Dell Inspiron 15 3535 vs Inspiron 15 3530

The Dell Inspiron is a popular mainstream laptop owing to its excellent value proposition. The Inspiron 15 3535 and Inspiron 3530 are particularly appealing in the sub-50k category as they offer great displays and powerful processors in their class. Both systems retail for around Rs 40,000 on Croma and are excellent options for students and office-goers alike.

Let’s take a closer look to help you understand which of these Inspirons best suits your needs. So, here’s the Dell Inspiron 15 3535 vs Inspiron 15 3530 showdown you need. 

Design and features: Identical

CPUs aside — and we’ll get into those in a bit — these laptops are virtually identical. They both offer 15.6” IPS displays with a 120Hz refresh rate and 250 nits of brightness. The high refresh rate is especially nice as it leads to a smoother computing experience. 250 nits is not very bright for outdoor use, but since most people use their devices indoors, this shouldn’t be a problem.

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Both units come with 5Gbps USB-A and type-C ports, a USB 2.0 port, HDMI 1.4 that supports 1920×1080@60Hz, an SD card slot, and dual 2W speakers. Battery life and charging speed should be similar as both units come with 15W CPUs, a 3-cell 41Wh battery, and a 65W charger.

The Inspiron 3530 is available in Carbon Black and Platinum Silver, while the 3535 is only available in Carbon Black.

The differences: Better multitasking vs better battery life

The biggest difference between the two models is the CPU and RAM. While both Rs 40,000 models come with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, the 3535 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 7520U CPU while the 3530 is powered by an Intel Core i3-1305U. Both CPUs are rated at 15W, but the AMD model comes with four performance cores and eight processing threads while the Intel model only has one performance core (with four efficiency cores) and five threads.

The number of threads determine how well the CPU can multitask, giving the edge here to the AMD-powered 3535. However, the larger number of efficiency or E cores — low-power cores designed for background tasks — on the Intel model should give it a slight edge in the battery department.

Another point in the Intel-powered 3530’s favour is that it’s a newer, more efficient CPU while the AMD model is based on a much older and less efficient architecture. This should result in a further improvement to the battery life of the Dell Inspiron 3530.

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In addition, the AMD-powered unit has a faster Radeon 610M integrated GPU vs the more efficient Intel UHD graphics in the Intel version. Lastly, the 3535 uses newer and faster DDR5 RAM while the Intel model is only available with older DDR4 RAM.

Croma’s recommendation

Go for the Dell Inspiron 3535 when performance is a priority. The 3535 is also slightly cheaper. Battery life is expected to be slightly lower than that of the 3530, but not by much.

The Dell Inspiron 3530, on the other hand, is great for everyday-use thanks to a newer and more efficient architecture that should offer better battery life when not under a heavy workload. Performance will be lower than that of the 3535, but enough for the needs of a student or professional.