Customers express satisfaction with the m15 R3's performance, graphics capabilities, build quality, refresh rate, and screen quality. However, negative feedback frequently centers on the battery life, heat generation, and the inability to upgrade the RAM. The loud fan noise during operation is also a recurring concern for some users. While some users note high temperatures, others find the overall gaming experience positive despite this.
This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 406 reviews
Pros mentioned:
Graphics, Performance, Speed
Cons mentioned:
Heat, Ram
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Alienware M15 R3 Throttlestop A Must control temps
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Very cool fancy looking laptop. Super powerful with the i7-10750H a RTX 2070 Super and 16gb of ram isn't bad at all. Did I say laptop looks very pretty? LoL It does and can run just about anything you through at it in ultra settings. Cons : the air vents underneath barely any with small air intake under fans. Good news is the GPU underload stays between 72c and 77c. The CPU on the other hand is 87c hard to 100c temps all the time. The CPU throttles down to cool it self. YOU MUST get "Throttlestop" to undervolt your CPU to 4.0 or 4.2. Huge savior good news is the performance is still pretty amazing and temps kept at 77c to 85c. My first time learning about it on YouTube THROTTLESTOP is simple to follow instructions and works great! Laptop kicks butt at VR with my Oculus Quest 2 link cable on ultra settings. Also, works great with wireless steam vr but you'll need "virtual desktop app" from oculus store mandatory...:) overall, I am pleased with the purchase. Would of returned it for a refund but Throttlestop is the key to maintaining CPU temps under control.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance, Refresh rate
Cons mentioned:
Heat, Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Portable Power
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The computer is both powerful and extremely portable for what you get. It is able to run new games on high and older modern games on ultra easily. A lot of people complain about heat but on a desk it is fine at least. RAM is soldered and non-upgradable, but there are 2 free NVME slots for M.2 drives, with one easily able to take a standard M.2 SSD. Power cord is long, reaching across a hotel room easily, and accepts both American (110v) and World (220v) power standards. There's a lot of emphasis on the screen refresh rate, and I usually average about 140 FPS on the games I have been playing which is extremely smooth on it. I haven't tried the overclocking and other Alienware performance boosting features because I've been satisfied as is, so I'm sure the numbers can be boosted further, but the stock default profile is decently quiet and powerful as is. Keyboard is clicky and tactile, but easy to drift off keys while playing and typing since they are all on the same plane with little space between. You can set custom colors per key which helps you reset at a glance though. You can also set multiple profiles for it, so you can swap per game or keep a general preset. There's also preset change options for stuff like WASD, QWER, Numbers, or zones of the keyboard. End of the day it wasn't my first choice, the MSI G66 at this price point was, but it was available when I needed it and I am still overall very happy with it. Photo attached is of the review being written.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great computer, great build quality, poor battery
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The best Alienware computer produced so far, unless you want to go with the Area-51. Thin as a MBP and a lot more powerful. I highly recommend the 2070 Super over the 2080 Max-Q which is on my other Alienware M15-R3 laptop. One concern I have with his laptop is it gets incredibly hot, so I recommend buying a external laptop cooler which will bring your frame rate higher and your temperature lower. Also battery life isn't the best, so if you plan on taking this I work remotely in an area with no power it will not be your best choice. With everything turned down and CPU underclocked, I'm lucky if I get 1 1/2 hours of runtime doing light work. Don't try to game on this using battery because it will not work. Also if you opt in for the OLED screen just know that it is 60 hertz and barely any games can run at 4K with high or ultra settings. Surprisingly it's able to handle Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 in 4K ultra settings without any issues, but other stuff like COD and Fortnite will not work unless you down-sample to a lower resolution.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Performance
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Fan noise
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great device
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Amazing power and good quality build. Fans are a bit loud and the battery runs out quickly, but I always have it plugged in regardless and don't really mind the fans. Runs Valorant really well and I can easily run it with good wifi at about 5 ping, getting almost 300 fps. The keyboard is super comfy to type on and I can connect external devices easily with its multiple ports. Amazingly high-quality laptop for the price after the clearance sale.
