Dell Inspiron 13 5301 in review: Stylish and compact subnotebook, but...

Dell provides the Inspire 13 5301 with a high-quality aluminum case. Only the display bezel and the rear strip around the hinge are made of white and gray plastic, respectively, which is likely not to everyone's taste. Overall, however, the device looks quite elegant. There's nothing to criticize in terms of build quality.

When the device is opened, the rounded rear lifts the base a few millimeters in order to give the air vents space underneath the device to do their job. The hinges are adjusted with quite a bit of firmness, but they creaked slightly in our test device. They provide a good grip for the display, and it only wobbles slightly, but they prevent a one-handed opening of the device, which only weighs a good 1 kg.

Out of the five models compared here, the Dell Inspiron 13 5301 is the lightest device of all at around 1.15 kg. When it comes to their dimensions, the 13.3-inchers hardly differ except for a few millimeters. Our review sample is not the smallest or the thinnest, but it keeps up well in the field.

As is typical, the ports are distributed across the left and right sides, where they are located in the rear area and are positioned with enough space between them. The configuration is solid for the device class, but there's no Thunderbolt port. Three USB ports are available, one of which is a 2nd generation USB 3.2 Type-C with DisplayPort and Power Delivery.

We can only describe the microSD card reader as slow. With our 128 GB AV PRO V60 microSD reference memory card, it only achieves speeds of around 25 MB/s and is consequently far behind in the comparison field. This is sufficient if you just want to copy a few photos from a memory card. But larger amounts of data will require considerable patience.

In contrast, things look quite different when it comes to the Wi-Fi connection, even though the new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is not on board. Nevertheless, the Dell Inspiron 13 performs extremely well with the 802.11ac standard, and it positions itself clearly above the Intel Wireless-AC 9560 module's average. Among the five devices in our comparison field, it's fast enough for a good third place ahead of the Dell Inspiron 14 7400 with Wi-Fi 6.

A simple 720p webcam with two digital array microphones is installed in the bezel above the screen, which is about 1 cm thick. It doesn't offer a particularly good quality with a DeltaE value of just over 30, but it's sufficient for the usual applications like video calls.

Apart from the fingerprint reader that is integrated into the power button located on the keyboard's upper right corner, there are no other security features. Even a Kensington slot is missing.

Apart from the 45-watt power adapter, Dell doesn't include any accessories. The manufacturer offers various optional accessories like carrying cases, docking stations, and more, most of which fit various Dell devices.

Dell provides a one-year Collect and Return service by default. This is less than the usual two years offered by many manufacturers. Optionally, purchasing directly from Dell allows you to opt for various warranty upgrades including up to three years of Premium Support with onsite service, but this will cost you up to 180 Euros (~$214).

The touchpad is centered below the space bar, and due to the lack of a number pad, it's also almost at the center of the device. It's slightly recessed into the case, and it measures 10.5 cm in width and 6.5 cm in depth. Therefore, it's sufficiently large and responsive enough to make quick mouse pointer jumps from one side to the other as well as pixel-accurate inputs.

The two mouse buttons at the bottom are responsive all the way to the center, with no perceptible separation between the two buttons. Noise is also kept very much within limits here. Click noises are quiet and fairly high-quality sounding.

The present configuration of the Dell Inspiron 13 5301 is equipped with the Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, the corresponding Intel Iris Xe GPU with 80 EUs, and 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. In addition, there's a 256 GB SSD. Performance-wise, this is the mid-range configuration of the current Inspiron 13 generation. If you need even more performance, you can alternatively get the top variant with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 and a 512 GB SSD. For slightly less money, Dell also offers the lowest-priced version with the Intel Core i3-1115G4 and 256 GB of storage.

The built-in Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU is based on the Tiger Lake architecture and therefore belongs to Intel's latest processor generation. The CPU is positioned below the Intel Core i7-1165G7. Its four cores work at base clock rate of 2.4 GHz and a Turbo clock rate of 4.2 GHz. According to HWiNFO, the CPU has a theoretical PL1 of 15 watts and a PL2 of 51 watts on paper. In our tests, however, it achieved a maximum power consumption of just over 42 watts.

In our comparison field, which is mostly equipped with the same processor, the Dell Inspiron 13 5301 lands at the lower end of the field. In most benchmarks, the device is unable to entirely reach the CPU average of all devices that are equipped with the chip, but it usually positions itself just below it instead. This means that Dell isn't fully exploiting the CPU's potential. Nevertheless, it's a positive thing that the benchmark results were only about 10% lower on battery power.

In terms of the system performance measured by benchmarks, our review sample often falls slightly short of the expectations raised by the CPU/GPU average. The comparison candidates usually perform better. However, thanks to the powerful new Intel CPU, the device still definitely manages to position itself above the subnotebook average.

In everyday use, the common tasks of a subnotebook, such as browsing the Internet, streaming videos, and running office applications, are certainly possible without issues or restrictions. Only the RAM with its modest size of 8 GB can sometimes be a bottleneck.

The OM3PDP3-AD NVMe KDI SSD installed in our review sample has a relatively modest capacity of 256 GB, especially since only just under half of this is available out of the box. Users who don't find this to be enough can also get the Dell Inspiron 13 5301 with the same or a better CPU and with 512 GB of SSD storage space.

In terms of performance, the hard drive performs solidly. It can't keep up with the Samsung SSDs in the larger and more expensive Dell Inspiron 14 7400 as well as the Dell XPS 13 9305. The SSD also has to admit defeat to the HP Envy 13-ba1475ng with its Intel storage device, but it positions itself well ahead of the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s. After a weak start, the read speed increased continuously in the test.

Dell refrains from using a dedicated GPU in the Inspiron 13 5301. Instead, the manufacturer utilizes the CPU's onboard graphics. As is well known, though, the 11th generation Iris Xe Graphics with 80 EUs (Tiger Lake) offers a considerably higher performance than the old Iris Plus G7 of the Ice Lake generation. The clock rate is between 400 and 1,300 MHz, and the clock rate of the 1 GB graphics memory is 1,600 MHz. In our tests, the GPU was supplied with a maximum of 21 watts, meaning that Dell isn't making full use of the 25-watt TDP limit.

In the 3DMark benchmarks, the review sample usually manages to position itself above the GPU average. However, the same graphics unit performs a little better in the Dell XPS 13 9305 and the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s.

On battery power, the device achieves a score of 5,182 points in 3DMark 11 and is therefore only very slightly behind the score obtained with the laptop plugged in. Consequently, Dell hardly throttles the GPU on battery power.

It should be clear to everyone that the Dell Inspiron 13 5301 is not a gaming laptop. This is also confirmed by the corresponding benchmarks, where the device sometimes finishes just below the GPU average and at the bottom of the test field.

In The Witcher 3 and other games like Dota 2 Reborn and X-Plane 11, it only achieves playable frame rates at the lowest graphics settings. This might be enough for a short on-the-go session of a rather older game or a less demanding favorite. But nothing more (as expected)...

The frame rates in The Witcher 3 remain constant over the test period and are slightly above the level reached by the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s.

In the test, the Inspiron 13 5301 is virtually inaudible in idle usage and under low load (e.g. office work). It's very quiet and therefore also well-suited for libraries and comparably silent environments.

However, when the built-in hardware is put under stress, the fan kicks in audibly. However, it doesn't become too obtrusive with a maximum of 42 dB(A), since the hardware is throttled quite quickly when too much heat is generated. The fan is usually pretty steady when it's running. This is much more pleasant than if it were constantly changing its speed and consequently its volume. We did not notice any other noises, such as coil whine, in our test device.