Dell Inspiron 11 3162 Review: Portable, Excellent Battery Life

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Dell Inspiron 11 3162: At First Glance

Dell laptops are one of the most popular laptop options in the market. This is because they come with a variety of specs and features.  

In this review, we will discuss the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 which is one of Dell’s affordable yet efficient offerings. Despite being an affordable option, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 comes with quite a number of pros which we will talk about in the subsequent sections.

However, in addition to the pros of this laptop, it also has its fair share of cons. Therefore, to find out the areas where this laptop excels and where not so much, come with me as I analyze this Dell laptop.

Dell Inspiron 11 3162 Design, Dimension, and Weight

To start with, the chassis of the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 is entirely made of plastic. However, it is very appealing to the eyes thanks to its eye-catching color options.

Speaking of the color options, you can get this laptop in a blue tint that Dell calls “Bali Blue”. It is also available in “Alpine White” and “Tango Red”.

Another feature that makes the Inspiron 11 3162 attractive is the glossy reflective finish of its lid. In addition to its glossiness, the lid also has a ‘Dell’ logo inscribed on its center.

Also, the laptop has an explicit white pattern imprinted at the rear sides of the lid which gives it an exceptional look.

Having talked about the design features you will find on the lid, let’s proceed to open the lid. On opening the Inspiron 11 3162’s lid, you will find an 11.6-inch display with an HD (1366 x 768) resolution.

Unfortunately, the quality of the pictures on this display is poor. This is not surprising as HD display resolution is the least you will find in most laptops these days.

Furthermore, this Inspiron 11 3162 delivers 196 nits of maximum brightness which is below the category average of 291 nits. Hence, this display is not suitable for use in bright sunlight.

However, you will have no trouble using this laptop in a shaded environment and cloudy conditions.

Another aspect where this display failed to impress me is that it is not touch-enabled. To worsen the situation, the Inspiron 11 3162’s display is surrounded by thick black bezels on all its sides.

On a bright note, the upper bezel has a 720p HD resolution webcam at its center. On the bottom, the bezel has the “Dell” logo on its center.

Moving on, this laptop features a chiclet keyboard type with well-spaced keys. Thankfully, the keys are convenient for typing.

Meanwhile, you will also find the touchpad just below the keyboard.

Impressively, this touchpad surface is slightly roughened to make the fingers make more accurate touches without slipping. The touchpad also has integrated click buttons which work well.

Furthermore, just above the keyboard, are two stereo speakers situated at the two ends. Notably, the two speakers can deliver excellent sounds but they lack bass.

Another feature at the top of the keyboard is the power button which is located at the top-right corner.

For the port options, this laptop features one USB 3.0 port, one HDMI port, a MicroSD card slot, and a power-in port on the left side. Meanwhile, on the right side of the laptop, you will find one USB 2.0 port, a headset jack, and a cable lock slot.

Having described all the design features of this laptop, let’s proceed to the dimensions and weight. In that regard, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 measures 292 x 196 x 18.4 mm (W x D x H).

Also, this laptop weighs only 1180 g which makes it lightweight.

Comparatively, the Inspiron 11 3162 weighs lighter than one of its closest competitors – the Acer Chromebook R 11 which weighs 1250 g. Due to the portability of Inspiron 11 3162, it is perfect for travelers to slip it into their bags.

In summary, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 is surprisingly sturdy despite its plastic build. It is also very portable and lightweight.

Hence, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 a seven out of ten in this review section.

Dell Inspiron 11 3162: Processor (CPU) Performance

For the processor, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 offers multiple processor configurations. You can get this laptop with an Intel Pentium Core N3700 processor as the highest configuration.

The Intel Pentium Core N3700 is a 4-core processor with a cache memory of 2 MB. The processor also has a base and maximum frequency of 1.60 GHz and 2.40 GHz respectively.

Other than the Intel Pentium Core N3700 processor, you can also get this laptop with less powerful processors. One of such processors is the Intel Celeron N3050.

It is important to inform you that my review is based on Inspiron 11 3162 with Intel Celeron N3050.

Before I proceed to the other aspects of this section, let me quickly share the specs of the Intel Celeron N3050.

This Intel low-end processor has a base frequency of 1.60 GHz and a maximum frequency of 2.16 GHz. It also has a cache memory of 2 MB.

