Dell Vostro 16 5625 review – efficient, powerful, and cool

Hey, there is one more laptop that falls into the trendy 16-inch category. There is nothing bad about that. In fact, it is great, because the 16:10 aspect ratio means that the notebook has the same footprint as a 15-inch model, and yet, its bezels are now thinner than ever.

Powering the machine are the newly updated Ryzen 5000U processors. The top dog now is called the Ryzen 7 5825U. Generally, it is the same as the Ryzen 7 5800U, except for the slightly higher clock speeds.

You know, having a high core count is definitely something that will push the performance of this laptop. So it doesn’t really matter that you get a ULV chip inside of this 16-incher.

On the other hand, we really hope that the low price of the device won’t result in limitations and major cost-cutting measures. The biggest concern in our view could be the display.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-vostro-16-5625/

Contents


Specs Sheet

Dell Vostro 16 5625 - Specs

  • BOE JFDKM-NV16WUM (BOE0A34)
  • Color accuracy  6.6  5.4
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 2000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 32GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Home, Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Pro
  • Battery
  • 54Wh, 4-cell, 41Wh, 3-cell , 54Wh, 41Wh, 3-cell
  • Body material
  • Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 356.78 x 251.90 x 15.67 - 17.95 mm (14.05" x 9.92" x 0.62")
  • Weight
  • 1.97 kg (4.3 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort
  • HDMI
  • 1.4
  • Card reader
  • SD, SDHC, SDXC
  • Ethernet LAN
  • 10/100/1000 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.2
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • optional
  • Web camera
  • FHD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • optional
  • Microphone
  • Digital Array Microphones in camera assembly
  • Speakers
  • 2x 2W Stereo Speakers
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

All Dell Vostro 16 5625 configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, you will find the mandatory paperwork, as well as a 65W power adapter.


Design and construction

One thing is sure though, Dell didn’t spare any resources on the chassis. The laptop is entirely built out of aluminum and has a really thin profile – 15.7-18mm. Its weight is also pretty fine at 1.97 kg. In addition to that, both the lid and the body are pretty resistant to flex.

There is one thing that is pretty weird about the design, and it is located at the back. You get a long rubber strip that feels like it’s attached by someone who owned the laptop prior to yourself. However, it is meant to lift the laptop’s back slightly from the ground, which should improve the airflow.

Thankfully, the lid can be opened with a single hand, and the bezels around the matte display are very thin. Hear this – the camera here is a Full HD unit, and has a privacy shutter on top. That’s great!

Moving to the keyboard, we see the first somewhat a disappointment. Well, the key travel is a bit short, and you will need some time to get used to that. On the other hand, there is a backlight, a NumberPad, and the feedback is clicky, which is a good consolation.

Yet again, the touchpad is a bit of a mixed bag. Its surface is smooth, but the tracking is not the best. Also, the clicking mechanism is super stiff, which is a downside.

Now, turn the laptop upside down, and you will see the two speaker cutouts, as well as the ventilation grill. The hot air is exhausted through a slit in between the lid and the base.

Ports

On the left side, you will find the power plug, an HDMI 1.4 connector, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, and a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port with Power Delivery and DisplayPort capabilities. Then, on the right, you get a security lock slot, an Audio jack, followed by a LAN port, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, and an SD card reader.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

To get inside this laptop, you need to undo 9 Phillips-head screws. The two in the back corners are captive and open a huge gap, where you can start the prying process.

The battery pack here has a capacity of 54Wh. To take it out, unplug the connector from the motherboard. Then, undo all 5 Phillips-head screws, and simply lift it away.

In terms of memory, there are two SODIMM slots, which work in dual-channel mode. Storage-wise, you get one M.2 PCIe x4 slot.

It’s good to see that the cooling incorporates two heat pipes, plus a heat sink and fan of decent sizes. Furthermore, the VRMs are cooled by a metal heat spreader.


Display quality

Dell Vostro 16 5625 in our configuration is equipped with a WUXGA IPS panel with a model number BOE JFDKM-NV16WUM (BOE0A34). Its diagonal is 16″ (40.6 cm), and the resolution is 1920 х 1200 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:10, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 141 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 61cm (24″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).

