Dreamcore's Dreambook Touch 15 review: Superbly bang for the buck

An all-rounder 15-inch workhorse

If you think the 15-inch Dreambook Touch 15 from Dreamcore looks familiar, I don’t blame you. You see, it’s based on the Intel NUC M15 Laptop Kit aka a “whitebook” – a pre-built notebook that end-users like you and I can’t buy outright. Instead, it’s offered to Intel’s boutique notebook partners and channel customers for them to re-brand, customise it, and then resell. Exactly what Dreamcore has done with their Dreambook Touch 15 notebook here. Chances are, you'll also find a similar, lookalike, notebook from other local and regional brands.

Nevertheless, let's take a closer look at Dreamcore's first-ever notebook offering with the Dreambook Touch 15 hoping to satisfy the average productivity and content creator with a blend of features and specs without breaking the bank.

Intel on the outside

Our Touch 15 review unit came in a grey coloured unibody aluminium construction that gives it a premium look and touch – Dreamcore has also made a midnight black option available if you prefer a darker tone. The notebook measures 14.9mm in thickness, weighs a stout 1.65kg, and is pretty well-built overall. For a 15-inch notebook, these are respectable figures. Despite it being based on a reference design from Intel, and won’t look as unique as selections from established brands like ASUS, Lenovo or Dell, I do quite like the simplicity of it all.

For connectivity, there are Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports as well as regular USB-A ones on both sides of the notebook. The good news here is that you can also charge the device on either side, unlike some other notebooks. There’s also an HDMI 2.0 out but unfortunately, no SD card reader.

For the display, Dreamcore has gone for a 16:9 touchscreen with an IPS panel in 1080p resolution. Personally, I would have preferred a 16:10 panel as it has more screen estate for work productivity, which is what the Dreambook Touch 15 is pandering to. According to the specifications sheet, it’s also rated with a max brightness of 450 nits, 1500:1 contrast ratio and 100% sRGB colour gamut. What I can tell you is that the screen is bright, displays vivid colours and sharp images even with the 1080p resolution. It’s actually one of the best I’ve seen from a notebook of this ilk.

The Dreambook Touch 15’s keyboard is reminiscent of the old, pre-2016 MacBook Pros. The keys come in a standard layout that is well spaced out and of a good size. Key travel is decent, but the general feeling of the keys is mostly positive. The notebook also sits at an angle by a couple of degrees (thanks to the taller rubber feet near the screen hinges), creating a little tilt that makes it a bit more ergonomic to type on - and for better airflow. The touchpad, on the other hand, is no slouch. Its 12 x 6.5cm glass surface is spacious enough and allows for great gliding capabilities. It also meets the Microsoft Precision standard and allows four-finger gestures, so multi-touch gestures like pinch to zoom and multi-finger swipes for switching desktops are supported as well.

Intel on the inside

As it is based on an Intel reference design, naturally the Dreamcore Touch 15 comes with an Intel system setup. Our test unit comes with the 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 processor which has integrated Xe graphics. It may not seem much as compared to the ASUS ROG and Razer Blade notebooks but remember this isn’t a gaming notebook. There’s also 16GB of memory but it’s soldered on, so there’s no room for upgrades. That said, 16GB should suffice for its core audience to tackle general productivity and even some creativity jobs. Dreamcore also has a Core i5-1135G7 as an alternative and cheaper processor, but this only comes with 8GB of memory that might hamper your overall usability. You don’t get to mix and match.

From a performance perspective, the Touch 15 is pretty good. We haven’t seen a lot of non-gaming 15-inch notebooks lately, but there are a few similarly-spec ultraportable notebooks built for productivity that my companion Kenny has reviewed before. Obviously, these are not the same class of notebooks – generally speaking, a larger notebook has better thermals, which also allows for stable performance as the processor is less likely to throttle down over extended periods of high-performance tasks. But let's see how the Touch 15 compares anyway.

Final Thoughts – Surprisingly bang for the buck

Honestly, I’m surprised by how good the Dreambook Touch 15 is. Dreamcore has slashed the SRP down to S$1,950 (for the same specs as our review unit and with a 500GB SSD) and I think that’s an incredible value. The fact that it’s based on an Intel NUC reference design puts it in good stead for me too, as I’ve always viewed Intel’s NUC line of hardware very favourably – see my recent NUC Beast Canyon review.

Perhaps its only Achilles' heel is its integrated GPU, which does not allow for high-end gaming - certainly not for modern PC games. But otherwise, the display is good, keyboard and touchpad are quality stuff, there’s a decent number of ports (although it gets a point deducted for the lack of an SD card slot) and even the performance and battery life are nothing short of impressive at that price point. There’s also no pre-installed software to bloat up the Windows 10 operating system, leaving it as clean and pure as you could imagine an Intel-based system to be. If you’re not after a notebook with a fanciful OLED display or an over-the-top gaming notebook, then I don't see why the Dreambook Touch 15 shouldn't be on your shortlist if your main focus is a larger screen notebook that can tackle most usage needs.

 

The Dreambook Touch 15 is available starting from S$1,950 on Dreamcore’s website.

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