Customers recognize the x15 R1's exceptional performance and sleek design as major strengths, frequently praising its high refresh rate display and smooth graphics. However, some users express concerns regarding battery life, heat generation, and the non-upgradable RAM. While some found the keyboard satisfactory, others reported issues with keystrokes.
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 2 Showing 21-40 of 229 reviews
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazing!
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Super powerful! I use it to music production and there's no problem with the cpu or ram, sometimes I experience lag in the audio but once the "full speed" mode is activated anything happens, fully recommend!!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Refresh rate
Cons mentioned:
Battery life
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
A Thin Gaming Beast with some Flaws...
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Alienware’s new x15 R1 is part of the new lineup of premium Alienware gaming laptops. Alienware is known for its beefy gaming PCs and high-quality gaming gear. The X15 is no different and provides some of the best laptop features a gaming laptop can have. The latest 11th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU allows for a high-performance all the way around. Whether you are gaming, 3D modeling, or simply word processing. You will be satisfied with the speeds the X15 provides. The X15 also comes with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070. This graphics card allows for some magnificent visuals in all your games. The display also allows for smooth gameplay with up to a 360Hz refresh rate. After a couple of days of using the X15, here are my complete thoughts.
*TLDR at the bottom
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UNBOXING/SET-UP:
Unboxing the laptop was a wonderful experience. The box it came in was sturdy and opening the “double-door like” box was an experience and honestly a neat design. As soon as you turn on the laptop, you are greeted with a flashing keyboard with a myriad of colors. Something you will notice is that the X15 does come with plenty of customizable RGB. The power button, alien head, and rear stadium are also customizable! Set up should not take too long if you already have a Microsoft account. As soon as I was logged in, I tweaked a few settings, deleted some bloatware, and started downloading my software.
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DESIGN:
Alienware’s X15 is designed with portability in mind. Most gaming laptops are bigger and while portable, they do take up a lot of space due to their size. The X15 is a thin gaming laptop that can easily fit inside a school bag. Coming in at a bit above 5lbs, the X15 is impressively small for a gaming laptop. But there are a few caveats due to how compact the X15 was designed.
First, you will receive fewer ports compared to other gaming laptops. Most of the ports are located behind the laptop. The only two ports that are located on the sides are the power-in port and the headphone jack. There is no Ethernet jack, but Alienware did include a USB-C to Ethernet adapter. The power-in port would’ve been better placed on the back, which would’ve allowed better maneuverability while the other ports are being used. Now, I’m not sure if this was due to how compact the laptop is or if it is just the general design, but the trackpad is a lot smaller than most laptops. On the other hand, I do seriously enjoy how sturdy the X15 is built. The materials used are high-quality and the amount of RGB implemented is great.
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PERFORMANCE:
The X15 should be able to run all the games on the market. When running “Can You Run It,” the laptop received a CYRI score of 100% minimum and 99% recommended. This score shows the percentage of games that can run on the laptop at the minimum and recommended requirement levels. You won’t have to worry if a game will run or not while using this laptop since all of them should be able to run!
Like I’ve mentioned before the latest CPU in the X15 allows for incredible speeds all around. Opening applications, loading screens, gaming, switching between applications all take little time. The GPU on the X15 allows for great visuals. I played a variety of games from AC Valhalla to Control on maxed settings. I enabled Ray Tracing in Control and wow, it made a huge difference! I also managed to run a gaming performance benchmark using 3D Mark’s Time Spy. It gave me a score of 9568. Overall, the visuals were truly stunning for every game I played. The gameplay was also smooth, and I did not experience any stuttering even with max settings.
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DISPLAY/OTHER NOTES:
The 1080p display is clear, vibrant, and did a great job at showcasing the graphics in all the games I played. The display is also NVIDIA G-Sync compatible for an even more, smoother gameplay experience. One problem I did experience with the display was random display flickering. I did not experience the flickering while gaming but mostly while doing other things. I have updated the drivers and installed any Windows updates and it seemed to fix the problem for the most part, but I still get them (a lot less) at random times.
Here are other notes:
- Alienware Command Center can be used to customize and view many things on the X15. From RGB, overclock profiles, viewing thermal profiles, and playing around with EQ settings.
- Command Center keeps requesting to download additional components but when I click on “Update,” nothing happens. The software is clunky and not very user-friendly.
