By With an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, and a bright, lovely, and fluid display, the Alienware 16X Aurora is a 16-inch gaming laptop. For these specifications, $1,999 is a reasonable price. Alienware is offering true value with the Aurora 16X. These days, Alienware is more than simply a luxury brand.
Specification
An Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU powers the 16-inch Alienware 16X Aurora gaming laptop. Similar to Lunar Lake and some Meteor Lake processors, this high-end laptop gaming CPU is based on Intel’s Arrow Lake architecture; however, it is marketed as an Intel Core (Series 2).
Although Alienware also sells this computer with RTX 5060 graphics, the Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU was installed in our $1,999 review unit. Although Dell offers this machine with up to 64 GB of RAM, it came with 32 GB of DDR5 RAM. Other configurations of this laptop are available from Dell for as little as $1,549.
- Number of model: AC16251
- CPU: 275HX Intel Core Ultra 9
- Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Memory: 32 GB DDR5 RAM
- NPU: AI Boost from Intel
- Display: 16-inch 240Hz refresh rate 2560×1600 IPS display
- 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD for storage
- The 1080p webcam
- Two USB Type-C (one Thunderbolt 4 and one USB 3.2 Gen 2), two USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), one HDMI 2.1 out, one Ethernet (RJ-45), one combination audio jack, and one power in are all considered to be connected.
- Networking: Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7.
- Biometrics: Windows Hello IR camera
- Capacity of battery: 96 watt-hours
- 14.05 x 10.45 x 0.92 inches in size
- 5.86 pounds in weight
- MSRP as tested: $1,999
Design and build quality
From certain perspectives, the Alienware 16X Aurora’s “Interstellar Indigo” color scheme appears to be a black laptop, but when viewed from the right angle, the dark blue to violet hues are discernible. This laptop appears to be a workstation laptop, except for a reflecting Alienware head on the lid. Extreme “gamer” aesthetics are not present.
Because of its anodized aluminum lid and bottom cover, the 16X Aurora feels more expensive than Alienware’s more affordable models. Only the anodized aluminum lid is present on the Alienware 16 Aurora. It’s not entirely made of aluminum, though; the matte plastic surrounds the keyboard. It still looks good and feels good. The primary problem is that, as you can see in some of the pictures, it does pick up fingerprints more than I would want. The laptop is sturdy and has an excellent hinge mechanism, making it simple to open with one hand.
Keyboard and trackpad
The full-size keyboard on the Alienware 16X Aurora includes a number pad. It feels good with key travel of 1.4mm. It functions fine, but it lacks the wow factor of a high-end Alienware 16 Area-51’s quick mechanical keyboard or a Razer Blade’s surprisingly substantial-feeling keyboard with a stronger actuation force.
Although the backlighting on this laptop is adjustable, it is only one zone: You can select a single color to cover the entire keyboard.
The trackpad on the Alienware 16X Aurora has a plastic surface. It’s a bit small, and a glass trackpad would be better, but it’s still functional.
Display and speakers
The 16-inch IPS display of the Alienware 16X Aurora features a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, a refresh rate of 240 Hz, and a brightness of up to 500 nits. With cutting-edge technologies like Nvidia G-Sync for customizable refresh rates, it’s a good monitor. The experience is “buttery smooth” in games and on the desktop because of the high refresh rate, and the display is far superior to the Alienware 16 Aurora’s lower-end model thanks to its high brightness and superb color reproduction. For your money, you’re getting a much better display here.
Although the vibrant colors on OLED screens frequently amaze me, this panel produces a stunning image. This panel demonstrates that even an expensive IPS display can look amazing.
Connectivity
There are plenty of connectors on Alienware 16X Aurora, and the only item you might overlook is an SD card reader.
This computer has an Ethernet jack, a USB Type-A port, and a combo audio jack on the left. A second USB Type-A port, two USB Type-C connectors (one of which is also a Thunderbolt 4 port), an HDMI 2.1 out, and a power-in port are located on the back.
Although having Thunderbolt 4 connections on both USB Type-C ports would be excellent, this is a good setup. In order to keep peripherals out of the way, I always appreciate ports on the rear of gaming laptops, especially the power connection.
It’s also nice to see that Alienware has included Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7 technology in this system. The Wi-Fi functioned properly.
Performance
The fans remained at a manageable volume level, and the Alienware 16X Aurora’s cooling mechanism kept the system cold. The keyboard remained slightly warm while playing the newest popular games, such as Doom: The Dark Ages and Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, and the majority of the hot air was expelled out of the machine’s back. Though it should ideally be pumped out of the rear and away from your mouse hand, some hot air does flow out of the laptop’s sides.
This machine’s top-tier Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics produced outstanding performance in those games, and the display also produced stunning image quality. However, as usual, we tested the Alienware 16X Aurora’s performance using our common benchmarks.
To get a sense of the overall performance of the system, we first run PCMark 10. The Alienware 16X outperformed even the more costly Alienware 16 Area-51 in this benchmark, achieving an overall score of 8,794. The top-tier Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU is functioning, though it’s within the error range.
Cinebench R20 is then used. This benchmark, which emphasizes total CPU performance, is substantially multithreaded. Since it’s a fast benchmark, cooling isn’t an issue for prolonged workloads. However, CPUs with more cores have a significant advantage because it is massively multithreaded.
We once again witnessed the remarkable performance of this machine’s CPU with a multithreaded score of 13,872 in this benchmark.
Battery life
With its enormous 96 Watt-hour battery, the Alienware 16X Aurora is about as big as they can go before the Transportation Security Administration forbids them from flying on US airlines. Smaller batteries are seen in many 16-inch gaming laptops. Even though the laptop’s hardware uses a lot of power, the battery makes sure you can get more use out of it when you’re not near an outlet.
The Alienware 16X Aurora lasted 407 minutes in this benchmark — that’s just under seven hours. In the real world, you’ll get a few hours away from an outlet. That’s fine for a gaming laptop — you’ll need to plug in for good gaming performance, anyway — but this isn’t the ideal machine if you want a gaming laptop that can also deliver long battery life away from an outlet.
In this benchmark, the Alienware 16X Aurora ran for 407 minutes, or just under seven hours. You will be separated from an outlet for a few hours in the real world. That’s okay for a gaming laptop—you’ll need to plug in anyhow to play games well—but if you want a gaming laptop that can run on a lengthy battery life without an outlet, this isn’t the best device.
Conclusion
An amazing device is the Alienware 16X Aurora. In comparison to competing laptops with similar hardware, it offers significant value at $1,999 for an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an RTX 5070, and a display of this caliber. At retail, it undercuts many similar laptops by a few hundred dollars.
Although it’s a fantastic experience, some users may prefer an OLED screen, a faster GPU for greater gaming performance, or a higher-end all-metal build quality. However, you will have to spend more for such embellishments. This is a mid-range laptop that feels like a high-end device without sacrificing quality. Given that prices are rising everywhere, that’s extremely impressive coming from a company like Alienware that has traditionally been more upscale.
