Alienware X16 R2 Review - Is this really Alienware's top tier gaming laptop? 

Very Nice! Always a fan of this Channel making detailed & honest reviews of top tier laptops! Way to go Mash IT!

Great review! I'm in for the repaste video.

Thanks for this! You asked me about my Alienware in a previous post I made on a past vid and I didn't reply! I'm stilly really happy with my M16 R1. It performs super well. Always above average in benches. BUT...I still really miss my X17. Wow that laptop's aesthetics were amazing. Same as this X16. What a gorgeous system. But, like this unit, the CPU performance just wasn't there. The M16 is still a great looking computer. I love the Alienware designs. And it's great to know that my CPU isn't going to be limited to 30 to 45W when gaming. So as much as I love the look of these X systems, it's nice to know I'm getting 250W of sustained power from my M16. Looking forward to seeing what Alienware does with the 50 series laptops.

Really nice production value, gets better and better! Do you have the AUO or BOE panel on your device?

I absolutely love your content! It's always so detailed and top-notch. If it's not too much trouble, would it be possible to request a direct comparison video with the x16r1? I'd really appreciate it. It would be great if you could highlight key factors like temperature and everything. Thanks so much!

FINALY i was hyped for this video XD

You helped me buy x17 R2 and I still love it, especially the 4k Screen

How about combining this laptop with the IELTS600 ? I am wondering if it is possible to lower the temperatures by 15-20 degrees while having lower noise fan by lowering the temps ? Of course there is the noise of the IELTS itself but well 47db and 47 db is not necessary the same as 57 db. The design is beautiful btw.

Dave these reviews keep getting better all the time. I wonder if it's the chipset drivers for the Core Ultra that are unfinished, or if Alienware has that bad of an OS image/install that you're getting such poor performance. The wattage should be enough for a Meteor Lake chip to perform better. On my x15r2 going from the stock OS image to a fresh install of Windows, in Timespy, I went from 12,000 points to 13,500 points on the CPU score respectively.

Top tier laptop and Core Ultra doesn't go together! I don't understand why they didn't build on the X17 series. I have the 3080ti, 4K 120hz version and it is still very good. Dell should really offer a 4k screen again before calling their laptops top tier.

Thank you for your efforts, I like your laptop reviews best. Did Dell make it possible to let the trackpad RGB lit also when untouced? (it was possible at early 2015 models through the BIOS).

I think in the end, it's gonna come down to how you use, abd as well to what games you intend to play on it too.

I love your channel and all of your reviews. I was reading the comment section and I saw that you are selling some of your review units for sale on Ebay? I was just wondering which laptops in particular you are selling and if you could provide me with a link to your Ebay profile or one of the listings? Its great to see you are selling basically brand-new laptops for discounted prices and I just love your content!!!

Great review. You do a great job of giving a balanced viewpoint. I particularly liked it when you got lost for a few seconds in the beat drop in the audio section. You're the first hands on review I've seen on x16r2 which strikes me as a bit odd. I would have thought with a flagship device like this that alienware would be keen to get it out to be reviewed prior to launch. Do you think the reason there are no major outlets with early reviews is an indication that alienware are not happy with their product?? It seems like you buy your equipment yourself (which probably keeps you impartial) but unfortunately your review came a bit late for me as I also received my device earlier than expected! I probably still would have bought the device as I love the aesthetic and probably my use case wouldn't utilise a better CPU. I'm using this mostly for work related activities but I want to game. I would have bought the xps16 but then they wouldn't/couldn't fit an 3090 in there - and the xps16 keyboard looks tragic whereas the cherry KB on x16 is so beautiful it's like magic. I just don't get two things. Why doesn't alienware let you choose a better screen. Keep this one as the base but how hard is to offer on OLED stunner? People who can afford and want can option it. They make each machine for the user so how hard is it - its not like these panels don't exist. Same goes for 64gb of ram. I mean why not take another $500 if people need it? The second issue is the core ultra 9. Intel real own this MAJOR own goal here. This company is weel past its used by and the quicker Windows can move to another cpu the better. They messed this one up so badly they've had to keep last year's model as the "refresh". The old tech addage of performance , price and power use pick 2... Well Intel can't even pick one - it's a tragic embarrassment! And then to call it the ultra ffs why not the ultra pro!? I mean this thing should have 10hr battery life with a 300nit screen and a core ultra but it's not even close. I'm very interested to your thoughts on why you think your CPU performance is due to error in thermal paste vs an intrinsic chip issue. If you tell me your CPU benchmark software I will run it on my ultra 9 and see what temps I get. Anyway great review of an important part of the performance gaming laptop space and congratulations on being first!

