Alienware m16 R2 review: Tons of power in compact and affordable machine

Whenever you think of Alienware — a brand by Dell — it is natural to imagine a bulky, performance-driven machine that is built specifically for gamers. However, the Alienware m16 R2 breaks away from this. The laptop, with a compact design, will fool you into believing that it is a laptop built for work and office. Like a wolf in a sheep’s skin. You’ll only realise it's also a gaming laptop when you spot the RGB-lit Alienware logo.

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I have been using the Alienware m16 R2 for about three weeks and during my time with the device, I found it to be a reliable companion for both work and play. The unit that I received for review is equipped with Intel's Core Ultra 9 processor 185H processor and Nvidia GeForce 4070 Mobile GPU. The starting variant has Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor and Nvidia Geforce RTX 4050 mobile GPU. It is also priced at Rs 1,55,490, which is quite impressive as Alienware laptops usually cost over 2 lakh at least.

However, the higher-end variant I received for review is priced at Rs 2,17,489. It looks like by lowering the price and opting for a more compact design, Dell is trying to expand Alienware's customers beyond just gamers. And I believe that with m16 R2 it works. More or less.

Impressive design and keyboard

In terms of design, the Alienware m16 R2 excels. Usually, in Alienware laptops, we are used to seeing an extended thermal deck surrounded with RGB lighting. But that's gone this time and we are left with a smaller-sized laptop that can easily fit in an average-size backpack. Even though the m16 R2 is lighter than its predecessors, it remains quite heavy still and it can be bothersome to roam around with it on the office floor. Having said that, this is a huge improvement over many previous Alienware laptops, which are more or less one-table devices almost like a desktop.

The m16 R2 comes in a dark gray colour with a metallic finish all over its external body. Dell calls it the Dark Metallic Moon anodized aluminum. The colour itself gives futuristic vibes and the RGB-lit Alienware logo sits in the middle reminding you that this is a gaming laptop. Smudges form up on the surface quite easily. Also, when I tried putting pressure on the laptop's lid using my hand, I noticed some deck flex. Minor issue but worth mentioning.

The speaker vents are on the edges, which is always a hit and miss considering the front firing speaker slots are better. On the right edge there are two type-A USB ports and a microSD Card slot. On the left edge, there is the ethernet port and headphone jack slot.

Other ports lie in the back, where there are two USB Type C ports, an HDMI 2.1 port and the charging port.

The laptop has vents on the sides, back as well as the bottom to let the heat escape while intense gaming sessions.

The port placement seems evenly spread out and is quite convenient. I could easily connect a mechanical keyboard, mouse and headphones to the laptop without worrying about their wires tangling up. However, I do feel that it would have been better if the ethernet port was placed at the back along with the charging port. That way, it would have been easier to connect the laptop to an ethernet cable. Since the cable is placed on the left edge, I had to drag the wire out and connect it to the laptop. This, of course, is not a deal-breaker as you can always just connect to the WiFi.

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The laptop comes with a hinge that has 180-degree flexibility. This is another feature that would appeal to people who intend to use the laptop for business purposes.

Inside, there is a matte-finish surface housing the keyboard and a large trackpad. The trackpad is surrounded by a lighting strip, a first for Alienware. And this greatly elevates the appearance of the trackpad. However, the matte-finish surface is prone to gathering smudges and I saw impressions of my wrists forming on it after intense gaming sessions.

There are air vents on top of the keyboard and in the middle of these vents is the RGB-lit power button in the shape of the Alienware logo. The keyboard, with its custom RGB lighting, looks like a regular Alienware keyboard. Even though it is not a mechanical keyboard, the keys have a satisfactory click and great response time. There is also a F2 function button which puts the laptop in Stealth mode. It converts RGB lights into a single zone backlight, turns keypad light off, and makes the fans go quieter. It is meant for times when you are working on the laptop, or probably streaming a movie or two.

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In contrast to this, pressing the F1 button will put the laptop in high performance mode and you will hear the fans going on in full swing.

The keyboard also has volume buttons on the right edge. They are super useful during horror games (as I often turn down the volume when a jumpscare is around the corner to minimise the scare factor).

Display and performance

The laptop comes with a 16-inch QHD+ IPS display with up to 240Hz refresh rate. Even though this is an IPS display, it is quite good. You will be able to enjoy most titles in high graphics and be fully immersed in the experience. The laptop is also great for enjoying movies, web series or high quality YouTube videos.

However, I do wish the visuals were more vibrant.

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Now, gaming laptops usually have bright display but the Alienware m16R2 is slightly different in that aspect. The peak brightness of this laptop, as per Alienware, is 300 nits.

I used the laptop at full brightness in a well-lit room and didn't feel like turning it down. Usually, with gaming laptops, the display is too bright to be kept at full for long hours. So if you prefer playing games with full brightness, you could be disappointed as the m16 R2 simply feels dimmer when compared to other gaming beasts.

