A totally retooled gaming mothership

Alienware is at its greatest when it makes no-holds-barred gaming machines which might be massive on model and efficiency. By reviving an iconic nameplate and mixing it with an all-new design packing some significantly intergalactic vibes, the Alienware 16 Area-51 laptop computer is simply that. Sure, it is so massive and heavy that you just will not need to transfer it round fairly often. And battery life be damned, as a result of in the event you aren’t plugged in, you most likely aren’t pushing these pixels exhausting sufficient. But in the event you’re available in the market for a basic desktop-replacement gaming pocket book with flagship specs and an unmistakable aesthetic, this rig represents a beastly return to type. 

Design: A revamped spaceship

Alienware’s industrial design is to this point on the market that its techniques have nearly grow to be a shorthand for gamer tradition in movies and TV. But for this technology, I feel the corporate has executed an awesome job of making one thing distinctive that is additionally a bit extra refined than earlier than. To begin, there’s Alienware’s “Liquid Teal” paint job. It’s the one out there shade and in individual, it appears to be like extra just like the form of deep emerald inexperienced you’d see on a automobile as a result of manner it shifts and shimmers relying on the sunshine. As at all times, there’s Alienware’s basic emblem in the course of the lid, full with customizable lighting. On the within, there are good touches like RGB-lit followers, punchy up-firing audio system and a clicky mechanical keyboard with deep journey that reminds you that in the event you aren’t utilizing this method to frag some enemies from time to time, you are most likely doing it fallacious. 

My favourite design aspect is the little window on the underside of the laptop computer. At first, this looks as if overkill, as a result of simply like men’s shoes, how typically do you actually take a look at the underside of a PC? But if desktop PCs can have glass panels that showcase the insides of the machines, why not laptops too? More importantly, Alienware’s raised Cryo Chamber (that is its technical title) improves thermals because of elevated airflow and a hidden exhaust that helps transfer warmth away from essential parts just like the GPU. Even so, the vent’s placement means you are still not going to need to use this in your lap for extended intervals (particularly whereas gaming). But as a characteristic that may usually be purely practical, Alienware’s resolution is intelligent and classy. 

Of course, the draw back to including additional glass to an already hefty pocket book is that it makes this factor even much less travel-friendly. Weighing 7.5 kilos, the Alienware 16 Area-51 is definitely nearer to a typical 18-inch pocket book like a Dell 18 Pro Max (7.2 kilos) than a similarly-sized non-gaming machine. On prime of that, whereas the Area-51 affords a wealth of connectivity choices (three USB-A, two USB-C and HDMI 2.1), most of its ports are within the again. That’s nice for protecting cables tidy and out of the way in which, however they’re a bit more durable to succeed in, which reinforces the notion that you just will not be shifting this PC round very a lot. I simply want Alienware had made room for a single USB-C port someplace on both facet. Having a full-size SD card reader and three.5mm audio on the left is tremendous useful for shortly transferring media or plugging in headphones, however it might have been good to have yet another spot for equipment like thumb drives so you would keep away from fumbling round within the again. 

Display: Bright and quick, however extra selection can be good

The Alienware 16 Area-51 packs a 2,560 x 1,600 show with a 240Hz refresh fee, G-Sync assist and 500 nits of brightness. In a vacuum, it is a actually strong panel. It has a matte coating to cut back reflections whereas nonetheless producing vibrant colours that look good even in sunny rooms. My solely gripe is that for a flagship system, I’d have favored to see another show choices. 

For demanding players, or folks planning to make use of the system for picture or video modifying, a 4K display improve (ideally an OLED one) can be an awesome choice. Alternatively, with the Area-51 able to accommodating as much as an RTX 5090 GPU, a panel with a 300Hz or larger refresh fee may have been a pleasant selection for the hardcore aggressive crowd. And sadly, even in the event you really feel like upgrading to the 16-inch mannequin’s bigger brother, there are not any further show choices out there for that model both. 

Performance: More cooling, extra velocity

Our $2,800 evaluation unit options an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU with 24 cores, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of SSD storage and an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU. Unsurprisingly, a loaded system like this had no points dealing with video games like Cyberpunk 2077. Even when utilizing Ultra graphics presets at 1080p with ray tracing turned on, the Area-51 nonetheless hit 90 fps. Meanwhile, in Control, the Alienware fared even higher on the identical decision and Epic settings when it reached 154 fps.

Thankfully, if you do not have practically $3,000 to burn, the Area-51 is reasonably configurable. A base mannequin begins at a extra reasonably priced $2,000 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX chip, 16GB of RAM and an RTX 5060. On the opposite hand, if you need all-out efficiency, you’ll be able to load this factor up with an RTX 5090, however doing so at present begins at $3,550.

Battery life: Don’t go away dwelling with out your energy twine

Peter Parker’s beloved Uncle Ben as soon as stated “With great power comes great energy draw” (or something like that), and the Area-51 is a perfect example of that. On PCMark 10’s Modern Office battery rundown test, Alienware’s laptop only lasted four hours and thirteen minutes. That’s more than three hours less than what we got from its predecessor — the m16 R2 (7:51) — and five hours less than last year’s ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (9:17). When I retested the ASUS only using its GPU (instead of automatically switching to onboard graphics), its time of 3:08 was worse. So when it comes to power-hungry portable gaming machines like these, if you plan on using them away from an outlet on a regular basis, you’d better make sure you have a portable charging solution on hand. 

Wrap-up

Even although the Alienware 16 Area-51 won’t be as transportable as a few of its rivals, it is received loads to supply. There’s a placing design, a pleasant display (although extra choices can be good), tons of ports and class-leading efficiency with loads of configurability so you’ll be able to dial in its specs precisely how you want. Granted, Alienware’s attention-grabbing space-age aesthetics won’t be for people who aren’t able to be beamed as much as the mothership. But other than its brief battery life and excessive worth for well-equipped fashions, this method delivers just about every thing you need from a flagship gaming laptop computer.