Dell Inspiron 15 5515 review (w/ AMD Ryzen 7)

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Specs Sheet
Design and exterior
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Noise, heat and speakers
Battery life
Price and availability
Final thoughts
Comments

By Derek SullivanDell Inspiron 15 5515, last updated on October 17, 2022

Dell Inspiron 15 5515

Summary: If you can live with the washed-out screen and poor webcam, I think most people would enjoy using this Dell Inspiron 5515 laptop as their daily driver. To me the value is there and bundled with Dell’s support for units under warranty, I think this is a very low-risk purchase in its class.

Our score: 4 / 5
Price when reviewed: from $699

THE GOOD

good keyboard and trackpad
good build quality
matte touchscreen
good internal thermals
fingerprint reader
fair price

THE BAD

disappointing colors on screen
not the most powerful Ryzen 7 U implementation
chassis gets hot under heavy load
poor webcam

Table of Contents

Specs as reviewed – Dell Inspiron 15 5515
Design and build
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others
Battery life
Price and availability- Dell Inspiron 15 5515
Final thoughts- Dell Inspiron 15 5515 review

While shopping for a new laptop for my wife, I came across a good deal for a Dell Inspiron 15 5515. Since she broke her current laptop, I’m opting for something more on a budget in case it happens again.

I actually was pretty impressed with the last Dell Inspiron I reviewed back in 2017. That thing is actually still running strong for my mother-in-law, believe it or not – all I’ve had to do was replace the SSD once. So that made this 2021 Inspiron a little more appealing of an option, especially with the bumped specs.

Having used it for the last days, while this laptop isn’t well suited for my wife’s needs, it’s still a decent choice for a budget laptop. I don’t think this is for everybody, but if you’re looking for an inexpensive laptop to do light tasks but don’t want to turn to a Chromebook, perhaps this is something you’d be interested in.

Full disclosure, I don’t review laptops like this very often. I’ll probably come off as critical in some places, but I promise to sum it all up at the end and rate it according to the overall value of the machine. Also note, that I literally only spent a couple of days with this machine. I put it through my standard tests and typed the review on it – that’s about it.

Specs as reviewed – Dell Inspiron 15 5515

	Dell Inspiron 15, 5515 model
Screen	15.4 inch, 1920×1080, IPS equivalent, 60 Hz, touch, matte finish
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, 8C/16T, 1.8 Ghz base, up to 4.3 GHz Boost
Video	AMD Radeon Graphics
Memory	16 GB DR4-3200Mhz
Storage	512GB M.2 PCIe
Connectivity	Intel AX200 Wifi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2
Ports	2x USB-A 3.2 gen1, 1x USB-C 3.2 gen1 with DP and PD, 1 HDMI 1.4b
Battery	54 Wh, 65W charger
Size	356 mm or 14.02” (w) x 229 mm or 9.01” (d) x 18 mm or .71” (h)
Weight	1.64 kg (3.62 lbs)
Extras	SD card reader, power adapter, headphone/mic combo, fingerprint reader, HD webcam, stereo speakers

Update: In the meantime, I’ve also published my review of the updated Dell Inspiron 16.

Design and build

As far as the overall design goes, this is pretty much your typical thin notebook. Nothing fancy, but surprisingly good considering the price. It’s thin, light, and has pretty decent build quality, with only a couple of quirks that are easy enough to get over.

The lid and palmrest are both made of anodized aluminum. The color is a charcoal black, so fingerprints are going to show over time. The bottom of the unit is made of plastic, which rests inside of the stamped aluminum chassis.

As far as the lid goes, it’s pretty plain. Just a simple embossed Dell logo centered on it. Lifting the lid is sometimes a one-finger operation. The laptop is light so it’s more reliable to hold the bottom when opening.

The hinge is reasonably sturdy as far as laptops go in general. But there is a little but of wobble, which you’ll notice mostly if you plan to use the touchscreen a lot. I don’t think it’s that bad to be honest, but don’t expect it to be as stiff as your high end 2-in-1 laptops.

One thing to note about the lid is there are footpads built into the hinge. When rotated, it actually lifts the laptop a couple of millimeters, probably to improve the airflow. As small as the footpads are underneath the laptop, this is probably very necessary.

With the lid open, there’s a full-sized keyboard and a trackpad, which will be covered in more detail shortly. Above it is a 15.4-inch touchscreen which is surrounded by plastic bezels. The bezels on the right and left are very small, while the top and bottom are about twice the width. It’s a good look for a budget laptop.

