I have been looking for a temporary replacement laptop since I was getting tired of carrying my 2.5kg Latitude E6420 to and from school. As I was searching cheap laptops on a local classifieds website for second-hand deals, it occurred to me that I watched some videos on YouTube about 2-300$ thin and light laptops that could take care of my basic computing needs. I came across the Inspiron 3162 on the Dell website, but I could not find any review of this particular SKU. I took a gamble buying it (and spending my "hard earned" 260$) and I was surprised by how good it is. I hereby take it upon myself to review this laptop.
Disclaimer note: I was not paid by any company to review this product, which I purchased with my own money. I also did not buy this just to write this review and send it back after to get my money back. Therefore this is an honest opinion on a product that I have been using for the past few weeks.
Hardware
The unit I got is rocking an Intel Celeron N3060 Bay Trail chip (1.6GHz, Turbo Burst up to 2.4GHz, 2Mb L2 Cache, 6W TDP), which is cooled passively (so no fans for you). 4Gb of RAM help keep things running smoothly. The integrated Intel HD400 Graphics, while almost as powerful as 2012's (Intel) HD3000 won't be able to push those 60FPS in games. Also, you will want to buy a microSD Card to enhance the 32Gb of included eMMC storage because Windows uses about 2/3 of that. It is enough for day-to-day use, but editing photos or videos can be a pain since the chipset can't really keep up with that. It excels however at taking notes, creating documents and presentations, watching HD and even 1440p videos on YouTube. The speakers are facing upwards, which I personally prefer. They get pretty loud but lack bass. What I find really inconvenient is the complete lack of any sort of status LED. I never know whether it is off or just on sleep. There is only 1 LED, however, that indicates the status of the webcam.
The 720p webcam is decent, but not surprising. The microphone is also ok. I have nothing to complain here… it is a cheap laptop after all.
When it comes to ports, the Inspiron won't let you down. You get one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 type A port, a very courageous-for-2017 3.5mm headphone jack, a full-sized HDMI port (be aware: max output resolution is 1080p due to limitations of the integrated GPU), a standard Dell charging port (the slim barrel-type one, also found on the newer XPS 93xx and 95xx laptops) and a microSD Card expansion slot (the card goes all the way in for those who wonder). There is also a Noble lock security slot.
I didn't want to spend extra money on a touchscreen, so went with the 1366x768 matte TN panel, which does not use as much power as a touchscreen, but lacks proper colour accuracy, brightness and it washes out immediately if you don't look at it dead-on.
Design and build quality
You can buy this laptop in either "Tango Red", "Alpine White" or "Bali Blue". Red is a very bold colour to me and white looks boring to me. Therefore I opted to get the "Bali Blue" version, thinking that it would stand out in cafes and in class. Which it totally does. It is for sure the only notebook I have seen that looks hippy-er in a cafe environment than a MacBook.
The bezels are on the thick side, but the blue insert underneath the chrome Dell logo helps it look not as bad. The glossy plastic finish of the palm rest and of the clamshell area are fingerprint magnets. I find myself wiping it down every day before I go to sleep only to wake up in the morning to see that it is dirty again… The rubber feet do get dirty depending on the desk you place the laptop on. On the bottom of the laptop, you will find a lot of matte plastic with a large "Inspiron" inscription (so you do not forget what laptop you have… ba-dum-tsss) and the usual labels.
I am afraid that the glossy plastic will get scratched up in a backpack unless you are using a dedicated sleeve, which is a big minus for the overall life-cycle of the device.
The plastic chassis does not, contrary to my expectations, not feel cheap at all.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard is on the small side, but the keys are spaced out properly. The tactile feedback and the travel distance (1.2mm) are satisfactory. In the beginning, I felt like the keys required too much pressure to push down, but I got used to it quickly. I have no problem typing over a long period of time.
As far as trackpad goes, Dell went for a Synaptics touchpad instead of a Precision one. It is probably just a cut corner to achieve the target price point, but Gestures are supported and tapping to click works well. The trackpad has no issue in figuring out that one of my fingers sits on it to click while with the others I use the Gestures. The clicking experience is inconsistent across the pad, it is easier to click on the bottom of it than on top. I personally prefer not to use the trackpad, since I favour a mouse, but overall it's all anyone would need.
Software
Windows 10 Home Single Language is preinstalled. Unfortunately, it came with an early build of Windows 10, 1511, instead of the current 1607 (Anniversary Update). The update progress went smoothly.
I have had some problems with Dell's preinstalled bloatware. I was able to uninstall most of it, however, the audio driver and the app used (some stupid "Dell MaxxAudio Pro" nonsense) caused the "Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation" process to put a lot of stress on the CPU, even at idle. The app is not listed in the Programs and Features menu. Deleting the driver through Device Manager would indeed remove the app, but Windows would keep downloading it as an update. The solution I came across was selecting the "Roll back driver" option from Device Manager, although Windows would install the generic HDAudio driver. Dell should really fix their apps before preloading them on the computers they have for sale.
Battery life, overall portability, connectivity
Dell ships these laptops with a 32Whr 2-cell battery. It seems small at first, but remember: this computer has a 6W Intel Celeron processor and an 11.6" TN panel. Battery life should, therefore, be pretty decent, which it is. I can get through a whole day (about 8h, depending on the display brightness, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and overall system usage) of note-taking and web-browsing (basically productivity work).
I bought this machine thinking only about carrying it around, so size weight and battery life were a key factor. At less than 2cm (¾-inch) thin, this sleek laptop is easy to take with you anywhere. The plastic material helps keep the weight down, at only about 1.2Kg (2.6lbs). For me, it is a huge improvement over my old laptop's 2.4Kg. One of the things Dell did not skip on with this laptop is connectivity. You a get Bluetooth 4.0 and an 802.11ac Dual-Band 2.4GHz & 5GHz antenna that has stunning range.Conclusion and should you get it?
This is where I answer the million dollar question: should you get this? If you had any experience with the so-called netbooks of the early 2000s and were not impressed, you should be now. Technology has evolved a lot since then. If you came across this product while shopping around for your next student or travelling laptop, look no more - the Inspiron 3162 will have you covered. While it won't run your games, as well as some, might expect, bear in mind the fact that this notebook was not built for that purpose (and older games such as Warcraft 3 or games from the Windows Store like World of Tanks Blitz will run just fine anyway). It will be a good web-browsing, media consumption, and document editing device. So go ahead. Buy it.
Thanks for reading folks. If you would like to read other reviews of different products, check out my other articles. Until next time, keep going mobile!
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