Yo what up gamers Its your boy Leo straight outta LA. Im a gaming fanatic been in the review game for a hot minute know whats what in the digital streets.

Got my crib at 3215 Overland Ave Los Angeles California(CA) 90034. Today were diving deep into the Alienware x16 R2. This machine is lookin kinda fly so lets break it down.

Dope Design and Solid Build

Peep this the Alienware x16 R2 got that classic Alienware vibe know what I mean? Its got that nostalgic feel that takes you back to the good ol days of gaming.

 This thing is surprisingly thin for a gaming laptop that packs some serious heat. I was lowkey impressed by how much power they crammed into this sleek chassis.

The way they cool this beast is kinda genius with that vent action on the back all lit up with RGB lights. Its totally on brand.

And yeah that iconic alien head logo is still there shinin bright with RGB. The trackpad? It might be a little smaller than some but its glass and lights up too for that ultimate gamer flex.

The click on this trackpad? Man its super satisfying feels different from my other rigs. Overall the build quality is topnotch.

No cheap flexin anywhere from the screen to the keys to the bottom. This is a premium gaming laptop for sure.

Gotta shoutout those rubber feet on the bottom theyre clutch for gettin that airflow keepin things cool.

Killer Keyboard Feel

Listen up if youre all about that tactile feedback you gotta check out the optional mechanical keyboard on this thing.

 My review unit had the Cherry MX ultra low profile joints and let me tell you as a keyboard enthusiast this thing is worth it.

Each key press feels like youre typin on a real keyboard not some mushy laptop keys. The sound? Its fire. But heres the catch if you want that Cherry MX goodness you gotta go for a higherspec model.

So instead of a Core Ultra 7 youre lookin at a Core Ultra 9. And instead of a lowertier GPU youre bumped up to an RTX 4080 with 32 gigs of RAM.

Seems kinda extra just for the keyboard but hey you get what you pay for.

Powerhouse Performance Inside

Alright lets talk muscle. This aint gonna be the fastest gaming rig on the block but its definitely up there with the best especially with that Intel Core Ultra 9 185h processor and the RTX 4080 with 12 gigs of VRAM and a 175watt TGP.

Its runnin Intels Meteor Lake chipset with Intel Arc integrated graphics. Plus you get 32 gigs of RAM thats super quick.

They hooked it up with a 1TB SSD and you can even upgrade that later if you need more space. This beast comes with a hefty 360W power brick which youll need to unlock its full potential.

I mostly kept this thing plugged in and in performance mode during my tests. Even when it wasnt plugged in the performance dip wasnt too crazy.

From my time with this laptop it felt way smoother than some other rigs runnin the same chipset. This could be thanks to the better cooling or that higher wattage GPU.

On Geekbench in performance mode it hit a multicore score of 1442 and a singlecore score of 229. The GPU scored 158159.

In Cinebench 2024 it got 111 points for multicore and 110 points for singlecore with the GPU clockin 1762 points.

In real gaming this thing crushes it gettin smooth frames in all sorts of games. Cyberpunk 2077 on high or ultra settings?

No sweat mostly above 140 frames per second in performance mode. Even hookin it up to a highend monitor didnt cause any issues.

Just gotta be ready for those fans to get a little loud when youre pushin it in performance mode. But thats pretty standard for gaming laptops and it keeps things cool.

Visuals On Point (Mostly)

The display here is a 16inch IPS with a 2560 x 1600 resolution. Its got that antiglare coating which some folks dig but I usually prefer glossy for richer colors.

Still it covers 100% of the DCI P3 color gamut and has a 240Hz refresh rate with a 3ms response time. So colors are accurate and its smooth for gaming.

Now heres where things get a little shady. The brightness on this panel felt kinda weak. Compared to my other laptops it was noticeably dimmer.

 For gaming especially for me I like at least 500 nits of brightness. This one felt more like 300 to 350 nits. For a laptop at this price thats a bit of a letdown.

Other laptops out there got way better and brighter screens for less cash. What wouldve been killer is an OLED display option. Were almost halfway through 2024 and more gaming laptops need this.

Alienware makes some of the best OLED monitors so why not on their laptops?. Even a standard OLED with at least 450 nits at 120Hz or 240Hz would be a gamechanger at this price.

Dell does offer a 16inch XPS 16 with a 4K OLED but its capped at 400 nits and 90Hz. For a gaming beast like this we need at least 2.5K at 240Hz with 450 to 500 nits sustained brightness.

Battery Blues

Alright lets keep it real the battery life aint the greatest. If youre gaming without being plugged in expect a performance hit which is normal.

But the real bummer is youre probably only gonna get around an hour of playtime with heavy games.

Its got a 90Wh battery which is similar to some competitors but smaller than others. And with that Core Ultra 9 processor which should be more efficient youd hope for better.

Crank up the brightness turn on all the RGBs and this thing might die in under an hour.

On the plus side it can charge up to a decent wattage using one of the USB ports so you can get some juice without lugging that massive 360W brick around.

Performance wont be maxed out but itll still run better than on battery alone. For everyday stuff like browsing and videos you might squeeze out around 5 hours in silent mode which is decent for a powerful laptop like this but not the best you can find.

Port Situation

Now lets talk about the plugs. While I dig that rear exhaust vent with all the ports Id love to see some more ports on the sides.

Some other laptops with similar designs still manage to sneak in some useful side ports.

Having all the ports in the back makes for a clean setup which is cool but it can be a pain to reach around and find the right one.

Especially when youre tryin to plug in your headphones. Maybe ditch the mini DisplayPort and micro SD slot for a couple more USB ports? Just a thought.

This Alienware x16 R2 packs two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports with PowerShare one USBC 3.2 Gen 2 port with DisplayPort one Thunderbolt 4 port with Power Delivery and DisplayPort one headset jack and one HDMI 2.1 port.

It also has a microSDcard slot. All these connections are located on the rear of the laptop.

The Final Verdict

So to wrap it up the Alienware x16 R2 is a seriously awesome gaming laptop that looks as good as it performs.

But there are a couple of drawbacks like that not so bright screen and the rear port placement. For a hefty price tag you gotta really weigh those pros and cons.

Right now its listed around ₹369990.00. Some retailers might offer it starting at $2099. Our test model clocked in at $3199.

At that higher price there might be other laptops out there that give you better performance and a brighter screen for similar or even less money.

However if you can snag it on sale in that $2500 to $2600 range it becomes a much more tempting pickup.

If and when Alienware drops an OLED screen on the next version thatll be a total game changer. For now keep an eye out for those deals.

This is your boy Leo signing off from the heart of Los Angeles. Catch you in the next review…

Resource

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaeAIHD5Pik

https://www.dellstore.com/alienware-x16-r2-laptop-canx162cto02rin.html

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/alienware-x16-r2

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