Dell Alienware M15 Review – Best Gaming Laptop Under $2,000?  

Buying a high-end gaming laptop has become the wish of many gamers worldwide. This is why they are interested in spending more on a gaming laptop with high-end specs than a cheaper one. It’s reasons like these that make Alienware gaming laptops like the Dell Alienware M15 R7 such an enticing buy.

For a premium price tag of $1,999, you will get 14-core 12th Gen i9 processors, 8 GB RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, and 32 GB RAM to support all the latest and upcoming AAA games. But is the premium price worth the specs?

Let’s find out!

Dell Alienware M15 R7 Specifications  

Here are the primary specifications of the Dell Alienware M15 R7 gaming laptop that I have used for the past couple of days:

While there are many variants available that you can customize from the official Dell store, I got this one because it’s the best that I could get under $2,000. It has pretty good specifications, which I found to be far better than other under sub-$2,000 gaming laptops.

Dell Alienware M15 Review  

After using this laptop for a week, I checked all its features, especially what you can do with it. To find out what issues and advantages this gaming laptop has, I have stated my experiences with each and every part and performance of this laptop which you can read below.

Design  

Dell and Alienware laptops have always been one of my favorites in terms of design. The laptops have always avoided the flashiness of modern-day RGB laptops that teenagers seem to drool over. As an adult, I prefer minimal RGB lights and sleeker and more professional laptop designs.

This is where the Dell Alienware M15 R7 shines. Its sleek look looks even better with its “Dark Side of the Moon” color. While I might prefer matte textures over glossier ones, this one is still pretty good.

The hinges of the screen are tight and responsive. You do not have to put extra effort into opening them, along with being flexible. Additionally, I found it to be solidly built, which is excellent. I also loved seeing the speakers on top of the keyboard.

However, the best decision they have taken here is regarding the cooling vents. One is present behind the laptop, while another one is on the left. This twin cooling system kept the laptop relatively cool after playing Overwatch 2 for 4 hours. Plus, you never feel the hot air emanating too!

Regarding its portability, it falls slightly in the middle regarding weight and overall size. It’s not a small laptop by any means, but it is not a big one either. Its dimensions make it easily fit inside standard laptop bags, with a 6-pound weight making it easily carryable.

Display  

Dell monitors have always been the cream of the crop for desktop displays. Therefore, it’s no surprise that their Alienware laptop screens are also excellent.

The Dell Alienware M15 R7 has a fantastic 2K display. With a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, everything on the screen feels vibrant. It feels crisp, with a good balance of sharpness and contrast. The color gamut is also excellent, mainly due to the inclusion of Advanced Optimus and ComfortView Plus features. This puts less strain on my eyes as well.

Because this is a gaming laptop, I was happy with its display as a gamer myself. With a super smooth 240 Hz refresh rate and a crisp 3 ms response rate, everything loads up quickly.

Gamers will rejoice using this laptop as games running at higher frame rates will appear really smooth and responsive. Plus, all your keyboard and mouse inputs will appear on the screen instantaneously. Therefore, this feature alone will make you a better competitive Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant player.

Additionally, using NVIDIA G-Sync will ensure you see no screen stutters if you play games that run above 240 fps. This also made my movie-watching experience feel amazing as well.

Keyboard & Touchpad  

As a gamer, I prefer using mechanical keyboards for both gaming and typing. The Dell Alienware M15 R7 has the signature Alienware M Series keyboard with per-key RGB lighting, which simply looks fantastic.

Here, you can use the Alienware FX lighting app, allowing you to customize the color of each keyboard button. While gaming during nighttime, I customized the lighting to light up only the WASD, E, R, X, C, F, Shift, Ctrl, and Spacebar. I did this while playing Valorant since they are the keys I will press the most. This felt really good.

When it comes to typing, this keyboard is no slouch, either. While it may not have the tactile feedback of a mechanical keyboard, it felt sturdier than most laptop keyboards.

I loved the touchpad of the M15 R7, a significant improvement over the Dell Alienware m15 R3 laptop. It uses a precision-glass touchpad, which feels smooth as silk on the surface. It’s highly responsive, including support for multi-touch gestures. This alone makes it better than most other laptops.

Speakers & Camera  

The Dell Alienware M15 uses the Realtek ALC3254 stereo speakers. There are two 2.5-watt speakers between the keyboard and the screen. I loved this design since it lets you hear the sounds before you, not from the sides. This makes it louder for users, which heightened my experience of seeing movies.

The camera is a standard 720p camera that shoots HD videos and pictures at 30 fps. This is the only aspect of this laptop where it does not feel premium. Photos and videos look decent at best, with noticeable visual noise present in videos.

Wireless Connectivity & Ports  

Regarding wireless connectivity, this Dell Alienware M15 laptop uses Intel’s Killer WiFi 6E for zero-lag WiFi connection. Additionally, it has a dedicated Bluetooth wireless card for latency-free connectivity to Bluetooth devices.

Therefore, expect no latency while using Bluetooth headphones and speakers. I used my Turtle Beach Recon 200 Bluetooth headsets with no issues. The same goes for my Logitech G304 Bluetooth gaming mouse, which I used to game perfectly with this laptop.

Battery Life  

The only aspect where most gaming laptops fail to deliver is their battery life, and the Dell Alienware M15 is no different.

While this laptop sports an 86 WHr battery using six cells, its battery life saw no improvement over the Dell Alienware M15 R4.

If you use it for everyday use like browsing, streaming, and doing office work, it will last about 5 hours. However, this significantly drops down to 3 hours while gaming. Therefore, keep it plugged into the charger whenever you game.

Productivity & Performance  

If you wish to buy the Dell Alienware M15 for office work like using Word/Doc and Excel/Sheets, don’t. This laptop is not worth the features and the premium price.

However, if you want it for graphically-intensive work, this will be a great choice. Productive work like video editing and 3D animations will work smoothly. I used Adobe Premiere Pro and 3D Blender without any lag at all. Plus, the fantastic display made it all better!

For gamers, this laptop is worth the price paid. If you play multiplayer games like League of Legends, Valorant, DOTA II, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, and more, expect these games to run above 240 fps on average. Coupled with a 240 Hz refresh rate and 3 ms response rate – you will become a better gamer and rank up easily just because of its display.

If you wish to play single-player games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War, you will easily get 60+ or even 100+ fps at the highest settings. Therefore, if you want a gaming laptop that is future-proof, this laptop will serve that purpose well. Plus, the use of RTX 3090 to enable ray-tracing and NVIDIA FSR and DLSS on games makes this even better.

With the combination of 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processors and RTX 3070 Ti with 32 GB RAM, you are all set to use this laptop for years.

Final Verdict: Should I Buy The Dell Alienware M15 R7 Laptop In 2023?  

If you want high-end gaming performance with a fantastic display and a sleek design with an uncompromising build quality, the Dell Alienware M15 R7 will be a good choice in 2023. If you don’t mind spending $1,999.99 on this laptop, I would highly recommend this laptop. However, do not expect too much portable use since its battery is weak – its only flaw.

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