Customer Ratings & Reviews

PROS: * RTX 3050 * 6-core Ryzen 5 5600H * DLSS * Upgradable memory * Two M.2 storage slots * Rear power and display ports CONS: * One stick of RAM * Poor display quality * No Windows Hello * USB 2.0 ports * Smaller 56Wh battery == SETUP == Setting up the G15 5515 is no different than any other Windows laptop. Once you power it on for the first time, you'll need to go through the Windows 10 setup process. After running all necessary updates, the only bloatware that I wanted/needed to remove was McAfee. Dell does a decent job of keeping the 3rd party bloatware to a minimum. If you don't want all of Dell's included software, you can always just do a clean install of Windows. == BUILD QUALITY == The G15 5515 is "unapologetically plastic", no aluminum or magnesium chassis here! It's a budget-focused gaming laptop, so I'm fine with it. The light gray plastic chassis has a very unique look, with dark gray speckles to help make this design stand out. The screen is a FHD (1920x1080p) 120Hz panel, but isn't very bright at only 250 nits. Color accuracy is pretty low, with a color gamut of 45% NTSC and a contrast ratio of 600:1 certainly doesn't help. The worst part about the display is the response time: 35ms. If you're going to be playing competitive CS:GO, I would HIGHLY recommend using an external monitor. The keyboard is "okay". The keys have decent travel and feel okay to type on, but I don't know if I would enjoy typing out a 10+ page report on the this keyboard. Thanks to the large size of the laptop, it does have a numpad (this also means that the qwerty keys are shifted to the left of the center when typing). The camera is 720p with no Windows Hello support. It does support face-tracking with Windows and is "okay" for occasional video calls, but if you're planning on having your G15 5515 pulling double-duty (gaming/streaming and work), I would consider buying an external camera to use. == PERFORMANCE == I found that there are four major use cases that will have noticeable impacts on gaming performance with this laptop: if the game supports Nvidia's DLSS feature, if you're using the laptop display, if you're using an external monitor, and if you have both RAM slots occupied. Since people prioritize different metrics when gaming (FPS vs resolution), I focused on two popular games with built-in benchmarks for the sake of consistency: Far Cry 5 (FC5) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Please note, all the benchmarks were run with high settings and my external monitor is a 24.5" 1080p 144Hz TN display (I also disabled the G15 display when connected to my monitor using the G15's HDMI 2.1 port). Without using an external monitor AND using the single stick of memory, FC5 average FPS was about 68. With using an external monitor and the single stick of memory, FC5 saw an improvement, averaging around 76 FPS. After adding an additional 8GB stick of memory, and using an external monitor, the average frame rate was 85 FPS. That's a 25% improvement, just by using an external 1080p display AND having both RAM slots occupied. Shadow of the Tomb Raider saw the most drastic differences, mostly due to the fact that it supports DLSS. Without DLSS: - Average of 57 FPS with a single stick of RAM and no external display. - Average of 68 FPS with a single stick of RAM and an external display. - Average of 77 FPS with two sticks of RAM and an external display. WITH DLSS: - Average of 66 FPS with a single stick of RAM and no external display. - Average of 79 FPS with a single stick of RAM and an external display. - Average of 112 FPS with two sticks of RAM and an external display. By turning on DLSS, using two sticks of memory, AND using an external display, I was able to almost DOUBLE the performance! However, this game really shows how much of an impact is made by Dell only including one memory module. Just adding a 2nd stick of RAM saw an improvement of 41% when using DLSS with an external display. == THERMALS == The dedicated "Game Shift" G key (F9) will cause the fans to spin at max speed to help with cooling when gaming. While using "Game Shift" and elevating my G15 on a laptop stand (for max airflow), I'm seeing CPU temps in the high 80s and low 90s. GPU temps are much better: the hotspot was showing temps in the high 60s and low 70s. The GPU and CPU are on the "back" of the motherboard (you'll need to remove the motherboard from the chassis to access them), so if you wanted to repaste later it's going to take more effort+time compared to previous Dell gaming laptops. == BATTERY LIFE == Nobody really buys a gaming laptop and expects stellar all-day battery life. I can't find anything from Dell with a battery life estimate, which makes sense, since it will greatly depend on what you're doing. If you're trying to game on battery, you'll be lucky to get two hours (and even then, this really depends on what game you're playing, screen brightness, Bluetooth, etc.). However, if you want to use this laptop for more than just gaming (such as for school), you can get decent battery life out of the smaller 56Wh battery. By setting the screen brightness to 60%, turning off Bluetooth, and changing the Windows Power Mode to "best power efficiency", I was able to get about 8 hours of video playback. == USER UPGRADES == Getting into the laptop is pretty easy, since none of the screws are hidden under any stickers or rubber feet pads (unlike some other manufacturers). Once inside, you can upgrade/replace: - The RAM (32GB max supported) - The storage (two 2TB M.2 2280 Gen3 max) - The battery - The Wi-Fi card Since the G15 5515 ships with only stick of memory, I would HIGHLY recommend adding a 2nd stick to help boost your gaming performance. The motherboard supports a maximum of 32GB, so if you want your laptop to pull double-duty of gaming and work (and you plan on running VMs), I would try to find two 16GB modules on sale. Dell doesn't include the hardware needed to add a 2nd M.2 storage module, so you will need to either reach out to Dell customer support to order it or check online at various retailers for a 3rd party option. The Killer 1650X card is decent (Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6), but is removable if something happens later on down the road. The battery is only 56Wh, which is on the smaller size, especially when compared to the 86Wh that comes with the G15 with the RTX 3060. The 56Wh and 86Wh battery dimensions appear to be nearly identical (the 86Wh is only 0.3mm thicker), so in theory you COULD upgrade the battery, but I would reach out to Dell to verify before buying a new battery. == BOTTOM LINE == This is designed/configured for someone looking for an entry-level gaming laptop on a budget. All budget/entry-level gaming laptops from ALL manufacturers will need to "cut corners" for the sake of hitting a lower price. The display isn't great, it doesn't support Windows Hello, this G15 has a smaller battery, it has USB 2.0 ports, but the worst thing about this laptop is that it ships with only ONE stick of RAM. Thankfully, you can upgrade the RAM and just use an external monitor to resolve two of my biggest complaints about the G15 5515. Gaming performance is good, especially if you play any games that support Nvidia's DLSS. You can play any new AAA title, just keep in mind that you're going to need to lower the settings for maintaining 60+ FPS. If you do plan on buying this, please do yourself a favor and buy an additional 8GB 3200Mhz stick of memory to populate both RAM slots. This isn't a "bad" laptop, but you'll to put in the time and money for upgrades to make it "really good".

