PC Gamer: Dell Alienware m15 Laptop Review & Test (2020)

Dell Alienware m15: The biggest innovation in gaming laptops over the past year has been Nvidia Max Q graphics cards, which allow for much thinner and lighter designs with enough graphics power to run the latest high-end games.

Article updated October 2021

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These are laptops that you can realistically use all day in the office and then for intense gaming sessions when you get home. We've already rounded up most of the models released over the past year - and RTX mobile graphics are on their way - but Dell's Alienware brand was not in the group because it had yet to release a computer. laptop Max Q.

The m15 is what fills this gap. It's the first Alienware laptop with an Nvidia Max Q card in it. As a result, it's also the thinnest and lightest Alienware gaming laptop ever, and it sets itself apart from the brand's other behemoths. The m15 is also equipped with a numeric keypad, a wide choice of ports and even different cover colors. And at $ 1 to start, the m15 costs less than most of its competitors.

But this area is very competitive, and the m15 isn't as thin or light as the best of the bunch, which makes it a bit hard to sell, even at a lower price.

Dell Alienware m15 review & test: a powerful ally for gamers

At first glance, the m15 is familiar to anyone who has ever seen an Alienware machine : it's loud and colorful, with hard corners and glittering alien heads. Alienware offers the m15 in red or silver. Somehow, during my tests, I learned to use it.

• Intel Core i7-8750H (6 Core, 9MB Cache, up to 4,1GHz with Turbo Boost)
• 15,6 inch IPS FHD 144Hz display (7ms response time and 300 beds brightness)
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q with 8 GB GDDR5
• 16 GB DDR4 DDR4 RAM, 2666MHz
• 512 GB NVMe SSD
• Killer Wireless 1550 2 × 2 AC and Bluetooth 5.0
• Windows 10
• Weighs 1,8 Kg

There is a tendency for gaming laptop makers to produce user-friendly Max Q machines that aren't that obnoxious, but Alienware doesn't seem concerned about that. Instead, the m15's design emphasizes the airflow and tank-like qualities that Alienware machines are known for.

Therefore, the m15 has a large number of air vents visible as part of its dual intake and dual exhaust design. But unfortunately that doesn't matter a lot when trying to use the m15 on my lap.

The m15's chassis gets uncomfortably hot at the bottom, cooling only moderately when I lower the performance settings in Windows 10. Otherwise, it's best to use the m15 on a desktop. It's far from ideal, and it's the exact opposite of what so many of the m15's competitors are capable of. Fortunately, the heat doesn't penetrate through the palm rests (which are also fingerprint magnets), but it does get noticeable near the top row of keyboard functions.

While I had similar issues with the Razer's Blade 15, at least the thermal management on its underside made it cool enough to be used on my knees instead of ironing my pants like the m15 does.

Our findings on the Alienware m15:

• Besides its reputation for producing large and powerful gaming desktops, Alienware offers more portable machines that can still do the job for enthusiasts
• The Alienware m15 is the gaming laptop 15-inch flagship of the Dell subsidiary, and the Alienware m15 R3 2020 is the most recent version. It has the same head-turning look as the m15 R2, but our setup increases the screen refresh rate to 300Hz, refreshes the processor to Intel's latest 7th Gen Core i10, and delivers the power of 'an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 at a very fair price.
• The BOM screen is aimed more at competitive multiplayer games, where higher frame rates can be a competitive advantage in addition to looking better.
• Battery life is a weak point, but we can forget that for this category of laptops, which will not be used much outside the charger
• Quality does not touch the exceptional OLED screen that we experienced on the m15 R2 model we reviewed, which is tied to the 4K screen option on this laptop
• The Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX502 has long been our best choice among high-end gaming laptops, but the Alienware m15 R3 proved to be more advantageous

Design & Aesthetics of Alierware m15

Unlike most other Max Q gaming machines, the aesthetics of the m15 stand out in a work environment, especially in a conference room. In a meeting or cafe, there's a good chance I'm being looked at awkwardly or, at the very least, embarrassed about using a laptop with a shiny alien head, multicolored keyboard, and a red exterior.

The m15 weighs almost 2 Kg, measures 17,9 millimeters (0,70 inches) at its thinnest point and 21 millimeters (0,83 inches) at its thickest point. With Alienware's eccentric styling, it takes up significantly more space than other Max Q gaming laptops.

One of the areas where the m15 performs the best compared to its competition is battery life.

It might be Alienware's thinnest and lightest laptop, but it's still big and heavy compared to a Razer Blade 15 or MSI GS65 Stealth Thin (which weighs 4,63 and 4,4, XNUMX pounds, respectively).

Plus, there's no Windows Hello infrared camera around the screen or fingerprint reader for more secure logins. With all that chassis space, you'd think Alienware would give the m15 more convenient connection options than a four-digit PIN, especially considering it's a machine that's close to $ 2 when fully equipped.

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The Alienware M15 in practice

Alienware m15 with a GeForce GTX 1070 Max Q plays games quite well. We've seen the Core i7-8750H and GTX 1070 Max Q processor / Max Q GPU combo before in many other OEM laptops like Razer, MSI, Asus, and Gigabyte, with similar performance down the line.

It's no surprise to see the m15 running Battlefield V at a comfortable 80fps on ultra settings, proving that it performs on par with its competition. Older, less graphical games like Rainbow Six Siege, League of Legends, and Overwatch will all come close to the m144's native 15hz refresh rate, with all graphics presets depleted.

As a productivity machine, the m15 doesn't look like the right machine, but it works great for typing long documents, checking emails, and editing in Photoshop and Lightroom. The Windows Precision Touchpad is large, smooth to the touch, and precise in every corner. It's pretty useless for playing PC games, but otherwise I don't have a grip with it.

However, I'm a little disappointed with the m15's tight keyboard layout which includes a numeric keypad in addition to a regular QWERTY layout. Normally I'm all for numpads in PC games because of the extra mappable entries - it's not just useful for filling out taxes! - but in the case of the m15, the numeric keypad forced Alienware to further shrink the letter keys which already seemed quite small to begin with. It's not a flaw, but if you're like me and prefer to have a QWERTY gaming laptop centered under the screen, then you might not like the m15's layout.

Verdict & Conclusion

All in all, the m15 is impressive: it's thinner and lighter than previous Alienware laptops, while still delivering a great gaming experience and surprisingly good battery life when you're not gaming.

But it doesn't exist in a vacuum, and it's not as thin, light, well-designed, or immersive as its competition. Even with a lower starting price than Razer, MSI, and others, the Alienware m15 does not stand out.

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