Laptop Mag Verdict
The Dell G16 (7630) is a master-class example of what a gaming laptop can do at a low cost, from its incredible performance to its gorgeous display.
Pros
- +
Gorgeous display
- +
Phenomenal keyboard experience
- +
Powerful performance
- +
Decent battery life
- +
Reasonably priced
Cons
- -
Tiny touchpad
- -
Hollow speakers
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Want the greatest gaming laptop you can buy at the lowest price? Don’t blink, gaze longingly at the Dell G16 (7630).
For its current price of $949, the Dell G16 (7630) is an absolute stunner. It offers excellent performance via its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, a bold picture from its 1600p, 240Hz display, and a phenomenal typing experience from its mechanical keyboard. If I wanted to jump into battle with my friends on a budget, this is the gaming laptop I’d take with me.
The Dell G16 is easily one of the best cheap gaming laptops out there, and let me give you the full picture why.
Dell G16 (7630): Specs
| Price: | $949 |
| CPU: | Intel Core i7-1365HX |
| GPU: | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB |
| RAM: | 16GB |
| Storage: | 1TB |
| Display: | 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz |
| Battery (HH:MM): | 5:04 |
| Dimensions: | 14.05 x 11.37 x 1.01 inches |
| Weight: | 6 pounds |
Dell G16 (7630): Price and configurations
For just $949 ($300 off), you can get the Dell G16 (7630) with an Intel Core i7-1365HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz display. You can even get the mechanical keyboard for the same exact price on sale (this is the superior option and it is on sale at the time of writing; otherwise wait for it to go on sale again).
You can bump up to Intel Core i9-13900HX for $1,199 ($300 off) or add that to an RTX 4070 and 32GB of RAM for $1,399 ($550 off). Regardless, you’re getting a sweet value across the board (as long as you get the sale price).
If you’re looking for something more premium, I recommend checking out the best gaming laptops.
Dell G16 (7630): Design
The Dell G16 (7630) is a bit of a chunky monkey, but it does look pretty suited in its milky white aluminum lid. The famous Dell logo is stamped in the center, while the bottom flaunts more than you’d expect with its large, matte black hinge.
Popping open the hood reveals a white deck precisely carved to deliver the keyboard on a lowered platform; the vents above it support a stylish V-like design across the width of the chassis. And above that is a similar design except in black, leading to the aforementioned chunky hinge. Despite the thick bottom, the bezels surrounding the display are quite slim.
I tease the Dell G16 (7630) for good reason — the gaming laptop is the heaviest and longest in terms of depth among its competition, coming in at 6 pounds and 14.05 x 11.37 x 1.01 inches. These are its competitors:
| Laptop | Dimensions | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Asus TUF Gaming A14 | 12.24 x 8.94 x 0.67~0.78 inches | 3.22 pounds |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 | 14.09 x 10.97 x 1.02 inches | 5.7 pounds |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 5i | 14.31 x 10.31 x 0.87~1.06 inches | 5.4 pounds |
Dell G16 (7630): Ports
With that large backside, the Dell G16 (7630) doesn’t skimp on ports. Here’s what you’re working with:
- 1x Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort
- 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1
- 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port with DisplayPort
- 1x HDMI 2.1
- 1x RJ45 Ethernet
- 1x headphone jack
Do you find yourself in need of more ports? Check out our best USB Type-C hubs and best laptop docking stations pages.
Dell G16 (7630): Display
Color me impressed, literally. The Dell G16 (7630)’s 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz is the best I’ve seen in a budget gaming laptop. Sure, it’s a little dim, but hot damn is it bold.
I tore through the jungle in Far Cry 6 to find the greenery ferociously vivid. Once I popped out of the underbrush, the crystal blue ocean contrasted against the warm sandy beach. Transferring to a nighttime raid was a little more challenging because, while the laptop supports a matte panel, direct light makes it tough to see since the panel is dim. Meanwhile, the 1600p and 240Hz tech created sharp and smooth visuals throughout my playtime.
The opening to the Secret Level trailer gushes with neon blue colors, and they radiate on the G16’s display. Despite that, in the same scene, it’s tough to appreciate the visuals when I’m fighting to see through the darkness. This panel is best viewed in a dark space.