The Dell G15 with Nvidia RTX 3050 and Ryzen 5600H is an excellent entry-level gaming laptop that features 120Hz display and an RTX enabled Nvidia GPU to help you achieve those high frame rates. It's important to keep in mind, this is still an entry-level laptop so you won't be able to max out game settings even at 1080p to make use of the displays 1080p settings, but for less demanding games you should still see a good benefit of the 120Hz refresh rate. What I was most impressed with was the full 180W power supply from Dell for the G15 which allows the RTX 3050 to perform to its maximum capabilities. Despite the only major negative of only 4GB of VRAM on the RTX 3050, it is still around 30% faster than the GTX 1060 with 6GB that was the standard GPU for the $1000 price point in the past. In terms of other specs, I was really impressed with the SSD speed on the G15 with 2500MB/s read speeds which is fast for OEM stuff. The Wifi is also Wifi6/AX and I was getting 60MB/s which is great for wifi considering full gigabit ethernet gets you about 110MB/s. Overall you can see Destiny 2 is around 60-70 FPS which is my favorite game at medium settings. Its a great laptop if you travel a lot for business and need to keep up with your dailies or if you want to give your kids a decent gaming laptop. When I'm home I have access to much more powerful hardware but you can see the 3050 is only about 1/3rd the speed of my 3090 in 3DMark. Overall, this is a great laptop, it doesn't have full RGB keyboard but the screen is bright and 120Hz. It has a full RJ-45 connector for ethernet and the WiFi and SSDs are fast. I am sure I can add memory and storage if I need to but I haven't looked into that in much depth yet.

