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Dell Inspiron 15 3000 (3535) review

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 (3535)

CHOICE Expert Rating

67%
What is the CHOICE Expert Rating?
Good points

Good Points

  • Very good touchpad (large)
  • Full-sized HDMI port
  • SD card slot
  • Can upgrade or replace some components (SSD, battery, Wi-Fi)
Bad points

Bad Points

  • Poor Wi-Fi speed
  • Poor storage write speed
  • Charger is not USB-C
  • Keyboard is not backlit
  • Noticeable rattle and movement when touchpad tapped
  • Some keyboard bounce

Type

Ultraportable
Ultrabook
Tablet mode
Operating system
Windows 11 Home

Recommended products

Recommended
Not recommended
Recommended for tablet use

Test results

CHOICE Expert Rating
67%
Performance score
51%
Tablet use score
N/A
Ease of use score
78%
Battery life score
66%
Display score
73%
Audio score
65%
Wi-Fi score
38%
Storage write-speed (MBps)
200
Storage read-speed (MBps)
1791
Wi-Fi speed (MBps)
28
Average battery life – heavy usage (hours)
6:39
Charging time to 80% full (h:min)
1:33
Expert tester comments
Dell's $649 (at the time of testing) 15.6-inch Inspiron 3000 (3535) is a mixed bag of a product, but it could suit the needs of anyone looking for something affordable for everyday admin tasks and video playback. On the one hand, it supplied good battery life of over six hours in our tests, and it's screen has decent viewing angles from the sides, unlike many other laptops in this price range. On the other hand, its storage performance was very inconsistent, especially when writing data, which can affect the reponsiveness of the system when saving files or moving them around. The build quality is also compromised, with a touchpad that rattles, a keyboard that bounces a little and feels hollow underneath, and a lid which has a finish that's a fingerprint magnet.

Sustainability

Shop Ethical rating
C
Warranty (years)
1
Replaceable battery
Replace/upgrade RAM
Slots for additional RAM
Replace/upgrade storage
Slot for additional storage
Replace/upgrade Wi-Fi
Country of origin
China

Related products

Availability
Tested model

Cost

Price
$999.00

Specifications

Screen size (inches)
15.6
Native screen resolution (pixels)
1920 x 1080
Processor (CPU) type
AMD Ryzen 5 7520U
CPU frequency (GHz)
2.8
RAM (GB)
8
Video graphics type
AMD Radeon 610M
Storage capacity (GB)
512
Available user space (GB)
393
Storage type
SSD
Wi-Fi version
5
Weight of laptop (kg)
1.6
Weight of power supply (kg)
0.33
Size (mm, H x D x W)
22 x 235 x 358

Features

Screen finish
Matte
Touchscreen
USB-C
USB 2.0 ports
1
USB 3.0 ports
1
USB 4 as USB-C port
0
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1 or 2, not Thunderbolt 3 or 4) ports
1
Thunderbolt 3 or 4 (as USB-C) ports
0
SD card slot (full-size)
SD card slot (micro)
HDMI port
Gigabit ethernet port
Rear camera
Backlit keyboard levels of brightness
0

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