Dell G15 5520 review

Exactly a year has passed after we were able to get our hands on the redesigned breather of fresh air for Dell, called the G15 5511. Yes, it is exactly as it sounds like – Dell was losing the gaming computers segment, despite owning the Alienware brand.

And finally, the Texan company decided to use its knowledge to improve its own gaming machines. Although the end result was significantly better than what it has previously offered, the laptops were a bit too heavy.

Now, you will see the same design, but filled with the latest technology from both Intel and AMD in the form of the G15 5520 and 5525, respectively. Our office is now inhabited by the former, and we’re looking forward to seeing the improvements made year on year by going to 12th Gen processors and DDR5 memory. Also, you can find a version of the same very laptop, equipped with the RTX 3070 Ti.
In addition to that, we see an updated display options pool. In addition to the 120Hz and 165Hz 1080p panels, you now get a 1440p 240Hz IPS unit. It is in place of the 360Hz 1080p panel, and we feel that it is a fair trade. Especially, if you are getting the most powerful version of the laptop.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-g15-5520/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Dell G15 5520 - Specs

  • LG VHK65-156WFJ (LGD06D1, LP156WFJ-SPB1)
  • Color accuracy  5.2  3.7
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 2000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 64GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Home, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Home, Windows 11 Pro, No OS
  • Battery
  • 86Wh, 6-cell, 56Wh, 3-cell
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate
  • Dimensions
  • 357.26 x 272.11 x 26.9 mm (14.07" x 10.71" x 1.06")
  • Weight
  • 2.52 kg (5.6 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 3x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort
  • HDMI
  • 2.1
  • Card reader
  • Ethernet LAN
  • 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.0
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • Web camera
  • HD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone
  • Dual Array Microphones
  • Speakers
  • 2x 2W, Stereo Speakers
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

What’s in the box?

In addition to the mandatory paperwork, you get either a 180W or a 240W power adapter, depending on the configuration you choose.


Design and construction

As we said, Dell hasn’t given much thought to the design, thus it remains the same as last year. Nevertheless, this is good, because most of the cooling elements are pushed toward the back, making it more comfortable for your fingers. In addition, you can see that there is an orange “G” logo on the side, which looks pretty nice.

This machine’s body panels are made from a plastic resin. With that said, the base is really solid, while the lid flexes a bit, and produces weird sounds when you twist it. By the way, one of the reasons for the strong body resistance is the reinforcement on the inside. Unfortunately, this makes the laptop weigh between 2.52 and 2.67 kg, while its profile is 26.9mm thick. Even though this may sound heavy, it’s good to know that Dell managed to shave some 200-300 grams off its weight from last year.

Thankfully, the lid can be opened with a single hand. This reveals thin side bezels and thick bottom and top ones. On the other hand, the latter houses an HD Web camera.

Then, there is the base. If it wasn’t for the sizeable vents up top, we would have mistaken this device for an office one. It sports an “ordinary” keyboard with a NumberPad with a regular backlight, and an optional 4-zone RGB one.

We can’t say it is really comfortable for either typing or gaming, which is a bummer really. Especially, when you take a look at the small touchpad. Even though it is pretty responsive, the surface is not very pleasant to work with.

If you turn the laptop upside down, you will see two speaker cutouts, as well as two more ventilation grills. The hot air is then exhausted through two vents on the back, and one on each side of the laptop.

Ports

On the left side, there is a LAN port and an Audio jack. Then, on the right, you get two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports. Finally, at the back, you’ll find a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port with DisplayPort output, another USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an HDMI 2.1 connector, and a power plug. And if you get the laptop, which is equipped with the RTX 3060 version, it will have a Thunderbolt 4 connector in place of the USB Type-C port.



Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance

To access this notebook’s internals, you need to undo 8 Phillips-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, starting from the front two corners.

Once inside, you’ll find the 56Wh battery pack. It got us through 6 hours of either Web browsing or video playback. It is pretty easy to take it out, as you’ll only need to undo four screws and unplug the connector from the motherboard.