Video editing and content creation is also extremely easy and smooth with this device.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance
Cons mentioned:
Ram
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Decent
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Posted . Owned for 1.5 years when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Performance, why is the laptop is great, while it’s plugged in! This is nothing you can use without that power break. Decently, bright screen, but not as bright as I really need it to be on sunny days. The speed is definitely there. I didn’t think about upgrading the ram at the time that I purchased. Something that I should’ve thought about because had I known that I could not upgrade the ram I would not have purchased this particular gaming laptop. it only came with a 512 gig solid-state. I’ve definitely upgraded that too for total terabytes. I would definitely purchase an Alienware again, but I would make sure the upgrade ability is there.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Awesome, I totally love it.
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Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
First off I'm going to say, sure I've had some issues with this laptop, mainly because I like things to be as perfect as I can try. I've exchanged 2 of these laptops, one because a key cap broke, and yeah I could have gotten a replacement key but oh well, the second one had one stuck pixel. But I really didn't want to give up on this laptop, as I really do love it. So now I'm on my third exchange. So far I have not had any issues with it at all. The specs are great, sure they don't rival my custom water cooled PC but there isn't to many compromises in terms of frame rate in games. Most of the many games I play, including some very graphically intensive ones play absolutely great. And the 300hz 3ms display is superb.
I would recommend this to a friend
Cons mentioned:
Battery life
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Love this Laptop
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Posted . Owned for 5 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great Laptop. Absolute Workhorse. The screen is phenomenal. The keyboard is great. Love the Customizable RGB Lights. Battery life is not great but it can last 3 hours on light tasks.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazing
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Posted . Owned for 1.5 years when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Is a very good option for game for work for all, i love my laptop
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great product for gamers.
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
First of all I’d like to special thank one of the associates who work at Best Buy Tracy location, her name is Kiahna.
She was extremely professional, aware of customers needs. She was so nice, polite, very patient with my 13 years old son who had millions of questions. She knew everything about the product my son was interested. She showed him his options and explained everything. I just love going Best Buy stores and seeing a caring employee who cares about her customers and her store makes me very happy. Best Buy is the best electronic store and they have the best employees. I was helped by Kiahna that day and she was just awesome. Thank you everyone!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Gaming laptop
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Awesome and powerful laptop great for gaming......
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Graphics
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
100% RECOMMEND
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Posted . Owned for 7 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
EXCELLENT PRODUCT, SUPER BEAUTIFUL, 100% RECOMMENDED
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Refresh rate
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Ram, Thermals
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Even after 3060 & 3070 Announced...After debate...
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
If you are on the fence about buying this laptop with the 3060 laptop @ $1,099 (Asus TUF) or 3070 @ $1,499 (ASUS TUF), lowest I've seen, don't. I actually have this as pending return shipment but after a LOT of debate and research, I'm cancelling my return request. I even debated with myself the black friday price on the Asus TUF 3060 $1,099 price would be or an open box, that price yeah is very very tempting. ANYWAYS.
Based on preliminary benchmarks (which I don't trust, too early), the 3060 mobile laptop APPEARS to be around 8% - 15% better performance than the 2070 Super mobile despite the advertised better than 2080 Super mobile. Other stuff like 6GB vs 8GB, bandwidth, etc. make me suspect that the 3060 mobile isn't as major of a leap as I expected. The 3070 mobile appears to be 41% better than this 2070 Super. Either way, let me explain why this doesn't entirely matter.
First and foremost, get this laptop as open box new (uncertified) when this laptop is on sale for $500 off. I wouldn't doubt that this laptop will be on sale for even more than $500 off in the future but for this review, I am reviewing it based on my $1,300 purchase price. Yup, you heard right.