Hey great review as always but just wanted to point out a mistake at 1:24 where the 4080 is listed as having 8GB ram rather than 12GB.

I'm not interested in this laptop at all but I still watched it because of you, as you can make very interesting reviews even about meh devices while still not being biased about anything. It's also nice to see your progress over the years (I'm a ThinkPad fan(boy) and that's how I discovered you some 3 years back on r/thinkpad 🤠); no slacking, just prioritising quality of both content and production while not following cringe trends and not clickbaiting your own audience. Cheers ✌️

Well covered, Thanks David.

I was wondering if in the future you would make a video giving your top ten choices for best laptops based on a wide range of different things. I love your reviews, they cover everything I need to know but I want to know what you would personally recommend. I am a student who wants to game and video edit as well as maybe stream and I need a good laptop for under £1300 to do so, so I was wondering if you could help. Thank you for producing such great content.

David, curious if you were able to get the temps down a bit on your Alienwares. Going into Command Center, I was able to create a custom profile with the max. temp set to 85C, which did help out a lot. Still able to get over 150fps on 1440p ultra settings with Diable 4 and over 80fps1440p ultra with Helldivers 2.

Great Dave! I'm waiting for 2025 Alienware line.

I always liked Alienware but my go to is Razer now. Love their build quality/software and playing games on Blade 14 is wonderful. Great review as always!!

I feel like heavy gaming and top tier gaming laptops shouldn't be smaller than 17 inch. I have m17 r5 and it's great. I wanted x17 r2 but it was much more expensive. Also upgreadable ram is a must have. I hope they release X18 in the future

Completely agree with what you said about the looks being way more impressive in person. Idk why but they look like plastic in videos, but once you see them in person it's obvious it's all metal and it feels so nice.

Awesome review Mash. I subscribed. How do you access the Windows 11 webcam features. I have the m18r2 and and trying to find this feature.

hope they can bring back the area 51m

I have the R1, and kind of disappointed that the R2 didnt have much there for changes.

Do you think speakers are better in this than the dell xps 16 9640 and comparable to mac or g16

I miss the x17, that was a beautiful laptop, something about the curves on the x16 turn me off. Great review though, I agree with the max RAM configuration being 32GB is disappointing, if someone needs 64 they can't buy this

Hi thanks for the review I have received my x16 r2 and the wsad could get uncomfortable when playing games. Also the fans on the right produce a high pitch sound at low to medium speed. Dell is currently sending a technician to replace the fans. Does your model exhibit similar acoustic behaviour for the fans? Thanks! P.s. I am not sure if I should return it to the m18 r2 :(

The one we have all been waiting for! Man What a letdown to one of the best machines of 2023. BTW in the CPU profile behavior section you have quite mode at 30 DB but at the end during the gaming performance segment you have quiet tracked between 46-47 DB. Does the fan noise in quiet mode vary that much? Also do you mind sharing some Cinebench and timespy scores in quiet mode just so I can get an idea of the performance in this mode? This X16 R2 is a real shame. Even last years HK i9 CPU was much better. I am also under the impression that the R2's quiet and balanced more are louder than the X16 R1's quiet and balanced mode. Esp if the 46 DB in quiet mode is accurate. Would you say that is a true statement? Overall I guess the silver lining is X16 R1 owners have nothing to FOMO about this year lol.

Hi Mash, between X17 R2 and Scar 16 4080 which should you choose? I'm talking not just about the configuration, really want to know about other things, build quality, thermals, etc..which is last longer in the future. Thanks

Try to change Windows power plan in the energy settings to "most efficient". My CPU performance went up by more than 10% and I got better temps as well.

Great review and points all around. Huge Alienware fan but we'll be looking at elsewhere this year. Looking forward to your Legion review. Great job, David!