Being a touchscreen model, I was pretty surprised by the plastic bezels. Mainly because you expect to see seamless edges on touchscreen models. It makes right and left swipes a little awkward – but they still work fine nonetheless.

For IO, there’s a decent selection of ports on this model. On the right-hand side, there’s a single USB-A slot with a full-sized SD card reader and a headphone/microphone combo jack. That SD slot is half-sized by the way, so your SD card will stick out if you use it.

On the left is a power jack, an HDMI 1.4 port, another USB-A port, and a USB-C. This USB-C does not support Thunderbolt, however, it does support DisplayPort and PD charging.

The underside is pretty plain. There’s what looks to be a very long vent, but in reality, over half of it is closed off. It’s probably a shared design with other laptop models that may use a second fan. As stated, the feet are pretty small. Using this laptop in the closed position laying on the table may not provide enough airflow.

Also on the bottom are two small cutouts for the speakers. They’re pretty far in and close to the surface of what the laptop is laying on, so not the most ideal position if you ask me. I’ll get more into the sound quality in a later section though.

All this said, I think this is a pretty good design for this laptop. It’s good enough build quality for the price Dell is asking for and I think it’s tough enough to last more than a few years, if taken proper care of. The features and IO are also pretty good considering what this laptop is intended to be used for.

Keyboard and trackpad

This model of the Dell Inspiron has a pretty decent keyboard. It’s backlit, with the keys being properly spaced apart, and has good feedback. The travel is about average for a laptop of this thickness.

I honestly had no trouble typing it at all. I usually save this section for last when typing my review, and I can say without a doubt I had little to no issues adapting to it.

The key lighting is only white, and there are three levels of brightness, which can be controlled with Fn-F5. It’s a subtle backlighting, which I appreciate. In the daytime, you’ll hardly notice it, but in a dark room, it works as it should.

The keyboard layout is pretty normal for the most part. There’s a full array of multimedia keys along the top, offering pretty much any of the controls you would need. In fact, Dell couldn’t think of anything to go with f9, they just left it blank…

It’s a full keyboard layout so the Numpad is included on this one. Windows calculator users should rejoice, because this is the keyboard for them! I’ve never seen this before but there are actually dedicated buttons to launch the calculator, clear and ±. Not my thing, but perfect if you use the 10-key all day.

The last interesting tidbit lies in the power button, which is unlabeled in the upper right-hand corner. It doubles as a fingerprint reader, which is probably why it’s blank. It works perfectly, so no complaints from me.

The only real complaint I have with the keyboard is there is a fair amount of flex in the center of it. I was constantly noticing the chassis bouncing while I typed. It didn’t affect my accuracy though, so it’s a small complaint.

The trackpad is also pretty good. It’s a glass trackpad with a smooth finish. It tracks pretty well and worked fine for all my usage. Multi-touch gestures all worked fine for me, so I had no trouble adapting to tit.

I won’t say it’s the best trackpad I’ve ever used, because I do prefer they be flush with the chassis. But it’s still above average and much better than the plastic trackpads that I still see in use on competitor laptops.

It’s a clickpad type of trackpad too, so right and left click are integrated into pressing the bottom corners. The click is both the appropriate resistance and satisfying.

Screen

The screen will most likely be the dealbreaker for many potential buyers. Fact is, it’s kind of bland. It’s a FHD panel, 60Hz and slightly below average in brightness. The only saving grace to it is the fact it’s touch-enabled AND has a matte finish.

The worst part about the screen are the colors though. The colors are very dull and it shows in the calibration.

Here are the measurements I got on my X-rite i1 Display Pro sensor:

Panel HardwareID: LG Phillips 156WFD (Model LGD0684)
Coverage: 55.7% sRGB, 38.4% AdobeRGB, 39.5% DCI-P3;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 289 cd/m2 on power;
Gamma: 2.2
Contrast at max brightness:1179:1
Native white point: 6400 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.4 cd/m2.

I did detect some backlight bleed on my unit. It didn’t affect my normal use of the laptop but it was very noticeable on a black screen. It’s certainly not the worst I’ve seen, but was definitely worth noticing. Note that this varies from unit to unit, so your experience will differ.

