Alienware m16 R2 review: This gaming laptop can be your daily driver

The Alienware m16 R2 isn’t exactly the type of PC I’d expect from Alienware. This 16-inch laptop delivers solid gaming performance, but it’s also focused on being compact and offering long battery life. It doesn’t even offer the highest-end GPUs as an upgrade option. It actually caps out at an RTX 4070, and you’ll have to get another laptop if you want an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090.

The trademark glowing alien head logos are still here, but Alienware told me its target audience for this laptop was gamers who want a PC for more than just gaming — one that can go to school or to the office as well. Alienware delivered, but there’s just one thing I wish was different. Read on to learn more.

Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops available right now.

Alienware m16 R2: Specs

The Alienware m16 R2 is available in a variety of different hardware configurations. The machine we reviewed is priced at $1,849 and had an Intel Core Ultra 7 155 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

You can also get a model with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics for $200 less. Alienware told us that you’ll soon be able to buy models with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics and that these will be even less expensive.

Additionally, Alienware says it will offer models with the option of an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, up to 64 GB of RAM, and up to 8 TB of storage. On top of that, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 will be available as an option — the base machine comes with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 radios.

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H

Memory: 16GB DDR5 5600MHz

Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070

Display: 2560×1600 IPS 240Hz (300 nits)

Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD

Webcam: 1080p webcam with HDR

Connectivity: 1x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C 4 Gen 2 with 15W Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C / USB 3.2 Gen 2 with DisplayPort 1.4, 2x USB-A 3.2, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x Ethernet, 1x headphone jack, 1x microSD card reader

Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition

Battery capacity: 90 Watt-hour

Dimensions: 14.33 inches x 9.82 inches x 0.93 inches

Weight: 5.62 pounds

MSRP: $1,849 as tested ($1,649 base)

Alienware m16 R2: Design and build quality

Alienware was proud to tell me that the m16 R2 is now 15 percent more compact than the previous m16 laptop thanks to the removal of the “thermal shelf” at the back of the laptop.

The Alienware m16 R2’s cooling still works well. The keyboard stayed a very reasonable temperature in long gaming sessions and most of the hot air seemed like it was being expelled from the back of the laptop rather than blowing directly out the right vent and onto my mouse hand — a problem with some gaming laptops.

The aesthetics feel sleek: It’s very Alienware, but it’s also fairly restrained. You’ve got a metal lid (anodized aluminum) with more of a gray color, featuring as a centered Alienware logo that glows while the laptop is on.

Inside, a glowing Alienware logo that functions as a power button sits above the keyboard, in the middle of some vents. The keyboard supports RGB backlighting, and the touchpad is surrounded by a nice LED light bar. The keyboard deck has a nice, rubbery-feeling “soft-touch” surface — not hard, cold metal or cheap, creaky plastic.

The build quality is solid. You probably shouldn’t be picking up this laptop from the corner and holding it regularly — it’s a little heavy for that — but I did a few times, and it was solid without any strange flexing. The hinge feels good to open and close, and it opens to 180 degrees if you want to lie the laptop flat. There’s nothing bad to report here — the build quality is basically as good as I could hope to see.

Alienware told me that they want the m16 R2 to be a laptop that can be comfortably used outside of gaming environments like coffee shops and meeting rooms, too. The laptop has a “Stealth Mode” that quiets the fans and turns off the glowing Alienware logo on the back. You can tone down the gamer aesthetic when necessary.

Of course, this is still an Alienware laptop — even if you turn off that glowing alien head logo, it’ll still be sitting there on the back of your laptop. That’s not necessarily bad, but anyone who gives this machine a second glance will know that it isn’t just a typical business laptop.

Even the charger is nice: Our review model came with a small form factor GaN charger, further boosting the laptop’s portability.

The laptop has a few useful utilities, like the Alienware Command Center for configuring the LED colors and accessing other settings like those, but the included applications are very streamlined. It isn’t packed with junk software, and that’s always good to see.

Alienware m16 R2: Keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard feels great to type on, too. There’s plenty of travel, and whether I had my fingers glued to the WASD keys for movement in a game or I was actually typing, I was very happy with the keyboard.

If you’re a mechanical keyboard fan and that’s a must-have feature for you, be aware that this isn’t a mechanical keyboard. But you can have a great typing experience with any type of keyboard, and this is a good keyboard.

The touchpad is very nice to use, too. (These days, we PC users are spoiled for good touchpads.) It’s responsive and feels good to slide your finger over. It’s plenty big, and I do love the look of the LED light bar. I’ve had slightly better experience with glass touchpads — the rubbery-feeling coating here isn’t quite as nice as some of those glass touchpads I’ve used — but this is good. For gaming, you’ll probably be using a mouse or a gamepad, anyway.

Alienware m16 R2: Display and speakers

This is a very reasonable display for the price point. You’re getting a 16-inch QHD+ (2560×1600 resolution) display with a speedy 240Hz refresh rate. It supports NVIDIA G-Sync, AMD FreeSync, and Dolby Vision HDR.