According to our colorimeter, the Dell G16 (7630) covered an amazing 114% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, soaring past the average budget gaming laptop (79.1%), the TUF Gaming A14 (81%), the Helios Neo 16 (92%), and the Legion Pro 5i (78%).
While the G16 is the most colorful of the bunch, it is also the dimmest, at 310 nits of brightness. It is close to the category average (317 nits) but pales in comparison with the TUF Gaming A14 (411 nits), Helios Neo 16 (370 nits), and Legion Pro 5i (346 nits).
Dell G16 (7630): Keyboard and touchpad
This is the most impressive keyboard I’ve ever tested in a budget gaming laptop. Unlike the squishy membrane keys you’ll experience in most gaming notebooks, the Dell G16 (7630) features a Cherry MX tactile keyboard with punchy, clicky keys that’ll keep you on your game.
I hit 77 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, which is short of my usual 81-wpm average. Now, that’s not a bad thing. The keys offer deeper travel and require more force to actuate, so it makes sense that it took me slightly longer than usual. And the overall experience is so much more pleasant that I don’t mind.
It also features per-key RGB lighting, which is awesome for a gaming laptop at this price.
The 4.1 x 2.5-inch touchpad is a huge disappointment. It’s resistant and offers a sharp click, which is what I’d expect from a cheap laptop. However, its greatest sin is the size — it’s so tiny! I highly recommend picking up the best gaming mouse to pair with the Dell G16 (7630)’s amazing keyboard.
Dell G16 (7630): Audio
Oof. I hoped that the speakers would match the quality of the display — they most certainly do not. Its side-firing speakers produce a rough, hollow sound across all forms of entertainment.
The dialogue between Clara and Dani in Far Cry 6 came off as abrasive and harsh like they were forcing the words out. Blasting my assault rifle at a passing car offered the same level of immersion as listening to a war film on a TV in a different room of your house: unfulfilling and forgettable. Meanwhile, driving on the dirt road was noisy and loud, making me want to walk instead of drive.
I listened to “whiplash” by Kate Keller, and it sounded like the warmth had been sapped out of the bright opening guitar. Without any heavy bass, the percussion was muted and hollow. The vocals were clear but lacked the richness produced in the original song.
Dolby Access couldn’t save the sound. I tried all the presets, from Game and Movie to Music and Voice.
Dell G16 (7630): Gaming and graphics
The Dell G16 (7630) is rocking an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, which puts it on the more powerful end of affordability. It covered me when I shot my way through a warehouse in Far Cry 6, pumping out 61 frames per second on Ultra, 1600p settings.
On the Borderlands 3 benchmark (Badass, 1080p), the Dell G16 (7630) nailed 82 fps, surpassing the average budget gaming laptop (74 fps). It also knocked out the TUF Gaming A14 (77 fps) and came close to the Helios Neo 16 (84 fps), both of which feature the same RTX 4060 GPU. Meanwhile, the RTX 4070-toting Legion Pro 5 scored 93 fps. At 1600p, the G16 managed 54 fps.
Riding through the neon-lit city of Cyberpunk 2077 (Ultra, 1080p) proved tough but not impossible for the Dell G16 (7630), hitting 33 fps. While it may be four frames above the average (29 fps), that’s a critical difference since anything under 30 fps is considered unplayable. The G16 even surpassed the TUF Gaming A14 (30 fps) and Helios Neo 16 (32 fps) but, of course, faltered to the Legion Pro 5 (37 fps). Don’t try playing Cyberpunk 2077 at 1600p (19 fps).
If I wanted to jump into battle with my friends on a budget, this is the gaming laptop I’d take with me.
With Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Ultra, 1080p), the Dell G16 (7630) achieved 88 fps, soaring over the average budget gaming laptop (83 fps). It skidded past the Gaming A14 (87 fps) and matched the Helios Neo 16 (88 fps). The Legion Pro 5 broke triple digits (103 fps). At 1600p, the G16 hit 62 fps.