- Windows Hello uses facial recognition as a quick way to login into your computer. Very efficient!
- Another problem I experienced was my keyboard would randomly stop working at times. It did not happen often but restarting the computer fixed it.
- I would recommend using an external display while gaming, I found my gameplay experience a lot more enjoyable using an external display.
- RAM is not upgradable since it is soldered. There is an available M.2 SSD storage slot though.
- Sound is decent for a laptop but I do recommend using external speakers or headphones.
- The four fans do an excellent job at cooling down the laptop. They are quiet when not running anything hefty but do get noisy when running a game for example.
- Battery life is not the best, I do recommend using the laptop while plugged in
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CONCLUSION/TLDR:
Overall, the X15 is a great gaming laptop for the most part. The X15 is thin and is a lot more portable compared to other beefy gaming PCs. The latest-gen Intel Core i7 processor allows for high-performance all around and the RTX 3070 GPU allows for some gorgeous visuals while gaming. The hardware in the X15 should be able to run all the games on the market. The display is FHD and is clear and vibrant. I did experience a couple of bugs using the laptop such as random screen flickering, but I’ll be reinstalling some drivers and hopefully, it’ll fix the problem. Some software such as Alienware’s Command Center is buggy. But fortunately, these problems did not interfere with performance. Now is this for you? The X15 is pricey but if you want a quality gaming laptop with performance in mind, go ahead and try the X15 out. Otherwise, if you are looking for a laptop to do general work, I do recommend you go for something else.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Bad quality
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Returned it and bought a new one immediately,but reveived the one with the same display problem. Does Bestbuy deliver me same one?Waiting for replacement now but show not available,probably will refund me.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Display, Performance
Cons mentioned:
Heat
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Fast and Powerful
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I'm just going to start off by saying that I absolutely LOVE this laptop. But that's not to say it doesn't have its' flaws.
First and foremost this is obviously a gaming laptop, and there's not much this can't do in that regard. It's powerful with some great specs, great looks and great features.
It happens that I already have a membership to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Being a Windows machine, the xbox app was already there and signed in to after going through the initial setup of the laptop.
So to really put this laptop to the test, I decided to start with some Microsoft Flight Simulator. This is a game I tried playing earlier this year on a less powerful laptop, but one also built specifically for gaming and released within the last year. Even so, it had trouble running this game, so I was extra excited to see how this Alienware x15 would handle it.
Once I got the game installed, I started it up and there were no performance warnings whatsoever. Everything loaded up super fast and I was on my way to takeoff. Graphics looked amazing and navigating through all the menus and options was a breeze. Taking flight was smooth and responsive. There was no struggling at all by the laptop and I didn't experience any type of slow downs or issues at all. Graphics and controls all kept up no problem.
But this game is definitely demanding of the laptops resources. And that's where one of the main features comes in, the new and unique cooling system. It has 4 fans and they're pretty much running non-stop and the keyboard can get pretty warm. Don't even try touching the top by the outlet vents as it gets pretty hot. I'm sure I could mess around with some of the settings to help, but with all the default settings, you need to be wearing headphones with noise cancellation to play this game.
This is one of the flaws I was referring to, but at the same time, it could also be a sign of how well the cooling system works. The whole point of which is to pull heat away from all the critical components so that they can do their job. That heat has to go somewhere, so as hot as the outlet vents get, the system must be doing a good job pulling it away from the processors. This is evidenced by the fact that even at its hottest with its fastest running fans, the game was still performing at its full potential.
But that is only an issue with new high-end games that have some serious requirements. Put in a simpler or older game with lower requirements and this laptop doesn't even flinch. I'm also currently playing through the first Witcher, the Enhanced Edition, and the fans barely kicked on at all for that.
Of course you don't have to only use this laptop for gaming. But as most people know, if you want something that can handle just about any type of school, personal, or business use, a good gaming laptop will have you covered. Because if it can handle the latest top-tier games, there's not really much else it couldn't handle.
In my case, I'm also a content creator. Outside of gaming, editing and creating videos is probably one of the biggest draws on a computers resources. But again, this laptop handles that for me easily.
Performance wise there's not much else more to say. The monitor and graphics, even though not 4K, still look amazing, and being 15", Microsoft Flight Simulator looks as good as it does on my 65" 4K TV being played through my Series X.
