Review: Dell G3 gaming laptop

Specifications: Dell G3 15 - 3590

Processor: 9th Generation Intel Core i7 9750H (12MB Cache, up to 4.5 GHz, 6 cores)

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4GB GDDR5 graphics memory

Battery: 3-Cell Battery, 51 Whr

Battery charger: 130 Watt E4 AC adapter

Storage: 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive

Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920x1080) 300 nits IPS Anti-Glare LED Backlit Display with 144Hz refresh rate

RAM: 8GB 2x4GB DDR4 2666MHz

OS used: Windows 10 Home

Dimensions:
Height: Front: 21.60 mm. Rear: 23.18 mm
Width: 365.50 mm
Depth: 254 mm
Weight: 2.34 Kg, minimum (weight depends on configuration)

The Dell G3 3590 is an entry-level gaming laptop that was launched not very long ago. Though it is primarily aimed at the gaming community, it promises to let the user do a lot more.

The laptop is quite sleek looking. Being fully black, the touches of blue all over make it quite a looker and very gaming-like. The back also has two heat vents. The laptop opens with a centrally-placed hinge. What makes the G3 look neater is the back slopes towards the edges and again, this is a good piece of design. The laptop can be opened with one hand.

The top is black with a shiny Dell logo in blue. The bottom has heat vents and L-shaped blue rubber feet. On the right side of the machine are the SD card slot, two USB 2.0 ports and the security cable lock slot. On the left side are the power adapter socket, USB 3.1 Type-C port with DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 3.1, ethernet and headphone ports. The machine’s speakers are side-firing.

Open the laptop and it gives a true sense of a gaming laptop. However, the styling has not been overdone as well. The 15.6-inch Full HD display can be set pretty bright and being capable of a 144 Hz refresh rate, it is good for gaming.

The other good thing about the G3 is the keyboard. It is well laid out, the spacing between the keys is good for gaming. The keys are not very difficult to press. The keys need a bit more of effort than those on cheaper laptops but give confidence of being more long-lasting. The blue LED backlighting can be set to two brightness levels or can be turned off. The letters/ symbols are in blue.

Below the keyboard is the touchpad with dedicated left and right buttons. Above the keyboard is the power button that doubles up as the fingerprint scanner, which is pretty quick to respond on touching.

One thing that is obvious is the good quality of plastic. Around the keyboard, the plastic is smooth and is of good quality. However, it tends to attract fingerprints and oil from the hands. The matte/ textured finish on the outside are far better.

There is a dedicated button that takes the G3 to the high-performance mode that will obviously be suited for gaming. On pressing the ‘G’ key, there is a small pop-up through which the user can enter the Alienware Command Center. When using the unit for gaming or such heavy tasks, this tool can be used to increase performance.

The G3 is a budget gaming laptop. But with the combination of the 9th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, it performed well during some of the games we tried it with.

Also, the cooling fans can get a bit noisy at times. But if one is playing games and using external speakers, it is not too much of an issue.

Though the sound output is good, particularly the high frequencies, one obviously cannot expect great bass from these small driver units. For an avid gamer, it makes sense to use external speakers.

The battery easily lasts just over five hours for normal tasks but power-hungry tasks will see the battery draining out much faster.

The Dell G3 is mainly targeted at the gaming enthusiast. Yes, gamers will like the machine but the Intel Core i7 and good graphics unit will see use from those who do video work or such other users who need a performance machine.

Is it worth buying? Definitely.

The Dell G3 3590 is available at a starting price of Rs 70,990, all inclusive.