Dell G5 15 SE Review: Insanely Powerful and Highly Affordable

Dell G5 15 SE Review

The Dell G5 15 is not just the most affordable gaming laptop from the company, but it even undercuts some of the competitors like Acer Predator Helios. However, that’s not all. The new Dell G5 15 SE edition brings a lot to the table while remaining as affordable as possible.

The laptop comes with Intel’s latest 8th generation Coffee Lake Hexa-core processors, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, and even a fast 256 GB NVMe SSD drive. But what makes this mid-range system stand out from other affordable gaming laptops? Let’s find out in our detailed review below!

Build Quality and Design

Build Quality and Design

The Dell G5 15 SE is made out of plastic and the build quality is decent enough for the price range. It’s not a very sturdy system in the hand, but it feels sturdy enough to not feel cheap. It also comes with a black finish that is fingerprint-resistant. However, the lid is a bit glossy and attracts fingerprints like crazy. 

The laptop weighs around 5.3 lbs and is 0.78 inches thick. It’s a bit on the heavier side but not very uncomfortable to carry around. The design of the system is simple and understated and looks good in the hand. The overall build quality and design of the laptop are good and feel sturdy enough.

Display and Audio Quality

Display and Audio Quality

The Dell G5 15 SE comes with a 15.6 inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS display. The display is decent enough for the price range and has decent brightness, contrast, and viewing angles. The colors don’t pop as they do on some high-end gaming laptops but it’s a good-looking display nonetheless. The brightness levels are decent but nothing to write home about. The display also comes with Dell’s Black Out mode which dims the backlight to a certain level when you are not using the laptop. 

The audio quality on the laptop is decent for a gaming laptop and gets loud enough. However, like most other gaming laptops, it lacks bass and is good enough for watching Netflix or YouTube videos but not much else. The computer has two built-in speakers on the underside, a subwoofer, and a microphone. It also has an audio jack to plug in your headphones or a dedicated speaker.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The Dell G5 15 SE has a full-size keyboard and a standard-sized trackpad. The keyboard is comfortable to type on and does not feel cheap, even though it is made of plastic. It has decent travel to it and doesn’t feel spongy. The keys are RGB-lit and have multiple backlight customization options.

However, for some odd reason, the function keys work all the time and cannot be customized. The trackpad is smooth and accurate. It doesn’t feel cheap and is paired with tactile feedback. The trackpad gestures also work flawlessly, and you get a lot of options while using them. The only issue with the trackpad is that it is not very large and is a bit clunky.

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

The Dell G5 15 SE comes with an 8th gen Intel Core i5-8300H Hexa-core processor with 8 GB of RAM. The processor is one of the latest and greatest from Intel and is super efficient. The laptop performs well in most tasks, but the only thing that is not good is the heat it generates. It gets pretty hot even while performing regular duties.

The laptop does an excellent job of playing games at FHD resolution with medium-to-high settings. With high settings, it can run games like Overwatch, PUBG, and CS: GO at around 60 fps at FHD. The laptop also has a large amount of thermal headroom, so you can overclock it to improve performance.

Dell G5 15 SE Review: Final Words

The Dell G5 15 SE is an insanely powerful laptop that remains as affordable as possible. It is powered by Intel’s latest 8th Gen Core i5 processor, has a powerful NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, and even has a fast 256 GB NVMe SSD drive. The laptop gets fairly hot but comes with a strong airflow system and two large fans. It also has a very large amount of thermal headroom so you can overclock it if you want to get even better performance. 

The build quality and design of the laptop are good and the laptop is fairly lightweight and easy to carry around. The keyboard and trackpad are great and the display is decent enough and has good viewing angles. The laptop is good enough for everyday use and even light gaming. At such an affordable price point, it’s a great buy.

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