T
he Alienware m15 follows
squarely in the footsteps of
the Alienware Area-51m.
When that absolute unit of a laptop
was revealed back at CES 2018 we
were completely blown away not
only for its upgradeability but also
its clean ‘Legend ID’ design
language. And now that design
language is present in a gaming
laptop you can actually carry
around with you.
That design language carries
over remarkably well, making it one
of the most stylish gaming laptops
on the market right now, and even
rivals the MSI GS65 Stealth – the
difference between those two
laptops is ultimately going to boil
down to taste.
On top of that raw, unadulterated
style, of course, is the power that
this laptop holds. To be fair, the
Alienware m15 we tested was the
most expensive model in the
lineup, but it was able to absolutely
destroy basically any game we
threw at it – even the incredibly
demanding Red Dead Redemption
2 from Rockstar.
One thing that may disappoint
some folks (but excite others) is the
display. At this price point, some
may be expecting to see a 4K OLED
panel at 60Hz, and while that
sounds good in theory, laptop
computing hardware isn’t exactly
great at that resolution yet,
especially in games. Instead, you’re
getting a 1080p display at 240Hz
– something much better for
gaming, though a lower resolution.
In a lot of ways, the Alienware
m15 is the new gold standard for
thin and light gaming laptops. We
just wish that it had a better
trackpad and speakers to really take
the experience to the next level.Hardware and design
Since this is a gaming laptop from
Alienware, you can stuff it with the
most powerful laptop hardware
on the market, but you’ll have topay for it. The highest-end
configuration you can buy in-store- which is the version we reviewed
here – will set you back £2,518, but
there are even higher-tier options if
you buy online. (Also, keep in mind
that in the UK, that high-end price
tag only comes with a 256GB SSD,
compared to the 1TB provided for
both the US and Australia.)
As the years go on, Alienware
design keeps getting better. Now,
we should explain that we prefer
cleaner aesthetics when it comes
to gaming laptops - those edgy
‘gamer’ designs just turn us off. The
new Legend ID design language
that Alienware has been using
throughout 2019 works extremely
well for a laptop in this category.
The laptop comes in two finishes - Lunar Light and Dark Side of the
Moon – which are essentially white
and black, respectively. The model
we got in for review is the Lunar
Light model, and if you like the
aesthetic of white-colored tech like
From£1,349 | $1,232 http://www.dell.co.uk
Finally,a portablegaminglaptopfromAlienware
Images: AlienwareF £1 349 |$ 1232 dll k
80 |^ |^ March 2020