I was excited to receive this Dell Gaming laptop as my current setup (for gaming) is a traditional tower, reinforced with several fans. The Dell Gaming laptop is a pretty reasonably priced - albeit mild in power - gaming PC for the traveling gamer. Pros: - Wickedly awesome display - clarity, brightness, etc. - Great NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card - not even a little bit of jitter or blur when playing pretty intense games (F&F, FK) - THREE USB-A ports!! Real, old-fashioned USB ports for the proper gaming mouse, keyboard. - If you're not wireless, there is a port for a headset (I'm old-school) - Flexibility - it's portable and can multi-task with your non-gaming life (Office apps, etc.) - Did I mention three USB ports? - Dedicated gaming button in the F-keys - Strong, efficient fan system - Great processor, especially for hardcore gaming - HDMI and USB-C ports are also nice for when you aren't traveling, want a secondary monitor, or need to use the USB-C as a hub since the traditional USB-A ports are taken Cons: - First I must mention the set up of this computer was very frustrating. I set it up and it threw up so many errors, I ended up wiping it and re-installing Windows. - It's HEAVY - 8gb of RAM is really not sufficient for my needs, though I often have too much open at one time. For this price point, I would have liked to have seen 16gb of RAM. - You may not hear it if you have a headset on, but when the great fan system revs up, it is very loud. People around you will notice the jet-sounding ventilation. - It has an odd speckled grey finish which I find myself constantly thinking is dirt or a fly - it's just something that will take some time to get used to. - It's big - this is a pro and a con. Big, beautiful screen and full keyboard, but don't expect it to fit in a 15" laptop bag very well. - Alienware software/acceleration built-in - Doesn't come bloated with too many "We think you will use this" apps that the hard drive is nearly full upon delivery; 512gb of memory is more than sufficient unless you have a ton of games download. - Very strange battery life (see pic below); I had to go into the depths of Windows settings to set a custom power profile as the laptop wouldn't charge over 76% with the default settings - Expect your typical zillions of Windows updates and multiple reboots before you park to play. Overall, I give this a modest thumbs up. It's a middle-of-the-road affordable solution for gaming and does its job fairly well. I was very frustrated with the first boot up and having to reinstall Windows, but that likely wasn't the computer's fault. Windows is just plain buggy when you are starting new. While it's definitely nothing compared to a traditional tower setup that I'm used to, this is definitely a contender for a gamer - especially one wanting mobility at a decent price. I look at it as - spend a third on the laptop, expect a third of what a custom tower offers.

I use this computer daily to hook up to diesel trucks. Battery life is probably the only issue I have with this. Screen is dim when the sun hits it. I upgraded the ram from 8 gigs to 32 gigs. For what I use this for with the ram upgrade, it’s a little over kill. Overall, it’s a good computer especially for the price that I got it. I got it open box.

Good performance for the price. The RTX 3050 can run games at medium to high quality. Although the finish is plastic, it feels quite sturdy

What a great gaming laptop. Its very sturdy and well built, lots of needed ports! No card reader though, but I have one on my many dongles! It handles all tasks with ease and live wallpapers look beautiful. It was on sale for $799 and you cant beat the price. I love the white speckle finish, no fingerprints. The battery life is great while doing most all tasks. I like to leave it plugged in while playing games, the power brick is huge, but this machine is not meant to be portable. I definitely would recommend this laptop for anyone looking for a solid laptop that could handle any tasks as well as playing games. Music and movies sound great and I have not had any issues with the laptop getting hot with extended use. Dell also includes very useful software to assist in optimizing your settings which is very helpful. **^^You should always use a nice chill mat while playing games, as this will help to boost the performance of the machine while playing intensive games… Enjoy

Over all its gets the job done when wanting to game away from my desktop. Power cord is the biggest problem. It falls out with the slightest movement. Will play most AAA games, some you will have to lower graphic settings. Battery life is good. Haven't gamed much on just the battery though. When not gaming, the battery seems to last a long time. Not something I would buy if I was going to use only this for gaming. I have a rather powerful desktop to game on when home and this helps pass the time when on the road.

I've been using this laptop for a couple years and as a gaming laptop, it performs alot better than I thought. It out performs my desktop and can run high-end games with ease, such as games like FFXIV, or even RDR2. I'd highly suggest getting a RAM and storage upgrade as the storage gets filled really quick if you game. I upgraded my RAM and its gone to an even higher level.