On the Red Dead Redemption 2 benchmark (Medium, 1080p), the Dell G16 (7630) scored 64 fps, beating the category average (59) and landing between the TUF Gaming A14 (61 fps) and Helios Neo 16 (65 fps). Meanwhile, the Legion Pro 5 got 71 fps. The G16 averaged a decent 39 fps at 1600p.
Dell G16 (7630): Performance
To achieve its wicked-low price, the Dell G16 (7630) offers a last-gen processor via the Intel Core i7-1365HX. It’s not the most powerful thing in the world, but as you can see in the previous section, it does not bottleneck the graphics performance. And it even makes up for it with a speedy SSD.
| Laptop | CPU | Geekbench 6.3 score |
|---|---|---|
| Dell G16 (7630) | Intel Core i7-1365HX | 11,209 |
| Asus TUF Gaming A14 | AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS | 12,055 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 | Intel Core i9-14900HX | 16,730 |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 5i | Intel Core i9-14900HX | 17,585 |
| Category average | N/A | 5,966 |
On the Geekbench 6.3 overall performance test, the Dell G16 (7630) scored 11,209, crushing the average budget gaming laptop (5,966). However, it fell last against the TUF Gaming A14 (12,055, AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS), Helios Neo 16 (16,730, Intel Core i9-14900HX), and Legion Pro 5 (17,585, Intel Core i9-14900HX).
In a more real-world test, the Dell G16 (7630) did well transcoding a 4K video to 1080p on our HandBrake benchmark, completing it in 4 minutes and 19 seconds. It certainly beat the average (5:21) and even the TUF Gaming 14 (4:21). However, it didn’t come close to the Helios Neo 16 (3:10) and Legion Pro 5 (3:06).
Dell’s 1TB SSD scored a transfer rate of 1,719 megabytes per second, which is pretty fast considering its budget. It demolished the average budget gaming laptop (1,345 MBps) and the TUF Gaming A14 (1,339 MBps). Despite that, the Helios Neo 16 (2,121 MBps) and Legion Pro 5 (1,933 MBps) were still faster.
Dell G16 (7630): Battery life
Battery life is something gaming laptops always struggle with, but it is getting better. In fact, the Dell G16 (7630) lasted 5 hours and 4 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. That’s a full hour longer than the average budget gaming laptop (4:00).
| Laptop | Hours |
| Dell G16 (7630) | 5:04 |
| Asus TUF Gaming A14 | 10:04 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 | 4:09 |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 5i | 3:43 |
| Category average | 4:00 |
It’s also longer than its competitors, the Helios Neo 16 (4:09) and Legion Pro 5 (3:43). However, no gaming laptop in recent years has come close to the TUF Gaming A14 (10:04), which is why it earned a place on our laptops with best battery life page.
Dell G16 (7630): Webcam
With a 720p webcam, the photos I took on the Dell G16 (7630) were a terrible grainy mess.
I couldn’t tell where my hair started and my face ended. It was so blurry. The gray wall in my background turned to pure white, and the color of my baby blue shirt transformed into gray with a red hue. Don’t think about streaming on this thing. Check out the best webcams instead.
Dell G16 (7630): Heat
As far as gaming laptops go, it didn’t get as hot as I expected.
After gaming for 15 minutes, the underside of the G16 averaged 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit, just slightly above our 95-degree comfort threshold. The center of the keyboard and touchpad hit 96.5 and 77.5 degrees, respectively. Meanwhile, the hottest it got was 107 degrees, located 1/4 of an inch down from the middle plastic riser on the right underside.
Dell G16 (7630): Software and warranty
Despite its Dell moniker, the G16 (7630) does come with the Alienware Command Center app. This offers all of the settings for performance, lighting, and game aggregation. It also features tools to monitor your CPU, GPU, memory, and drive utilization. There’s also Support Assist, which provides tools for software updates, hardware scans, and network optimization.
Bottom line
At under $1,000, you won’t find a better gaming laptop than the Dell G16 (7630). Between its performance and jaw-dropping display, I fell in love. The mechanical keyboard makes it all the sweeter.
However, if you’re looking for something with a little more oomph, the Legion Pro 5i is a great choice. But it is much more pricey.
Save your wallet and go with the Dell G16 (7630). This is the highest quality gaming laptop you can get for its price.
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