And as for aesthetics, this laptop looks the part, and feels solid with great build quality. The lighting is really cool too and I love the LED ring around the back side. Although that light ring can make it hard to see the ports when you're trying to connect a cable or usb to it because it's so bright it drowns everything out. But that's more of a small nitpick
Overall, I truly couldn't be much happier with this laptop. It does everything I want and need it to do and is perfect for flying around the world in Flight Sim. This is my 2nd Alienware product and I have no doubt I'll be using it for years to come like I did my 1st one.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Gaming laptop
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I like this gaming laptop is powerful for gaming and
It’s really nice Excellent condition
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great laptop.
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Posted . Owned for 2 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
It is an amazing laptop, great performance. I love it.
I would recommend this to a friend
Cons mentioned:
Keyboard
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Hype with no delivery
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Bought this laptop today and within 5 minutes after setup the everything becomes really blurry then the screen starts streaking with colors(see photo).
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from YourDellTeam
Posted .
Dear Louden,
We would like to thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. We are sorry to hear that you are not too happy with your Alienware x15 R1 gaming laptop because its screen is not as you expected and it is blurry and the colors are not sharp.
To help with the screen issues, we recommend making sure, that all drivers are current and up to date. I have provided a link to the Drivers and Downloads Page for your Inspiron laptop where you can check for any applicable updates.
We also recommend following these troubleshooting tips:
1. Run the automated tools in SupportAssist to ensure that the drivers and BIOS are up to date and your computer is optimized 2. Verify display or video issue on an external monitor 3. Check for physical damage on the LCD screen 4. Run hardware diagnostics on the LCD screen 5. Verify the display or video issue in Windows Safe Mode 6. Download and install Microsoft Windows Updates 7. Change the video or display settings, and adjust the brightness 8. Touch screen troubleshooting 9. Run a Video Stress Test using Dell SupportAssist 10. Perform a Windows System Restore 11. Restore the computer to factory defaults
The whole article on this subject can be found here:
If the issue with the screen is still not resolved after utilizing the troubleshooting options above, please contact the Dell Support Team at 1-800-624-9896 for further guidance.
Best, Katarina@Dell
Should you need further assistance, you can contact Dell directly with the information below. Chat or call: https://bit.ly/DellSupportTeam Phone number to Dell 1-800-624-9896
Cons mentioned:
Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A Smashing Gaming Experience Like No Other
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Alienware x15 R1 15.6" 360Hz FHD Gaming Laptop – Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 - 512GB SSD is from Dell’s premium gaming laptop group. This new model focuses on leading edge design with slim profile, cool lighting and other esthetics around what can only be called a beast. Not a giant beast, but a svelte beauty of a beast.
Yes, this is Alienware’s thinnest laptop and it’s hefty, weighing in at 5.2 pounds, suggesting that it is best as a transportable rather than a portable. And it is powerful. The new 11th generation Intel Core i7 processor can be driven from its loafing base speed of 2.3 GHz up to Turbo mode at 4.6 GHz through the Alienware Command Center.
Driving it hard, Alienware Cryo-Tech cooling technology is on board to mitigate the heat. Four intelligently controlled, uniquely programmable fans help dissipate heat using Element 31, a gallium-silicone thermal interface material. This paste is state-of-the-art high tech material. Fortunately, those fans are quite effective. They may be a bit loud when the heat is on, though not any louder than on other premium gaming laptops when driven hard.
In daily use as a non-gaming laptop puts this quarter horse in the pasture on vacation. The processor is not called on for much, the fans are still and the x15 responds by providing battery life that can exceed six hours.
Start streaming, crank up the decent sound system, and battery performance decreases accordingly.
In full gaming trim, keep it plugged in and enjoy favorite gaming experiences.
This Alienware rig features DirectX12 Ultimate, which, according to Microsoft, “is the new gold standard for gaming graphics on both PC and the next generation of Xbox consoles: It delivers movie-quality visuals through DirectX Raytracing, boosts framerate through Variable Rate Shading, enables fast game load with beautiful high-resolution textures through Sampler Feedback, and unlocks vast open and detailed worlds through Mesh Shaders. An integral part of Microsoft’s commitment to gaming, DX12 Ultimate works synergistically with other innovations like Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Bar to bring the cohesive and high-performance experiences gamers deserve.” Translation? WOW! Serious gamers want this! Seek out games that take advantage of this high-end technology.