The touch functionality works nice at least. It’s a pretty cool feature to have built into a matte panel. Honestly, the main reason I stay away from touch screens on laptops is because of the glare. But this panel resists the glare pretty good – it’s just too bad it’s not a little brighter.

If you’re worried about viewing angles, there’s nothing to worry about on this one. There is a slight light shift when you move 30 degrees in any direction, but it’s not distracting and the images are still sharp.

In the end, the colors kill it for me and is the main reason we aren’t going to keep it. My wife occasionally does color-sensitive work with Photoshop, so she can’t effort to be without half the colors she’s used to having.

Your needs may differ though, and if you’re looking for a laptop simply for internet and word processing use, this panel will probably not bother you as badly.

Hardware and performance

This model comes equipped with a Ryzen 7 5700U processor, which has 8 cores and 16 threads, topping out at 4.3Ghz. It’s paired with 16GB of RAM, which is more than enough anyone would probably need for this type of laptop.

In general, this is a great CPU. I didn’t do any heavy tasks, so I can’t really comment on the performance there. But for internet-based applications and day-to-day tasks, the laptop performs very well.

There’s no dedicated GPU on this model, so you’re limited to AMD Radeon graphics. Gaming is possible, but you’re going to be severely limited to lower graphics settings on any modern games. More on that in a minute.

The SSD is a 512GB PCIe, made by Hynix. It has some pretty decent benchmarks, but note that these significantly increase when the laptop is under power. Not to say it’s slow on battery though, because even those results are just fine. See my benchmarks for the exact numbers.

If you want to upgrade the SSD, all you have to do is remove a bunch of Phillips screws and pop open the back cover. Once done, you’ll have access to the M.2, RAM, and Wifi module. Note that the M2 module is a 2230 variant, but there is a screw hole for the typical 2280 drive is present.

I took some synthetic benchmarks to get an idea of how well the CPU performs. Here’s what I got:

3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 3087 (Graphics – 3378, Physics – 15992);
3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 1275 (Graphics – 1122, CPU – 5736);
3DMark 13 – CPU Profile: Max-4383, 16T-4323, 8T-3809, 4T-2415, 2T-1406, 1T-720
GeekBench 5: Single-Core: 1149, Multi-core: 5914;
CineBench R15: OpenGL 66.70 fps, CPU 1441 cb, CPU Single Core 188 cb;
CineBench R23: CPU 7926 pts, CPU Single Core 1245 pts;

These results aren’t all that bad. But I did notice that there were some diminished results after running Cinebench for 15 runs in a row. In fact, the TDP continues to drift downward over extended periods. Most likely due to the single fan not being able to keep up.

Here’s how this 15W Ryzen 7 5700U implementation compares to other AMD and Intel models with similar hardware.

The Ryzen 7 5700U CPU stabilizes at 15W after a couple of runs, and what’s more interesting is that the performance differs between using the laptop with the included charger or with a higher-power USB-C charger. We’ll further touch on this aspect down below.

The findings above got me curious so I also retook the same benchmarks but this time with a GaN USB-C charger. Take a look:

3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 2985 (Graphics – 3334, Physics – 15943);
3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 1303 (Graphics – 1147, CPU – 5777);
3DMark 13 – CPU Profile: Max-4678, 16T-4669, 8T-4171, 4T-2581, 2T-1384, 1T-725
GeekBench 5: Single-Core: 1182, Multi-core: 5994;
CineBench R15: OpenGL 67.62 fps, CPU 1447 cb, CPU Single Core 188 cb;
CineBench R23: CPU 8641 pts, CPU Single Core 1255 pts;

To my surprise, the GaN charger actually made the laptop perform a little bit better. Retaking the Cinebench r15 test, the results still drifted downward over time, but not as bad as before.

I honestly have no idea what to make of this. It was a shot in the dark and it actually made a difference but I have no idea why. The GaN charger I used was a loaner from Razer, so the power port was able to supply 100W. But according to my USB power meter, it was only supplying 61W at its peak.

Perhaps the included 65W adapter that comes with the laptop is just poor quality and it’s supplying a watt or two less than that – it might very well be the difference I’m seeing here.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s anything to fret over. The difference was small enough that it probably wouldn’t be noticeable for any real-life application. If you’re that concerned about the CPU performance on power, this perhaps isn’t the best laptop to get in the first place.