POSITIVES + / Negatives -
+Screen: The reason why despite this being an older cards with less pipelines and less RT cores than the new gen 3000 RTX but yet still maintains a decent buy is because those TUF laptops have a horrible monitor screen ms and refresh compared to the proven alienware (dell) monitors. Dell/Alienware has the experience to make insanely amazing monitors for gaming. This particular model is only at 3ms 300 hertz which is really good and keeps the motion blur and smoothness in gameplay. Now if you play on an external monitor, none of this really matters and you should get the 3000 rtx laptop series instead if that's the case.
+DLSS 2.0: Ok this is something that you need to be aware of. DLSS is AMAZING technology. Regardless what game you are playing, the FPS boost is just amazing. This is the first part of why it doesn't really matter to wait for the 3060 mobile laptop. 3070 mobile laptop is tempting however with a few hundred more bucks to spend, but....
+This Keyboard, OMG how I LOVE this keyboard. People always usually get used to the gaming laptop keyboards but this keyboard, I cannot say enough good things about this. Why aren't all laptop keyboards like this, seriously? You are probably thinking, why on earth am I making such a big deal of this keyboard? To me, this made my mind to forget about the $150 more and the 41% performance boost on the 3070 Asus TUF $1,449. I know, sad lol.
+Gaming: Sorry I side tracked to keyboard first, but this is the 2nd reason why I think it doesn't matter to wait for the 3060 mobile or the 3070 mobile. When you play competitive games, the requirement isn't really that high and most competitive games like Warzone, CS:GO, LoL, DotA2, Starcraft 1/2, PUBG, Fortnite, etc. you REALLY don't need a high end spec gaming laptop for those. The screen however is really important. I mean, people have been using way older GPUs and they still run fine at 120 hertz. This laptop will play CS:GO at 300 hertz without a doubt. Warzone probably 200 Hertz or so but maybe more when they enable DLSS like they announced they would. That leads me to the solo campaign games like Control or Cyberpunk 2077. When you are playing those games, do you really need 300 Hertz? I think it can even better with DLSS, but either way it's over 60 hertz or 90 hertz at RTX balance mode which is fine. I mean you can even turn RTX mode off completely if you wanted to. But for competitive gaming, like I said earlier, this laptop screen is really good and smooth when gaming.
+CPU/GPU: Something you need to know about gaming laptops. Just because other gaming laptops have the same CPU and same GPU, doesn't mean they are all created equal. Alienware really focused on going crazy without much undervolting, meaning they really pushed hard on this CPU and GPU. This means that this laptop has waaaay better performance than most gaming laptops with the same CPU/GPU spec. However, this leads to a major flaw.
-Thermals: Wow this thing can get really hot and the fans can really go nuts. However, I noticed that if you angle this laptop or put it on a laptop cooling pad like the one Best Buy sells Enhanced brand, this laptop stays at really good temperatures. Still, sucks that you have to buy a laptop cooling pad but then again, if you buy a gaming laptop chances are you are going to get a laptop cooling pad anyway.
-16GB RAM: This is soldered on which sucks because these days you need 32GB to be future proof. However, if you are doing basic video editing that doesn't require background edits (green screen), this 16GB is fine. It's also more than the recommended 8GB for photoshop.
-Battery Life: So the battery life really sucks. You need to do some tweaking to make it last longer but it still sucks. My recommendation is you can undervolt, change the display from 300 Hertz to 60 Hertz (this is imo what's killing the battery: if you didn't know for some reason the 2070 Super is directly connected to the screen and you can't opt out to use the integrated intel GPU, not sure if it even has one), change the brightness setting down, Alienware Command Center set to quiet or a little higher for some fan (quiet does keep it quiet but it starts to get warm still blech), and if you are brave enough redo the thermal paste. BTW, the motherboard is upside down. Like whyyyyyyy.