Of course, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 with 8 GB of dedicated video memory takes full advantage of DirectX 12 Ultimate.
This is my first experience with Alienware. I am most impressed.
**WHAT’S IN THE BOX**
• Alienware x15 R1
• 240 Watt AC Adaptor
• US Power cord
• Thunderbolt 4 Type-C to RJ45 dongle for Ethernet connectivity
• Documentation
**THE SETUP**
Even the out-of-box experience is special and exciting. The beauty of the startup experience portends the future. Plugged in and fired up, the sharp and excellently defined keyboard backlighting springs to life with a colorful demo dance of epic LED proportions. The bright white oval ringed LED-based light around the rear ports and the pro-touch of the same white LED ring near the tip of the power supply plug screams of detail worthy of the finest street-legal supercar. This is really something to see, even before using it.
I had to show it off to others during setup because I knew everyone else at home had never seen anything like this beauty, a reveal of intention courtesy of Dell’s Alienware division.
Ports and Slots:
2 Type-C ports supporting Thunderbolt 4 for up to 40Gbps data transfers that can also serve as an additional display output for external monitors
1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port with PowerShare up to 10Gbps
1 Headset jack
1 MicroSD port
1 HDMI 2.1 port for native 4K/120Hz output to an external display
It was a welcome treat to be able to use the 720P webcam with IR sensors to set up facial recognition in Windows Hello. Sign on is near instant with Windows Hello.
All set up, dressed in its best finery and ready to go, it was time to . . . Put it to the test.
**PUT TO THE TEST**
Oh! My! Goodness! Could I overstate my delight with this Alienware x15? No, that is not possible. I’ve had many computers, including higher end Windows PCs for gaming and everyday use, but nothing so elegant and stylish, and powerful. How technology has advanced in the last few years! Personal gushing aside, it’s time to discuss the gaming experience.
With so many games from which to choose, I wanted to be sure to go for those that showcase the awesome specs inside. My choices were World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, Godfall, and Dirt 5, taking advantage of the included digital token for 1-month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
One by one, I downloaded and played all three of the above titles. While there are other laptop configurations that can play these games, this package provides noticeably fine stutter-free motion with stunning and lifelike images, a premium experience like no other at this price point of which I am aware.
**IS IT UPGRADABLE?**
RAM is soldered to the motherboard and is not upgradable. With the performance profile experienced, it is not likely that users will be disappointed with this configuration.
There is an available internal slot for another SSD. Why? For avid gamers, the 512 GB SSD inside can reach capacity without much effort and this added slot can accommodate a larger SSD card.
**CONCLUSION**
In conclusion, my introduction to Alienware has been the most rewarding ever on a Windows laptop. This premium gaming laptop was born to please and is providing non stop satisfaction whether gaming or pounding it hard with everyday tasks. Highly recommended without reservation.
**WARRANTY**
1 Year Parts & Labor Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance, Speed
Cons mentioned:
Heat
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Wish it delivered more…
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Posted . Owned for 10 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I recently acquired the Alienware x15 R1 gaming laptop in November 2022 as a open box purchase from Best Buy, and my experience has been a bit of a mixed bag.
On the positive side, this laptop is lightning-fast, and it handles almost all games with impressive speed and performance. It's a gaming powerhouse that certainly lives up to the Alienware reputation in terms of processing power.
However, there are a few significant downsides to mention. The sound quality is disappointingly bad, and I've had ongoing issues with the software installation process, which can be quite frustrating. At times, the system experiences crashes, which can disrupt the gaming experience.
Additionally, the laptop tends to get quite hot, especially during intense gaming sessions. This heating issue is something I wish wasn't as pronounced.
In summary, the Alienware x15 R1 gaming laptop is a double-edged sword. While it delivers exceptional gaming speed and performance, it falls short in terms of sound quality, software stability, and temperature control. If you prioritize gaming performance and can overlook these issues, it might be worth considering, especially if you got it at a good price second-hand in November 2022.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
defective just open it
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
display is broken just after start.It just broke when I open it. So disappointed.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from YourDellTeam
Posted .
Dear RayRay,
Thank you very much for your valued feedback. We are sorry to hear about the issues you have come across with your Alienware x15 gaming laptop because its display is broken. This is certainly not what we like to hear from our loyal customers. We will share your comment about this issue with our quality team, so future improvements can be made. Please reach out to our Dell Support Team at the information provided below at your earliest convenience so we can help resolve this issue.
