Dell Alienware m16 R2 Review: Gaming Power in a Business Suit Leave a comment

The Alienware m16 R2 makes use of a 2,560 X 1,600-pixel decision IPS show that’s first rate for its value however not notably outstanding. The show lacks HDR help, as an alternative choosing a primary sRGB coloration gamut. This isn’t an enormous deal, however when equally priced laptops just like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 pack vibrant OLED panels, it’s exhausting to disregard.

It peaks at 300 nits of brightness, which is barely decrease than some gaming laptops I’ve lately examined. Sitting subsequent to a window through the day, I might nonetheless simply make out what was on the display screen, however I began to wrestle whereas outdoor in broad daylight.

The m16 R2’s show does have one benefit: It has a 240-Hz refresh charge, which is very welcome in fast-paced video games that may reap the benefits of it. Whereas enjoying Doom Everlasting on medium settings, I bought an extra of 200 frames per second, which made leaping round and taking pictures demons a buttery-smooth expertise.

Many different gaming laptops at this value (just like the Zephyrus G14) are restricted to 120 Hz, in order that makes the m16 R2 a horny various should you’re in search of extra-smooth gameplay. It’s value noting that the refresh charge is helpful provided that video games can reap the benefits of it, which implies you’ll want to contemplate your spec choices fastidiously.

For Work and Play

The bottom mannequin of the Alienware m16 R2 comes with an Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, however it may be upgraded to an RTX 4070, which was within the mannequin I examined. With the RTX 4070, I performed Overwatch 2 on medium settings whereas hitting effectively over 200 fps. In a aggressive recreation the place split-second decisionmaking issues, this can be a enormous profit.

In additional trendy, graphics-intensive single-player video games like Starfield, I reliably bought 50 to 60 fps in crowded areas like New Atlantis, with greater body charges in less-demanding areas of the sport. Cyberpunk 2077 fared equally, recurrently sustaining 70 to 80 fps throughout fight, dipping to 50 to 60 fps whereas driving by way of crowded elements of town.

All of those checks had been carried out whereas plugged in, however it’s necessary to keep in mind that should you plan to play on battery, extra frames means extra energy drain. The m16 R2 has a considerable 90-watt-hour battery, which is among the many largest you’ll discover in a laptop computer. However cranking graphics settings to their most will burn by way of that quick. Performing regular duties on the m16 R2, I achieved roughly 9 to 10 hours of battery life on a single cost. Gaming dropped that quantity considerably, however I used to be capable of get an hour and a half to 2 hours of steady gaming if I used to be cautious to optimize my graphics settings and never push the machine too exhausting.

Total, the Alienware m16 R2 balances energy with on a regular basis wants. You need to use this laptop computer as your day by day driver for work and get a full day of battery life out of it, then plug it right into a dock on the finish of the day to do some fairly strong gaming.