Alienware m16 R2
It has good performance for its damage , but it ’s also a nicely portable 16 - in play laptop computer with the add together welfare of being extremely usable .
Alienware ’s redesign of the m16 R2 does all it gear up out to do , making their gambling laptop computer near enough for locomotion without sacrifice performance . It has enough succus to get good framerates in most games on high configurations , and with its ease of employment , it ’s well-off to see this laptop as a day-by-day number one wood . Starting at $ 1,550 ( Reviewed at $ 1,850 )
The Alienware m16 R2 is now just small enough to fit inside your backpack’s laptop sleeve.Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Pros
gyp
I ca n’t start talking aboutAlienware ’s redesigned m16 gaming laptop computer , the R2 , without first telling you directly up why I like this laptop as much as I do . I do n’t like it because of its public presentation , even if it ’s fairly upright for its mid - range price point . It ’s not the 240 Hz display , which is also dainty - look but not spectacular . It ’s not even the keyboard , which I see far better than most laptop of this kind but not exactlybest - in - class for on - the - go gambling . It ’s the palm rest . The palm rest is my favorite part of the Alienware m16 R2 . It ’s comfy without being plush and flatness without feeling tricky . Simply put , even if everything else is just above average , the comfort of the m16 R2 makes it easy to recommend above the competition .
Alienware has long been a looks - frontward kind of brand . By that , I mean it has brook out as the king — no , look , the mothership — of RGB light and over - the - top design . late , the company has put a surprisal emphasis on functionality , such as with its redesignedAurora R16 desktop microcomputer . The Alienware m16 R2 gambling laptop with its “ Legend 3 ” designing ethos has taken the older m16 , slimmed down its dull bum ( AKA the honest-to-goodness thermic shelf ) , and added more hexagon wherever they would fit . The idea , it seems , is to turn the caller ’s capital- ” G ” gaming laptop into something you would n’t make you feel self - conscious about taking with you on the go .
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And you know what , why not ? If you ’re spend several thousand dollars on a laptop , why should n’t it meet the minimal requirements of portability and presentability ? I ’m not a Brobdingnagian fan of handsome butts ( on laptops , otherwise swagger your poppycock ) , but I do like pretty screen and enough power under the hood for all daily tasks , not just gaming . The m16 R2 can indeed be your daily driver . It ’s on the very edge of being too big , and its battery animation is still not everything it could be , but Alienware manage to creak it just right so that I could see myself taking it everywhere I go .
I dig the redesign for the most part . Even when an tremendous “ 16 ” on the back instrument panel and fans go so tight and trashy the laptop seems like it will take off VTOL stylus , it ’s still comparatively insidious for a play machine . And if you ’re still feel a slight chip embarrassed by the flashing RGB LEDs under the keyboard , you’re able to flex on the new “ Stealth Mode ” to plow the keystone white and plain in “ Quiet ” performance setting to get a little more out of your assault and battery life .
The Alienware m18 R2 still exists if you desire something with a bighearted butt for potentially better thermals that could handle up to an RTX 4090 . I ca n’t verbalise to execution between both machine , but for the purposes of using the twist for anything more than gaming , the M2 offers a more streamlined , well - wear design than its cousin with the rotund rear end .
Alienware m16 R2 Design and Heat
This Gaming PC is Portable and Extra Comfortable as Well
The redesigned m16 gaming laptop does aside with the thermal ledge that sit behind the laptop computer ’s screen . Now , without that “ thicc ” posterior learn up space , the laptop does finally fit into my rucksack ’s laptop computer holders , though only just . The cover can also flex back 90 arcdegree if that ’s something that matter to you . Despite being 15 % lowly than early versions , it ’s by no means a small laptop computer . It count 5.62 pound , so you ca n’t go frisbeeing it across the elbow room without strong forearms . Its chummy point near its back is about .93 inches , which is just a few millimeters braggart than aRazer Blade 16 . The m16 R2 is also just a little minute longer and wider than Razer ’s top - of - the - line 16 - in gaming simple machine .
As much as the large exotic fountainhead logotype on the back of the laptop gives it away , it ’s definitely still an Alienware gadget . I do n’t care the feel of the monolithic “ 16 ” on the back panel . In my idea , it would look much well without it . That material on the back of the blind also feels relatively sparse and plastic - y. However , the total soma is anodized Al meant to keep your grubby fingermark from dirtying up its metal sheen .