Are the speakers on this better than the new G16?

The intro is goddamned

How about using x3d chip if u want ultra

I sent mine back. The constant 100°C on the cpu, inability to software undervolt and bios not saving and fan or TCC offset settings is a deal breaker! Beautiful laptop but the thermals need work big time. Keyboard was uncomfortable to use because of how hot it got. Had the Ultra 9 and 4090 version.

thank you for your review. im at the moment looking for a new gaming laptop. I thought about the x16 r2 because i really hate the design of the m16 r2, but i'm shocked that this laptop performs so weak. Now im looking for an max specc m16 r1 and im considering the m18 r2 too. But it's so big and i need to bring it to the university (by car). i can't decide... can u tell me how the m16 r1 performs against the m18 r2? i love the design of the m16 r1, the upgradability and everything. but im not sure how the performance in the smaller version is ^^

Hey Mash. It's Mr.X16 again. Did you get a chance to run cinebenchR23 in quiet mode and test the scores compared to the R1? (R1 was 14kish) Shame your unit wasn't pasted properly as I have other questions about quiet mode performance/fan-noise.

Having a bad paste job pretty much kills any performance a laptop can give. Found the paste on the x17 r2 went bad pretty fast. so had to redo it. FYI taking out the motherboard to repaste on them isn't all that bad.

i tried building an x16 R2 on the US site, and you can only get the mechanical keys if you get a 4090

I really want Alienware to succeed but every year they just miss the mark compared to the competition 😭 Like that display is just unacceptable in a laptop this expensive. Battery life should be better as well for a Core Ultra. GPU behavior seems great though. One thing I’ve noticed with the Core Ultra, at least on my Zephyrus G16, is it actually performs better in Optimus mode than in Nvidia dGPU-only mode. Super weird! Not sure if it’s the Core Ultra CPU itself or the laptop. And other users are noticing the same. Would be curious if you tried 3DMark Time Spy in hybrid vs dGPU mode and saw anything similar.

Hello im watching you for couple of weeks and i need your opinion about few of the laptopts as i going to buy one of them in next month so here they are: Alienware m18 R2 Asus Rog Strix scar 18 Razer Blade 18 MSI Titan Titan 18 all of them with highest specs posible for each one of them. my choice at the moment is M18 R2 but will see. Keep creatig videos realy helpful content!👌🙌

What does it mean when a screen can do over 100% of a color space?

i wish I kept my x17 R1

Lack of OLED screen options plus the soldered ram at 32gb max are nails in the coffin in my opinion. Hopefully future revisions will at least address these issues. *edit( not saying its a bad laptop as is, just needs more options for people who want them).

There is a 5% IPC uplift from 12'th gen to 14'th gen. Between 13 and 14 its even less maybe 1%, its purely just going from 5.2 GHZ to 6.5GHZ that makes the difference. That is why you can see better cooled 12 and 13gen systems destroy this 14'th gen part.

They should put a second screen like the asus duo 16

6:12 : I feel like, Core Ultra powered Laptops, just getting good when comes to Webcam Maybe "Dedicated AI" engine or NPU, helped

Dude even my HP omen 16 with i7 14700HX out performs this LET'S GOOOO

x16 r1 was designed to be an improvement over x17 r2, taking into account the wishes of the users. Improved speakers, 1080p webcam, lighting on secondary buttons, getting rid of the sharp part of the back, RGB touch pad. These were the expectations from the x16 r2 version. Alien head power button, 500 nits brightness, OLED or mini LED screen. And as none of them came, a weaker CPU was switched. Total nonsense. If they were going to release this product, they had to release x17 R3 with 4000 series GPU and 14th generation CPU. While Dell pays attention to the opinions of its users in some years, it does not care about its users in other years.

Ultra 7 or 9 don't scale well with extra power. So you don't get the benefits of extra battery life. You also don't get extra performance,running it at much higher wattage so it performs the same as XPS. If you're going to make a 6 pound gaming machine, use 14 gen hx. May as well buy g16 if you want 4080 or xps for a 4070.