Here, you can see that the laptop has two SODIMM slots, which fit DDR5 memory and work in dual-channel mode. Storage-wise, however, we only find one M.2 PCIe x4 slot. Thankfully, it can work with Gen 4 SSDs.

Now comes the fun part. If you, for some reason, want to take a look at the cooling, you’re going to need to remove the entire motherboard. To do so, first, undo the four Phillips-head screws holding the plastic cover on the back.

Then, you can proceed by unplugging the power connector, as well as a couple of brackets here and there. When you’re done with that, remove the Wi-Fi card and detach its cable antennas.

If you’ve come this far, this means you are almost there. Just unplug some more ribbon cables, as well as some screws, which secure the motherboard, the two daughterboards, and the fans to the chassis.

Then, taking the motherboard out should be an easy job, you just need to mind the cables. Here, you can see the cooling system, which comprises two heat pipes shared between the CPU and the GPU, and one more for each of them, which receives its own heat sink. In addition, there are a couple of metal heat spreaders meant for graphics memory and VRMs.


Display quality

Dell G15 5520 in our configuration is equipped with a 120Hz Full HD IPS panel with a model number LG VHK65-156WFJ (LGD06D1, LP156WFJ-SPB1). Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution is 1920 х 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 142 ppi, and a pitch of 0.18 х 0.18 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 60cm (24″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).

The viewing angles are excellent. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The measured maximum brightness of 261 nits in the middle of the screen and 251 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 11%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 7420K – colder than the sRGB standard of 6500K.

In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. In other words, the leakage of light from the light source.

Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work. The contrast ratio is good – 1080:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Dell G15 5520’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 55% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results in factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Dell G15 5520 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 25 ms.

After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.


PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Dell G15 5520’s display doesn’t use PWM to adjust its brightness levels at any point. This makes it comfortable for use during long work periods, without harming your eyes in this aspect.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Gloss level measurement

Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 49.9 GU).


Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Dell G15 5520 configurations with 15.6″ FHD IPS LG VHK65-156WFJ (LGD06D1, LP156WFJ-SPB1).

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

Dell G15 5520’s speakers produce a sound of good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/g-series-15-5520-laptop/drivers

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. Our unit is equipped with a 56Wh battery pack that lasts for 6 hours and 17 minutes of Web browsing, or 5 hours and 44 minutes of video playback.


CPU options

You can find this laptop with the Core i5-12500H, Core i7-12700H, or Core i9-12900H.

Dell G15 5520 CPU variants

Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the Dell G15 5520 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Dell G15 5520 model is the best bang for your buck.

Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.

Results are from the Cinebench R23 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)

Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)


GPU options

On the graphics side, there is the RTX 3050 (95W), RTX 3050 Ti (95W), RTX 3060, or the RTX 3070 Ti.

Dell G15 5520 GPU variants

Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the Dell G15 5520 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Dell G15 5520 model is the best bang for your buck.

Note: The chart shows the cheapest different GPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / GPU.

Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)


Gaming tests

Metro ExodusFull HD, Low (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Extreme (Check settings)
Average FPS117 fps51 fps24 fps

Borderlands 3Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Badass (Check settings)
Average fps107 fps71 fps53 fps

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)Full HD, Lowest (Check settings)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)
Average138 fps84 fps80 fps

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon WildlandsFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)
Average fps90 fps82 fps71 fps

[eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Dell G15 5520

Your Dell G15 5520 can be Faster. LaptopMedia has tested thousands of models in the last 15 years, and we’re yet to see a notebook that couldn’t be made more powerful through modifications. And have you seen the most popular search on Google related to “how to make my …”? No? OK, here it is:

As you see, having a faster laptop is more important than having more hair.

Well, the main issue here is that there are thousands of advices on the Web. Some work, some don’t. Some are easy, some are complicated. Some are safe, and some are risky. If only there could be an Easy-to-Follow, Step-by-Step, and Laboratory-Tested guide by a proven organization, right?

That’s what we’ve done. We have hundreds of laptops scattered in our office, and we’ve spent a whole year testing different optimizations. We’ve chosen the ones that really make a difference, that are easy to implement without expert skills, and that are safe for your laptop in the long term.

🚀 What’s the performance boost I could expect?

