Alienware x16 R2: Fast, Furious, and Flawed

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Key Takeaways

• The Alienware x16 R2 has a very comfortable keyboard equipped with LED lights everywhere.
• x16 R2 boasts premium build quality with machined aluminum but can get hot during intense usage.
• Powerful and fast, suitable for gamers & content creators. An excellent display with 240Hz refresh rate, but battery life is short.

The Alienware x16 R2 is a blisteringly fast, premium gaming laptop that packs a punch. Equipped with an impressive Intel Core i9 processor boasting 16 cores and the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4000 series graphics, this laptop is a force to be reckoned with. But does it live up to its promise as a gaming desktop killer, or can it truly replace the power and performance of a traditional gaming desktop?

Price and Availability

The Alienware x16 R2 gaming laptop is priced between 2,249.99and 4,199.99. It is available on Dell’s website, as well as other retailers.

How It’s Built

The Alienware x16 R2 boasts a premium build quality thanks to its machined aluminum construction. This gives the laptop a substantial weight and a luxurious feel. However, the metal build has a drawback: during intense usage, the laptop can get scorching hot, and I’ve experienced some discomfort when it’s rested on my lap.

The excessive heat emission from the chassis is partly due to the unusual port placement, with all ports located at the rear. This design choice seems odd, but it does offer a wide range of options (HDMI, USB 3.0, USB-C, and a MicroSD card slot), making it convenient for connecting multiple devices. This laptop is certainly equipped to be a desktop replacement if that’s what you need.

What It Can Do

This laptop is essentially a desktop replacement, and frequent travelers will appreciate its exceptional workstation capabilities. With a generous 1TB NVMe storage on board, it can effortlessly handle large files and demanding projects. In my testing, I could model and render complex scenes in Blender without experiencing any noticeable performance slowdowns.

The CPU is truly remarkable, delivering outstanding performance on a wide range of tasks. I was able to simultaneously run multiple virtual machines and Docker containers and compile code without any hiccups. No matter how many resource-intensive tasks I threw at it, the laptop performed flawlessly, showcasing its impressive multitasking capabilities.

Make no mistake, this laptop is not just for gamers—it’s a powerful workhorse designed to handle the most demanding workloads, making it an excellent choice for professionals and content creators on the go.

What You’ll See

The screen on this laptop is truly remarkable: a 16.0in QHD+ (2560 x 1600) display with a 240Hz refresh rate. Everything on it is silky smooth, and the matte finish is a nice touch (although I prefer glossy laptop screens).

Viewing angles are excellent, with vibrant colors and minimal distortion when watching movies, TV shows, and online videos. During gaming sessions, the screen shines with bright colors and smooth motion, effortlessly delivering 240Hz gameplay.

One minor quirk is that the screen appears slightly taller than those on other laptops. However, this is hardly a significant issue, as the vast majority of video games and videos are optimized for the 16:10 aspect ratio, ensuring a seamless viewing experience. Overall, this is an exceptional laptop screen that truly stands out.

How It Performs

The Alienware x16 R2 is incredibly fast—not just “fast for a laptop,” but remarkably fast by any standard. Running Cyberpunk 2077 on battery with all settings maxed out (including ray tracing set to high), the laptop handled it with ease. This is a remarkable feat, considering Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most demanding PC games of all time.

Every game I’ve tried has had silky smooth gameplay, from competitive matches of Halo Infinite to creative sessions in Minecraft, immersive questing in Baldur’s Gate 3, and conquering cities in Civilization 6. The Core i9 and RTX 4080 combination is a true powerhouse that’s a joy to experience.

However, this exceptional performance comes at a significant cost: the laptop generates excessive heat. Gaming sessions are limited to one and a half to two hours before it becomes uncomfortable to use on a lap or in confined spaces due to the heat.

Additionally, the laptop boasts extensive RGB lighting, including backports, keyboard, trackpad, and even the screen’s back. While these lights are visually appealing, they feel like a superfluous feature that doesn’t enhance the gaming experience. It’s worth considering whether the added cost of these extras is justified, especially when compared to a desktop that could offer more power for the same price.

Where’s the Juice?

