Review of the Alienware x16 R2: A gaming champion with the difference in its armor

Packed into a smartly cooled chassis, the Alienware x16 R2 has a strong Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 performance, together with a gorgeous mechanical keyboard and solid battery life. Still, the $3,199 price tag is exorbitant. Unfortunately, the 16-inch display and speakers did not meet the high standards I anticipated for a device at that price, but quality costs money.

Even yet, putting the Alienware x16 R2 aside isn’t easy. The machine has a lot of great features, so much so that I would even consider adding it to our list of the best gaming laptops. Does it, however, pass muster?

ALIENWARE X16 R2: SPECS

ALIENWARE X16 R2: PRICE AND CONFIGURATIONS

I was given the $3,199 Alienware x16 R2, which comes with a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240Hz display, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a CherryMX mechanical keyboard.

For $2,099, you can have an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, an RTX 4060, and 16GB of RAM, which is the most economical x16 R2. The price-to-performance ratio is so lopsided that it would lead one to believe that Apple is the source. However, you could acquire the $4,199 model, which boosts our review device to an RTX 4090 and two 4TB SSDs, if you want to take out a loan for a gaming laptop.

ALIENWARE X16 R2: DESIGN

The last thing I anticipated seeing when I opened an Alienware box was a silver gaming laptop. The lid is dominated by the brand’s Lunar Silver color scheme, with an RGB-lit Alienware logo at the top and a chicly carved-out “X” in the lower right corner. The hinge is painted white, giving it a spaceship-like delicate touch. It encircles the exquisite RGB-lit infinity loop that contains the ports, which are enclosed by tasteful honeycomb vents.

The soft-touch black deck of the Alienware x16, surrounded by horizontal and honeycomb vents, has an RGB-lit touchpad and a chic mechanical keyboard. The display’s chin is a tad large, but the bezels around it are narrow overall. Alienware made space for the webcam to be mounted on top.

Compared to most 16-inch gaming laptops, the Alienware x16 R2 is slimmer at 5.9 pounds and 14.4 x 11.4 x 0.7 inches. Even though they both weighed a little less, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (5.5 pounds, 14.3 x 10.25 x 0.86~1.05 inches) and HP Omen 16 (5.3 pounds, 14.5 x 9.7 x 0.91 inches) could not get that low. The MSI Titan 18 HX 2024 is a huge beast, true to its name (15.9 x 12.1 x 1.3 inches, 7.9 pounds).

ALIENWARE X16 R2: DISPLAY

With its 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 240 Hz display, I knew the Alienware x16 R2 was going to blow me away. Although it is quite vivid and well-lit, the display is not what I would have expected for a laptop meant for gaming that costs more than $3,000.

When I visited Far Cry 6, I discovered that the background’s beautiful blue sky and seas were not quite as seductive as the brochure had claimed. Although it is far from boring, the opulent display lacks the flair you might anticipate. When I invaded a gas station in the dead of night, I had trouble seeing some of the enemies on patrol, but the enemies were highlighted in red, so it was a little easier to see them.

Regretfully, the Borderlands trailer’s screen is not bright enough to pick up Cate Blanchett’s chic vest at the corners. There were areas of the screen that were completely white due to contrast, which also had trouble balancing the distant mountains with the overcast sky. When I saw the trailer on several screens, Blanchett’s bright red hair appeared warmer and more orange than I had anticipated.

ALIENWARE X16 R2: KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD

The CherryMX ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard that comes with the Alienware x16 R2 is adorable, I love a crunchy tiny bite of a keyboard. It is the best trend I have seen in a few years: mechanical keyboards are becoming increasingly common on gaming laptops. (Note: the function row is a conventional membrane rather than a mechanical one.)

On the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I surpassed my typical 81 words per minute with a speed of 88. With a nice click and a solid bounce, the keys kept my fingers moving over the keyboard.

Within the Alienware Command Center app, you may change the RGB lighting of every key on the keyboard, the touchpad, the lid’s logo, and the hinge’s infinity loop.

The 4.4 x 2.5-inch touchpad, with its smooth operation and pleasing click, makes me think of high-end business notebooks like HP’s EliteBook or Lenovo’s ThinkPad. With the exception that this touchpad has RGB lights.

ALIENWARE X16 R2: PERFORMANCE

With 32GB of RAM and Intel’s newest Core Ultra 9 185H CPU, the Alienware x16 R2 effortlessly handled many Chrome tabs and a few YouTube movies without experiencing any lag.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (Jul 2023 LTP), MSI Titan 18 HX 2024 (), and HP Omen 16 (Laptop) (

With an overall performance score of 13,874, the Alienware x16 R2 destroyed the average premium gaming laptop (10,469) in Geekbench 6.3. It easily outperforms the Legion 5 Pro (13,525, AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX), but is destroyed by the Titan 18 HX 2024 (16,501, Intel Core i9-14900HX) and HP Omen 16 (14,515, Intel Core i7-13700HX).

The Alienware x16 R2 completed the HandBrake test task of transcoding a 4K film to 1080p in 3 minutes and 33 seconds, which is 2 seconds faster than the average. It was still unable to beat the Titan 18 HX (2:33), but it did beat the HP Omen 16 (4:29) and Legion 5 Pro (4:05).

The 1TB SSD from Alienware achieved a 1,776 gigabytes per second transfer rate. The fastest laptops are the Legion 5 Pro (2,150 MBps), Titan 18 HX (2,664 MBps), HP Omen 16 (1,990 MBps), and the typical premium gaming laptop (1,929 MBps). Comparing Alienware to most computers, it is still fairly quick.

ALIENWARE X16 R2: BATTERY LIFE

I did not anticipate the Alienware x16 R2 to perform well on the Laptop Mag battery test. These gaming laptops are usually power-hungry beasts, yet Alienware managed to pull it off.

In terms of battery life, the Alienware x16 R2 outlasted the typical premium gaming laptop by almost two hours (4:38) with only one charge lasting 6 hours and 32 minutes. The HP Omen 16 (4:08), Titan 18 HX (2:40), and Legion 5 Pro (4:38) competitors were unable to even break the average.

CONCLUSION

Champions are produced by Alienware, and they typically cost thousands of dollars. Aside from the Apple-like fee, the Alienware x16 R2 proves its value with amazing performance, a snappy keyboard, an extended battery life, and steady cooling. But when I see a display similar to one on a machine that costs about $1,800 less, the price makes me hesitate.

No, the Legion 5 Pro costs less than $1,400 and has a display that is almost the same (165Hz as opposed to 240Hz). It is more vibrant but a little darker. Unfortunately, Alienware’s gaming laptop lacks an impressive display because it is one of the most crucial components.

Overall though, the Alienware x16 R2 is a great gaming laptop provided you can afford it and do not mind having a subpar display. When connected in, it can easily finish your games, and when unplugged, it can complete most of your job or studies (if you work quickly).