So I wouldn’t go out and buy a GaN charger the second you get this laptop. Also, just for awareness, using a GaN charger on the UBC-C port puts a slight charge on the chassis due to the lack of ground. This is normal and harmless, but you’ll feel a slight vibration from the metal components on the chassis, while plugged in. Just an observation.

Back to the performance, it should also be noted that there’s no way to set the TDP of the CPU. Dell doesn’t include any software to limit the settings in any way. So you’re getting a 15-25W TDP when on Maximum performance.

You can also do some light gaming on this laptop, but since it lacks a dedicated GPU, the results are not so great. Seriously though, you should be shopping elsewhere if you want a laptop that place games.

I did take some benchmarks with a few games, varying in age. See below for my results:

	HD
Doom Eternal (Medium settings)	29 fps avg, 25 fps low
Skyrim (Ultra)	49 fps avg, 31 fps low
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (FHD, low Preset, Hairworks Off)	23 fps avg, 21 fps low
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (720p, low Preset, Hairworks Off)	40 fps avg, 36 fps low
Portal Reloaded	60 fps

As you can see, not the greatest results. But it’s about what you can expect from integrated graphics. The hardware stabilizes at around 15W on this laptop, with the GPU averaging around 1.5 GHz, dows 20% from its maximum potential in a higher-power laptop. The internal temperatures are all solid, though, so perhaps Dell could decide to offer a higher performance profile in a future update. I wouldn’t hold my breath for it, though.

As it is, you can still play some older titles pretty reliably, especially on low to medium settings.

To summarize, the performance of this unit is pretty much on par with what I was expecting. It’s good enough for most people. And for the price, a Ryzen 7 5700U is a good deal, especially bundled with 16GB of RAM. The single fan probably limits performance a little, but that’s just the way it is.

Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others

As stated, this laptop only has a single cooling fan with a couple of heatpipes that cool the CPU. The fan takes cool air from the underside of the laptop and exhausts all of the air onto the bottom corner of the screen. Not my favorite cooling solution by any means, but it’s what we have here.

The CPU stays pretty cool for the most part. Dell must have some pretty low thresholds for CPU temp, which might be why I was seeing the power drop during my extended CPU tests. Even in my Cinebench loop, CPU temps averaged only 70C, which is just fine.

As far as the chassis temperature goes, it stays very cool under normal usage. Because the CPU barely has a chance to get hot, the chassis stays cool as well.

This changes during gaming or with heavier loads, as the temperatures really ramp up on the underside. Notice the 52C hotspot after running Witcher 3 for a half-hour.

Granted, this is a pretty intensive game to run on this laptop. But it does point out a weakness in the cooling system as that hotspot is in an area that has almost no airflow.

And if you compare it to the teardown picture, you’ll actually notice that the hotspot is right where the ram modules are. Perhaps this is one more reason we’re seeing throttling over time even though the CPU temps look decent? Unfortunately, there’s no test for RAM temps, but it’s a good theory.

The Intel AX200 is what is used for a Wifi module on this unit. I reached 420Mbps from a 30 ft distance from my router. I didn’t have any drops in connection during my usage. It has Bluetooth built-in, but unfortunately, I didn’t have time to test it.

The speakers decent but are facing downward, which puts them at a disadvantage. The space gap between the opening and your desk is small so the sound is a little muffled. The maximum volume I measure is 72dB, which could be better but is still decent.

The good news is the speakers have decent mids, so they sound pretty good in general, albeit in the wrong direction. I was able to hear bass as low as 60Hz, which isn’t bad for such tiny speakers.

The webcam is lousy on this laptop. The low-light shots are super grainy and lack color. But even under normal lighting, it’s still not a clear picture. It’s good enough to get by with but certainly not anything you’d want to use for serious web conversations. The ONLY good thing about it is there’s a physical webcam shutter built into the lid.

Battery life

The Dell Inspiron 15 5515 has a 54 Whr battery. Kind of a small battery, but it’s a small chassis.

I took a series of battery life tests with the brightness at 30%, which is about 87 nits. Here were my results:

3.6 W (~14 h 53 min of use) – idle, Best Battery Mode, screen at 0%, Wi-Fi ON, backlighting off;
6.9 W (~7 h 32 min of use) – text editing in Word with light internet use, Better Battery Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
5.8 W (~9 h 11 min of use) – 1080p 60Hz Youtube fullscreen in Chrome, Better Battery Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
6.1 W (~8 h 57 min of use) – 1080p Netflix fullscreen video in Chrome, Better Battery Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
11.4 W (~4 h 32 min of use) – heavy browsing in Chrome, Better Performance Mode, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON;
33.1 W (~1 h 21 min of use) – Gaming – Doom Eternal, Maximum Performance Mode, 60fps cap, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON.

