Dell Precision 3591 (2024) Laptop Review

The Dell Precision 3591 is only available in the Silver color. See the bottom of the laptop here.

The Dell Precision 3591's build quality is decent. Though entirely plastic, the chassis feels relatively sturdy, exhibiting only a small amount of flex on the keyboard deck. The lid flexes slightly more, and the display twists a bit when manipulating it, but these issues aren't severe enough to be of concern. That said, the device as a whole feels heavy and clunky, with uneven weight distribution. The finish doesn't easily scratch or pick up fingerprints, and the feet feel solid.

The hinges are sub-par. While smooth, there's a lot of resistance, making the screen difficult to adjust. On the upside, the display only wobbles a little bit when typing heavily.

The Dell Precision 3591's serviceability is outstanding. Accessing the internals is very easy; you only need to remove eight Philips screws and release the bottom panel's clips with a prying tool. The screws are captive, meaning they remain attached to the bottom panel, so you don't have to worry about losing them. Both M.2 storage slots support 2230 and 2280 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs. The slot labeled 'MLK'—no, not that MLK—is for a WWAN adapter (cellular connectivity).

See the owner's manual here.

• 130W USB-C power adapter and cord
• Documentation

Note: Models with integrated graphics only come with a 100W power adapter.

The Dell Precision 3591 is available with the following displays:

• 15.6" IPS 1920 x 1080 60Hz (45% NTSC)
• 15.6" IPS 1920 x 1080 60Hz (Touchscreen, 45% NTSC)
• 15.6" IPS 1920 x 1080 60Hz (100% sRGB)

A 1080p resolution looks reasonably sharp on a 15.6-inch display. You can see individual pixels up close, but it isn't a huge issue at typical viewing distances. As for the aspect ratio, a taller 16:10 or even a 3:2 would have been preferable for productivity, as the increased vertical space lets you see more information at once, so you don't have to scroll as much.

The Dell Precision 3591 is only available with 60Hz displays. Our unit's non-touch, 45% NTSC panel has a slow response time, resulting in visible ghosting behind fast-moving objects. The other panels have the same 35ms advertised response time. None of the available displays support variable refresh rate.

The 45% NTSC display's contrast ratio is okay and within the typical range of most IPS panels. However, it's still relatively low compared to other display technologies like VA and OLED. This contrast level makes blacks look gray in dim settings. The 100% sRGB panel has a slightly higher advertised contrast ratio, but it isn't enough to make much difference visually.

The 45% NTSC panel is pretty dim, so it's only suitable for indoor use. Even then, you might have visibility issues if there's bright lighting, like sunlight through an open window. The touch-sensitive display has the same brightness, while the 100% sRGB panel has an advertised brightness of 400 cd/m².

The display's matte coating handles direct, mirror-like reflections well. The biggest problem is when viewing dark color content, as the finish causes a halo effect around bright light sources.

The display's horizontal viewing angle is mediocre. The image dims and washes out quickly as you move to the side, so you need to be more or less directly in front of the screen to get perfect accuracy.

The display's vertical viewing angle is mediocre. Like the horizontal viewing angle, the image dims and washes when viewing from above and below, so you need to look at the screen more or less straight on to see an accurate image. This can be challenging in tight places with little room to tilt the screen, like on a bus or airplane.

The 45% NTSC display's accuracy is bad out of the box. The color dE is high because the panel has a narrow color gamut and can't reproduce the highly saturated primary colors. Also, the color temperature is too cool, giving the entire image a noticeable blueish tint. The gamma is far too high in dark and bright scenes, making them look darker than they should.

The 45% NTSC display has a poor color gamut. It doesn't even have full coverage of the commonly used sRGB color space, making most web content look washed out. This panel isn't suitable for any type of color work, like photo and video editing. Naturally, the 100% sRGB panel has full sRGB coverage, but don't expect to do anything in Adobe RGB or DCI P3.

The Dell Precision 3591 provides an okay typing experience. Its layout is fairly standard, so it's easy to get used to. The keys have a good amount of travel; however, they're somewhat unstable, require a fair amount of force to actuate, and feel mushy. They're also on the smaller side, which can lead to more typos. Backlighting is optional, so make sure to check the specs if it matters to you.

The Dell 3591's touchpad is okay. It tracks all movements and gestures well; it's just small, which makes actions like dragging and dropping over a long distance more challenging. Palm rejection works as intended. This is a diving board touchpad, so you can only click in the bottom half. Unfortunately, the buttons feel mushy.

The Dell Precision 3591's speakers get pretty loud with minimal compression at high volume levels. However, they sound unnatural and slightly sibilant, with almost no bass whatsoever.