Best, Katarina@Dell
Should you need further assistance, you can contact Dell directly with the information below. Chat or call: https://bit.ly/DellSupportTeam Phone number to Dell
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Beauty with Beast (mode)
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is the first laptop I have unboxed since my very first one about 12 years back, where I just went "Wow!" at how beautiful it is. The styling is going to blow you away. And not just the laptop itself, its even the way its packed. It's as if you are unwrapping a book. A book capable of shredding any AAA games out there. The care Alienware has taken to ensure your unboxing itself is an experience, definitely shows. Once you have marveled at the box and the laptop's styling, it's time to turn it on.
And now you are in the realm of the beast, you will notice immediately that this is snappier than any other laptop you've used. This feeling even when you are not playing, has to do with the great specs and also the emaculate display and the super responsive touch pad. You get the premium feeling in everything you do. Although the touch pad is a bit on the smaller side, compared to other modern machines, I am willing to make that sacrifice on a gaming laptop (since I'll hook it up to an external mouse anyways).
Well, enough talk - time to throw some games at it. But before that, you need to open the software for Alien ware Command Center and tweak what you need to.
There are 1-click options to overclock (2 modes), options to control how you would like the fans to behave (quiet, balance, battery saver, performance or full speed) - full speed just keeps your fans on high speed no matter what you are doing, even if you are browsing the net, and they are SUPER loud, so I wouldn't use it unless your situation demands it. You have a few sounds modes to choose from and power profile (balanced or Performance) - this takes over from the normal Windows power profiles, so you cannot change it from the task bar, and have to use this utility.
Once you have set it up according to your needs and preferences, you can load your choice of game and be confident that this machine will not disappoint. I have been playing a lot of GTA 5 on it (and I know it's an older game) but it still puts any system through its paces and I have not had the frame rate drop through any of the sequences. But with this laptop and this display I had to try Counter Strike, now I've seen videos online of how a great refresh rate gives you an advantage in FPS. I am not an elite level gamer, and I am not sure if this gave me an advantage, but it sure made playing a lot of fun, where you can definitely notice that the screen movement and draw rate is smoother. It's not something you can measure, but as soon as you load up the maps, you can just perceive how strafing and jumping just feels smoother and that adds to the fun.
Now onto some of my minor complaints about the laptop - I really wish they had found a way to fit a full size ethernet port in here. They do have a USB-C to RJ45 adapter in the box, but then that takes up one of my USB ports, and this only has 3 USB ports to begin with. I am happy though that they managed to squeeze in power delivery over USB-C, that was my complaint with the latest ASUS gaming laptop. Now the USB-C might not be able to deliver the power this thing needs for performance gaming, but at least in a pinch you can use your common USB-C charger to keep the system alive. Another issue I have is that some of the keys for me are a bit sticky, I am really hoping that this is going to get better, the more I use it, otherwise it might ruin the experience. And this a plea to all manufactures, to include a mechanical privacy switch on the camera, and if possible the microphone too. I am so used to it on all of my thin and lights that it just feels odd not to have that option on my gaming laptop. We all need it.
