Dell G15 (2023) Review: An Alienware laptop in all but Name

While Alienware has been the focus of enthusiast gamers, Dell's G series has often targeted the entry-level and mid-range segments. Enter the new Dell G15 gaming laptop!

Our model of the new Dell G15 gaming laptop arrived with an Intel Core i7-13650HX CPU paired with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM. However, the Dell G15 also fetches a pretty penny, with our model coming in at Rs 1,41,990. But is it worth it? Let's find out in our Dell G15 review.

Design

When it comes to shades, the Dell G15 (2023) arrives in three attractive color schemes including Pop Purple with Neo Mint, Quantum White with Deep Space Blue, and Dark Shadow Gray with Black. Our white model came in Quantum White with Deep Space Blue. The laptop has vents on both the sides and the back as well as the bottom.

The built quality feels sturdy but uses a plastic chassis, although the flex on the chassis and display was minimal. Apart from the keyboard, nothing else about the laptop screams gaming and the lid also features a simple Dell logo. The lid and keyboard deck feel smooth to the touch, while the matte finish didn't pick up fingerprints.

The design here does seem modelled on Alienware laptops. Despite a somewhat bulky form factor, the new look is far from the boring old G series laptops of the past. Speaking of bulk, the Dell G15 (2023) weighs around 2.8 kg and is 21.28 mm thick, putting it on the chunky side.

Keyboard & Touchpad

The only LEDs on the Dell G15 (2023) are integrated into the laptop's full-size keyboard. The keyboard here features 4-zone RGB backlighting along with a Numeric keypad. The keyboard layout is good with a fair bit of spacing, so the keys don't feel mushed together. The lower actuation point of the keys didn't quite give them that clicky feel we're used to on most gaming laptops.

However, this is far from a dealbreaker as the keyboard is still very comfortable to type on, particularly over longer periods. The G15 has a large palm rest but a relatively small touchpad. The touchpad registered gestures accurately and was comfortable to use for general navigation and work on the go.

Ports

The ports on the Dell G15 (2023) are located on the sides and the back of the laptop. On the back, the G15 features an HDMI 2.1 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, and a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port with DisplayPort support.

There are two more USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports on the right, while the Ethernet port and 3.5mm combo audio jack sit on the left. Wireless connectivity options on the G15 (2023) include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.

Display

Dell has equipped the G15 (2023) with a 15.6-inch IPS LCD panel with a Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution. The screen features a 165Hz refresh rate and a 3ms response time. The display on our model also supported Nvidia G-Sync to avoid any tearing in games.

The screen also got plenty bright, able to reach a maximum brightness of around 350 nits, which is adequate for a mid-tier gaming laptop. Colors on the screen looked natural, making it ideal for consuming content, although there's no HDR support here. Overall, the display on the new Dell G15 was good but the competition does better.

Performance

For performance, the Dell G15 is equipped with an Intel Core i7-13650HX CPU paired with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The device also comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU. Now, let's look at some real-world results.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 managed 130fps on average when using the 'Performance' mode and an average of 85 fps in the game's 'Quality' mode. On high settings, Valorant managed 235 fps on average. Another title that crossed 165Hz monitor threshold was the Overwatch 2.

We also tested a couple of titles in single-player mode, including Forza Horizon 5, which managed 82 fps on average on high settings. Moreover, Battlefield 2042 also managed an average of 110 fps on high settings. On the medium preset, Assassin's Creed Valhalla managed 120 fps on average.

In the 3DMark Time Spy test, the Nvidia GPU scored 10,701 points. In Geekbench 6.0, the Dell G15 5530 managed a single-core score of 2467 and a multi-core score of 12902 points. The Cinebench R23 10-minute Throttling test saw the laptop score 1803 points in the single-core test and 19368 points in the multi-core test.

There are different fan profiles to choose from depending on the task at hand, although we defaulted to the Turbo mode while gaming and silent mode while working. While gaming, the CPU sat around 85 to 90 degrees Celsius, while the GPU temperatures sat around 80 to 81 degrees Celsius. The Dell G15 (2023) managed to keep most of the heat clear of the keyboard and palm rest area, although the bottom got a bit too toasty for our liking.

Battery

In terms of battery life, the 86Whr cell deliver little under an hour of gaming. In our daily use of the Dell G15 (2023), I was able to squeeze out around five hours of battery life on a single charge. My work included using MS Word and the occasional visit to Google Chrome, while YouTube Music ran in the background over a pair of headphones. When it comes to gaming laptops, battery life has never been our priority, although Dell's new G15 delivers decent power, enough to get you through a short flight.

Audio and Webcam

The Dell G15 (2023) features a set of speakers that get plenty loud on high volumes and drown out most of the fan noise. The stereo speakers support Dolby Audio, although the bass felt weaker than the Legion 5i we recently reviewed. The Dell G15 also features a 720p (HD) webcam that comes with a single array digital microphone. The webcam did a solid job for video calls under the right light.

Verdict

With the G15 (2023), Dell appears to have taken a page out of the Alienware playbook. Both in terms of design and performance, the new Dell G15 takes several ques from the more premium Alienware laptops. While the new design looks more edgy, the build quality here doesn't feel premium, and the laptop appears to be on the bulky side.

However, performance on the Dell G15 (2023) was admirable, with Dell able to take full advantage of the powerful CPU and GPU. The laptop handled multiplayer and AAA titles with little effort and delivers excellent peak performance thanks to good thermal management. The new Dell G15 also comes with reliable connectivity options and solid audio quality.

Battery life was decent but fell slightly short of the competition. Additionally, the display is perfect for 1080p gaming but could have used HDR support. While the keyboard wasn't the best for gaming, it was good enough to type on. None of the faults on the Dell G15 (2023) are dealbreakers, although it does fetch a pretty penny considering the specifications and what's on offer here.

The new Dell G15 is still an excellent gaming laptop that ticks all the relevant boxes. Our only complaint here is that it is fair to demand more from Dell G15, especially considering its price. If you are looking for a laptop that closely resembles an Alienware both in terms of design and performance, then the new Dell G15 is worth considering. However, the Alienware DNA certainly doesn't come cheap.