The Dell Precision 3591 has a good webcam. The image has a decent amount of fine details but also looks a bit soft, with some noise in darker areas. Colors look okay, though the color temperature is quite warm. Voices sound loud and clear over the microphone, with little to no background noise. The privacy cover is only a physical barrier and doesn't disable the camera or the microphone at the software level. You can manually turn off the microphone using the F4 shortcut.

The Dell Precision 3591 has an excellent port selection. Both USB-As support USB 3.2 Gen 1 data transfer speed of up to 5Gbps. The one closest to the HDMI port is always on, meaning you can use it to charge a mobile device even when the laptop is in sleep mode. The USB-Cs support Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gbps data transfer speed and two 4k @ 60Hz displays) and DisplayPort. However, the one closest to the back connects to the discrete GPU and can take up to 130W of power (to charge the laptop), while the other connects to the integrated graphics and can only take up to 100W. As for the HDMI port, Dell advertises HDMI 2.1, but it uses the TMDS (Transition-minimized differential signaling) signaling method and can only output at a maximum resolution of 4k @ 60Hz. As such, we consider it an HDMI 2.0.

The Dell Precision 3591's wireless adapter is an Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211. You can also get this laptop with a Realtek Wi-Fi 6 RTL8852BE or with no adapter installed. Wi-Fi 6E gives you access to the 6GHz band, providing faster speeds, lower latency, and less signal interference than previous wireless standards; however, you need a router that supports Wi-Fi 6E to benefit from these features.

Optional cellular connectivity is available. You can configure the laptop with a 4G Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 (DW5825e) or a 5G Qualcomm Snapdragon X62 (DW5932e) adapter.

The Dell Precision 3591 is available with the following CPUs:

• Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (14 cores/18 threads, up to 4.60GHz, 18MB cache)
• Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (16 cores/22 threads, up to 4.80GHz, 24MB cache)
• Intel Core Ultra 7 165H (16 cores/22 threads, up to 5.00GHz, 24MB cache)
• Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (16 cores/22 threads, up to 5.10GHz, 24MB cache)

All four CPUs are high-performance, 45W processors from Intel's Meteor Lake family. Like Intel's 13th Gen CPUs, they have a hybrid architecture comprising performance and efficiency cores. However, they have two additional low-power E-cores (LP-E) to further improve efficiency, as well as an NPU (Neural Processing Units) to speed up A.I. tasks, like background-blurring on video calls and image generation in photo editing apps. These CPUs can handle general productivity tasks and more intensive workloads, like programming, video editing, and 3D graphics. That said, they aren't the fastest Intel has to offer, as they still lag behind the 14th Gen HX CPUs, like the Dell Alienware m18 R2 (2024)'s Intel Core i9-14900HX. Regarding core composition, the Core Ultra 5 has four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and two low-power efficiency cores (4P+8E+2LP-E), while the Core Ultra 7s and 9 have six performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and two low-power efficiency cores (6P+8E+2LP-E). All four CPUs have the same Neural Processing Units (NPU).

See more information about the Intel Meteor Lake CPUs here.

The Dell Precision 3591 is available with the following GPUs:

• Intel Arc Graphics (integrated)
• NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU 4GB GDDR6 (discrete, 45W TGP /w Dynamic Boost)
• NVIDIA RTX 1000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU 6GB GDDR6 (discrete)
• NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU 8GB GDDR6 (discrete)

The RTX Ada Generation GPUs are designed mainly for professional workloads like design and simulation. The available options range from entry-level to lower mid-range. Considering solely the number of CUDA cores, the RTX 1000 is akin to the gaming-oriented GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU with 2,560 CUDA cores, while the RTX 2000 has the same number as the RTX 4060, with 3,072 CUDA cores. The RTX 500 is the weakest, sporting 2,048. Ultimately, the choice of the GPU depends on your workload, its complexity, and the speed at which you expect to complete tasks. You can play games on models with an RTX Ada Generation GPU; just know that the performance won't be as good as on models with a GeForce GPU, as they don't always get the best drivers. You can also get this laptop with Intel-integrated graphics only if you don't need a lot of GPU processing power. Dell doesn't specify the TGP (Total Graphics Power). The RTX 1000 and 2000 can technically run up to 140W, but they likely run at the same 45W as the RTX 500, given this laptop's limited cooling system. If you need more power GPU options, consider the Dell Precision 5690 (2024).

See more information about the NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation Laptop GPUs here.