There’s no general answer but we’ve reached more than 30% GPU Performance boost on some models, while typically it’s between 10% and 20%. You could always go beyond but we want to be sure that our advice will keep your laptop on the safe side in the long term. But you want to get the absolute maximum? We’ll show you how, and then it’s up to you.

We even set several World Records on 3DMark, one being our first Max Out for a specific laptop model – MSI Katana B13V.

We’d be happy to compete with YOU on the 3DMark rank lists, and see what YOUR laptop can do using our guide!

📦 What’s included?

📖 Our eBook includes All the tools you need, along with an Easy-to-follow guide for hassle-free:

GPU Performance boost by vBIOS replacement, Overclocking, and Undervolting
⚙️ Checking the hardware components and finding if you could get a significant boost by upgrading some of them
💾 Installing a clean Windows OS, with all the base settings you need
📋 Software optimization steps that really give a performance boost
Building a RAID Storage configuration for doubling sequential read/write speeds or protecting your data
🎯 Display Profiles bundle for a panel of your choice, enhancing the display for accurate colors, better experience, and protection of your eyes

🎁 To receive the Display Profiles bundle as a gift, simply email us your panel model through our “Contact Us” form.

💵 What is the price?

R&D on laptops isn’t easy nor cheap, especially when you’re not using cherry-picked review samples but real units instead. Our idea is to reinvest the profits from the sales back in our laboratory. However, we also want to make it a killer deal for everyone who is planning or has already spent on a gaming laptop, as this product would significantly boost the performance per dollar they get.

[eBook Guide] How to MAX OUT your Laptop

🛠️ GPU Modifications: vBIOS, Overclocking, Undervolting
⚙️ Building Fast/Reliable RAID configuration
💻 Hardware upgrade tips for best results
🖼 Display enhancing
💾 OS Optimization for best performance

✖ But if these optimizations are easy, why don’t manufacturers do them?

There are a lot of reasons for the manufacturers to put boundaries on your machine, locking part of its performance:

📊 Market Segmentation: To create different product tiers, manufacturers often limit performance. This allows them to target various market segments and price points, encouraging consumers to pay more for higher-performing models.
❓Unknown Potential: Each unit’s performance varies. Checking each one individually isn’t feasible.
🏢 Regulatory Compliance: Certain regions have regulations regarding energy consumption, and manufacturers often place some boundaries to fit all standards.
🏭 Supply Chain Constraints: Limitations are imposed due to the current availability of components.
🫰 Cost-effective solutions: Often, less popular but important details are overlooked. For example, better RAM types can boost performance by up to 30%, but many users ignore this, and many online stores don’t even provide that info.
🔒 Security concerns: Many protections impact performance while being negligible for regular users. However, manufacturers don’t know if their laptops will be purchased by individuals or large corporations, so they can’t disable these features by default.

 

Not a bad performance bump in terms of Storage Speeds:


What are the default apps that impact performance the most?

What to do when RAID drives don’t show up?
How to optimize Windows further for maximum FPS gain in games?

