Dell Gaming is on a roll. The company just raised the curtain on the latest entries to the Dell Gaming line: the G7 15 (available June 29) and G7 17 (available June 23). When they launch, both systems will start at $1,429 which should be music to the ears of gamers searching for a mid-tier to premium gaming laptop without taking out a small loan to do so.
Design
While some of us are battling to keep off the quarantine pounds, the G7s are beach ready. Dell managed to shave off 0.2 inches off the last model, creating a notebook that measures only 14.1 x 10.5 x 0.7 inches. The company accomplished this rather impressive feat by employing a new hinge design.
Both laptops have an entirely anodized Mineral Black aluminum chassis with eye-catching iridescent silver accents. And Dell couldn’t resist bringing at least a little bit of that RGB bling from its premium Alienware to the G7. So both G7 notebooks have a luxurious customizable RGB strip running across the bottom front lip of the laptop. It’s like a more colorful take on K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider.
Combined with the 4-zone RGB keyboard, it’s got that ooh and ahh factor gamer’s love. However, if you disable the lights, it’ll fit in nicely in a classroom or office.
Display
Borrowing from the XPS line, Dell shrank the bezels on both systems. On both laptops, the bezels measure 0.3 inches down from 0.4 inches. The G7 15 has three display options. You have two 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 panels. One screen has a refresh rate of 144Hz while the other bumps it up to 300Hz. And for you OLED lovers out there, Dell has a 4K (3840 x 2160), 60Hz option. Sure, it’s not going to be as buttery smooth as the other two displays, but that vibrant color is a worthwhile trade-off for some.
We’re still waiting for screen options for the G7 17 so stay tuned for updates.
Ports
Like any gaming laptop worth its salt, the G7s are not at a loss for ports. On the right, you get a USB 2.0 Type-A port and an SD card reader. Along the left, there’s a USB 3.2 Type-A port, headset jack and the power port. Spin the laptop around to the back and you have a veritable cornucopia of ports including another USB 3.2 Type-A port, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, a mini DisplayPort, HDMI 2.0 and a Gigabit Ethernet port.
Specs
Just because it doesn’t say Alienware, don’t think for a second that either of the Dell G7s are lacking for power. Both G7 systems can be configured with up to an 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980HK processor, which happens to be overclocked. For RAM, you can go up to 32GB while you can get a maximum storage of 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD. The main difference between the two laptops is that the G7 15 can only be upgraded to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU while the G7 17 tops off with an RTX 2070 Super GPU.
And when if you need to get an extra boost during those particularly sticky, hit the GameShift button to activate dynamic mode.
Bottom line
If you’re a fan of Alienware, but don’t have that kind of cash lying around, it might be time to check out Dell Gaming with the G7 15 and G7 17. Starting at $1,429, the notebooks can serve up high level performance without potentially breaking the bank. However, I’m eager to see how the laptops fare against our tests when we get them in the lab. But for now, the G7s are an exciting prospect for PC gaming,