I wanted to get a budget friendly gaming laptop so that when I go to my friends house, moms house, or don’t want to go upstairs to play on my gaming PC and just stay in my room to play, I would have one to use. I got the laptop on sale for $849, not including tax. I did return it to get the Legion 5 (AMD Ryzen 7 5800H - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti - 8GB Memory - 512GB SSD) for the same exact price as I got the G15 for but as an open box, but if I never saw the Legion 5 for that cheap of a price I would’ve been fine with my G15. Cons: -Low brightness -Only 8gb of RAM (but can easily just another another RAM stick) -Loud fans -Keyboard wasn’t the best typing experience -Trackpad was very hard to push down on Cons: -Price -Even though the build is plastic, it’s still very durable, no flexing of the keyboard or screen When I first got my G15 I never noticed that many issues with it, to me the keyboard was fine, the brightness was okay, etc. but after returning it and getting the Legion 5, that’s when I started to see all the “problems” with the G15. Honestly for the price I don’t think the cons I listed should be a deal breaker on getting it. I would recommend this to anyone that is looking for a budget friendly gaming laptop.

One of the best mid gaming laptops i have experienced. Graphic design and arts runs well and smooth. video editing will work as long as you have the correct codecs. the only thing is the battery will not last long off charge . Off the charge your performance and frame rates becomes unstable at times. I installed 32 GB in my laptop

Really good laptop for people who are just getting into gaming. Has a hidden second slot for ram. Stick another ram stick in there and it'll run nice and smooth

I really liked this laptop, it’s super helpful for engineering work, coding, designing, and of course, playing video games. The Dell G15 has been awesome for multitasking and tackling everything from complex calculations to creative projects without breaking a sweat. And when it’s time to chill, gaming on this is a blast, the graphics and speed just pull you right in. Whether it’s work or play, this laptop is a total win in my book. I've even run GTA V on this machine!!

Got it open box. Upgraded memory (32gb max, not 64) and added a M.2 SSD. Solid and dependable. The fan is super loud, though!

I bought it in "open box satisfactory" condition, and the only issue with it was a small scratch on the cover, which I don't really mind for the discount (I bought at $489). The only issue that I have with it is that the computer doesn't really sleep. I'm not sure if this is a Windows 11 issue, but even after putting it to sleep or closing the lid, the fan keeps going off and the computer sometimes feels hot. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the purchase.

Can’t beat this laptop for the price. I am able to work on some game design and content creation on this laptop when I have to travel.

The computer seems to be working fine so far; I've had it less than 24 hours though. Some apps have to be clicked on multiple times before they start up, but other than that I haven't noticed any other problems with how it operates. It would probably be worth it to buy another 8gigs of RAM to add to it. Now, about the open box purchase. The price was good, but the condition stated was excellent; I guess it wasn't really scratched but the screen was disgusting. It looked like someone had been eating greasy food and then put their fingers all over the screen. I was also surprised when it was delivered I picked it up and it was rattling in the box. The box was pretty large; I opened it and there was a smaller box inside with no padding, and then I opened the smaller box and found the computer and power adapter thrown in a box with no padding and left to rattle around together while they traveled half way across the country. I was also happy to find the cords on the power adapter wrapped so tightly I'm surprised they work. I would probably buy the computer again, but not sure about another open box purchase unless I see it in person first.

I got this laptop for my son, he games on it often and has had 0 issues with it. It games better than most gaming PCs. This model had the Ryzen 5 (5th gen) and that is a great chip. I would avoid the 6th gen as I have had numerous issues out of those devices. Either get this laptop or wait till the 7th gen comes out.

Such an excellent laptop. The build quality is great. The performance is great. The ONLY complaint is that it ships single stick of memory so you have single channel memory. This is a big no-no for AMD processors which love dual channel memory. At least it’s the easiest upgrade for a laptop and can be done in five minutes.

Great laptop, it’s been able to play all my stream games. The laptop is still working well.

Pretty good laptop, I use it for a variety of things, though mostly gaming. The only thing it needs is more space, but other than that it's pretty good, especially if you are just casually gaming or working on paperwork. Wouldn't recommend for heavy gamers, as I ran out of space pretty quick. But that could be said for a lot of laptops.