Alienware 16 Area-51 review: Performance from another planet

At a glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

• High GPU and CPU performance
• Competitive price for the hardware
• Mechanical keyboard
• Lots of high-end touches

Cons

• No HDR for games
• Copilot key is rather large
• “Liquid Teal” color scheme may be divisive
• Low battery life (obviously)

Our Verdict

The Alienware 16 Area-51 delivers serious gaming performance in an excellent package, complete with a mechanical keyboard and other high-end touches. It’s competitively priced for the hardware, too.

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The Alienware 16 Area-51 is a high-end gaming laptop with a high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics, which were both just recently released. It’s a beautiful machine with premium touches like a mechanical keyboard. While it’s no budget gaming laptop, it’s competitively priced compared to other laptops with similar hardware — and Alienware’s version may just be a better package.

Alienware 16 Area-51: Specs

The Alienware 16 Area-51 is a 16-inch gaming laptop that combines a 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU along with an Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU. Our review model had an RTX 5080 GPU, but you can also get this machine with an RTX 5070 Ti or 5090 GPU. While the model we reviewed retails for $3,349, the base model starts at $2,999.

That Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is worth highlighting! This Core Ultra (Series 2) processor is based on the Arrow Lake architecture and is screaming fast. In our benchmarks, this machine topped out the charts. However, it has a slow neural processing unit (NPU) and doesn’t meet the bar for Windows 11’s Copilot+ PC AI features, if those matter to you. (Unless this is something you know you care about, I wouldn’t worry about it — especially since Microsoft is signaling it may one day roll out these features more widely. But they aren’t here at launch, and that may matter to some people.)

• Model number: Alienware 16 Area-51 AW30
• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
• Memory: 32GB DDR5 RAM
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080
• NPU: Intel AI Boost (up to 13 TOPS)
• Display: 16-inch 3200×1800 IPS display with 240Hz refresh rate
• Storage: 1 TB SSD
• Webcam: 8MP 3840×2160 camera
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 5 (USB Type-C), 3x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x combo audio jack, 1x SD card slot
• Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: IR camera for Windows Hello
• Battery capacity: 96 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.37 x 11.41 x 1.12 inches
• Weight: 7.49 pounds
• MSRP: $3,349 as tested

Alienware 16 Area-51: Design and build quality

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Alienware laptops I’ve reviewed have had solid build quality, and this laptop is no exception. The “Liquid Teal” color has a lid that looks a lot like forest green in some lighting. Dell describes it as “a dark iridescent finish on the anodized aluminum [that] gives the system a dynamic sheen.” At about seven and a half pounds, it’s no thin-and-light laptop, but it is very reasonable for a machine this powerful.

With a glowing Alienware logo on the lid, a light bar on the bump at the back, and black used throughout the rest of the machine — including on the keyboard tray and lid, so you aren’t looking at that Liquid Teal all the time — this is very much an Alienware design. I like the look and how the color stands out. It doesn’t look like just another gaming laptop, but you’ll have to decide whether it’s the right look for you. I know not everyone is looking for this type of color scheme, and there’s a reason why so many gaming laptops are a traditional black or a sharp and clean white.

IDG / Chris Hoffman

On the bottom, there’s a “thermal bump” with gorilla glass that isn’t just about airflow intake: it lets you look inside the bottom of the machine. This is the kind of high-end touch you’ll find on this machine. It does look cool!

The anodized aluminum finish does pick up fingerprints a little more than I’d like — something you’ll see in a few of the photos. That’s not unusual, but since we’re talking high-end touches, it’s worth noting.

Alienware 16 Area-51: Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Alienware 16 Area-51’s keyboard is absolutely excellent. Our review unit had a Cherry MX ultra low-profile mechanical keyboard. A mechanical keyboard in a laptop is almost unheard of — I think the only time I’ve ever used a mechanical keyboard built into a laptop was when I reviewed another Alienware machine. It’s definitely a tiny bit louder than the usual non-mechanical keyboards, but it’s fairly quiet.

There’s not much room to complain, although I will say that many gamers would probably prefer that the Copilot key wasn’t so large. Located just to the left of the arrow keys, it’s bound to get in the way. Sure, it seems laptops must have a Copilot key these days — but why does the key have to be so wide? Luckily, you can disable it or remap it to another function.

The laptop’s keyboard also has per-key backlighting you can customize. Even the touchpad is an RGB touchpad that lights up when you touch it — and shortly after, so it’s not on all the time. The touchpad itself feels great to use, with a smooth surface, a crisp mechanical clicking action, and a good position below the keyboard.

Alienware 16 Area-51: Display and speakers

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Alienware 16 Area-51 has a 16-inch IPS display with a QHD+ resolution (that’s 3200×1800) along with a fast 240Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, Nvidia G-Sync, and 500 nits of brightness.

On paper, these are great specs — and they look great in real life, too. It’s an awesome display that makes games look great, and the fast refresh rate and response time are part of what makes it feel so good. Combined with the speedy hardware, this laptop delivered excellent performance in Doom: The Dark Ages, rendering high detail settings at a high frame rate.

The downsides are the same ones you see on paper. There’s no support for HDR in games here, and the resolution comes short of 4K. This isn’t an OLED—some people will prefer the more vivid colors of an OLED display, even if it comes with a lower refresh rate or lower response time. But, if you aren’t itching for HDR or an OLED display, I think you’ll be happy with this display.

The speakers are also unusually good for a laptop. Many gaming laptops — even expensive ones — cut corners on the speakers. Audio sounded great and punchy in games like Doom: The Dark Ages. Music was unusually good for a laptop, but I’ll be honest: when it came to the clarity of the instruments in Steely Dan’s Aja and the bass in Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, the speakers didn’t wow as much as the other components on this laptop. The experience is always best with a good pair of headphones or external speakers — no surprise there.

Alienware 16 Area-51: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Alienware 16 Area-51’s 8MP 3840×2160 camera sounds impressive on paper. And it looks fine in the real world, but it doesn’t wow. Look at a good external webcam. This is more than good enough for online meetings and video chats. But, this being a gaming laptop, I’d plan to get an external webcam if you plan on streaming.

There’s no physical camera privacy shutter, which I know many people like to see.

The microphone setup also just sounds fine to me — it can pick up clear enough audio, but you won’t be getting the kind of crisp, high-quality audio you would with an external microphone. It’s fine, but you’ll always have a better gaming experience with external audio.

When it comes to biometrics, this machine has an IR camera for Windows Hello so you can sign in with your face. As usual on Windows 11 laptops, it worked well. There’s no fingerprint reader here, however.

Alienware 16 Area-51: Connectivity

IDG / Chris Hoffman

The Alienware 16 Area-51 has a solid collection of connectivity options. On the left side, you’ve got a combo audio jack as well as a full-size SD card reader.

You’ll find most of the ports on the back — which is where I prefer to see them, as it gets them out of the way of your mouse and minimizes annoying cable clutter on your desk.

On the back of the machine, you’ll find two Thunderbolt 5 (USB Type-C) ports, three