With that being said, when I played games that were set in dark atmospheres (Mortuary Assistant, The Last of Us), I wish the brightness was more as I struggled a bit with light reflecting on the screen. Otherwise in games like Horizon Forbidden West and Forza Horizon 4, I didn't face any reflection issues.

In terms of performance, the Alienware m16 R2 does its job well. It can run most games at high graphic settings and also doubles as a work laptop. I played games, watched movies and web-series, and worked 9 hours a day on this laptop and didn't face any issues. Its audio is loud and clear and fills the room. However, I would still recommend using headphones if you want a more immersive experience.

The laptop gets fairly warm, but it is never too hot to make you fear burning your hands. The vents are positioned well and the air is not directed out towards the place where you will have your paired mouse. In other words, my gaming hand coolly rested on the mouse even when the laptop was in high performance mode.

However, when put in high-performance mode, the laptop gets quite noisy. As in really loud. I got some side eyes from my colleagues when I was testing the laptop in high-performance mode. The noise was loud enough to distract them in a large newsroom.

To test the laptop's CPU performance, I ran some benchmark tests on the laptop using Cinebench R23 and the results were satisfactory.

In the Cinebench Single core CPU test, the laptop scored 1649 while the score was 14393 on the Multi core CPU test. This shows that the laptop can handle most demanding tasks easily.

Gaming experience is top-notch

Coming to the gaming experience, the Alienware m16 R2 doesn’t disappoint. It is able to run most games in the best graphic settings, even though it gets a little loud sometimes.

The Alienware Command Center lets you choose from five different modes, Battery, Quiet, Balanced, Performance and Overdrive. I majorly played on performance and balanced modes.

In performance mode, the laptop showed its true capabilities. Even though the fans were loud, the gaming experience was worth it. Let us take a look at some games I played in detail.

Forza Horizon 4: At 1080p resolution and ultra graphics settings, the frame rate ranged between 180-190 fps, occasionally hitting 200 fps. At 2560x1600 resolution, the fps remained steady at 130, occasionally reaching 140, ensuring a smooth gaming experience.

Horizon Forbidden West: When I turned the performance mode on, the frame rate was boosted to 80 fps, peaking at 90 fps even at maximum graphic settings, indicating the laptop's ability to handle graphically intense games.

Helldivers: With ultra quality render scale and graphics set to ultra, the frame rate was between 70-80 fps, sometimes hitting 90. However, with ultra supersampling at 2560x1600 resolution, the game was unplayable at 25 fps due to lag. Lowering to supersampling graphic mode improved the frame rate to 30 fps without lag.

Coming to balanced mode, the laptop still performed admirably but with some limitations.

Forza Horizon 4: At ultra settings, the frame rate averaged 110 fps, dropping to 92 fps occasionally. Even though the frame rates remained below 110, the overall experience was still consistent and smooth.

Helldivers: While playing a graphically demanding game like Helldivers, the m16 R2's performance in balanced mode was decent, if not the best.

At ultra supersampling (best possible graphic setting) with 2560x1600 resolution, the frame rate was 20 fps, making the game unplayable. Reducing the resolution to 1080p boosted the frame rate to 40 fps, improving playability.

At ultra-quality render scale graphic setting (three notches down from supersampling) and 2560x1600 resolution, the fps was 70-80, and at 1080p, it was around 90-100 fps.

However, the laptop's fans became loud, and the keyboard heated up after about 30 minutes of gameplay.

Horizon Forbidden West: At very high graphics settings with 2560x1600 resolution, the frame rate averaged 60 fps but also dropped to 40 fps from time to time. It is to be noted that I was playing the game with DLSS on in order to boost performance.

When I tried playing Horizon Forbidden West in quiet mode, the game lagged after a few minutes, and the FPS dropped to.

On the other hand, the Overdrive mode enhanced the frame rate to 80-90 fps, sometimes reaching 100, but resulted in a very loud fan noise even without running the game.

Battery life is better than expected

Gaming laptops typically don't last very long in terms of battery as the idea is that most gamers use their laptops while they are plugged in. However, since Alienware m16 R2 is also expected to function as a work laptop, a better battery is expected and Dell delivers on this aspect.

On a normal work day, I used the laptop at medium brightness with keyboard lighting turned off. During this time I browsed the internet and wrote several news stories. The battery lasted for a little over 7 hours which is better than you would expect from a gaming laptop.

While gaming, the battery runs out pretty quickly. I started gaming at the laptop at about 3:10 pm and by 4:05 pm I had just 11 per cent of battery left. I was gaming in performance mode, 75 percent brightness, and RGB lighting on. In this scenario, getting an hour of battery life is quite justified for a regular gaming laptop.

Should you buy?

With clear (if not vibrant) display, loud speakers (but sadly also noisy fans), capability to run heavy-duty games and a compact form factor, the Alienware m16 R2 is a fairly capable device for people looking to balance work and play. The laptop costs comparatively less than other Alienware laptops available in the market and that is one of its strongest points. If you are looking to buy a laptop that can do it all: Gaming as well as your work stuff, with some entertainment jobs thrown in, the Alienware m16 R2 is a dependable choice.