IN CONCLUSION, IMO it's not worth paying $1,099 or maybe even $799 for the Asus TUF 3060 mobile open box or Black Friday. For one you have to wait until it drops to that price and if you can wait, then why are you reading this review lol. If you need a laptop now and are ok with the pros and cons I listed above, then watch for this to be dropping in price and get it as an open box new (not certified). The 3070 however might be worth it, but you are looking at $2k pricing for the good laptop screen versions. The only reason why the Asus TUF 3070 mobile laptop is $1,449 is because TUF has a history of cutting corners. I'm not sure if it did on this new model but if you can wait a month or so, I would wait. The 3070 Alienware FYI is over $2.1k still, just like the Razer Blade. Speaking of Razer Blade, I don't like their laptop keyboard, feels too flat and too low profile. Also their spacing is a little off IMO, just like all the other gaming laptop keyboards (btw, Asus laptop keyboards feel like it was designed for those with skinny fingers, they always feel so cramped; PS my fingers are skinny but they are long which probably is why I feel like it's so cramped). But I love the Razer brand. Anyways, sorry about the side track. The keyboard is very important to me as you can tell by my tangent. Anyways, I hope my review helps you decide.
I would recommend this to a friend
Cons mentioned:
Heat
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Oven
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Posted . Owned for 5 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Nice laptop with one huge flaw, it runs so hot while gaming that it actually melted a part of the frame in the middle of the top by the display above the keyboard. Shockingly bad engineering for such an expensive brand.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Graphics, Performance
Cons mentioned:
Fan noise
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great Gaming Laptop
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Extremely satisfied with this purchase! I was in the market for a mid/high-end gaming laptop and I did a lot of research before deciding on this specific model.
It’s very well made, beautiful in design, and incredibly fast. I’ve thrown multiple recent games at this computer with maxed-out graphics settings and it’s been able to handle them all, including the new Microsoft Flight Similator on “ultra” settings.
With the SSD drive it’s very fast and the screen is able to produce very smooth and perfect video and images. The lighting effects are also a nice touch that make it really stand out.
You can’t beat the price for the processor and graphics card that come with this laptop.
As others have mentioned, the fan does get quite loud when running games, but I use headphones while playing so it isn’t an issue to me. The internal fan above the keyboard also gets very hot, but I use a separate keyboard for gaming or a controller, so also not an issue for me.
Everything else with this Alienware laptop has been perfect out of the box and no complaints whatsoever. Very happy with this purchase! You can’t best the price for the quality and value you get and the fact that it can play all recent games with high-end settings is incredible.
I would strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a quality gaming laptop at an affordable price.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Alienware-m15 R3 ROCKS
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Posted . Owned for 3 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
BEST GAMING LAPTOP-hands down beats the competition except for battery life
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Cracked plastic around screen after a month
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Hello Bestbuy,
So I bought an Alienware laptop a month ago. The side of the screen around the lights plastics are cracking. I have barely used the laptop. I’m currently military deployed overseas. Is there a warranty for this laptop?
Respectfully,
Anna
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from YourDellTeam
Posted .
Hello Anna,
Thank you for your review. We are extremely sorry to learn that cracks are appearing around your screen. We really do appreciate your feedback and will use it to help improve our current and future products. If you're interested in learning more about our Limited Warranty, you can use this link - https://dell.to/39iwZuX to explore coverage options.
Best regards, Wendy C.
For further assistance, you can contact Dell directly with the information below Chat or Call: https://bit.ly/DellSupportTeam. Phone number to Dell: 1-800-264-9896.
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Graphics, Performance
Cons mentioned:
Fan noise
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
WICKED FAST! Nice design! Thermal issues fixable!
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Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is my first Alienware laptop and something I always wanted to purchase. This laptop does not disappoint. It has a nice design and the performance is top notch. Its what you expect from a Alienware laptop. The lighting gives off a lot of attention. I've had people compliment or ask me what kind of laptop it is. I purchased this at my local Best Buy at a sale price of $1599. I'm not very knowledgeable with computer so I'm just giving my review based on what I know and noticed.
