Best Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 (6GB) Laptop: Lenovo LOQ (12450HX) vs. Dell G15 (13650HX)

Both the Lenovo LOQ and the Dell G15 feature the Nvidia RTX 3050 6GB variant, but there’s a significant price difference between them. The LOQ is priced at around Rs. 66,000, while the Dell G15 has a price tag of Rs. 93,000, at the time of comparison. If you’re wondering why the RTX 3050 is still being recommended in 2024, it’s because the 6GB variant is not only equipped with more VRAM but is also more efficient, delivering higher FPS per watt.

The 6GB GDDR6 VRAM allows the RTX 3050 to handle VRAM-intensive games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and DOOM Eternal at high settings with ease. So, which RTX 3050 laptop is worth your hard-earned money? Here’s my answer.

Lenovo LOQ (12450HX) vs. Dell G15 (13650HX): Build Quality, Keyboard, I/O Ports Comparison

When it comes to looks, the Lenovo LOQ has a sleek and modern design, making it look stylish and professional. On the other hand, the Dell G15 is bulkier and has a rougher, more rugged appearance. Despite their different looks, both laptops are well-built with minimal flex and smooth, silent hinges. A cool feature of the Lenovo LOQ is that its display can open all the way up to 180 degrees, which the Dell G15 can’t do.

Typing on the Lenovo LOQ feels great thanks to its better key travel and spring action, giving you a more comfortable typing experience. The Dell G15 has smaller keys, which might not be as satisfying to type on. The Lenovo LOQ also scores higher with its touchpad, which feels more responsive and user-friendly.

In terms of ports and connectivity, both laptops are pretty similar. They each have three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a headphone/microphone combo jack, and an RJ45 Ethernet port. They support fast data transfer at 10Gbps and DisplayPort 1.4 via USB-C. However, the Lenovo LOQ has an edge with its specified 140W power delivery, a detail that Dell doesn’t specify for the G15.

When it comes to weight, the Lenovo LOQ is lighter, weighing around 2.45 kg, while the Dell G15 is a bit heavier at 2.6 kg. Additionally, if you’re carrying the charger around, the Dell G15’s charger is larger and bulkier compared to Lenovo’s.

Lenovo LOQ (12450HX) vs. Dell G15 (13650HX): Display Comparison

When comparing the display quality of the Lenovo LOQ and Dell G15, several metrics reveal the distinctions between these two laptops. The peak brightness, measured in candelas per square meter (cd/m²), is significantly higher in the Lenovo LOQ at 369 nits compared to the Dell G15’s 274 nits. This higher brightness level means that the Lenovo LOQ’s display is better suited for bright environments, ensuring clearer visibility even under direct sunlight.

In terms of colour accuracy and vibrancy, the Dell G15 has a slight edge. The sRGB percentage, which indicates the range of colours a display can reproduce within the sRGB colour space, is 65% for the Dell G15, lower than the Lenovo LOQ’s 99%. Similarly, the DCI-P3 colour space coverage, which is essential for digital cinema and high-definition video production, shows the Dell G15 at 48.8% compared to Lenovo LOQ’s 76%. These figures suggest that the Lenovo LOQ can display a wider and more accurate range of colours, making it more suitable for tasks requiring precise colour representation, such as video editing and photo retouching.

Colour precision is another important factor, measured by the average Delta E value. This metric indicates the accuracy of colour reproduction, with lower values signifying better accuracy. The Dell G15 has a slightly better average Delta E of 4.8 compared to the Lenovo LOQ’s 5.1. Although both laptops have respectable Delta E values, the marginally lower figure of the Dell G15 points to superior colour precision.
In summary, the Lenovo LOQ excels in brightness sRGB and DCI-P3 colour space coverage, making it ideal for use in bright settings. On the other hand, the Lenovo LOQ offers better overall colour accuracy and precision, making it a better choice for users who prioritize vivid and accurate colour reproduction in their displays.

Lenovo LOQ (12450HX) vs. Dell G15 (13650HX): Gaming And Performance Testing RTX 3050 (6GB)

The PCMark 10 Extended test gives us a comprehensive view of overall system performance. Here, the Dell G15, with a score of 7690, outperforms the Lenovo LOQ, which scores 7073. This suggests that the Dell G15 is generally faster and more efficient in a variety of everyday tasks like web browsing, video conferencing, and productivity applications.

When comparing the Lenovo LOQ and Dell G15, the Dell G15 clearly stands out in both SSD and memory performance. In SSD performance, the Dell G15 excels with a sequential read speed of 5090 MB/s versus Lenovo LOQ’s 3920 MB/s, and a write speed of 3654 MB/s compared to 1796 MB/s for Lenovo. This means the Dell G15 handles loading, booting, and saving tasks much faster.

For memory performance, the Dell G15 again outperforms with read speeds of 67393 MB/s and write speeds of 56913 MB/s, while the Lenovo LOQ achieves 56335 MB/s for reading and 52984 MB/s for writing. This results in better system responsiveness and efficiency, especially in multitasking and memory-intensive tasks.

Overall, the Dell G15 is the better choice for superior data throughput and efficient memory usage, making it ideal for high-performance needs.

In Cinebench R20, which tests the CPU’s rendering capabilities, the Dell G15 again shows its superiority with a score of 7651, significantly higher than the Lenovo LOQ’s 4181. This indicates that the Dell G15 handles intensive tasks like 3D rendering and video encoding much better.

The Dell G15 scores 1901, while the Lenovo LOQ scores 1568. This means the Dell G15 is faster in tasks that rely on single-core performance, such as certain gaming scenarios and applications that aren’t optimized for multiple cores.

The Dell G15’s multi-core score is a whopping 18765, compared to the Lenovo LOQ’s 10441. This highlights the Dell G15’s exceptional performance in multi-threaded tasks, like heavy multitasking and software that can leverage multiple CPU cores effectively.

For Metro Exodus, both setups perform equally on high settings with 56 FPS. However, on medium settings, the second setup edges out slightly with 79 FPS compared to 76 FPS from the first.

In Dirt 5, the second setup shows a clear advantage, achieving 84 FPS on high settings versus 79 FPS from the first setup. This gap widens on medium settings, where the second setup reaches 98 FPS, while the first manages 90 FPS.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla also favours the second setup, with 73 FPS on high settings compared to 65 FPS on the first. On medium settings, the second setup hits 87 FPS, slightly higher than the first’s 84 FPS.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a bit different; the first setup slightly outperforms the second on high settings with 91 FPS versus 89 FPS. On medium settings, the first setup leads again with 95 FPS compared to 92 FPS.

In Civilization VI, the second setup performs better, hitting 86 FPS on high settings and 93 FPS on medium, compared to 83.42 FPS and 89.48 FPS from the first setup, respectively.

Finally, Gears of War 5 sees both setups performing well, but the second setup slightly edges out on both high (97 FPS vs. 95.4 FPS) and medium settings (120 FPS vs. 118 FPS).

Best Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 (6GB) Laptop: Lenovo LOQ (12450HX) vs. Dell G15 (13650HX) Conclusion

So, in the end, while the price difference between these laptops is quite huge, in terms of gaming performance they’re quite evenly matched. However, if you put gaming aside and look at CPU performance or productivity, then the Dell G15 takes the lead thanks to a faster SSD, RAM, and CPU. So in short, if you’re looking only for gaming, then the Lenovo LOQ would be better. And if you’re looking for a gaming/productivity/high CPU performance machine, then go with the Dell G15.