Meanwhile, as I already hinted above, this processor is not a powerful one. Hence, it won’t be able to run high demanding apps like Adobe Photoshop.

However, this processor is powerful enough for performing basic tasks such as word processing and web browsing.

At this point, I will provide you with this laptop’s processor performance in the Cinebench R10 test to verify its performance.

Cinebench R10 is a benchmark test that measures the processor performance of a computer by utilizing its processor cores. Hence, the Cinebench test produces two results – the single-core and multi-core.

For better understanding, a single-core score is arrived at when only one processor core is used. On the other hand, a multi-core score is arrived at when all the processor cores are used.

Meanwhile, you should be aware that in this test, a high score indicates better processor performance. That said, the Dell Inspiron 11 had a single-core score of 1,099 points and a multi-core score of 2,064 points.

However, this score is less than that of the Acer Aspire ES1-131 which uses the same Intel Celeron N3050 processor. Specifically, the Acer Aspire ES1-131 scored 1,131 points in the single-core test and 2,147 points in the multi-core test.

Finally, the Inspiron 11 3162 processor is not suitable for performing heavy multitasking or handling demanding apps. However, it should be able to perform basic office and internet tasks.

Therefore, in this processor review section, I will be rating the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 a seven out of ten.

Dell Inspiron 11 3162: Memory (RAM) Performance

To begin with, RAM is temporary computer storage that allows stored data to be received and read in an instant.

Basically, an increased RAM size means the processor accesses the information in the storage drives very quickly. Also, the larger the RAM size, the greater the multi-tasking ability of a computer without slowing down the computer’s speed.

Having said that, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 comes with a standard 2 GB DDR3L 1600 MHz memory. Meanwhile, there is only one memory slot on this laptop.

However, 2 GB is not the maximum memory capacity supported by the Dell Inspiron 11 3162. As a matter of fact, you can increase the RAM size to 4 GB.

As you have probably guessed, with 4 GB of RAM your computer will be more proficient at multitasking than with 2 GB of RAM. However, even with the 4 GB of RAM, your computer will not be suitable for heavy multitasking.

Nevertheless, in this review, we will consider the performance of an Inspiron 11 3162 with 2 GB of memory. Speaking of performance, this laptop is able to perform only light multitasking like opening 5 web pages simultaneously.

To further prove this laptop’s performance, I will now discuss its result in the PCMark 8 benchmark test. For clarity, the PCMark 8 is a system benchmark test for Windows PCs that measures its overall performance.

Similar to the benchmark test we discussed in the previous section, a higher score means better performance.

In the PCMark 8 test, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 scored 1632 points. Comparatively, this score is a bit higher than that of the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 11 which had 1602 points.

Finally, this Dell Inspiron 11 3162 can only be used to perform basic computing tasks. Hence, I will rate it a seven out of ten in this memory review section.

Dell Inspiron 11 3162 Storage Options and Performance

For storage, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 offers different options, you can purchase this laptop either with an eMMC or HDD, or SSD storage.

The eMMC storage supports a maximum storage capacity of 32 GB. Meanwhile, the HDD storage supports a maximum capacity of 500 GB.

On the other hand, the SSD storage option supports a maximum capacity of 128 GB.

For a better understanding, I will further explain each of this laptop’s storage options. To begin with, the eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Controller) is an internal storage memory card standard format used for smartphones, tablets, and budget laptops.

The eMMC is always soldered to a computer’s motherboard, so replacement and upgrading aren’t possible with this storage type. Impressively, an eMMC storage offers fast read and write speeds compared to HDD storage.

However, eMMCs usually come with limited storage spaces between 32GB and 64GB. However, most of the systems with an eMMC come with an SDcard port for storage expansion.

On the other hand, the HDD (hard disk drive) is an electromechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage. As a result of this, an HDD makes a lot of noise when in use.

On a brighter note, HDDs offer a larger storage capacity than the other storage types. However, it offers the slowest read and write speeds.

The SSD (Solid State Drive) on the other hand is a storage drive built on NAND flash memory chips and a flash controller. It offers the fastest boot-up time, read, and write speeds.

However, SSD storage is the most expensive among the rest of the storage types.

