On the performance side, the Dell Alienware 15 R4 is a high-end gaming laptop that comes with an Intel Core i7-8750H processor and 16GB of RAM. It offers a great gaming experience, thanks to its powerful hardware and large display. On the other hand, it is quite expensive, and it doesn’t have great battery life.
Specification
Display | 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS (60Hz, G-Sync) |
CPU | Intel Core i7-8750H |
Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB GDDR5) |
Memory | 16GB DDR4-2400MHz |
SSD | 256GB PCIe m.2 |
HDD | 1TB 7,200-rpm |
Optical | ✗ |
Networking | Killer 1435 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi, Ethernet jack |
Video Ports | HDMI, Mini DisplayPort |
USB Ports | (2) USB 3.0, USB Type-C, Thunderbolt 3 |
Audio | 2.0 Speaker configuration, headphone jack, microphone jack |
Camera | FHD webcam |
Battery | Optional 99Whr, 68Whr standard |
Power Adapter | 240W |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
Dimensions (WxDxH) | 15.3 x 12.0 x 1.0 inches |
Weight | 7.8 pounds |
Other | Alienware Command Center |
Price (as configured) | $1,849.99 |
Pros
- The new GeForce GTX 3070 GPU can ray trace at 60fps
- Its laptop class has a long battery life
- Standing out in aesthetic
- 4K OLED display, very attractive.
- 1TB SSD storage
- There are many useful ports
- You can customize the keyboard and the chassis lighting.
Cons
- Gaming on a 60Hz 4K Display is a difficult choice
- This GPU is not capable of achieving 60fps at 4K, even with ray tracing enabled.
Design and Built
Dell has recently released the new design for their Alienware 15 which makes it look like a spaceship. This is a change from the past when it was silver, but there are lights on both sides of the screen and on each side of the laptop’s base.
The Alienware 15 R4 is built for continuous performance in a cramped space. With four huge vents on the side, back and bottom to pull cold air through, it’s got all you need to keep cool during long gaming sessions.
This laptop is quite loud when under load, but it stays cool every time. It’s not comfortable for laptops to be used on your lap because of the air blowing out from underneath them.
Elsewhere, the build is solid as a rock with no sign of flexing anywhere in the chassis. It wouldn’t get a scratch but you should probably avoid doing that. At just 3.49 kg and 15.3 inches wide and 12 inches deep, this isn’t an easy laptop to carry around. The dimensions are surprisingly small for such Laptops.
At the bottom of the lid, three rubber strips keep the Alienware 15 R4 laptop from sliding on surfaces and include an airflow vent that you can see a bit of. With two cooling fans, you can ensure your laptop is always running cool.
With the Alienware 15 R4, you can connect to multiple devices and transfer files quickly with the USB 3.0 port. And a wide variety of ports including Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.0 with PowerShare Technology, and audio jacks.
Alienware has put the ports it needs in the back of the unit like a DC power port, RJ-45 Killer Networks Gigabit Ethernet, USB Type-C, Mini-Display Port 1.2, and HDMI 2.0. By using the Alienware Command Center, users can control the RGB light strips that run along the sides of the laptop.
Display
The Alienware laptop has a 15-inch IPS-LCD display with 4K resolution. This is surrounded by big bezels that are quite atrocious. Getting rid of these bezels could have allowed for a 17inch display.
The Alienware laptop display is big and has good color accuracy and viewing angles. The laptop has a 720p webcam on the right side of the screen and at the bottom of the screen.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The Alienware 15 R4 has a great keyboard. It uses the TactX Keyboards with n-key rollover which allows for 108-key commands per minute. The 2.2mm of key travel is nice for typing, with a springiness on each keystroke that is fun to feel.
You can customize your keystrokes with color profiles and save different lighting combinations for easy access. We liked the Rainbow Spectrum mode that gently cascades a rainbow of colors directly in front of you.
The keyboard has six macro keys. These can be programmed to provide additional features and can make it easier for content creators, especially gamers, to use the keyboard.
The Touchpad on the Alienware laptop is not great. It has a matte finish that makes it harder to use for people with sweaty fingers, but I’ve had no issues with the responsiveness of the touchscreen. Its small size doesn’t make it easy to scroll or pinch and zoom across multiple documents.
The buttons of the Alienware laptop are soft but we didn’t feel much need to use them when everything was clicking so well through the touchpad. The reason we didn’t turn on the haptics is that there aren’t any on the touchpad. We also find it distracting to have the lights lit up like other lit parts of the laptop.
Performance
The Alienware, with an Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB PCIe m.2 SSD, has no trouble running 25 tabs of Chrome at once including one streaming a 1080p episode of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”. But the Alienware doesn’t perform as well as other gaming laptops.
The Alienware Laptop’s Geekbench score of 16,981 falls below the premium gaming average (17.634). The Alienware Laptop performed better than both the PowerSpec and the Blade but less well than both the Zephyrus and the Blade.
Alienware, the first gaming laptop to hit over 6 teraflops, was slow to transfer mixed-media files. The Zephyrus and Blade with NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics cards were much faster, while the Stealth Thin with an
While the average time it takes to convert 4K videos to 1080p is 10:17, Alienware completed the task in 10 minutes and 28 seconds. The Zephyrus finishes in 9:43 while beating the Stealth Thin, PowerSpec, and Blade. AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics card was a little slower at 193.3MBps.
Speakers
The Alienware speakers are great for music. They easily filled a conference room with sound as I listened to Marshmello and Anne-Marie’s “Friends”. Vocals and record scratches were detailed, though clapping and drums weren’t as defined as I would like. When I played Middle-earth: Shadow of War, even subtle sounds like a sword slashing through the air when I missed an orc were clear to my ears.
Software and Warranty
Dell provides a selection of software for your Alienware. The most notable is the Alienware Command Center, which serves as a library for all of your games, as well as the console to control all of the computer’s RGB lighting. It also displays CPU and GPU performance.
Alienware Mobile Connect connects your smartphone. Plus, you can use the Killer Control Center to prioritize which games and apps get access to bandwidth and your data. Best of all, McAfee Security is pre-installed on every device.
Windows 10 comes with a few apps that are hard to avoid, like Candy Crush Soda Saga, Disney Magic Kingdoms, Bubble Witch 3 Saga, March of Empires: War of Lords, Drawboard PDF, and Autodesk SketchBook.
Dell offers a warranty on Dell Alienware 15 R4 computers sold as new, 1 year.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a powerful laptop with a comfortable keyboard, The Alienware 15 is an excellent choice. It has a large trackpad and upgradable parts that make it easy to personalize this computer. However, the price tag is hefty, the gaming performance isn’t as good as other similarly priced models, and it is larger than average.
It sometimes makes sense to compare two laptops. Both laptops have a high CPU score, but the MSI GS65 Stealth and the Asus ROG Zephyrus M GM501 both come with more powerful graphics cards. The Alienware laptop is less expensive but it sacrifices the larger screen size.
The Alienware 15 R4 is a great PC for gamers that want power and performance. It is not a portable PC, but it is worth the space it takes up.