Dell G3 3500 review: Decent budget gaming laptop

The G3 3500 we reviewed had the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM

Basic specifications:

Processor: 10th Generation Intel Core i5-10300H Quad Core (8M Cache, up to 4.5 GHz)

Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, 4GB GDDR6

Display: 15-inch FHD 220 nits WVA anti-glare LED backlit display (non-touch) with 60Hz refresh rate

Memory: 8 GB, 2933 MHz, DDR4

Storage: 256GB PCIe M.2 SSD (Class 35) + 1TB 5400 RPM HDD.

Connectivity: 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0

Battery: 51 WHr, 3-cell battery (integrated)

Charging: 130 W AC adapter

There appears to be just one major difference when companies bracket gaming or creativity laptops – the physical appearance. While gaming laptops have snazzier designs and colours, creative machines tend to be minimalistic for a more serious and professional look.

Dell has put in serious effort into its gaming laptops. And this budget machine looks the part for gamers who do not want to invest a huge amount of money – enter the Dell G3 3500.

Design

The overall design looks nice with the Dell logo at the top. The bottom has the heat vents, blue-coloured feet and the speakers. The rear has heat vents on either side of the central hinge. The right side has the SD memory card slot, audio out socket, two USB Type-A ports and the lock slot. The left side has the RJ45 ethernet, a USB Type-A and HDMI ports apart from the DC power input socket.

Opening the lid can be done with one hand. There is a bit of resistance but it’s not bad. This reveals the full-size keyboard with blue backlighting. The keys feel good to the touch and there is a firm click when pressed. The top row has the multimedia keys with the usual functions. The F7 key doubles up as the one to take the G3 into the performance mode. Above the function/ multimedia keys is the power button that doubles up as the fingerprint reader. Below the keyboard is the touchpad. It has been placed slightly to the left. This felt more comfortable because the user’s arm can be placed at a slight angle.

The plastics are decent, textured at some places and smooth at others. There is a bit of flex on the body, but it is not very pronounced.

Performance

The G3 3500 features a 15-inch full HD display and the review device we got featured the 60 Hz version. The bezel, which includes the 720p webcam and dual microphone, is quite thin. Playing 4K video made for a good viewing experience and the colours looked pretty good for a laptop at this price point. The sound quality is decent for the price, but external speakers will make for a better gaming experience.

The G3 we reviewed came with the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H processor, which has four cores and eight threads. The base frequency is 2.5 GHz and can go up to 4.5 GHz. It had the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM.

In terms of performance, it measured pretty well in the Cinebench R23 performance tests. Gaming was also a good experience. While gaming and other resource-intensive tasks, the Alienware Command Center can be used to boost performance, manage the thermals and even manage games. However, pushing the G3 means the fans can be slightly noisy.

Single and multi core processor performance. Credit: Cinebench/ DH Photo

There is an option of the Intel Core i7 10th generation processor as well and users wanting a bit more performance could probably invest in this device.

The G3 could also be used for a bit of multimedia work, apart from its primary function as a gaming machine.

Dell offers a dual storage option with a 256 GB PCIe M.2 solid state drive and this acts as the boot drive. The second drive is a 1 TB hard disk drive. So, the inclusion of an SSD should speed things up a bit on the primary drive.

Needless to say, the G3 is slightly on the heavier side.

The battery capacity is 51 WHr and charging it is via a 130 W AC adapter. On a full charge, the battery lasted the day when not being used in the performance mode.

The G3 features 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0.

Do we recommend this? Yes, if the budget is tight. But for the price, it performs well.

The Dell G3 15 starts at Rs 73,990 including GST.

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