Dell G3 gaming laptop review: Gaming made easy and affordable

Specifications

• 15.6-inch IPS LED with 1080p resolution (anti-glare)
• Intel core i7 8750 H (six-core) processor @ 2.20 GHz up to 4.1 GHz
• Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti GPU ( 4 GB GDDR5)
• 16 GB DDR4 RAM (2666 MHz)
• Windows 10 Home
• Dual speaker (Waves MaxxAudio Pro)
• 3.5 mm headphone jack (Supports Dolby Atmos)
• 256 GB SSD 1 TB HDD (5400 RPM)
• 56WHr 4-cell battery 130W adapter
• 720p webcam 802.11ac 1x1 WiFi and Bluetooth
• 2.53 kg weight
• SD Card Slot
• Full-size HDMI 2.0 port
• 2 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 2.0
• Ethernet port (Gigabit RJ-45)
• Noble lock slot

Design

For the most part, the term gaming laptop is associated with notebooks with flashy RGB lighting, Red accent around the notebook with eye-popping thermal design, and the Dell G3 does not have any of that. In a nutshell, the Dell G3 is the subtlest looking "gaming-laptop" that we have seen in the last few years.

The laptop has a polycarbonate construction. Our review unit is in Alpine White color with a pearl-like finish. The Blue accent around the Dell logo on the back of the laptop also looks unique. However, plastic is still plastic, and it is not as sturdy as an Alienware or even the Dell G7.

The overall design of the Dell G3 seems a bit flimsy and does not look like a device that costs more than Rs 1,00,000. Even the design of the laptop feels a bit dated, as the Inspiron series from Dell have been using similar design even for an entry-level notebook.

Display

The Dell G3 has a standard 15.6-inch IPS LED panel with anti-glare finish. The viewing angles, color reproduction, and contrast is on point, but not the best that we have seen at this price point. The display is not G-Sync certified, and the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz.

In a controlled environment, the display seems to offer an adequate amount of brightness. However, in the direct sunlight, the screen becomes unusable. There is no issue with watching movies or playing games. As this is a "gaming" laptop, there could have been an extra set of features like higher refresh rate and support for G-Sync (as the computer has a Nvidia GPU) could have made it a lot better. Also, note that the Dell G3 still have chunkier bezels around all four corners of the laptop, which makes it look like an old-school notebook.

Sound and Camera

The 720p web camera is located on the top portion of the bezel and will serve the purpose of the basic video chats, depending on the lighting condition.

The dual stereo speakers on the Dell G3 are one of the best sounding speakers that we have seen at this price point. The speakers on the G3 moniker produces rich sound with ample amount of bass, which gets pretty loud as well. The two speakers are positioned at the bottom portion of the laptop. So, you can game on the Dell G3 without using an external headphone with ease.

The laptop has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which supports Dolby Atmos. Oh boy, with supported wired headphones, the computer can produce great sound and watching a movie or playing a game with headphones is a joyous movement. Overall, the Dell G3 sounds excellent on both speakers and via the headphone jack.

Keypad and Trackpad

We prefer a mechanical keyboard for gaming, but the keyboard on the Dell G3 is no slouch either. It offers excellent feedback, and the buttons are very tactile. The keyboard also has a dedicated numerical row, and the entire keyboard supports backlit lighting (blue color) with two different brightness levels.

Not only for gaming, but the keypad also serves as an excellent tool for writers as well. In the beginning, the keyboard feels a bit strange, especially if you are coming from an Alienware or other gaming laptops. Unlike most of the gaming-laptops, the keyboard lacks RGB lighting, and we have no problem with that. One strange thing that we noticed on the Dell G3's keyboard is that one has to press Ctrl + F2 or Ctrl + F11 to change volume or sound, which is usually Fn + F2 and Fn + F11 on most Windows laptops.

The same cannot be said about the trackpad of the Dell G3. It looks nice, but we have noticed a strange behaviour thought our review period. The gestures do not work correctly and some of the browser tabs would shift-out as a separate browser page, which is a bit annoying. As it is impossible to game on a trackpad, we used to game on the Dell G3 using an external mouse and then, we did not face any issue with an external mouse what so ever.

Performance

One thing that the Dell G3 is really good at is the performance. The laptop has the latest Intel Core-i7 8750H 6-core processor with Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti GPU (4 GB DDR5). It can handle any games that we throw at it, especially at 1080p. On Geekbench, the notebook scores 4504 points on a single core and 17693 points on multi-core performance. The laptop also handles games like GTA V with an average fps of 70 or more at all the time. We have done a separate benchmarking review of the Dell G3 with in-depth analysis.
Also note that the 16 GB LPDDR4 RAM does help in the multitasking, and we did not face any issue when we tried to run multiple apps at the same time.

The 16 GB RAM is of high speed 266 MHz frequency, which is also upgradable up to 32 GB, by swapping out the 8 GB stick to two 16 GB sticks.

The laptop also has a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD (5400 RPM). The SSD does help with faster boot speeds, and even it can be used to install a few games and software that one usually uses. The 1 TB HDD is plentiful and the write and read speeds of the SSD are in line with other gaming laptops with similar calibre.

One can easily swap-out the HDD and SSD by opening the back cabin to upgrade to higher capacity storage modules. When it comes to storage and RAM, the laptop does offer an option for future upgrades, which makes the Dell G3 sort of a future-proof device.

Connectivity

In our review-period, we used the Dell G3 with multiple Wi-Fi networks (both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz) and we received an excellent signal reception. Same goes for the Bluetooth connectivity as well, we used multiple Bluetooth speakers and headphones without any hiccups, which is again a sign of great wireless connectivity.

Battery

The Dell G3 has a 56 WHr battery (non-user accessible), which can last up to three and a half to four and a half hours depending on the type of usage. The laptop also comes with a 130W power source, which can charge the laptop in less than two and a half hours in idle condition. We did face some issue while gaming on this laptop without connecting to a power source (even in the best performance mode), so, it is almost impossible to game on the Dell G3 without being connected to a power source.

Verdict

Some of these features make the Dell G3, a laptop of its own and here are the features that will improve the overall user experience of the Dell G3.

• Fingerprint sensor with Windows Hello support
• Dolby Atmos for headphones or earphones
• A wide range of I/O with USB ports, HDMI port, SD card slot, Ethernet jack, and headphone jack
• 256 GB SSD for faster OS bootup
• Windows 10 OS with Microsoft office license

Improvements that we want to see on the next gen Dell G3 series

• Metal chassis with thinner bezels
• high-refresh rate display (at least 90Hz)
• Support for G-Sync
• Improved trackpad

There is no perfect gaming laptop, as every computer comes with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. The Dell G3 3579 is once again an excellent bang for a buck gaming laptop with a few compromises.

Most of the gaming laptops come with a flashy design with over the top design and miserably fail when it comes to day to day performance.
The Dell G3 is quite the opposite of that, where nobody can guess that the Dell G3 is a gaming laptop without actually looking at the device. It offers exceptional CPU and GPU performance, battery life, and is pretty light to carry as well. If you are in the market for a gaming laptop with a strict budget of Rs 1,00,000, then the Dell G3 is a great option.

However, for someone who might want a laptop with a flashy design, then the Dell G3 is not an option, and those set of people will be happier with the Asus ROG, Alienware, and Lenovo Legion series of gaming laptops. The Dell G3 is a testimony for making a great gaming laptop with a subtle design at an affordable pricing (compared to the competition).