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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Display
- Interface
- Connectivity
- Configuration
- Performance
- Additional Features And Software
- Comments
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (2021) vs Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (2021)
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Feb 29, 2024 05:19 PM
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Size15.6"
Operating SystemWindows 11
Size15"
Operating SystemWindows 10
Variants
- Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (15-ec2121nr) (Shadow Black - 144Hz/250 nits/Ryzen 5/GTX 1650/8GB/512GB)
- Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (15-ec2278ng) (Shadow Black - 144Hz/250 nits/Ryzen 7/RTX 3050Ti/16GB/1TB)
- Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (15z-ec200) (Shadow Black - 60Hz/250 nits/Ryzen 5/GTX 1650/8GB/256GB)
- Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (15-ec2008ca) (Shadow Black - 60Hz/250 nits/Ryzen 5/GTX 1650/8GB/512GB)
- Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (15-ec2001sf) (Shadow Black - 60Hz/250 nits/Ryzen 5/GTX 1650/8GB/512GB)
- Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (15-ec2005ns) (Shadow Black - 60Hz/250 nits/Ryzen 5/GTX 1650/8GB/512GB)
- Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (15-ec2097nr) (Shadow Black - 60Hz/300 nits/Ryzen 7/GTX 1650/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5510B) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/144Hz/i5/GTX 1650Ti/8GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5715B) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/GTX 1650Ti/16GBG/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7593BLK-PUS) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5725W) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/GTX 1660Ti/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7272WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2060/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7302WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7418WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5746W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5758W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/32GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5858W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10875H/RTX 2070/32GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7590WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10875H/RTX 2080/32GB/1TB)
Our Verdict
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (2021)
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) and the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (2021) are both gaming laptops that are available with high-performing CPUs and dedicated GPUs. The Dell is significantly better for most uses, with a brighter, much more colorful, higher refresh rate display, a significantly better-feeling keyboard, and a better touchpad. Also, its speakers sound better and get much louder, its webcam and microphone are much better, and it has a significantly more flexible port selection. The Dell is available with significantly more powerful GPUs, but its 10th Gen Intel CPUs lag behind the performance of AMD Ryzen 5000-series CPUs. On the other hand, the HP is easier to carry around, its battery lasts much longer, and it has two upgradeable RAM slots as opposed to none on the Dell.
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Main Differences forSchool
School
Threshold
School
6.7
6.6
Battery
4.9
2.9
Portability
6.8
5.6
Vertical Viewing Angle
6.3
9.3
Ports
7.0
9.5
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
7.5
8.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.0
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
130°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
6.8
5.6
Dimensions Photo
Size
15.6"
15"
Thickness
1.1" (2.7 cm)
0.9" (2.2 cm)
Width
14.2" (36.0 cm)
14.2" (36.1 cm)
Depth
10.2" (25.8 cm)
10.7" (27.2 cm)
Volume
153.0 in³ (2,507.8 cm³)
131.8 in³ (2,160.2 cm³)
Weight
4.6 lbs (2.1 kg)
4.9 lbs (2.2 kg)
Charger Size
12.7 in³ (207.4 cm³)
32.3 in³ (529.3 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.9 lbs (0.4 kg)
2.2 lbs (1.0 kg)
Serviceability
8.4
7.8
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
8.5
9.5
RAM Slots
2
0
Storage Slots
1
3
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
Yes
Yes
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
1920 x 1080
1920 x 1080
Aspect Ratio
16:9
16:9
Pixel Density
141 PPI
142 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
77%
83%
Refresh Rate
5.9
8.6
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
300 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
No
Contrast
7.1
7.0
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,170 : 1
1,123 : 1
Brightness
5.9
6.6
Maximum Brightness
220 cd/m²
267 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
15 cd/m²
13 cd/m²
Reflections
7.5
7.0
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Matte
Matte
Total Reflections
4.73%
5.97%
Indirect Reflections
2.97%
4.31%
Calculated Direct Reflections
1.76%
1.66%
Black Uniformity
6.5
6.6
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
1.644%
1.591%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
6.3
7.3
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
23°
27°
Color Washout From Right
24°
28°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
27°
60°
Color Shift From Right
40°
60°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
24°
30°
Brightness Loss From Right
27°
32°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
20°
30°
Gamma Shift From Right
24°
30°
Vertical Viewing Angle
6.3
9.3
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
24°
45°
Color Washout From Above
25°
45°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
26°
45°
Color Shift From Above
36°
45°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
24°
42°
Brightness Loss From Above
27°
40°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
23°
45°
Gamma Shift From Above
25°