Not too bad of results for just a 54 Whr battery. The AMD processor certainly helps. The only way to further improve the battery life would simply be to put a bigger battery in the unit.

The power brick is 65W and is pretty portable. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s probably not putting out 65W, as the 61W coming from the GaN charger I was using yielded better results on my benchmarks.

Price and availability- Dell Inspiron 15 5515

The model I reviewed is available at Amazon for $899. There’s also a cheaper model for $699, which has a 256GB SSD and only 8GB of RAM. That model may be more appropriate for those only looking to use the internet and some light tasks in this sort of laptop.

Follow this link for updated prices and configurations at the time you’re reading the article.

If you’re on a budget, keep an eye out on Dell’s website as well. Sometimes they run sales that are too good to pass up. For example, I was able to get this model on Dell’s site for just under $700.

Final thoughts- Dell Inspiron 15 5515 review

So besides the screen, I think this is a fine laptop for normal day-to-day users. It should easily last a few years, and maybe even longer depending on how well you take care of your machines.

Update: In the meantime, I’ve also published my review of the updated Dell Inspiron 16.

The build quality and design are very good for the price you pay for it. The keyboard and trackpad are also pretty good. I also think the amount of IO is appropriate for the target audience for this laptop.

But the screen is just the one thing you’ll have to get over in order to tolerate this purchase. The color volume just isn’t there and it makes the display just look plain boring and dull. The only saving grace to it is that it’s a touchscreen that has a matte finish, so that’s a unique feature worth mentioning.

The only other thing to worry about is the crummy webcam. It’s not Windows Hello enabled, but the fingerprint reader makes up for that. But nothing makes up for the pixelated image. So if web conferences are frequent for you, you may want to look for something else.

But if the screen and webcam aren’t that important to you, I think most people would enjoy using this laptop as their daily driver. To me the value is there and bundled with Dell’s support for units under warranty, I think it’s a very low-risk purchase.

But like I said at the beginning, I only got to spend a few days with this unit. So take some of my praise and criticism with a grain of salt. I usually use a laptop at least a week or two before writing a full review, but am a little rushed with this one since I’m looking for a laptop for my wife.

The competition in this class includes lineups such as the Acer Aspire 5, Asus VivoBook 15, HP Laptop 15, or the Lenovo IdeaPad 5.

That said, I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. Please leave a comment in the section below.

Disclaimer: Our content is reader-supported. If you buy through some of the links on our site, we may earn a commission. Terms.

Review by: Derek Sullivan
Derek Sullivan - Review Editor. In addition to being a tech enthusiast, I have a career as a Biomedical Engineer. I enjoy taking things apart, figuring out how they work, and finding ways to make them better. My other hobbies include spending time with my family, "Do it yourself" projects such as home automation, and running.

25 Comments

Chris Costello

July 14, 2021 at 6:36 pm

Solid review. I got the 5500u version of the laptop for less than $450. Surprisingly, my 3dMark numbers are slightly higher than yours once I upgraded to 16gb RAM. For my purposes and for that price I am rather pleased.

Reply
- Derek Sullivan
  
  July 17, 2021 at 3:05 pm
  
  It's interesting that you bring that up. A lot of laptop manufacturers are releasing cheaper(and slower) RAM in their models now, so simply swapping out RAM chips can have a significant effect on performance depending on what you use. I was able to confirm this in my Lenovo Legion 5 Pro review. There are a few Youtubers that have investigated this further and give a good explanation, but in short, the 1Rx16 chips that are being used are the problem and you need to replace them with dual ranked chips in order to close the performance gap.
  
  Reply
  - Jack
    
    August 19, 2021 at 12:39 am
    
    I'm confused about installing a 2280 M.2. Since the screw hole is under the flap, does the flap need to be removed before installing?
    