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power

Intel Core i7-12700H (45W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Dell G15 55203.62 GHz @ 2.78 GHz @ 90°C @ 111W3.41 GHz @ 2.68 GHz @ 91°C @ 98W3.18 GHz @ 2.49 GHz @ 83°C @ 87W
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro X (14″)2.26 GHz @ 2.05 GHz @ 68°C @ 60W0.97 GHz @ 1.29 GHz @ 60°C @ 21W1.48 GHz @ 1.33 GHz @ 66°C @ 34W
HP Victus 16 (16-d1000)3.72 GHz @ 2.85 GHz @ 76°C @ 115W3.33 GHz @ 2.58 GHz @ 78°C @ 96W2.37 GHz @ 1.89 GHz @ 65°C @ 45W
Dell Vostro 16 76202.83 GHz @ 2.38 GHz @ 64°C @ 71W2.73 GHz @ 2.24 GHz @ 70°C @ 66W2.42 GHz @ 1.80 GHz @ 72°C @ 52W
Dell XPS 15 95203.18 GHz @ 2.56 GHz @ 95°C @ 87W2.52 GHz @ 2.10 GHz @ 92°C @ 57W2.11 GHz @ 1.70 GHz @ 81°C @ 45W
Dell Precision 17 57703.34 GHz @ 2.69 GHz @ 78°C @ 95W3.30 GHz @ 2.66 GHz @ 87°C @ 92W2.54 GHz @ 2.10 GHz @ 75°C @ 55W
MSI Pulse GL76 (12Ux)3.29 GHz @ 2.76 GHz @ 77°C @ 97W3.27 GHz @ 2.75 GHz @ 83°C @ 95W3.14 GHz @ 2.68 GHz @ 86°C @ 85W
MSI Crosshair 15 (B12Ux)3.27 GHz @ 2.67 GHz @ 84°C @ 97W3.19 GHz @ 2.65 GHz @ 91°C @ 94W3.05 GHz @ 2.47 GHz @ 88°C @ 80W
Acer Predator Helios 300 (PH317-56)3.39 GHz @ 2.84 GHz @ 64°C @ 103W3.53 GHz @ 2.76 GHz @ 71°C @ 100W2.66 GHz @ 2.86 GHz @ 87°C @ 102W
MSI Stealth GS66 (12Ux)3.84 GHz @ 2.82 GHz @ 83°C @ 124W3.55 GHz @ 2.67 GHz @ 85°C @ 107W3.19 GHz @ 2.42 GHz @ 83°C @ 85W
MSI Vector GP66 (12Ux)3.81 GHz @ 2.91 GHz @ 81°C @ 116W3.54 GHz @ 2.72 GHz @ 83°C @ 98W3.30 GHz @ 2.57 GHz @ 79°C @ 86W
Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (PT516-52s)3.25 GHz @ 2.52 GHz @ 89°C @ 80W3.10 GHz @ 2.46 GHz @ 90°C @ 73W2.93 GHz @ 2.38 GHz @ 91°C @ 66W

The G15 5520 maintains its clock speed pretty well throughout the entire test. Its cooling solution has no problem managing the Core i7-12700H when it runs at 87W.

Real-life gaming

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 TiGPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (Max fan)
Dell G15 55201802 MHz @ 73°C @ 90W1800 MHz @ 74°C @ 90W
Dell Vostro 16 76201631 MHz @ 76°C @ 63W1602 MHz @ 84°C @ 63W
ASUS Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED (UX8402)1701 MHz @ 80°C @ 64W1694 MHz @ 82°C @ 63W
Dell XPS 15 95201168 MHz @ 74°C @ 30W1380 MHz @ 75°C @ 38W
Dell XPS 15 95101187 MHz @ 74°C @ 40W1293 MHz @ 75°C @ 44W
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio1610 MHz @ 73°C @ 49W1629 MHz @ 70°C @ 50W
ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (GZ301)1299 MHz @ 62°C @ 40W1285 MHz @ 62°C @ 40W
Lenovo ThinkBook 15p Gen 21539 MHz @ 69°C @ 50W1536 MHz @ 69°C @ 50W
HP Omen 16 (16-b0000)1781 MHz @ 68°C @ 80W1767 MHz @ 71°C @ 80W
HP Envy 15 (15-ep1000)1681 MHz @ 87°C @ 75W1376 MHz @ 74°C @ 48W
ASUS ZenBook Pro 15 OLED (UM535)1530 MHz @ 66°C @ 50W1529 MHz @ 68°C @ 50W
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (15-dk2000)1613 MHz @ 65°C @ 60W1576 MHz @ 73°C @ 60W
MSI Sword 151633 MHz @ 73°C @ 60W1605 MHz @ 79°C @ 60W1644 MHz @ 69°C @ 60W
Dell G15 55111882 MHz @ 71°C @ 88W1878 MHz @ 72°C @ 89W
Dell G15 55151857 MHz @ 76°C @ 80W1850 MHz @ 77°C @ 80W
Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-57)1616 MHz @ 70°C @ 66W1607 MHz @ 72°C @ 65W1632 MHz @ 69°C @ 66W
MSI Katana GF761619 MHz @ 76°C @ 60W1594 MHz @ 82°C @ 60W1632 MHz @ 70°C @ 60W

It is weird that for a second year running, the G15 can’t match the 95W TGP limit of its rather low-tier GPU option – the RTX 3050 Ti. What makes it weird is the fact that it runs at pretty low temperatures, which leaves a lot of headroom. Plus, the fans can push a lot of air, even at low RPM.