On the genuine insolent side , I really wish what the Dell - owned brand has done with the region around the keyboard and trackpad . It ’s a very well-heeled material that ’s not too slippy . There ’s a fair amount of elbow room to rest your palms , and unlike so many laptop I ’ve used latterly , the trackpad is not too big or too small . The hexangular speaker grids up near the screen and the glowing Alienware logo remind you that you ’re using a gaming laptop computer , even in quiet mode . Still , I favor a bit of extra flair compared to the common sedate laptop computer designs . I ’ve already mentioned how much I like the decoration rest , but I should also note that the inside is sturdy without any bend dexter where you lay your men .
The trackpad and keyboard are also up there , and they are the best I ’ve used on a gaming laptop computer . The keys have 1.8 millimetre of travel , but more importantly , they have a unanimous presence and a satisfying enough click that wo n’t make mechanically skillful keyboard fans bloom , but they ’re more resonant of a full desktop setup . Alienware also has n’t slouched on its trackpad , which feels glassy and natural without that touch like your finger’s breadth is skate on ice . The only brand I ’d say did better recently is Asus with itsROG Zephyrus G14 , but only just .
Alienware had to redesign its heat dissipation with the R2 redesign completely . The company claims its cooling system is on equality with the previous design and the thermal shelf . However , despite some smart technology , there ’s inevitably buy the farm to be a trade-off in airflow , cool down , and — to some extent — execution without a dedicated cool unit . The system inhale melodic phrase from below and blows it out the rear and side of the laptop computer , and there can be a lot of hot breeze drown around your desk when the laptop is under stress .
After a several - minute play session , I find that my hands were lead off to get fond , though only on the very border of uncomfortably so . The sphere around my desk was feeling extra hot as well . Under load , I register the rear vent as locomote to 120 degrees Fahrenheit while the side release were 111 . The area where you would lay your fingers on the keyboard sit around 100 , though the heat gets pushed away from where you typically reside your fingerbreadth .
I also find that the heat had the theory of touch on game performance . Under consignment in a plot like Warhammer 40 kB : Darktide , I saw a bit of throttling when try on to fight ray tracing configurations . An norm of 90 FPS would dip to 60 or lower FPS under this extreme stress . It ’s something to recall when trying to push the RTX 4070 to its limit .
The vent also force the port closer to the far border of the laptop , and I found I was a moment disappointed by what was there and where they were located . There ’s the power port in the back plus two Thunderbolt 4 USB - C. On the sides are two USB Type - A , a micro - SD scorecard one-armed bandit , a phone diddly-shit , and an ethernet embrasure . I really care I did n’t have to reach out around the laptop computer to access USB - degree Celsius , and if I wanted to use the m16 R2 as my independent gimmick for photo or video tasks , I would prefer to have a full SD card slot instead . It ’s proficient than the x16 R2 in price of port placement for daily consumption , but it ’s far from consummate .
Alienware m16 R2 Display and Webcam
While 240 Hz is Nice, It’s Not the Brightest Screen Around
Alienware has opt for a screen that meets the minimum expectations of gamers who require to play at a high level , even if they ’re not look at the good , bright CRT screen out there . The 16 - inch IPS LCD display sits at the QHD+ , 2560 by 1600 settlement . The biggest claim to fame here is the support for 240 Hz refresh rates for all those games that demand the most precision at high levels of free rein . The presentation has a 3 m GtG reply sentence and Nvidia G - Sync support .
This also is n’t the bright covert out there . Alienware says it has a peak smartness of 300 nit . The brightness sit around 315 nits in our tests , so Alienware might have slightly lowballed . However , we should note it ’s really not the brightest screen out there . There ’s also an anti - glare coating that keeps the screenland from catching any wayward light , but you postulate to up the brightness to feel like you ’re getting the most out of the in - plot visuals , especially when there ’s no ambient outside light . I go on the brightness as high as possible , which also does n’t do great things for bombardment life .
Because without the 240 Hz refresh pace , the screen feels rather basic for a gadget that start at $ 1,499 at its lowest terminal and all the way past $ 2,500 with all the campana and whistles . It really ca n’t stupefy mini - LED or OLED , so while you might be pushing in - game visuals with the solid carrying into action of the m16 R2 , you wo n’t get the good line as you would with more modern screenland types .
Just hump if you project to employ this machine as your main PC , the webcam is n’t the best out there . Despite the high resolution , it ’s a 1920×1080 television camera that does n’t do your face much justice on a video call . It does n’t do great under even somewhat low - light circumstance , and my image was pretty coarse-grained under your average spot fluorescents .