45°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
4.2
6.7
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
4.5
4.2
Avg. Gamma
2.04
2.33
Avg. Color dE
6.46
3.119
Avg. Color Temperature
6,908 K
6,192 K
Color Gamut
4.3
8.6
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
68.42%
99.87%
sRGB uv
54.83%
99.58%
Adobe RGB xy
51.3%
78.09%
Adobe RGB uv
48.25%
87.08%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
50.93%
79.94%
DCI P3 uv
44.61%
85.84%
Rec. 2020 xy
36.62%
57.56%
Rec. 2020 uv
32.69%
63.51%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
Yes
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
No Flicker
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
7.8
8.8
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
7.5
8.5
Numpad
Yes
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Per-Key RGB
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
59 gf
69 gf
Actuation Force
33 gf
33 gf
Pre-Travel
1.14 mm
1.22 mm
Total Travel
1.87 mm
1.84 mm
Touchpad
7.2
7.6
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
7.5
8.0
Size
10.7 in² (69.0 cm²)
9.7 in² (62.8 cm²)
Material
Plastic
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
6.8
7.8
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
68 dB SPL
76 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
6.1 dB
6.1 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
2.5
1.5
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
236 Hz
217 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
12 kHz
19 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
0.5 dB
0.7 dB
Webcam & Microphone
6.5
7.0
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
6.5
7.0
Resolution
720p
720p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
No
No
Connectivity
Ports
7.0
9.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
2
3
USB-C Ports
1
1
Thunderbolt
No
Thunderbolt 3
USB-C Charging
No
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
2.0
2.0
DisplayPort
No
Mini DisplayPort 1.4
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
SD UHS 1
MicroSD UHS 2
Ethernet
Yes
Yes
Proprietary Port
No
Alienware Graphics Amplifier
Security Lock
No
Yes
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.2
5.1
Configuration
CPU
Brand
AMD
Intel
Model
Ryzen 5 5600H
Core i7-10750H
Core Count
6
6
Thread Count
12
12
GPU
Brand
NVIDIA
NVIDIA
Model
Geforce GTX 1650
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q
Dedicated/Integrated
Dedicated
Dedicated
VRAM Size
4 GB
8 GB
RAM
Capacity
8 GB
32 GB
Modules
2
2 (Soldered)
Type
DDR4
DDR4
Speed
3,200 MHz
2,666 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
512 GB
1,000 GB
Usable Capacity
440 GB
950 GB
Drive 1
Micron MTFDHBA512QFD-1AX1AABHA
PC611 NVMe SK Hynix 1TB
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.7
9.0
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,348 points
1,263 points
CPU Multi-Thread
6,254 points
6,122 points
GPU Compute
40,009 points
109,357 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
9.3
8.7
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,350 points
1,202 points
Multi-Thread
9,418 points
7,328 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
8.3
8.6
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
4.2 min
4.6 min
GPU Render Time
2.6 min
1.1 min
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
34 s
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
7.3
9.5
Basemark Image
Overall Score
42,842
101,365
Storage Drive Performance
9.2
9.2
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
880.3 MB/s
1,639.2 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
1,968.5 MB/s
2,584.1 MB/s
Random Write Speed
91.5 MB/s
85.3 MB/s
Random Read Speed
60.7 MB/s
46.1 MB/s
Battery
4.9
2.9
Capacity
53 Wh
86 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
6.4 hrs
3.1 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
2.3 hrs
2.4 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
1.3 hrs
0.9 hrs
Charge Time
2.1 hrs
3.0 hrs
Borderlands 3
5.1
7.6
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
35 fps
92 fps
1% Low
22 fps
54 fps
0.1% Low
11 fps
36 fps
1% Low Delta
16 ms
8 ms
0.1% Low Delta
60 ms
17 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
79 fps
177 fps
Civilization VI
7.1
8.1
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
61 fps
145 fps
1% Low
39 fps
79 fps
0.1% Low
38 fps
57 fps
1% Low Delta
9 ms
6 ms
0.1% Low Delta
10 ms
11 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
175 fps
208 fps
Avg. Turn Time
7.65 s
8.63 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
9.2
9.5
Avg. FPS
172 fps
361 fps
1% Low
107 fps
177 fps
0.1% Low
79 fps
96 fps
1% Low Delta
4 ms
3 ms
0.1% Low Delta
7 ms
8 ms
Avg. FPS On Low
268 fps
524 fps
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
7.1
8.1
Avg. FPS
52 fps
108 fps
1% Low
39 fps
68 fps
0.1% Low
33 fps
41 fps
1% Low Delta
6 ms
5 ms
0.1% Low Delta
11 ms
15 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
99 fps
120 fps
Thermals And Noise
6.1
6.7
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
37 °C (99 °F)
37 °C (99 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
49 °C (121 °F)
44 °C (111 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
52.5 dBA
51.5 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
Yes
Yes
Performance Over Time
9.4
9.8
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
86 °C
98 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
4% loss
1% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
55 °C
71 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
0% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
Windows 10
Additional Software
Yes
Yes
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
Yes
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
No
No
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HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (2021)
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Comments
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (2021) vs Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020): Main Discussion
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