    Also, can you take the screw from the 2230 install and it should properly thread into the 2280 hole?
  - Derek Sullivan
    
    August 19, 2021 at 2:39 am
    
    There's a mounting bracket that can be relocated to the 2280 spot. This guy made a video that shows how to do it. https://youtu.be/zMVc8iDhzh4
    
    He also points out a secret 2230 slot that I completely missed! I'm guessing that is what was under the metal plate on the right in my pictures.
GradStudent

July 16, 2021 at 2:21 am

Great laptop for the price and can confirm that this model supports 64 GB of RAM and 2TB ssd SN750. Make sure to update the BIOS to latest version and related SSD firmware updates BEFORE upgrading RAM. 64GB is supported. DIMM1: https://postimg.cc/yknTPZK9 DIMM 2 https://postimg.cc/Jsn5dz7F

Memory I used is Team Elite 64GB (2 x 32GB) 260-Pin DDR4 SO-DIMM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Laptop Memory Model: TED464G3200C22DC-S01

I am very happy with this laptop!

Reply
At

September 10, 2021 at 12:46 am

Going to amd settings and turning down th brightness worked wonders for the display.

Reply
Lei Fang

September 24, 2021 at 5:29 am

Is it possible now to buy a ultrabook with full size arrow keys? I find the half sized arrow keys are really annoying to use.

Reply
Giorgi

September 29, 2021 at 3:20 am

hi there, good review, I am looking at this laptop as an option vs Intel i5 model. One question re colors on the screen. When I connect my external monitors, I would not have any problems displaying properly colors, would I? I do a lot of Photoshop photography work/video with Adobe.
Any thoughts? thanks, Gregoz

Reply
- Derek Sullivan
  
  September 29, 2021 at 3:23 am
  
  Colors on the monitor are only limited to that panel. It'll be the same as if you hooked any other computer up to it as well. You might need to calibrate the screen of you want accuracy though, but chances are the default profile is fine for most non professional stuff.
  
  Reply
  - Giorgi
    
    September 29, 2021 at 5:54 am
    
    thanks Derek, are you saying that if I connect a good EXTERNAL monitor (not using the laptop's screen at all) the colors will be faded too?
    Is it because the video card is cheap?
    I would not work on the laptop directly for any Photoshop work, the external monitors are bigger and offer a higher resolution, plus the laptop screen is only 15 inch)
    thx
  - Andrei Girbea
    
    September 29, 2021 at 8:47 am
    
    He's saying that the image quality would depend on the quality of the external monitor that you're using, and that you should still calibrate the external monitor for best results.
Anonymous Hacker

October 8, 2021 at 6:37 am

I use this laptop currently for my engineering classes that I am taking in Uni. I currently run four VM, Windows terminal with WSL 2.0, Visual Code, and a bunch of Edge windows with no ISSUES.

The 5700U, with it's 8 Cores and 16 thread is a great cheap workhorse!

If you can grab this laptop in sale for around $700. I highly recommend it. This is a great, cheap, engineering laptop alternative.

Reply
- Prabhnnet
  
  February 1, 2022 at 4:35 pm
  
  I am getting this laptop for cad $800 from dell Canadian website.Should I opt for it or you have any other recommendations within same price point
  
  Reply
Linda Olson

October 25, 2021 at 2:40 pm

I just bought a 5515 and plan to upgrade RAM and Memory, but am having extreme difficulty with the wifi in the nether regions of my house, whereas I've had no similar problem with a Dell 5000 model in the past in that area. I've spoken with two tech advisors and they have had no luck in improving the strength via the machine. Anyone else had difficulties with wifi and what did you do to help it?

Reply
Fran

November 16, 2021 at 10:59 am

The Inspiron 16 Plus it's very interesting.

Reply
IR

December 2, 2021 at 1:13 pm

I bought this laptop on 2nd October on Amazon and got it delivered on the 11th. Within a week the touchpad of the product started hanging up, and in two weeks, it stopped responding completely (23rd October). (mind you for a week this laptop was anyway not being put to use because I was setting it up for use)
I complained and got a technician to replace it and during replacement itself I told the technician that the hinges seem lose since his service and unless he fixes it, I will not sign the customer copy. He assured me that they were fine and any other replacements or repairs would require a new request through the central team. After arguing for a good 20 minutes he made me sign the receipt and left. Immediately after, the laptop started heating up within 10 minutes of good usage and in another week the laptop screen started peeling off from where the right screen hinge joins the keyboard.
In-spite of complaining to the customer care of such a horrible product they refused to replace it saying I have already crossed the 1 month mark (24th November) beyond which replacement is not possible. So I went ahead reluctantly with a repair request only to be informed again after 10 days that the parts are not available until January 2022 so they'll provide a "same-age" laptop as replacement but even that'll take at-least 45 days. Now, while I'm waiting for another 45 days for laptop repair or replacement the left half of the screen is also starting to peel off and I have to hold the screen with both hands to keep it even open.
Even a INR 2 popsicle is sold with a better shelf life than this ridiculous 60K worth laptop. Would never ever again make the mistake of going for Dell again.