You can configure the Dell Precision 3591 with 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of non-ECC (Error Correction Code) RAM. Some configurations come in single-channel mode, which will limit performance, so it's best to get a dual-channel configuration if you don't plan on upgrading the device yourself.

You can configure the Dell Precision 3591 with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage. You can add a second drive in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 array. RAID 0 will give you the best speeds, but know that the failure of one drive can cause data loss across both drives.

The Dell Precision 3591's Intel Core Ultra 5 135H CPU scores well in the Geekbench 5 benchmarks. It can handle a variety of productivity tasks, including some demanding workloads like programming, but if performance is important, it's best to upgrade to the Core Ultra 7 or 9, as they'll perform noticeably better in multi-threaded applications. All three discrete GPUs can handle heavy computing tasks, so you can simply choose depending on the complexity of your work and the speed at which you expect to complete tasks. Intel's integrated graphics perform poorly and aren't suitable for such workloads.

The posted results are scores obtained in the default Optimized setting. Switching to the Best Performance mode has very little effect. Here are the scores:

• Single-thread: 1,665 (less than 1% difference)
• Multi-thread: 9,216 (less than 1% difference)
• GPU Compute: 64,767 (+3%)

The Dell Precision 3591's Intel Core Ultra 5 135H performs well in the Cinebench R23 benchmark. Its multi-thread performance is better than what we typically see on thin and light laptops; however, it's by no means exceptional. If you have a heavily multi-threaded workload, it's best to upgrade to the Core Ultra 7 or Core Ultra 9, as they have two additional performance cores.

The posted results are scores obtained in the Optimized mode. Again, switching to the Best Performance mode has little to no effect.

The Dell Precision 3591 is excellent for Blender work. Just make sure you get a model with a discrete GPU—even the lowest end NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU will render images faster than the CPU and integrated graphics.

The Dell Precision 3591's NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU is a low-end discrete GPU designed for professional workloads. It can handle demanding AAA games at 1080p, but you'll have to dial down the settings to get smooth gameplay. Based on the score, its performance is in the same ballpark as an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050; however, remember that these Ada Generation GPUs lack support for gaming features like DLSS and Frame Generation to boost the frame rate. The RTX 1000 and 2000 will fare better, with the latter capable of handling some games at 1440p, but again, the performance will vary, as these GPUs don't always have the best drivers.

Models with integrated graphics only will have longer battery life. You can also get this laptop with a 97Wh battery, which is roughly a 51% increase in capacity over the 64Wh battery. If you want a workstation with a much better battery life, consider the HP ZBook Power G11 A (2024).

Borderlands 3 doesn't run particularly well on the Dell 3591 with an NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU. You can get over 60 fps with low settings, but the gameplay is still choppy due to frame drops. Models with an RTX 1000 or 2000 will perform better, but again, you might still experience frequent stutters.

Every configuration can handle Civilization VI and other similarly demanding games with no issues. However, you'll have to turn down the settings to get playable frame rates when using Intel's integrated graphics.

You can get over 60 fps in Counter-Strike 2 and other similarly demanding games on models with a discrete GPU, but the gameplay isn't very smooth, as there are frequent stutters. This game isn't playable with Intel's Arc iGPU.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider and other similarly demanding games are playable on models with a discrete GPU, but you might experience occasional stutters. Intel's Arc iGPU can't handle such a graphically intensive game.

The posted results are measurements taken in the default Optimized setting. You can change the fan setting in the Dell Optimizer app.

The Dell Precision 3591 has many pre-installed software applications, including:

• Dell Command: Checks for BIOS, driver, or firmware updates.
• Dell Digital Delivery: Lets you download software applications purchased from Dell.
• Dell Display Manager: Lets you organize your screen when using multiple windows and customize your display settings.
• Dell Optimizer: Lets you monitor the laptop's battery health, storage, CPU status, and network usage. It also allows you to change performance and fan settings and can automatically optimize the system to extend battery life or improve performance.
• Dell Pair: Helps detect and pair peripherals via Bluetooth.
• Dell Peripheral Manager: Lets you control video calls, share your screen, customize and update Dell accessories, and apply noise cancelation during video calls.
• Dell SupportAssist: Lets you scan for drivers and hardware issues, clean files, optimize performance, and access system activity history.
• Dell Trusted Device Agent: Detects BIOS tempering.

You can get this laptop with Windows 11 Home, Windows 11 Pro, or Ubuntu 22.04 pre-installed.

The Dell 3591's fingerprint sensor and IR facial recognition camera are optional features. You can use either to log in quickly, authorize purchases in the Windows Store, and auto-fill saved passwords on supported websites. You can also add a Smart Card Reader and/or NFC support.