The x16 R2 is an Optimus laptop, meaning that it utilizes both the onboard Intel ARC graphics and the NVIDIA RTX 4080 GPU at the same time. It uses Windows 11 to delegate when it should use the GPU and when it should use Intel ARC. Despite this efficient technology, I’ve found the laptop’s battery life to be disappointingly short.

During my intense gaming sessions, I managed to squeeze out around one and a half to two hours of battery life, which is to be expected given the laptop’s powerful hardware. However, even not gaming, the battery life isn’t much better. When I’m working on tasks like writing, web browsing, or streaming, I’ve found that the battery lasts around two and a half to three hours at most. This is with the screen brightness set to around 50% and the keyboard backlight turned off.

I’ve also noticed that the battery life takes a hit when running resource-intensive programs like Blender or Visual Studio. In these cases, the battery life can drop to around one and a half hours or less, depending on the specific task. While I understand that battery life isn’t a top priority for a powerful laptop like this, I still think it’s worth noting that the x16 R2’s battery is relatively short compared to other modern laptops.

On the plus side, the laptop does charge relatively quickly, taking around one to two hours to fully charge from 0-100%. However, I wish there were more power-saving features or modes to help extend battery life, especially for tasks that don’t require the full power of the RTX 4080 GPU.

Typing Made Easy

Gaming laptops often have the best keyboards, and the Alienware x16 R2 is no exception. I love the keyboard on this laptop—it feels nice to touch and isn’t stiff. There’s a lot of room to type, and it’s relatively silent, like many old-school laptop keyboards I’ve used in the past.

However, despite how much I love the keyboard, the RGB coloring on it is incredibly ugly for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like RGB lighting sometimes, and it can be handy when you’re typing in the dark, but the constant color-changing flashes and bright rainbow coloring everywhere are just too much for my taste.

The touchpad, like the keyboard, is illuminated with RGB lighting, which I don’t understand. I mean, I just don’t see the point of it. Thankfully, the keyboard and touchpad lighting can be turned off, so it’s not all bad.

Hear and Be Seen

The speaker system on the x16 R2 is above average for a laptop, and if you’re gaming on it, you’ll have a good time and be able to pick up on all the audio details due to its decent speaker drivers. However, the speakers lack a deep, bassy tone and can sometimes sound a bit tinny. Given the laptop’s premium price, I was expecting a bit more oomph from the speakers.

The webcam, on the other hand, is a letdown. I get that gamers might not prioritize webcams when buying a gaming laptop, but it’s disappointing that such a high-end laptop doesn’t have a better one. The webcam will do the job, but the picture is very fuzzy, and the built-in microphone isn’t great either. I think Alienware assumes that most users will be using their dedicated headsets while gaming, so this isn’t a deal-breaker. Still, it’s a shame that the webcam doesn’t live up to the laptop’s overall quality.

Software Selection

The Alienware x16 R2 ships with a relatively standard Windows 11 experience, free from excessive bloatware. Notably, there’s no Copilot button on this unit (although Alienware will give you one for a bit extra), and the pre-installed software is minimal, consisting mainly of the Alienware gaming tool and the Alienware LED tool. Honestly, I didn’t find much use for either of these applications. When you first boot up the laptop, you’re greeted with a clean, stock Windows 11 setup.

This means you won’t have to uninstall unnecessary software, and you can quickly start setting up your gaming platforms of choice, such as Steam or the Epic Games store. Overall, the x16 R2 provides a straightforward, hassle-free Windows experience that lets you dive right into gaming.

Should You Buy the Alienware x16 R2?

If you’re a frequent traveler, such as a trucker, airline commuter, or RV dweller, who requires a reliable desktop experience while on the go, the Alienware x16 R2 is an excellent option. With its generous RAM, exceptional GPU and CPU performance, and outstanding screen, this laptop is well-equipped to handle demanding tasks on the go.

However, a gaming desktop might be a more practical choice if you’re not as mobile and don’t require the portability and power that the x16 R2 offers. Without the need for a compact, self-contained system, a desktop can provide similar or even better performance at a potentially lower cost, making it a more sensible option for those who don’t need the flexibility of a laptop.