Unboxing: It comes in a big white box with a Alienware logo. On the side it has a 15 with the same font used on the laptop casing. The other side highlights the features on the Alienware laptop. Opening the box you know it's going to be a good premium experience. You see the laptop in all of its glory. I picked up the Dark Side of the Moon color. Underneath on the left has the manuals and warranty information and on the right is a card detailing the history of Alienware. The top has a 240w charger that is a barrel connector.
First Impression: The design on the laptop is slim for a gaming laptop and is super nice. It has a nice somewhat soft touch materials and plenty of ports. There is a total of 5 ventilation ports and 2 speakers. The right side has 2 USB ports and a Micro SD Card slot. The left has ethernet port, another USB port and a microphone/3.5mm port. The back has the barrel connector, amplifier port, USB C/Thunderbolt 3 port, mini display port and a HDMI port. The laptop turns on automatically when the lid is opened which is on by default in the BIOS settings. By default the lighting is blue but can be configured in the command center.
Screen: The screen is a 15.6in screen with a resolution of 1920x1080. It has a 300hz refresh rate but can be adjusted in the settings. It was nice colors but wish it was a bit brighter. I also wish that Alienware didn't use black plastic bezel around the screen. It looks cheap and dated.
Keyboard: The keyboard feels great and having each keys individually backlit is a nice touch. It doesn't feel mushy and has a nice tactile feel. Also Alienware added a coating which prevents the keyboard from getting oil marks.
Battery Life: I'm averaging about 5-6 hours on use off the charger. I followed some Youtube and Reddit advice and deleted the Alienware OC software which gave me a boost in battery life. I also adjusted the voltage which helped reduce thermals at a cost of price but very minimal. I usually have the brightness at 20-30% and usually consist of Words, Youtube, Spotify and Browsing. I do light gaming but that usually happens when I'm home plugged in. I also turned down the 300hz refresh rate to 144hz. I imagine if I was gaming on battery it would last me 1-2 hours. It kind of sucks that the 300hz model can't switch to the integrated graphics. I feel like it would last longer if it had that feature.
Performance: My laptop is equipped with a Intel i7-10750H, 16GB Ram, 512GB SSD and a Nividia RTX 2070 Super. This is a really well spec laptop. Can play majority of games on medium to high settings. It's capable of anything you throw at it. I don't have any complains since this is my first laptop with a Intel i7 and Nvidia graphics. It blazes through anything I can give it. I usually play League of Legends and GTA 5 and I'm getting high FPS during gameplay on high to ultra settings.
Thermal and Fan Noise: When I first used the laptop it got pretty hot fast. The fan would kick in pretty often and you can hear it. There's ventilation on top of the keyboard area, two on the sides and two in the back. I got concerned in the beginning thinking I had a defective unit. I read that some people repasted the thermals and that would fix it. I'm not the type of person that is confident enough to do that so I tried to find a solution on the software side. I found on Youtube and Reddit that people used ThrottleStop to undervolt the laptop. After using Throttlestop I notice that the fans stopped kicking in and was silent. I noticed that it was a lot cooler. Fans would only kick in when I'm gaming. I'm getting around 42C-44C on thermals. I disabled turbo and lowered the CPU Core and Cache to -105. I also lowered the Turbo Ratio Limits between 40-30. Your mileage may vary as it can differ from laptop to laptop. Play around with the numbers and hopefully you'll hit a sweet spot.
Lighting: It comes with blue out of the box but you can open the Command Center and adjust it to however you like. The customization is endless. I have it on Rainbow Wave so it flows between colors smoothly.
Sound: There is 4 speakers total. They sound decent but nothing to write home about. You're better off connecting it to speakers or using a bluetooth speaker.
Overall: I'm happy with the amount of money I spent on this laptop. It's not perfect but then again no laptop is perfect. I wish Alienware would add a bigger battery and make the thermals better. I read that Alienware isn't the best when it comes to thermal. Do you research and find ways to tweak the settings to your liking which fits best for you. The screen is nice and the design is really beautiful to look at. It's a premium gaming laptop and while there are better one out there for the money, I think if you can find it on sale it is a good buy.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Charger didn’t work out of the box
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I got a unit with a defective charger. I got the last one and was told they couldn’t replace just the charger; I would have to exchange the entire unit. I ended up going with a different brand.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from YourDellTeam
Posted .
