even though it’s not quite as cheap (I think a cheap game laptop should cost between $1,000 and $1,200), the G16 is still a great deal for what you get.
Dell G15 Laptop Specs
| CPU | Intel Core i5-12500H |
| Memory | 8GB DRR5-4800 S |
| Display | 1920 x 1080, 120 Hz |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD |
| Networking | Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Price | $899 |
| Weight | 5.89 pounds |
| OS | Power Adapter |
| Power Adapter | 180 W |
| Battery | 56 Whr |
| Camera | 720p |
PROS:
- Excellent value for the money spent.
- Temperate weather
- The display is fairly luminous.
CONS:
- The keyboard and mouse are mushy and sticky.
- Insufficient memory.
Design
The Dell G15 (5520) may not have as many bells and whistles as other gaming PCs, but it still looks excellent. The standard “dark shadow” grey of the G15 is the most uninteresting colour possible. It comes in two other less appealing colours, black and green camouflage, and is constructed entirely of a plastic resin. The laptop is long and thick, with narrow sides. The party, though, is at the rear, where a large black section features two exhaust vents that appear to be taken straight from a stealth fighter.
The power connector, HDMI 2.1, USB Type-A, and USB Type-C with DisplayPort output are all located between these outlets. There is an Ethernet port, a 3.5 mm audio jack on the left side, and two USB Type-A connections on the right. Every one of the USB ports is USB 3.2 Gen 1, which means it can transfer data at speeds of up to 5 Gbps.
Display
I’ve tried the version with a 165Hz refresh rate and FHD screen. The G15 looks much better in colour clarity than its predecessor and is about the same as other computers in its class. But the maximum brightness is only 300 nits, which could be problematic when watching movies and videos. It also needs HDR approval, which is also disappointing. The laptop’s screen showed colours correctly during my time with it, but it wasn’t as good as the screens on more professional computers. Again, this should be fine if you plan to use this laptop mostly for games. Overall, it’s a good chance that it moves the business correctly.
Performance
If there is one thing about this laptop that I give full marks to, it’s how well it works. The laptop is built on the Intel Core i7-13650HX, which is one of Intel’s best laptop CPUs for games. It has a clock speed of up to 4.9GHz, 14 CPU cores, and a maximum turbo power of 157W. When turned on, this CPU has desktop-class single-thread and multi-thread speed, which we confirmed by running the most famous CPU-bound benchmarks like Cinebench, CPU-Z, and Geekbench. Regarding graphics, the laptop has an NVIDIA RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of video memory.
This is a great mid-range GPU, and it can handle most current AAA games at 1440p resolution. Here are the average frame rates we got from the most popular games. The laptop works well at its peak and has a better cooling system with two fans that keeps it running well for a long time. Even though it gets hot when you play games for a long time, the fans turn on to ensure there is no thermal slowdown. I’m also glad I didn’t feel any heat near the keys.
Audio
The speakers on the Dell G15 are powerful enough to fill a small room with sound, making it ideal for gaming and music listening. When I listened to AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” the guitars and drums sounded like they were coming from different parts of the computer. But the guitar and drums were a little bit tinny when the level was turned all the way up. The bass-heavy song “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire had a much cleaner sound and a rich rhythm. You can switch between different sound settings, such as those for games, music, and movies, with the Dolby Access software that comes with the device. I found that the music page was probably the best place to listen to songs.
Configuration
The Dell G15 (5520) comes in different versions, and if you buy it from Dell.com, you can choose the CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, screen colour, and body colour when you order it. At the time of press, our $899 test build with an RTX 3050 Ti GPU, Core i5-12500H, 512GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, and a 120 Hz, 1080p display was the cheapest option. During our testing, the price went from $899 to $1,099 and back down again, so it could be more or less expensive by the time you read this. Adding 16GB of RAM and a Core i7-12700H processor would bring the price to $1,049. Dell also sells the G15 with a less powerful, non-Ti RTX 3050 graphics card, but right now, it costs $50 more than the 3050 Ti version.
Conclusion
The Dell G15 5530 is for more than just games because it has a funky look and the best CPU and GPU speed. Content makers could also use this CPU-limited machine to render videos, visualize 3D models, and more. Overall, Dell’s G15 5530 is a great mid-range game laptop. It’s one of India’s best mid-range game computers in India because of how well it works and looks. It costs around Rs 1,50,000.