Alienware m16 R2 Performance and Connectivity
Just About What You Need to Play Most Games at Their Best
My version of the m16 R2 came with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 and an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. At 16 GB of RAM and the minimal 1 TB SSD , my organisation was priced at around $ 1,850 , and when all was say and done , I really could n’t quetch about the operation . No , you do n’t have the choice to go up to a full RTX 4090 , but my interpretation of the m16 managed some pretty clean frames on most games , if only due to the help hand ofNvidia ’s DLSS .
We ’ve benchmarked the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H plenty of times in just the first few months of this year , so it ’s not surprising to say that the chip can carry its own under both single- and multi - core options on tools like Geekbench and Cinebench . Still , it wo n’t quite top up against the $ 1,700 Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 with an Intel Core i7 - 14700HX .
That being said , in graphics benchmark like 3D Mark , both handle to amount to parity thanks to the same GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory . In our Blender benchmark , where we storm the system of rules to fork over a scenery reckon on the CPU or GPU , the Alienware was a few bare seconds slow than the Predator Helios Neo . consider that the Acer model is more than an inch longer than the m16 due to the system ’s thermal shelf , the Alienware still manage to hold its own .
On titles like Cyberpunk 2077 , where the art are high with some ray tracing and DLSS go , you could get up to around 70 FPS . Without DLSS , you ’ll struggle to meet playable frame rate in all the highest setting . With a game like Horizon : Forbidden West , you could easily get to , on intermediate , 90 FPS with all the background turned up to their highest .
In a game like Warhammer 40 K : Darktide , you ’ll easily get close to 80 FPS during gameplay , though it will dip in some area when using ray trace . That ’s all with DLSS on by nonremittal . Without it , expect it to overlook to just 30 FPS when you seek to keep the same preferences . The switch will be less striking in a game like Suicide Squad : Kill the Justice League , which will bind around 80 FPS during gameplay and only see minor drawbacks without DLSS turned on .
You should require to play your favorite games on gamey preferences with few caveat . We should also bring up that the system comes with WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for fair connectivity . It also come with a wired ethernet port for those who require as much downhearted latency as possible .
Alienware m16 R2 Battery Life
Good for a Gaming PC, But Not an All-Day Battery
The Alienware m16 R2 is packing a whopping 90 Whr battery , which does sound significant considering its scale - back size . Even with a few fresh additions like Stealth Mode , this machine is still a play laptop , so even when you might wish for a full - day stamp battery spirit , you should know that even when you ’re running on lower power setting , you ’ll still need to charge before you make it a full eight hour .
you may enable Stealth Mode with a prompt pressure of the F2 samara , which is supererogatory ready to hand for those who take to depend less gamer - atomic number 39 ; it wo n’t save you an enormous amount of shelling life . In Stealth Mode , I went from 100 to about 54 % after about three hours . That remain until I was in the red at about minute six . It ’s worse when you ’re not attempt to salvage powerfulness . I went about two hour before I saw it overleap down to about 60 % after two hour . This was with the blind brightness turned up , so bring down that might save you some extra succus .
That ’s not risky by any agency for a play laptop , but if you want to see it your day-after-day driver just know you ’ll sacrifice a full - day battery life you could get with smaller productiveness - focus PCs like theDell XPS 14 .
One of the Best Feeling Gaming Laptops, Though Don’t Expect the Moon
Alienware ’s 16 - column inch laptop redesignhas done what the company lay out to do : reconfiguring its gaming machine into something portable while still maintain clean heat dissipation and execution gamers expect . It ’s not overly heavy , and it ’s not overly magnanimous . It does the job and still sustain a few of the aesthetic characteristics typical of Alienware .
That would normally be enough to give the thumbs - up recommendation , though only in terms of making certain you shop around for likewise - priced laptop . What Alienware does well than anybody else is make a machine that ’s actually nice to expend . foetid fan hexes and glow alien logo be maledict ; I wish every laptop had a keyboard and palm rest like the m16 R2 has . referee have the problem that they will move on to the next equipment as soon as they ’re done with the one they ’re presently using , but I can imagine myself on the slimmed - down Alienware for far longer than that . In many direction , that ’s the best recommendation I can make .
Want more of Gizmodo ’s latest consumer electronics selection ? see out our guides to thebest phones , well laptop , best TVs , andbest headphone . If you want to learn about the next bounteous thing , see our pathfinder toeverything we know about the iPhone 16 .
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