My first laptop of the game, which I bought in 2011, was an Alienware M11X R2, and I replaced it with an Alienware 14. The two were superb machines, and I have good memories to play incredible games on them. Alienware laptops have always been great, but they have almost always been bulky, large and extraterrestrial. However, a few years ago, Dell decided to change things and make more elegant and less extraterrestrial Alienware laptops. The Alienware M16 R2 is a laptop game with nothing very foreign to this subject in terms of design.
It’s always a good portable game computer with enough punch to play all AAA titles. It comes with the Intel Core Ultra 9 chipset and supports the functionality of the AI. But have weight reduction and design change cost the laptop its performance value to the laptop? Can it be used as a daily driver? You will have to read until the end to find out.
The Alienware M16 R2 is at the price of approximately Rs. 1.55,000 in India for the basic option with a CPU Intel Core Ultra 7 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. Our examination unit was the high -end variant with the Intel Core Ultra 9 chipset and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, at the price of Rs. 1.96 990.
Alienware M16 R2 Design: Keep things simple
- Dimensions – 363.9 mm (width) x 249.4 mm (depth) x 23.5 mm (height)
- Weight – 2.61 kg
- Colors – dark metal moon
The new Alienware M16 R2 is a total difference compared to the R1. The thermal shelf is part of the beat, or rather the back. The metal lid has a matt finish, and the number 16 is carved in the area, but not in a pleasant way. It’s big and opposite. I could have been satisfied with the extraterrestrial head logo. The background is made of aluminum and fairly minimal but has hexagonal intake grids. The exhaust vents are on the back and the sides. There are many hexagonal design elements all over the laptop, and you will also find them when you open the cover and look above the keyboard. There is also an extraterrestrial head-shaped power button above the keyboard.
There are a lot of ports on the laptop
The area around the keyboard and the touchpad has a soft finish, which makes it very comfortable to put your hands. However, it likes fingerprints. As for ports, the right side has two Type A USB ports and a microSD card reader. You will find an RJ45 Ethernet port and a headphone jack on the right, while the rear houses two USB type-C ports, an HDMI 2.1 port and a DC port.
While Dell has lost weight and dimensions, the Alienware M16 R2 is still heavy at 2.61 kg, but it adapts much better inside the backpacks. It is well constructed, the hinges seem durable and can open at 180 degrees, and there is practically no flexion.
Alienware M16 R2 Display: very good with room for improvement
- Size – 16 -inch IPS panel
- Resolution – QHD + (2560×1600)
- Refreshment rate – 240 Hz
You get a nice 16-inch anti-Glare IPS display on the laptop. The panel offers a 240 Hz refresh rate, a 3ms response time and a QHD +resolution. He also supports Nvidia G-Sync and Dolby Vision HDR. Watching movies and playing games on the screen is really nice, but I want it to be brighter. The panel offers 300 brightness, which is lower than other laptops in the price range. The display has thin glasses on each side, but you get a pretty thick chin and a slightly more thin superior bezel that houses the web camera.
Overall, it is a nice display that is ideal for playing games, thanks to the cooling of 240 Hz. You can lower the cooling rate to 60 Hz to save on the battery, but once you go 240 Hz, it is difficult to go back.
Alienware M16 R2 keyboard, touchpad, speakers and webcam
- Keyboard – backlit keyboard with RGB by key
- Key paver – Multi -touch with RGB
- Speakers – Double drivers 2W
- Web camera – 1080p with IR sensor
The Alienware M16 R2 has a nice keyboard that supports RGB customization by key and offers a 1.8 mm key trip. Tap on the keyboard is pleasant, but it is also thanks to the rubber coating. The backlighting can become very brilliant at night, and I would mainly keep it in half the brightness during use.
Under the keyboard is a decent size touchpad which has a smooth and RVB edge finish element. I would have liked if the touchpad was a little bigger, but it does the job very well. He also supports multi-touch gestures and has a nice click.
Upholstery on the keyboard is a pleasant experience, and the backlight is strong with this
The laptop speakers are nothing to boast. There are two speakers oriented downwards with grids on each side. They are quite strong and the overall exit is crisp but with almost no bass. It is a laptop game, and it is best to connect a nice pair of headphones and enjoy your games.
