The battle over who makes the best laptops may never end, but we know for sure which brands have become household names.
Dell and Lenovo are two of these kinds of brands. They have been competing for a long time across the whole range of laptops, from small 2-in-1 hybrid laptops to some of the best gaming laptops on the market.
If you read TechRadar often, you might think that this debate has already been decided. After all, we’ve always put the amazing Dell XPS 13 series near the top of our laptop rankings. In fact, the whole XPS line is made up of some of the best Dell laptops.
But Lenovo hasn’t been resting on its laurels. It has a wide range of laptops that are good for both gaming and work. Dell has Alienware, which is a separate gaming brand that it bought in 2006. Lenovo, on the other hand, has the Legion series of laptops and desktops, which has been around for a long time and is a serious competitor for gaming.
In light of this, we’re going to compare Dell and Lenovo in four ways: overall price, overall design, laptops for work, and laptops for games. And when we’re done, we should have a real winner, we hope!
DELL VS LENOVO: PRICE
Even though neither Dell nor Lenovo can be called “budget” laptop brands, they both make a wide range of models for every need and budget.
From the reasonable starting prices of the Dell XPS 13 to Lenovo’s wide range of cheap Chromebooks, shoppers on a budget should be able to find a laptop that meets their needs without costing too much. So, it looks like a tie, right?
Not quite. See, most of Dell’s gaming hardware comes from the Alienware brand, which is not cheap at all. In our reviews of Alienware laptops, we often say that you pay more for the brand, just like with Apple MacBooks or Razer Blades.
Lenovo’s Legion series of gaming products, on the other hand, can be set up in many different ways, no matter how much money you have. We think this gives Lenovo a slight edge when it comes to value for money. Dell does have cheaper gaming laptops in its G-series, but they aren’t very good. But the upcoming update to the Dell G5 could make us think differently…
DELL VS LENOVO: DESIGN
Lenovo takes some hits here, and it’s hard to deny that. Dell’s best laptops for work, like the bigger XPS 17 and the older but still stylish Precision 5750, have a sleek and professional look, while Lenovo’s office equipment isn’t quite as stylish.
Lenovo’s desire to keep touchpads with dedicated mouse buttons and the ubiquitous red “laptop nipple” mouse nub means that aesthetics are sometimes sacrificed in the name of usability, which is fine, but doesn’t help Lenovo in this case. Some people will like the classic look of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon line, but most of Lenovo’s productivity devices are pretty plain.
But Lenovo’s commitment to simpler designs that put function over form works out very well when it comes to its gaming products. Lenovo Legion gaming laptops have clean, brushed-metal finishes, low-key branding, and only a small amount of RGB lighting. That’s great; just look at how clean the Legion Slim 7i’s alloy chassis is from 2022. Nice stuff.
On the other hand, Dell’s Alienware brand stays true to “gamer style,” which is one of the worst ways to look at things. Every Alienware laptop needs a flashy LED lightbar on the back or a rainbow-lit logo on the lid to show that its owner is a gamer from the beginning. So, we’re going to call this round a tie.
DELL VS LENOVO: PRODUCTIVITY
Both teams have good options for laptops that can help you get work done at home, at the office, or on your way to work in the morning. The Dell Inspiron series has been a mainstay in offices for many years. These laptops are simple and easy to use at work or school.
For the same reason, busy professionals have been choosing ThinkPad and IdeaPad models from Lenovo for a long time. Before the great and terrible rise of the MacBook Pro, ThinkPad was the most popular brand in offices around the world.
But the fact that so many Dell XPS models are on our list of the best laptops makes it hard to argue in Lenovo’s favour in this case. Over the years, the XPS series has gone through a few changes and made a few mistakes, like the hit-or-miss XPS 13 Plus. However, it has produced some of the best business laptops on the market, so Dell wins this round.
Winner: Dell
DELL OR LENOVO: GAMING A Lenovo Legion 7 on a wooden table.
(Image credit: Future)
If you haven’t skipped to this part because you’re only interested in games, you can probably tell from the earlier rounds who will win here.
Yes, Lenovo is the clear winner when it comes to gaming hardware. Dell’s lacklustre G-series laptops and expensive Alienware-branded hardware just can’t compete with Legion, a product line that Lenovo has spent years developing into one of the best gaming laptop brands on the planet.
That doesn’t mean Dell’s gaming gear is bad, though. We’ve tested some great (but pricey) Alienware laptops, and the long-awaited redesign of Dell’s G5 will come out this year. We’ve seen it, and it looks pretty darn good.
But for now, Lenovo still has the best gaming laptops. The Legion Slim 7 and Legion 5i are great examples of what makes a good gaming laptop, with clean designs and powerful performance without being too big.
WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU BUY?
So, if we look at the points, Lenovo is the winner. But what’s the real lesson here? In the end, if you’re on a tight budget, you can find cheaper laptops, so it’s hard to let price be too much of a factor when deciding which of these tech giants is best.
Let’s be honest: Lenovo’s ThinkPads are pretty good, but they’re not quite as good as the best Dell XPS laptops. If you want a sleek and effective office laptop, you should start with an XPS. They’re also not too expensive at the lower end of specs.
But for gaming, we have to say that Lenovo’s Legion laptops are better than most Dell Alienware or G-series laptops. Things could change in the future, but as of now, Lenovo is better at gaming than Dell.
In the end, you should be the one to decide who wins. More specifically, you should think about what you want from the laptop you buy. Don’t just think about your budget and what hardware you need; also think about where you’ll be using your laptop and how much the way it looks matters to you.
