Dell’s G-series of gaming laptops represents a balance between performance and affordability. Although it sits at the bottom of the Alienware gaming laptop lineup, it manages to include some standout features from its more expensive counterpart. It takes inspiration from its more expensive cousin in terms of design and build quality, and also offers commendable thermal and graphics performance.
The company officially unveiled the 2023 G-series at CES in January, and if you’ve decided to buy a new Dell gaming laptop, we recommend purchasing the latest G16 7630.
The G16 looks compact for a 16-inch laptop, however, it is quite heavy. Made from a combination of aluminum and plastic, it weighs around 3 kilograms, so it’s not the sleekest gaming notebook. But that’s to be expected from most gaming laptops of this size. Currently, it is only available in the Metallic Nightshade color scheme, which consists of shades of brown, with purple heat sinks that are visible through the rear air vents. The laptop comes with an RGB backlit keyboard, and you can control lighting and macros using the bundled Alienware Command Center software.
You get a healthy set of ports, including three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with DisplayPort functionality (Thunderbolt 4 on RTX 4070 models), an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm audio jack Is. , and even an Ethernet port.
The laptop is available with a 16-inch QHD 16:10 display equipped with thin bezels. Dell is offering two options where you can choose between 165Hz refresh rate or 240Hz. Personally, I think 165Hz is more than enough unless you’re a first-person shooter fanatic and every single frame matters to you. Like the overall design, the display here won’t be as premium as what you might see on higher-end Alienware gaming laptops. From what we know, the display brightness is limited to 300 nits, which isn’t that impressive, but it’s not terrible either.
Dell definitely means business when it comes to performance. The G16 is available with Intel’s 13th Gen Core i7-13650HX or Core i9-13900HX, both of which are extremely powerful CPUs. There’s also the option to choose between an Nvidia RTX 4050, 4060, or 4070 mobile GPU. Sadly, Dell has fixed the combinations where you can only pair the 14-core Core i7-13650HX with an RTX 4050 or choose the i9-13900HX with an RTX 4060 or 4070.
If you can stretch your budget to $2,000, we highly recommend going for the top configuration with an RTX 4070 GPU, which will assure excellent gaming performance in demanding AAA gaming titles. This particular configuration also comes with 32GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. Do you have a limited budget of $1,500 or less? You should then select the tier below which offers an RTX 4060 paired with a 24-core Core i9 CPU.
No matter which configuration you go for, the laptop comes with an additional SSD storage slot and non-soldered memory, essentially providing good user upgradeability options.
It’s also important to mention that this is much more than a portable gaming machine, as the Dell G16 serves as an excellent desktop replacement. It comes with sturdy build quality, sharp and sharp display and powerful chips. The only thing holding it back is its thick and heavy design, which is something that may or may not be a deal-breaker for you. Looking for something a little more premium, check out our recommendation of the best Alienware gaming laptops for 2023.