Gaming comfort

This, however, doesn’t mean that the fans will run at low RPM when you’re gaming. Quite the opposite in fact. Interestingly, there is a couple of performance presets, accessible both through BIOS and through the Alienware Command Center. We are also happy to see that the design pattern of moving the hot elements to the back of the laptop results in a cool keyboard.


Verdict

Dell G15 5520 is a gaming laptop that makes incremental gains over the last year. In fact, purely gaming performance is not increased whatsoever. Raw benchmarks show a slight decrease in the scores, while real-world results are a bit of a mixed bag. The G15 5520 is marginally better at Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, while the G15 5511 wins in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Gaming is not everything, though. When it comes to purely computational horsepower, the G15 5520 can murder every single laptop from last year. The main culprit behind that is its Alder Lake-H processor. And with the good enough cooling, we got scores, which are better than 80% of the laptops we tested with the same CPU – Core i7-12700H.

Dell G15 5520’s IPS panel has a 120Hz refresh rate, Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and a good contrast ratio. Furthermore, its backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. On a more grim note, however, it has a narrow color coverage of 55% of the sRGB gamut, and its pixel response times do not correspond with the fast refresh rate of the panel. This makes side effects like ghosting inevitable.

You see, the main problem for the G15 5520 is that it comes at the same price as laptops such as the Legion 5 (15″, 2022) – a device that has shown immense success, and is now made out of metal. In addition to the superior build quality, the Legion 5 has a way better keyboard, a touchpad, that feels three times larger than that of the G15, and a cooling setup that faces the right way.

This makes it significantly more difficult to change the thermal paste and clean that part of the Dell. However, we have to praise Dell’s thinking for making access to the memory and the storage that easy. Also, it uses DDR5 RAM, which is good in the long run, since there is no great benefit in gaming as of the time of writing this review.

We are also pretty happy with the I/O with a couple of exceptions. You get all of the basics – a LAN port, HDMI 2.1 connector, three fast USB Type-As, and a USB Type-C port. However, to take advantage of a true Thunderbolt 4 connection, you need to invest in the more expensive RTX 3060 model, which is unnecessary. Also, there is no SD card slot.

By the way, we mentioned that the G15 5520 has an inferior keyboard to that of the Legion 5, but we didn’t explain why. Well, imagine that you get a gaming device with an office keyboard – one that has average key travel and slightly mushy feedback. Its layout is clearly not meant with gaming in mind, and the only thing that resembles the laptop it’s put on is the optional 4-zone RGB backlight.

One thing we feel is cool about the G15 5520 is the fact that its fans draw cool air both from the bottom and the top. The vent above the keyboard is functional, and you can tell by the IR images we posted a bit earlier in the review, that the part that is placed in the middle actually radiates the heat, which is usually placed right underneath the keyboard. This results in “savings” of about 10°C, which may be critical.

Another good note about the G15 is that it has lost some weight – 200 to 300 grams, depending on the configuration. Still, we find the laptop a bit heavier than its competitors, and its 6-hour battery life is not a title-grabber either. In our view, you have to think twice before getting this specific device. You will make your life easier going for the Legion 5 (15″, 2022) – AMD or Intel version. Of course, if you score a deal on the G15 5520, you shouldn’t refrain. This is not a bad notebook.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-g15-5520/

Pros

  • Relatively affordable
  • 2x DDR5 RAM SODIMM + 1x M.2 PCIe x4 Gen 4
  • Fast refresh rate
  • No PWM (LG VHK65-156WFJ)
  • Decent performer
  • Good cooling


Cons

  • Heavier and thicker than the competition
  • Thunderbolt 4 is reserved for the more expensive RTX 3060 model
  • Subpar keyboard and touchpad
  • Only 55% sRGB coverage (LG VHK65-156WFJ)
  • Unimpressive battery life

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ferf
1 year ago

merci!