Alienware x15 R1 - Review
Innovation is the name of the game in the laptop world. Being able to meet a user’s needs in a wide array of areas at once is key to having a successful device. Powerful, yet quiet. Up to modern spec but still light and thin. Alienware have really been pushing the envelope with their design philosophy and making inroads in vastly more versatile units. The Alienware x15 is the newest competitor in this ever expanding and challenging notebook market.
Straight out of the box there is two big things of note with the x15. The weight and the thinness. It’s incredibly light, and it’s incredibly thin comparative to most other gaming laptops on the market boasting RTX 3070 and 3080 GPUs. The unit itself only weighs 2.36kgs, and I found that the box it came in, was actually far heavier than the laptop itself. The thin size of the laptop is what is truly surprising here. Despite having a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, it was only just over 16mm high. It is insanely thin compared to a lot of the previous generations of notebooks coming out of Alienware.
This raised an early set of concerns with me, one was that for a laptop so thin, yet so powerful, how hot was it going to get, and the reduction of plug-in slots, such as USB. Alienware are using their Quad Fan design for the unit, which produces dedicated airflow using evacuative fans and dual opposite outlet fans. Alongside this, they are using an Element 31 thermal interface material made of a Gallium-Silicone matrix that delivers a 25% improvement in thermal resistance over previous generations. What does this mean? The unit runs pretty smoothly and doesn’t attempt to melt the skin from your bone. When pumping Far Cry 6 at highest settings and using the HD Textures, you’ll feel the heat, there is no way around that. Pushing the unit is going to push the body and it’s going to heat up.
I found however, when running in high performance mode (which you can activate with a simple Function key press) it managed to maintain a good temp, not something totally unbearable, that you wouldn’t be able to have it on your lap. Also interestingly, unlike in the M15 R5/R6 the fans don’t appear to run quite as loud in performance mode. The x15 overall sounds a lot quieter when in use, and that fans don’t sound like jet engines trying to cool a volcano. Running the laptop for longer periods will result in a gradual increase in temp, but I never found that it became too intolerable.
The downside to this thin design with spec and sleekness in mind, is the loss of USB ports. I am a big advocate for having more USB access on a laptop. The biggest issue someone will run in to, particularly a person using this gaming unit for gaming, is this lack of USB and dedicated Ethernet slot. The laptop comes with a USB-C to Ethernet adaptor, so that you can have a dedicated wired connection to the laptop. The problem with this, is that there is 2 USB-C slots and one standard USB. That’s it, 3 in total, and if you’re using a dedicated wired connection, you’re going to only have 2 left. The second USB-C slot appears to be assumed for USB-C charging, which is definitely the way forward. The problem here is the choice in providing both a USB-C charging slot as well as an AC Adaptor plug-in on the side. I feel the x15 really should have bit the bullet here and gone all in on the USB-C charging, which would have given them the ability to replace the AC Adaptor spot with at least one to two other USB slots. If you have any intention of using your own mouse and keyboard, you’re going to have to invest in a USB hub of sorts.
The in-built keyboard is similar in feeling to that of the M15 R5/R6, they keys feeling a little sturdier and a little less plastic under the fingers which I appreciated. The lighting experience is back again here, allowing for you to customise your backlight as you see fit. Upon boot the keyboard has a rolling RGB rainbow effect before settling to a nice blue backlight which I felt was perfectly fine to leave untouched. For the person who wants to use the RGB to its full ability, there is 90 micro-LEDs in the rear stadium lighting zone alone in the 15 (and 100 in the x17). You can also customise the Alien head, keyboard and power button lights as well, giving the gamer who likes to have a really pretty looking set up the ability to have a lighting field day.
The biggest selling point for me, and what will really get this over the line for an avid gamer, however, is the ComfortView Plus, hardware based low blue light technology. As someone who has blue light filters in their day-to-day glasses, having a hardware based low blue light technology available, that doesn’t degrade picture quality at all, is a big selling point. Essentially meaning, that if you are playing for longer sessions, you effectively won’t feel as much eye strain as you would with a standard monitor or other on the market laptop. Less eye strain means less headaches and results in longer sessions of gaming, video editing or anything you find yourself doing in front of the screen.
If you’re in the market for something on the high-end of gaming laptops, but also need something that is going to be light and easy to carry around for day-to-day life, or to take venues for work reasons, the x15 is definitely one to look for. A little higher on the price side than some others, you’re getting an incredibly powerful unit, in a unbelievably thin body and it’s very light too. If you’re only needing a mouse to plug in and aren’t too fussed about needing a dedicated wired connection, then you’ll find no better unit than the x15.
The Score
8.0
Review unit provided by Alienware
The Pros
+Incredibly light & thin
+Cooling technology effective
+Powerful specs
+Hardware based low blue light technology
The Cons
-Lack of USB slots
-Keyboard still feels lacklustre
-AC Adaptor feels unnecessary