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 272 nits in the middle of the screen and 261 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 5%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 6670K – slightly 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 – 1300:1.

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 Vostro 16 5625’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 50% 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 at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Dell Vostro 16 5625 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 = 16 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 Vostro 16 5625’s backlight doesn’t flicker at any brightness level, making the laptop comfortable and safe 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.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Dell Vostro 16 5625 configurations with 16″ IPS BOE JFDKM-NV16WUM (BOE0A34).

*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 Vostro 16 5625’s speakers produce a sound of very 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/vostro-16-5625-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. Here, you get a 54Wh battery pack. It lasts for 13 hours and 38 minutes of Web browsing, or 12 hours and 3 minutes of video playback.

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.


CPU options

Dell offers this laptop with the Ryzen 3 5425U, RYzen 5 5625U, or the Ryzen 7 5825U.


GPU options

Besides the integrated graphics card, you get the option for a dedicated GeForce MX550 with 2GB of GDDR6 VRAM.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS145 fps90 fps66 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS147 fps94 fps47 fps

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 core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

AMD Ryzen 5 5625U (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
Dell Vostro 16 56253.06 GHz @ 66°C2.83 GHz @ 72°C2.67 GHz @ 67°C

Well, obviously, this is our first encounter with the Ryzen 5 5625U, but we are pretty impressed by both the processor and the laptop itself. With temperatures this low, you can expect a really long life out of it (provided you don’t spill your drink over the device).

Comfort during full load

You will be glad to hear that the laptop is pretty quiet under the extreme workload. Also, the keyboard appears to have a weird small hotspot, which reaches nearly 43°C. Other than that, the device is cool to the touch.


Verdict

The aforementioned information leads us to a big question. Could have Dell extracted more out of this processor? Obviously, the answer is yes. Provided that the voltage regulators could survive this, the cooling setup has the capacity to handle higher clock speeds. So, a simple app with a couple of performance presets would have done the job.

Anyways, we are still happy with the way this laptop performs. It breezes past any load without stuttering and is able to take on pretty much all of the Tiger Lake-U notebooks on the market.

Dell Vostro 16 5625’s IPS panel has a WUXGA (1920×1200) resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and a good contrast ratio. Thankfully, it doesn’t rely on PWM for brightness adjustment. On the other hand, the color coverage is limited to just half of the colors found on the Web (50% of sRGB).

However, the panel seems to be pretty energy efficient. Combined with the low-voltage processor, this allows the 54Wh battery to last for nearly 14 hours of Web browsing, or 12 hours of video playback on a single charge.

In addition, the port selection looks great – both inside and out. For upgrades, you get two SODIMM slots, and one M.2 PCIe x4 slot, while the external ports include an SD card reader, a LAN port, two USB Type-As, an HDMI connector, and a USB Type-C which can output a DisplayPort signal.

See, this laptop is very good for the asked money. Indeed, you won’t be able to do design work on the native display, nor does it have great input devices. However, its efficiency and performance are truly exquisite.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/dell-vostro-16-5625/

Pros

  • Great battery life
  • Good cooling
  • Rigid chassis and good build quality
  • Wide I/O with SD card reader
  • Wi-Fi 6 support plus an optional fingerprint reader
  • 1x M.2 PCIe x4 + 2x SODIMM slots
  • No PWM (BOE JFDKM-NV16WUM (BOE0A34))


Cons

  • 50% sRGB coverage (BOE JFDKM-NV16WUM (BOE0A34))
  • Not the best input devices

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Talon Couet
Talon Couet
1 year ago

Mediante il connettore USB Type-C è possibile collegare un monitor 4K?

Cavehomme
Cavehomme
1 year ago
Reply to  Talon Couet

The HDMI port on the laptop outputs to 4K, but only 30Hz.

My 4k monitor does not have USB-C, but I bought a Dell adapter for USB-C to DP and HDMI which gives me full 4K at 60Hz, so the direct USB-C port on a monitor should be expected to also give 4K at 60Hz.

PHVM_BR
PHVM_BR
1 year ago
Reply to  Cavehomme

HDMI on this laptop outputs 4k@60Hz, as well as the usb-c port.