Disclaimer: I have never owned the KC model so I can't confirm the accuracy of this review but there are glaring pros and cons of both models that you shouldn't ignore as I did.
I will not go into details of this laptop since my experience is similar to the NotebookCheck's review of Gigabyte G5 KC except the...
Mediocre Display
This is one of the worst display of all times since my first laptop with a non-IPS panel. I expected to have the same performance of G5 KC monitor (240Hz, 10ms, 96.7% sRGB) but it is much worse and performs like a $600 laptop screen. I'll use the Gigabyte M27Q (165Hz, 9 ms, 99.7% sRGB in sRGB mode) in sRGB mode for comparison.
- The colour gamut is very poor. The colours is washed out. Red is leaning to orange which is similar to MSI CX61 with a non-IPS display.
- It has a yellowish tint.
- It has backlight bleed all over the edges. It is noticeable in dark mode users but not in bright mode.
- Screen response feels sluggish compared to Gigabyte M27Q
This video from :만두얏의 가&꿀[가성비&꿀팁]: has more info on the display.
And that's about the it. For some people, it is a complete deal breaker to have such horrible display quality for a laptop priced at $1,200. Now, let's talk about the technical improvements.
Faster CPU Performance
The KD model is equipped with Intel Core i5-11400H while the KC model has older i5-10500H. This is a welcome change for CPU hungry software.
From cpubenchmark.net as of 21 March 2022
Better Storage I/O
The KD model has:
- M.2 Type 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen4
- M.2 Type 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen3 & SATA
- 2.5" HDD/SSD
While the KC model has:
- M.2 Type 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen3 & SATA
- M.2 Type 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen3
- 2.5" HDD/SSD
My model came with a SAMSUNG MZVL2512HCJQ-00B00 (PM9A1) which is decent in its own right. I can't tell the difference well since I've been accustomed with HDD for so long but it's definitely faster than the NVMe drive in the Acer Nitro 5 R5 4600H GTX 1650m model.
From harddrivebenchmark.net as of 21 March 2022
Gigabyte G5 Pros & Cons
This laptop is great due to its good value but it is with compromises. Everyone trying to blind buy this laptop should be aware of the following. I'll be using the Acer Predator Helios 300 (PH315-53-527E) as comparison which have the same price.
Pros:
- Better CPU performance. The Helios 300 has a weaker CPU (i5-10300H, 4C8T, CPU Mark: 8709) which might be slow for CPU intensive software and games.
- Better GPU TGP. The G5's has 105W TGP while the Helios 300's has 100W TGP.
- Better storage performance on KD model (unconfirmed on Helios 300).
- Pleasant fan noise. It's loud but there is no noticeable annoying noise like coil noise like the Helios 300 have.
- Mediocre SD card speed. But hey, at least it's there!
- Separate audio combo jack and microphone jack.
Cons:
- Poor/Better display depending on the G5 model. The display on Helios 300's feels average but is still way better than the G5 KD's display.
- Plastic build. It might be more durable than a metal one but it doesn't feel premium compared to the Helios 300s. The 300s has aluminium chassis.
- Poor battery capacity. Most reviewers agree on it.
- Old-style touchpad. I can't believe that Gigabyte cheap out on this. There is no force click so you must either tap or use the hardware buttons for LMB.
- Worse USB-A I/O. The G5 has USB 3.2 Gen2 (left), 3.2 Gen1 & a 2.0 slots while the Helios 300 has 2 USB 3.2 Gen2 and a 3.2 Gen1 slots.
- No Thunderbolt. The G5 have DisplayPort 1.4 over USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 while the Helios 300 has USB-C Thunderbolt 4.
- HDMI can't bypass Optimus. DisplayPort might be possible since PhysX shows the DP on the RTX 3060 side.
- Older Wi-Fi card and probably doesn't matter. The G5 has AX200/201 while the Helios 300 has AX1675i.
Conclusion
Gigabyte have made so many compromises for better raw performance. But it's up to us which is more beneficial for our use case. That said, I'm not sure about recommending this laptop. As a user who just upgraded from a trusty old 2013 laptop, the MSI CX61-0NF (i7-3630qm, GT 645m, 750 GB HDD), in my humble opinion, it's better to spend a little bit more for a better build quality, touchpad, I/O and display laptop for $200-300 more. You're going to use it for years!
I hope this short review is helpful in your journey of searching the best laptop of your needs. Thanks for reading!
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