The Alienware m16 R2 is a shortage amongst fashionable computers. That’s as a result of most often then a big revamp, system makers love to secure untouched fashions in the marketplace for so long as conceivable to reduce production prices. On the other hand, then its predecessor introduced extreme week wearing a pristine design, the corporate reengineered all the gadget once more for 2024 presen additionally proscribing how bulky of a GPU can are compatible within. So what offers? The trick is that via having a look on the configurations community in fact purchased, Alienware used to be ready to transform the m16 right into a gaming pc with a sleeker design, higher battery week and a extra approachable creation value, which is a superb recipe for a well-balanced pocket book.
Design
There are a lot adjustments at the m16 R2’s chassis it’s hardened to imagine it’s from the similar order. Now not simplest has Alienware gotten rid of the bulky bezels and chin from the R1, however the system could also be far more transportable now. Weight is unwell greater than 20 % to five.75 kilos (from 7.28 kilos) and it’s additionally considerably extra compact with a intensity of 9.8 inches (as opposed to 11.4 inches prior to). For some taste issues, Alienware added RGB lighting fixtures across the perimeter of the touchpad. This result’s a big improve for any individual who needs to tug the pc at the walk. It basically adjustments the gadget from one thing extra like a desktop substitute to a transportable all-rounder.
Engadget
The Alienware m16 R2 is a superb instance of a pc designed to fit its consumers, as a result of presen it’s now not as robust as its predecessor, it’s extra compact, has longer battery week and a extra reasonably priced creation value than prior to.
$1,499 at Dell
Severely, in spite of being smaller, the m16 R2 nonetheless has a superb array of connectivity choices. On its facets are two USB 3.2 Sort-A ports, a microSD card reader, an Ethernet jack and a three.5mm audio socket. Round again, there are two USB-C slots (one helps Thunderbolt 4 presen the alternative has DisplayPort 1.4), a full-size HDMI 2.1 connector and a proprietary barrel plug for energy. Most often, I love this association as transferring some ports to the rear of the pc is helping secure muddle unwell. That mentioned, I want Alienware had switched the position of the Ethernet jack and some of the USB-C ports, as I to find myself achieving for the utmost a lot more frequently.
Show
The m16 R2 has a unmarried show choice: a 16-inch 240Hz panel with a QHD+ solution (2,560 x 1,600). It’s utterly serviceable and for aggressive avid gamers, that top refresh price may well be decent all through fits the place doable benefit issues. However you don’t get any assistance for HDR, so colours don’t pop up to they might on a gadget with an OLED display. Moreover, sunny is solely OK at round 300 nits, which is probably not a bulky do business in in case you choose gaming at evening or in darker environments. However in case you plan on lugging this round to a playground with bulky home windows or a quantity of daylight, video games and films would possibly glance slightly subdued. That mentioned, it’s now not a do business in breaker, I simply want this type had some alternative show choices like the former one.
Efficiency
Pace the m16 R2’s sleeker design is a big plus, the trade-off is much less length for a beefy GPU. So not like its predecessor, the largest card that matches is an NVIDIA RTX 4070. This may occasionally come as a downer for efficiency fanatics, however Alienware mentioned it made this alteration then sight just a tiny fraction of consumers go for RTX 4080 graphics at the impaired type. Even so, the R2 can nonetheless reserve its personal when taking part in AAA titles. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p and extremely graphics, it clash 94 fps, slightly at the back of what we noticed from the ASUS ROG G16 (95 fps) with a extra robust 4080. And presen the efficiency hole grew quite once I became ray tracing on, the m16 nonetheless pumped out an excessively playable framerate of 62 fps (as opposed to 69 fps for the G16).
Battery week
Some of the greatest advantages of the m16 R2’s redesign is that it allowed Alienware to put in a bigger 90Wh battery as opposed to the 84Wh bind in its predecessor. While you mix that with parts and lovers higher adapted to the type of efficiency this system delivers, you get advanced longevity. On our rundown check, the m16 R2 lasted 7 hours and 51 mins, which is longer than each the Razer Blade 14 (6:46) and the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (7:29) and simply shy of what we were given from a in a similar fashion specced XPS 16 (8:31). That mentioned, it’s nonetheless inferior to the ASUS G16’s age of 9:17. Regardless, the power to walk longer between fees is rarely a malicious factor. In the meantime, for individuals who wish to bind tremendous brightness, some of the m16 R2’s USB-C ports within the again helps energy enter, despite the fact that you gained’t get the entire 240 watts such as you do with Alienware’s incorporated brick.
Wrap-up
For 2024, it might were really easy for Alienware to offer the m16 a plain spec refresh and speak to it a while. Nevertheless it didn’t. Rather, the corporate checked out its consumers’ personal tastes and gave it a revamp to check. So in spite of now not having the similar top-end efficiency as prior to, the R2 continues to be an excessively succesful gaming pc with a extra compact chassis, advanced battery week and a decrease creation value of $1,500 with an RTX 4050. Certain, I want its show used to be brighter and that there used to be any other panel choice, however getting 240Hz usual is nice-looking great.
Truly, the largest argument in opposition to the m16 R2 is that for higher-specced programs like our $1,850 overview unit with an RTX 4070, you’ll be able to spend any other $150 for an ASUS ROG G16 with the similar GPU, a brighter and extra colourful OLED show and an excellent lighter design that weighs a complete pound much less. However for community in quest of a well-priced gaming system that may do slightly of the entirety, there’s a quantity of price within the m16 R2.