Hello Jrkscott,
Thank you for your review. We apologize for the issues you have come across with your product. We really do appreciate your feedback. If you come across any further questions, issues, or concerns, please use the information below to contact Dell Support at your earliest convenience.
Best regards, Wendy C.
For further assistance, you can contact Dell directly with the information below Chat or Call: https://bit.ly/DellSupportTeam. Phone number to Dell: 1-800-264-9896.
Pros mentioned:
Graphics, Performance
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Fan noise, Heat
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great Gaming Laptop if you make some adjustments
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I haven’t had this laptop very long, but I’ve been very happy with it so far. The physical design is interesting and it’s very compact for what it does. Great performance and a great display, It took a little time to setup the different profiles in Alienware Command Center, but it works great.
I would recommend using some good headphones with this though, as the fans are a bit loud once they ramp up.
One thing I read about before I bought this was how hot it runs, and yes, it runs very hot. That is until you make a few tweaks. Do some research on undervolting and dropping the turbo ratio (throttlestop works amazing). Before making making adjustments, the cpu cores would peak at 100C when running a game or doing some stress testing. After making the adjustments, my temps haven’t hit higher than 70C. Best of all, I didn’t see any drop in performance.
The only other negative would be the battery life, it’s terrible. But I knew this going in and don’t really plan on using it without being plugged in. Maybe you can get a couple of hours just browsing the web and checking email, but I wouldn’t bother trying to run a game on battery.
Overall, it does exactly what I wanted, but it did take a little time and effort to set it up properly. If you’re looking for something you can just turn on and start gaming, this probably isn’t a good pick for you. If you don’t mind doing a littler research and making some adjustments, it’s a great portable powerhouse.
Pros:
Great performance
Awesome Display
Individual RGB Keys
Interesting Design
Cons:
Runs Hot (this can be corrected, see above)
Fans are a bit loud
Battery Life
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality, Performance
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Heat
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Good Performance, Great Aesthetic - From Afar
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
So I really wanted to like this laptop. From the design language to the Alienware branding - I've wanted one since they released the R2. So I was naturally stoked when they released the R3. Bought it near immediately.
I had shipping issues, with delays across the board, can blame that on COVID, I'm sure. I actually ended up getting two of these for the price of one due to Best Buy re-shipping it (and actually just sending another, instead). And I'm currently in the process of returning both of them, in favor of the MSI GS66 Stealth I currently use. Here's my impressions that ultimately brought me to that. Again, these are across both units.
The Good
- Performance was as expected.
- It benchmarked my game selection fairly well, with triple digit frames for the most part at Max/1080p. (FarCry 5, FFXIV, WoW, CS GO). I take about a 10-12% hit across the board with my MSI GS66 (Step from 2070 Super to MaxQ - I get it).
- The lighting is phenomenal. I had a few issues with the AlienFX software, but relaunching it worked fine. And one occurrence of the keyboard lighting just turning off, until I restarted AlienFX.
- The keyboard is good. There isn't much tactility, but it has a perfect layout that DELL just nails. Throw is decent and it feels responsive. No issues with that.
The Bad
- The laptop does get warm, and I did not go through the process of undervolting to bring it back in line. It is not unreasonable, but after a long session, your WASD fingers will get a bit uncomfortable.
- Battery life was pretty awful in my limited experience. I didn't min/max anything, but comfortable use left me around 2 hours. The GS66 has more than doubled that. I didn't play around with defaults too much on either, just Windows built in power slider.
- No Windows Hello (Fingerprint or IR). This thing is over 2 grand, unacceptable.
- Price. For this price point, you can get more without the branding. Alienware tax may not be as bad as Apple, but you can get the new Dell G7 (which I also tried) for hundreds less with very similar specs. Similar aesthetic, if you don't mind the DELL instead of the alien head.
