The war to identify who will make the very best laptops might rage eternally, but we can at least say with self confidence which brands have succeeded in securing themselves as family names.
Two of these this sort of makes are Dell and Lenovo, which have long finished fight across the overall notebook place, from dinky 2-in-1 hybrid laptops to some of the very best gaming laptops all around.
Now, if you happen to be a frequent TechRadar reader, you could be wondering this debate is a forgone summary. Following all, we’ve continuously ranked the incredible Dell XPS 13 collection hugely in our numerous notebook leaderboards – in truth, the whole XPS line signifies some of the very very best Dell laptops.
But Lenovo has not been resting on its laurels, with a strong collection of laptops in both equally the gaming and productivity place. Wherever Dell has Alienware – a independent gaming model it obtained back in 2006 – Lenovo has its lengthy-working Legion series of laptops and desktops, which provide some serious competitors when it comes to gaming.
With that in brain, we are likely to rate Dell and Lenovo across 4 parts: general pricing, in general style and design aesthetics, productivity laptops, and gaming laptops. And when we are carried out, we ought to – with any luck ,! – have a correct victor.
Dell vs Lenovo: Rate
Whilst neither Dell nor Lenovo can be thought of ‘budget’ notebook makes, both of those producers do give a wide wide range of styles to fit each and every objective and funds.
From the sensibly-priced beginning configurations of the Dell XPS 13 to the prosperity of very affordable Chromebooks presented by Lenovo, hard cash-strapped customers should be able to uncover a laptop that fulfills their requirements with no expending much too much. So we’re left with a tie, right?
Not really. See, Dell’s gaming components predominantly falls less than the Alienware brand, which is anything at all but low cost. It is a recurrent criticism in our testimonials of Alienware laptops that you shell out a quality for the branding – not unlike Apple MacBooks or Razer Blades.
Lenovo’s Legion sequence of gaming goods, on the other hand, has a full array of configurations regardless of how fats your wallet is. We feel this offers Lenovo a extremely slight edge when it will come to bang for your buck – while Dell does have its less expensive G-series gaming laptops, these aren’t specially impressive. Having said that, the upcoming refresh of the Dell G5 does have the potential to change our minds…
Dell vs Lenovo: Structure
It truly is really hard not to acknowledge that Lenovo takes some knocks right here. Even though Dell’s major efficiency laptops – from the larger XPS 17 to the more mature but still elegant Precision 5750 – typify a smooth and experienced aesthetic, Lenovo’s business hardware is not fairly as attractive.
Lenovo’s dedication to nevertheless characteristic touchpads with committed mouse buttons and the omnipresent crimson ‘laptop nipple’ mouse nub indicates that aesthetics are often sacrificed in the title of usability – which is high-quality, but will not stand Lenovo in very good stead listed here. Even though the common stylings of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon line will attraction to some, a ton of Lenovo’s productiveness devices seem reasonably simple.
Nonetheless, this motivation to a less difficult, purpose-over-sort design style essentially serves Lenovo really properly when it arrives to its gaming solutions. The present-day spate of Lenovo Legion gaming laptops is outlined by their clean, brushed-metal finishes, minimal-critical branding, and nominal use of RGB lighting. Which is great just glimpse at the clean alloy chassis of 2022’s Legion Slim 7i. Charming things.
Dell’s Alienware model, on the other hand, remains steadfastly faithful to just one of the worst aesthetics in existence that is to say, ‘gamer style’. Just about every Alienware laptop computer wants a gaudy LED lightbar at the back or a rainbow-lit logo on the lid, marking its operator out as a gamer from the phrase go. With that in brain, we will phone this round a tie.
Dell vs Lenovo: Efficiency
Both groups have some powerful possibilities out there when it will come to productivity laptops, be they for the property, the office environment, or working on your morning commute. The Dell Inspiron series has been a mainstay of office environment environments for several years, giving basic, uncomplicated laptops for function or school.
By the very same benefit, Lenovo’s ThinkPad and IdeaPad types have extensive been the decision of fast paced pros. There was a time when ThinkPad was the dominant model in places of work around the globe, in advance of the excellent and horrible ascent of the MacBook Pro.
Even so, the ubiquitous presence of multiple Dell XPS types in our position of the ideal laptops tends to make it difficult to argue this a person in Lenovo’s favor. The XPS sequence has been by means of a couple incarnations and seen a number of missteps over the a long time (which include the swing-and-a-pass up XPS 13 Additionally), but it has finally manufactured some of the extremely best business laptops on the market place, so Dell receives the acquire this round.
Dell vs Lenovo: Gaming
Unless of course you have skipped in advance to this part due to the fact you only treatment about gaming, you can likely infer from the earlier rounds who is heading to win below.
Yup, Lenovo is the distinct winner when it comes to gaming components Dell’s lackluster G-collection laptops and pricey Alienware-branded hardware just never compete with Legion, a product or service line that Lenovo has expended several years honing into one particular of the ideal gaming laptop models on the planet.
That’s not to say that Dell’s gaming package is negative – we have reviewed some superb (if high-priced) Alienware laptops in our time, and the long-awaited layout overhaul of Dell’s G5 will be landing this year. We have noticed it, and it appears to be fairly darn great.
But ideal now, Lenovo retains the gaming crown styles like the Legion Trim 7 and Legion 5i exemplify what makes a excellent gaming laptop, from clear designs to highly effective general performance without having getting as well chunky.
Which one really should you acquire?
So, seeking at the details, Lenovo is our victor here – but what’s the authentic takeaway? Eventually, there are less expensive laptops out there if you’re on a restricted spending budget, so it is difficult to let pricing be way too much of a component when determining which of these tech titans is best.
And let’s face it: Lenovo’s ThinkPads are pretty great, but they usually are not rather on the exact amount as the finest laptops from the Dell XPS line. If you might be looking for a sleek and successful workplace notebook, an XPS should definitely be your first port of connect with – and they are not way too expensive at the reduce conclusion of specs, either.
But when it will come to gaming, we have obtained to suggest Lenovo’s Legion laptops in excess of the the vast majority of Alienware or G-collection laptops from Dell. Items could modify in the potential, but as it stands suitable now, Lenovo has Dell defeat in the gaming arena.
Eventually, the genuine winner below really should be made a decision by you much more specifically, by what you want from the notebook you buy. Generally don’t forget to look at not just your price range and components needs, but the environment you may be making use of your notebook in, and how a great deal the aesthetics of your tech issues to you.