If you haven't gathered by now, I am definitely recommending this laptop to anyone and everyone who asks or otherwise.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Design
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Keyboard
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Great Laptop with some Caveats
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Posted . Owned for 2 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
What a machine! This Alienware x15 really meets my expectations on Dell's hardware and manufacturing know-how on striking a great balance of a slim (not light) and fantastic looking machine. Since having had an Alienware back in 2001, there's always been a mythos around the brand so I was very excited to pick this up at a great price when the time came to replace an older laptop. Personally, I wish BestBuy offered more display options such as the 2k panel since this machine could do it. The GPU pushes very reasonable FPS while raytracing while offering the highest graphical fidelity currently on the market. Running all Triple-A titles on High and some on Ultra is a cinch. I especially appreciate that the SSDs can be swapped/upgraded and the same can be said about the Wifi module. Even the option to refresh the thermal paste is there and that speaks to the engineering in the machine. The laptop runs relatively quiet for a device in it's category but your tolerance of it will vary. The device is a powerhouse and with that in mind, there's a lot that can be forgiven. That being said, there are other laptops that can push higher wattage to their GPUs which does outpace the x15 in raw performance. Not to mention, this doesn't have the newest 12th Gen Intel, nor is this housing the Nvidia "TI" version of the card, but I find that with photo editing and other normal functions, the 8 core 11th Gen is absolutely fine and will be for many years to come. The same points can be emphasized even more about the TI version, as it is a minimal gain because the R2 version is the same wattage. So in my opinion, it's really not that huge of a deal. What would really be surprising is if the R2 had upgradable RAM, which is the only thing you would not be able to upgrade past purchase. If you are looking for an outright performer, there are other options for you. Upgradability of those said machines will be all over the place. Of course, the x15 is not without it's flaws. Battery life isn't great, maybe about 3-4 hours if set to the lowest power settings and depending on what you're doing. The display isn't the best at color accuracy but it's far from the worst. The brightness is only 300 nits, and the arrow keys are in an awkward place. There's also the issue of the secondary keyboard functions not being lit and the rear ports are difficult to make out because of how bright the light ring can be, but I'm nitpicking here. The only annoyance I did have was the keyboard would miss keystrokes; specifically, the initial key pressed. It seems like Windows is putting the keyboard to sleep as a power saving measure. The solution was to go into Device Manager and prevent Windows from putting the hardware to sleep when not in use. That said, I very much enjoy the laptop for what it is. I knew going in what it's capable of, and the trade-offs of what this laptop had to make to be what it is. The x15 is truly a device that is greater than the sum of it's parts. It's the way the parts are packaged, the way it's presented, and the software pulling it all together. The x15 does a lot of things right; that's why the R2 is such a small step forward which speaks volumes about this machine.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Thin, sleek, and full of power
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I decided to test this laptop because I wanted to see if Dell had worked out the issues I experienced with the Alienware laptop I tested a few years ago... so far, it appears they have.
Unboxing an Alienware machine is an experience of its own; Dell manages to even make the box impressive. Of course after opening the box, you can see that this laptop itself is no slouch. The first thing you notice is how thin, sleek, and relatively light this laptop is. The alloy frame gives it a solid, quality feel, and opening the lid reveals a well laid out keyboard/touchpad area, although the keys feel a bit stiffer than the previous Alienware I tested. My hands also feel a bit more cramped on this keyboard compared to the similarly sized laptops I've used in the past, but it's not a show stopper. Pressing the power button started the familiar kaleidoscope of colors flashing over every key of the keyboard. I decided to go ahead and hook up the power adapter at this point because I knew there would be updates for the system. One thing I noticed is that the power adapter has rounded edges, which prevents the adapter from being placed on its side; I place all of my adapters, when possible, on an edge to help with heat dissipation, and this adapter does get rather warm. Updating the system was fairly straight-forward, but I did have some trouble with the bios update. All of the other system updates were applied without an issue, but the Alienware Update as well as Support Assist couldn't apply the bios. I finally had to download it manually and then it applied without any problem... I believe the problem might have been with Bitlocker. After the system was updated, I attempted to update the graphics driver through Nvidia's GForce Experience. This also failed, but after another reboot, the driver was able to be installed without issue.
As far as gameplay goes, as of now, I've only installed World of Tanks, but the performance of this laptop is unbelievably good. The rendering on the display is gorgeous, and even on battery power, and high to max graphics settings, play was smooth and free of any jerkiness. However, using those settings, it was apparent that the battery wouldn't have lasted very long, but the CPU and GPU are power hungry, so what can you expect. I decided to hook the laptop up to my 34" 4k curved gaming monitor using the HDMI port, and this is where I wondered if I'd ever use the laptop display again unless I'm travelling; With the graphics set at ultra with 4k resolution in HDR mode, I got an average of 120 fps. The rendering was very smooth with no jerks at all even with the render distance setting in the game set to max. Since there is no dedicated ethernet port, even though I usually game with a cable when I can to cut latency to a minimum, I decided to just go with WiFi and see how it did. My ping hovers around 35ms which is only slightly higher than hardwired. One thing I was concerned about with this laptop is heat dissipation since it's so thin, and the previous Alienware I tested did have some initial heat concerns until they pushed out a BOIS update. So far, I haven't seen anything like that from this laptop. It does get very warm, and the area between the keys and the display gets almost hot to the touch, but the fans seem to be able to create more airflow than the earlier model, so the temps for the CPU and GPU are kept at an acceptable level. However, even at full power, the fans are nowhere as loud as the previous model I tested; you can hear them, but they're not overly loud; I had no trouble having the laptop right beside me and listening to the TV at the same time.