- Mobo is flipped, so doing anything thermally is a pain.
The Horrendous
- Good lord - the differences between the two units I received was staggering.
- The bezel highlights a ton of imperfections beneath it. If you look closely along the bottom bezel (shiny plastic) you can see tiny micro-cracks in the bezel where it meets the new rubber guide along the top of the screen.
- On the bottom bezel, there is a sizeable gap between the center of the bezel and the screen assembly, and you can get quite a bit of movement there. I think this also lends to the weird plastic strain both of my units had on either size of the lower screen (near where it connects to the hinge edge - next to the floating screen area).
- Trackpad. This thing is horrible. Sure, the gestures worked fine - but it doesn't feel premium at all. It is glass, but the mechanism made it feel and sound like junk. The clicks are hollow, echo inside the machine and the Dell G7's trackpad is leagues above this one - larger and no diving board issue. One of my units, you could see straight into the assembly underneath the trackpad on the left side. And it sounded completely different than the other trackpad.
There was a point where I was literally evaluating the flaws between the two units to determine which one to keep and which to send back - but ultimately decided to ditch them both.
As I said, I really wanted to like this, but I could not get over how it FELT to use. It performed well, and looked great. But I buy a laptop to use, not to look at. And the things I value in a usability experience just were not good enough to justify the pricetag of this thing. Maybe when the R4 comes out.
Evaluate what you value from a laptop's price point, and go from there. Your preferences will surely differ from mine, but hopefully this helps you out in reviewing your purchasing decision. Cheers!
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from YourDellTeam
Posted .
Andrew,
Thanks for your review and we're sorry to hear that you ultimately decided to return your new Alienware laptop. In the future if you purchase another Alienware computer the Alienware Control Center can help with the thermals on your computer. The Alienware Control Center allows you to choose the thermal profile that best fits your needs so you can avoid overheating on your computer.
If you need to extend the life of your computer's battery, here are some tips:
Change the Power Plan:
1. On the notification area of the taskbar, right-click the Battery icon. 2. On the options list, click Power Options. 3. Select a power plan on the battery meter, such as Power Saver or Balanced. Windows 10 has a built in 'Battery Saver' mode that can be activated to extend your system's battery life. The Battery Saver mode will monitor and limit background activity and other features such as push notifications. You do have the option to enable or disable this mode within settings or within advanced Battery Saver settings, you can customize the mode to best suit your needs.
a) Click on the Action Center icon in the taskbar and select the tile for Battery Saver. b) If running Cortana then type Battery Saver into the search box and select from the results. Within the Battery Saver settings page, you will be able to turn on and off the feature and customize the feature to best meet your needs. c) Turn Battery Saver On or Off. d) Additional settings available via the Battery use and Battery saver settings links. e) Battery use shows further info on apps and their power usage. f) Battery Saver Settings screen allows you to customize further Battery Saver feature.
Lastly, if you needed to re-calibrate the touchpad on your computer, here are the steps: Some Notebooks and Tablets with Keyboards have added gesture features to the touchpad hardware and drivers. A few of these features are two or three finger scrolling, pinch zoom, circle zoom, rotate and swiping. These new features may be the reason for the erratic cursor movement since most are turned on by default. You can disable or modify the way the features work in the touchpad driver properties. Here are some tips to modify these settings:
1. In the Search box, type main.cpl. 2. Touch or click main.cpl in the list of programs. 3. Touch or click the Dell Touchpad tab. 4. Touch or click on the picture of the touchpad. 5. Touch or click Gestures (depending on your computer there may not be a Gestures option). 6. Change the options as preferred. 7. Touch or click Save. 8. Touch or click the X in the upper-right corner to close the Dell Touchpad Utility. 9. Touch or click OK on the Mouse Properties window. 10. If the touchpad still does not work after following the preceding steps, refer to Dell Knowledge Base article - http://dell.to/2iaiujA.