That’s all pretty great on paper, and it looks good. But this is an IPS panel, not an OLED panel. That’s not a surprise — this is much more in the “affordable” range as far as gaming laptops go. But more gaming laptops are coming with OLED displays, so it’s worth noting. Some people will want to seek out a laptop with an OLED display instead, and that’s understandable — but you’ll probably spend more money for a laptop with that feature.

Personally, I use a laptop with an IPS display every day and I’m totally fine with it. Still, there’s no denying some of those OLEDs I’ve been looking at lately are incredibly beautiful. (But they’re also more expensive!) In summary: This is a perfectly good display, but it is an IPS display.

The main concern I have is the brightness of the m16 R2’s display — it’s pretty dim. Alienware says it has 300 nits of brightness, and I had to crank it up high for PCWorld’s standard battery test. I gamed at 100 percent brightness in a dark room at night, and even at 100 percent brightness, it didn’t feel overly bright — I didn’t want to turn it down.

The display isn’t bad, but it’s not the best you can buy — which is no surprise at this reasonable price point! Just be aware of that.

The speakers seem plenty loud, and you can get some gaming done without the fans drowning out the audio too much. They’re not going to compare with a good pair of headphones or external speakers, though.

Alienware m16 R2: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Alienware m16 R2 includes a 1080p webcam with HDR, dual-array microphones, and an IR camera for Windows Hello support — biometric logins with your face.

The 1080p webcam looks fine. For a gaming laptop, it’s more than fine. I’ve seen gaming laptops with much worse webcams — I’ve even seen gaming laptops with no webcams at all! And, because this has an Intel Meteor Lake chip with a neural processing unit (NPU), you get access to Windows Studio Effects. That package of effects delivers tricks that can make it look like you’re always making eye contact with the camera, for example.

The built-in microphone is certainly usable. I’ve been in online meetings where professionals used much worse microphones. I wouldn’t say the microphone is amazing: I decided to plug in an external USB microphone for my gaming session and my co-op partner thought the audio quality was much improved. But if you’re reading this, I’m sure you already expect that you’ll want to plug in a headset — or separate headphones and a microphone — for the best audio experience.

This is a pretty standard Windows Hello webcam that worked just fine in my experience, too. It’s good to have biometric login support.

Alienware m16 R2: Connectivity

On the back of the Alienware m16 R2, there’s the trusty power port, and an HDMI 2.1 port. There are also two USB-C ports with different logos: One is a Thunderbolt 4 port (USB 4 Gen 2, 15W Power Delivery, and DisplayPort 1.4), and the other is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port with DisplayPort 1.4.

The HDMI port and that USB 3.2 Gen 2 port are connected directly to the discrete GPU (the Nvidia GeForce GPU) and not the integrated GPU. If you’re going to be gaming on an external display, you can connect it to either of these ports, skipping the integrated GPU for improved performance.

On the right side of the laptop, you’ll see two traditional USB-A ports (USB 3.2 Gen 1) and a microSD card slot. On the left side of the laptop, you’ve got an RJ-45 for wired Ethernet networking and a headset jack.

Overall, the connectivity options are reasonably extensive. There’s a good chance you can go without a dongle or a port-packed laptop dock.

The laptop supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, so it’s got the standard modern wireless radios you’ll be looking for. This is Intel Killer Wi-Fi hardware — specifically, Intel Killer AX1675 hardware. Intel talks up its Killer Wi-Fi technology, claiming it has “powerful gaming network technology to minimize lag, latency, and packet loss.” I’m not sure Killer Wi-Fi is a must-have feature, but it’s here.

Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 hardware is available as an optional upgrade, but it’s not available in the base version of the laptop. Wi-Fi 7 isn’t very widespread yet — you almost certainly don’t have a Wi-Fi 7 router yet — so this isn’t a big deal.

Alienware m16 R2: Performance

Now let’s get down to brass tacks. Sure, Alienware m16 R2 has good build quality, a smart design, and a competitive selection of ports. But when I’m looking at a gaming laptop, I’m always thinking about the price to performance ratio.

The Alienware m16 R2 we reviewed packed one of Intel’s new Meteor Lake chips — the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. It’s more focused on power efficiency than performance than the previous Raptor Lake hardware. It’s also got an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 — not the highest-end GeForce chip for a laptop, but not the lowest one either. But we can talk on-paper specs all day — how well does it actually perform in our standard benchmarks?

Before we even look at benchmark results, we know from the specs that we’re looking at a more mid-range, portable gaming laptop. This doesn’t have the highest-end CPU or the beefiest GPU. It’s on the compact side, so it doesn’t have the craziest cooling setup. That’s fine: Laptops with more extreme performance may be significantly more expensive and significantly larger, with more weight and worse battery life.

Our first test, PCMark 10 is designed to measure the system’s overall performance