Of course you can customize the LED coloring of the keyboard to your liking using the Alienware Command Center, so I was anxious to see if I experienced the same problems I ran into with the previous laptop. Since I have several Logitech gaming devices, I installed Logitech's GHub software on the *previous* machine, and slowly everything started to go south; the screen saver stopped working, the lights on the keyboard changed to random colors, and then one day I powered it on and the keyboard was dead. Dell replaced the keyboard, which did nothing. They wound up replacing the motherboard as well as some of the other internal components. I was told the problem initially started with a conflict between the Alienware Command Center and the GHub software. Needless to say I was hesitant to install GHub on this laptop, but I decided to try. So far, I've seen no issues at all. I used a USB hub to connect a Logitech keyboard, mouse and headset, as well as a Belkin gaming pad... everything worked flawlessly. The conflict that existed between ACC and GHub has evidently been resolved... I hope I didn't just jinx it.
Overall, the Alienware Horizon x15 R1 laptop is gorgeous; it looks great and feels solidly built. It's slim, weighs almost nothing, and yet gives a ton of performance. The gameplay is stunning, and although the laptop does seem to run on the warm side, I haven't seen any of heat related the issues I saw in the Alienware laptop I tested a few years ago. I also haven't seen the major software incompatibility problems that caused me to send the previous laptop back for major repair, so I'm hoping they've truly worked out the kinks. I would definitely recommend this laptop for anyone wanting a very capable gaming laptop..
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Speed
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Heat, Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
great little laptop
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great study laptop. I was comming from a MSI gs60 and needed something as slim as the gs60. This was a great choice. Love the portability and the performance of this laptop and most of all, love the service department of dell.
Pros
Great build
fast
amazing screen
Cons
Camera sucks
Sound sucks
Battery life was only 3-4 hrs when I used it
Runs super hot, so the internalls are around 70-85C and it burns externally
512 bg ram !
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Refresh rate
Cons mentioned:
Keyboard, Ram
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
This is the better of the 2 new X models.
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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.
The size of the X15 is the sweet spot if you want a real mobile Gaming Laptop.
The 360hz screen with Advanced Optimus is awesome. Not that bright but adequate.
The 2 Major issues is the Ram is not upgradable which we all knew going into this, but the real shocker is the SSD that's included is a Gen 3 PCIE drive.
Not sure why they wouldn't include a Gen 4 SSD in such a high end unit, but it's the same corner cutting tactic used in the X17 with the slower Ram.
The 3070 Performs very well in this unit, but in late 2021 32Ggb of Ram is a must. Especially in a high end unit like this.
Not sure if the 3080 with the 32gb of ram is worth $3000. Luckily it's been out of stock since it became available.
I would say get this if you only care about gaming and doing nothing else.
FYI... I did have some issues with my keyboard lagging a bit, but a clean re-install fixed that issue.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Design, Performance
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Awesome laptop!
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Posted . Owned for 6 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
It can play any game I throw at it and the laptops design and light schemes are awesome. Best laptop I've ever had, highly recommend for gaming.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Almost perfect
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Posted . Owned for 7 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Honestly all in all its a pretty well rounded machine. Im not a tech person by any means but id give this 5 stars if It didnt come with a bug i had to work out.
It plays all the games i enjoy, including recent titles coming out. I can even do the occasional live stream if i want, or heck watch a movie and play a game at the same time with external monitor setup.
If you can afford it, definitely get one. Im pretty happy with this. Even though its my first alienware lol
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance, Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Love it!
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Posted . Owned for more than 2 years when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Love this laptop! Runs fast, I can play any game wirh it. No complaints. Its been 2 years and its like fresh out of the box.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance
Cons mentioned:
Battery life, Fan noise
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
amazing
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Posted . Owned for 2 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The performance is undoubtably amazing. I only have 3 bad things to say about this.
1. The speakers audio quality is not good.
2. While playing and charging, you will hear the loudest fans from a laptop, when playing and not charging it is okay.
3. The battery life, which is expected since it is a 15.6 in display running art 360hz.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance, Refresh rate
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
ALIENWARE 51
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Posted . Owned for 8 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Ultimate gaming laptop, can be over clocked but dosent really need to. The refresh rate and the ablity to handel the load is what sets it apart from others