Reply
Justin

December 3, 2021 at 12:15 pm

HI There!

Will this Laptop be able to produce the right sort of resolution for an Ultra Wide Monitor? 3440 x 1440?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  December 3, 2021 at 2:56 pm
  
  If it's 60Hz, then yes, it will work via both HDMI and the USB-C port.
  
  Reply
- Ben
  
  February 17, 2022 at 12:30 am
  
  it has hdmi 1.4b so it will support these resolutions – 4096×2160 at 24 Hz, 3840×2160 at 24, 25, and 30 Hz, and 1920×1080 at 120 Hz
  
  hdmi.org/spec/hdmi1_4b
  
  Reply
Edward

December 18, 2021 at 10:13 am

Does this model have an extra slot for SATA hdd/ssd? Thank you for the solid review.

Reply
- Derek Sullivan
  
  December 18, 2021 at 3:21 pm
  
  Sort of. There's a short 2230 m.2 slot, so I think you could move the m.2 there and put a new SSD in its place, provided you get a short m.2 like I did. Dr the link in the comment above with the video that shows it in better detail. I actually missed it completely when I had my sample.
  
  Reply
  - KHOA NGUYEN
    
    December 20, 2021 at 11:31 am
    
    Do you still have this unit? I just got one and the screen bothers me so much. If you record a video on your phone you will see the screen flicker so bad, but it's not noticeable to normal eye. I did some research and found out Dell used PWM tech on this model. Even my 6 year old Asus laptop doesn't do this. I wonder if this causes eyestrain or any bad effect to your eyes?
  - Derek Sullivan
    
    December 20, 2021 at 1:20 pm
    
    No I don't sorry. But yeah, PWM is tough on the eyes for some people. Unfortunately I don't have a reliable way to detect it so I can put the frequency in the article. Sometimes it's only at the lower brightness settings.
Leon Cryp

February 7, 2022 at 5:56 pm

I think you can manually set a higher sustain Wattage to get more performance
https://github.com/FlyGoat/RyzenAdj

Its too bad Dell seems to put this chip on 15watt sustain, Lenovo sustain is about 28watt which makes a huge difference in performance, gets hot and drain battery.
In linux I know you can manually set the wattage as long as its under 90c. This laptop has 2 heatpipes, I think it will do 28-30watt easily.

Ive previously had an Acer 3500u (single heatpipe) and constally run it at 25-28watt via RyzenAdj in Linux.

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John

June 11, 2022 at 3:38 am

The specs for this computer are amazing. I have one and I like its performance. I have one with a Ryzen 7 series CPU with 64GB RAM and two blazing fast SSDs. So performance-wise my computer is a screamer. But, all of that power and performance does not make up for how incredibly frustrating everyday use can be. If you put any amount of pressure on the palm rest and the machine becomes very complicated to use. The trackpad buttons will stick. Yes, I know that if it is permanently doing that you can correct the locked trackpad by loosening the screws on the bottom of the case will fix the issue, sort of. Even with the screws slightly loosened the problem will persist. But, preventing the trackpad from clicking is only one of the issues and the rest do not go away by loosening or even completely removing the screws. Again, place any amount of pressure on the palm rest and the trackpad will often still lock up. But, then other things happen. My numlock is constantly switching from on to off and back, just because my palms are on the palm rest–nothing else is going on. The cursor will suddenly move (and this is with both my thumbs resting on the spacebar, so it is not from them being too close to the surface of the trackpad). Text will suddenly become highlighted, sometimes way away from where you are currently typing. Then randomly modifier keys (ctrl, shift, etc) become invoked and none of your fingers are anywhere near them. If it weren't for this issue, it could be one of the best laptops on the market, and this is coming from a guy who was a Mac devotee for decades (even though I made my living in the industry supporting Windows PCs).

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Dell Inspiron 15 5515 review (w/ AMD Ryzen 7)

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