Above the screen is a 1080p web camera and an IR sensor with support for Windows Hello. The quality of the video and the image of the camera is decent in daylight conditions, but you will see a little noise when there is not enough light.
Alienware M16 R2 software: clean and useful
- OS – Home Windows 11
- Alienware tools – control center, alienfx, fusion
In terms of software, the laptop runs Windows 11 Home Out of the Box and offers Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021. There is no additional software you don’t need. As for Alienware software, there are some. To control RGB lights on the laptop, modify power modes and all other types of customization, you have the Alienware control center.
The control center includes features such as Alienfx for lighting control and fusion to switch between different power supply modes. There is also a game library that offers self-regulated game profiles. The Alienware M16 R2 also has a stealth mode, which deactivates all lighting and tries to be an ordinary laptop.
The Alienware control center allows you to do all kinds of things on the laptop
Microsoft’s Office Tools also support AI’s functions, but I did not find the co-reactive option in the paint. You also have access to the Copilot chatbot, which works quite well, thanks to the Intel Core Ultra 9 Soc on board.
Alienware M16 R2 Performance: Lots of punch
- Processor – up to Intel Core Ultra 9 185h
- RAM – up to 32 GB DDR5
- Storage – 1 to m.2
- GPU – up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 with 8 GB DDR6 VRAM
Our examination unit was equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185h processor associated with 32 GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with 8 GB of VRAM. This combination works well for all kinds of tasks, including video editing and games. However, as the Intel Core Ultra also has a dedicated NPU, you can perform AI tasks on the laptop. Although this is not marked as a co -pilot PC and has no dedicated co -pilot key, it has firepower. As mentioned above, the Copilot chatbot works quite well and creates images quickly. I also directed an AI reference on the laptop, providing impressive results.
| Reference | Alienware M16 R2 |
|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 single | 2184 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi | 11576 |
| Geekbench 6 gpu | 110320 |
| Crossmark overall | 1682 |
| PCMARK 10 | 7523 |
| Geekbench ai quantified (GPU) | 14141 |
| Geekbench ai quantified (CPU) | 3218 |
| 3dmark steel nomad | 2803 |
| 3dmark time expectancy | 12483 |
As you can see in the synthetic benchmarks above, the Alienware M16 R2 processor with its Intel Core Ultra 9 18H processor works well on the AI forehead. That’s not all, however, because the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU also helps the laptop to manage just about any AAA game. I played at Hogwarts Legacy, Forza Horizon 5, NFS Heat and Star Wars Jedi: order fallen on the laptop with the highest parameters available. All the games worked well and delivered an average of 90 IPS and more.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is excellent for productivity and AI functions
With the new design, Alienware also had to reconfigure its cooling system. The system was hot during the games and I felt the heat around the arrow keys. During a 45 -minute game session, the area around the laptop was also quite hot. I could continue to play without being uncomfortable, because most of the hot air is expelled from behind.
Meanwhile, connectivity on the laptop is also quite good. He obtains Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, who both worked during my time with the laptop.
Alienware M16 R2 battery: as expected
- Capacity – 90Wh
- Load – 240W adapter
The battery life is not a strong combination of the M16 R2 alienware. If you play on Battery Power, expect it to last about 1 hour with demanding and slightly longer titles on less demanding games. Run the laptop in stealth mode allowed me about 4 hours of use, which is quite good, but I would not recommend leaving the house without the charger. You can get more if you just use the laptop to watch videos, but any productive work – it will die in about 4 hours.
There are a lot of hexagon -shaped grids on the laptop
The laptop has a 90Wh battery and you get a 240W load adapter in the box. The load takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, but you get a quick load support where a 30 -minute load can offer up to 60% of the battery life.
Verdict Alienware M16 R2
The Alienware M16 R2 is not what it was before, but if you are looking for a machine that can make more than the game, it’s a good choice. Everything on the laptop is good for a laptop at this price. It has a good design, it is well constructed, you get good CPU and GPU performance, the screen is fast and the battery life when the game is not good. If you are also looking for a game laptop that can mix, among other lower level computers so that you do not feel weird in the cafes, the Alienware M16 R2 is an excellent choice.
Regarding competition and alternatives, you can take a look at the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (Revue), the Asus Rog Zephyrus M16, or to HP Victus 16, which all offer slightly better performance but can also cost more and are not as smooth as Alienware.