That said, for the purpose of this review, we will consider a Dell Inspiron 11 3162 with 32 GB eMMC storage. As said earlier, this storage type offers limited storage capacity and as a result, it can’t be used to store large files.

Nevertheless, there’s an SDcard option for this laptop. Therefore, if you need more storage spaces, an SDcard is an alternative for that.

At this point, let us discuss the transfer speed of my test model in a file duplication test. From this test, it took the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 one minute to duplicate 4.97GB of multimedia files at a speed of 84.82 MBps.

This speed is significantly faster than that of the Lenovo Ideapad 110S which duplicated the same file at 73.75 MBps. You should be aware that the Lenovo Ideapad 110S also uses a 32GB eMMC storage drive.

Furthermore, I will present the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 CrystalDiskMark benchmark test result to further verify its performance. Briefly, the CrystalDiskMark benchmark test measures a computer’s storage performance by calculating its read and write speeds.

For a better understanding, read speed is the time it takes a computer to open a file saved in its storage. Write speed, on the other hand, measures how long it takes a computer to save data to its storage.

Similar to every other benchmark discussed in this review, a high read and write speed in this test means better performance.

From the CrystalDiskMark test, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 registered a read and write speed of 158.4 MB/s and 20.58 MB/s respectively. In comparison, the Inspiron 11 3162 result falls below that of its closest rival, the Lenovo IdeaPad 110S.

Specifically, the Lenovo IdeaPad 110s registered a read and write speed of 179 MB/s and 39.94 MB/s respectively.

Before I conclude this section, I will like to mention that if you purchased the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 with its SSD storage option, you’re likely to get a better storage performance. Also, as I said earlier, with the SSD option, you get 128 GB of storage.

Considering all I have said in this section, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 a seven out of ten for its eMMC storage performance.

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Dell Inspiron 11 3162: Graphics Card Performance

For the graphics card, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 uses integrated Intel HD graphics. This graphics card has a base frequency of 400MHz and a boost frequency of 700MHz.

For better understanding, I will like to explain what integrated graphics mean. An integrated GPU is one that is incorporated into the processor.

Ideally, laptops with integrated graphics aren’t suitable for playing intensive games and high graphics demanding programs. However, integrated graphics consumes less power and also generate less heat which results in prolonged battery life of the computer.

To verify the performance of this GPU, we will discuss the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 results in a 3DMark test. Briefly, 3DMark is a test that evaluates the 3D rendering ability of a graphics card.

Once again, a higher result in this test denotes better graphics performance. That said, in the 3DMark test, this laptop scored 436 Points.

Comparatively, this score is only one point lower than that of the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 11 which uses the same GPU. Specifically, the Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 11 scored 437 points in the same 3DMark test.

Therefore, based on the benchmark test result I will rate the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 an eight out of ten in this graphics review section.

Dell Inspiron 11 3162: Battery life and Performance

The Dell Inspiron 11 3162 comes with a 2-cell, 32 Whr battery. To clarify, a 32 Whr battery means that the battery is capable of delivering 32 Watts of power per hour.

For the battery life, the manufacturer did not specify how long the battery can last. Regardless, I will be providing you with a battery rundown test result to understand how well the laptop performed in this respect.

The rundown test involved browsing the internet on a Chrome browser with 20 tabs running simultaneously over a Wi-Fi connection. Impressively, the battery lasted for 8 hours and 40 minutes.

In comparison, the Aspire One Cloudbook 11 lasted 7 hours 30 minutes in the same test.

To sum up this section, the Dell Inspiron 11 3162 has a decent battery performance judging from the test result. Therefore, I will be rating the battery performance of this laptop a nine out of ten in this section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Dell Inspiron 11 3162 is a pretty nice laptop to carry out basic computing tasks. Its shiny Bali Blue chassis is quite adorable to behold, and this extends to the other colors as well.

Furthermore, the laptop weighs only 1180 g which makes it easy to carry around and fits perfectly in a bag. Also, Dell Inspiron 11 3162 battery life is quite good and will last you through a significant amount of a day’s work.

However, its eMMC storage capacity of just 32 GB is limited and not suitable for storing large files. Notwithstanding, there is an SSD option that offers 128 GB and the HDD storage configuration offers up to 500 GB of storage space.

Finally, I will recommend this Dell Inspiron 11 3162 for users that want a relatively portable laptop for basic computing tasks.

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