Stealth mode makes a laptop laptop. By the way, between your Razer Blade and this X16r2, which one do you feel more premium (regardless of price)? X16r2 is so much cheaper than RB16 in the US…

thank you, but i only had problems with my x17r2 ( there are a lot people not just me ) , not going to dell anymore, bad quality control and customer service pretty much didn't care, pay premium for what?

Does dual channel ram in R2. gives more game performance than r1 ? . It currently costs 2500 dollars I need a rtx 4080 are there any better options than this. I am taking it for College use is it recommended. Can we run the laptop on the new lpe cores like other companies ultra chip laptops does ?.

I wouldn't mind all the ports being in the back if they at least put the headphone jack on the side. The wires on headphones aren't that long and I feel like having it wrap around the laptop would feel awkward to use.

2024 XPS 16 : bright screen, up to 64 GB RAM 2024 X16 : no also when I saw the video length, I expected a less thorough review, but was pleasantly surprised (especially at 9:52)

Would you prefer the M18 R2 over this? I believe this one looks much better but I'm sure performance wise the M18 wins right?

Little to no improvement form the previous version of last year. Almost pointless releasing the R2. I own an R1 and my biggest gripe is the screen. I dont know how bad the screen bleed is on this model but its quite noticeable on mine. Also, You would think the brightness of the screen is okay until you are in a fairly bright room or outdoor before it dawns on you that the nits is not that great. They should use a brighter and more premium panel for the screen already....i mean this is their top tier product for crying out loud. If the xps can have a better and much brighter screen, i see no reason why the X series shouldn't have a brighter mini LED or OLED screen already. Great review by the way. Always looking forward to watching your videos.

Top tier review! It makes me sad to see Dell/Alienware mess this up so bad. The competition is better and who saw that this performs worse than the R1 and thought, "yeah...this is fine!" Hopefully they do something to stay competitive for the next round of revisions. Their laptops aren't popping out compared to what else is out there right now. Makes my inner child a little sad.

Why the gpu is running at 101C? Most of gamer laptops with 4080 are runs around 65/70C

Are they go to bring 18inch in the X series

Not sure why they keep refusing to use something brighter than a 400 nit panel. I personally wouldn't settle for anything less than 600nits.

I feel that the x16r2 is a step down from the m line. Except for the audio. Do you feel the m16r2 is the best 16 insh laptop alienware offers this year? I will hold my breath for this year and upgrade my 17r3 next year. I hope then to see a better screen and ram upgrade for the x16. I will then choose between x16r3 or the m18r3 most likely. Will be a desktop replacement and mainly used for production, movie editing, 3d heavy work and educational tasks. And gaming on the side.

as student from 3rd world country, i have been saving up money because i want to buy Alienware, especially the Area 51M, i even anticipating from them to release the 51M R3 so i did not buy the Area 51M R2 from your review to wait, but if Dell will not planning to release the Area 51M again (going downhill), either i choose M18 or find better competitors, should i go with Razer 18/16 RTX 4090 or Lenovo Legion 9i? i want triple boot for Linux and Hackintosh as well. Or, should i jump into the mainstream choices and buy ASUS Rog like most people instead?

Does the x16r2 have 4k

pricing is surprisingly competitive, but, the poor screen is gonna turn ppl off.. no option for oled or mini led like the legion 9

Can I use a 330W adapter and still get the full performance?

Am I missing something? Every time I launch a game, my keyboard color preset goes off and it turns to white. NOT hitting F2 either

Alienware X20, would be Awesome!!!

Why no Ethernet port😢

U do know that the touchpad lighting is not on the x16r2 models with 4060 -4070 graphics only the 4080 and 4090 models u should point out thanks

Do we have custom mode in aw x16r2

Weirdly, at the rtx 4080 spec configurations in India, the M18 r2 is actually priced cheaper than the x16 r2, to the point where I could buy the m18 r2, and have enough cash left over for a second 360W GAN charger to use in the office. Alienware lost the plot with the pricing for the x series really bad, and I don't see the point anymore. Sure, the x16 is lighter and supports USB C PD charging, but other than that, there is not much differentiation in favor of the x16, as the 300 nit display option means that I could go for the bigger display and be happier with that. Sure, the faster soldered RAM on the x16 might be a better option, but the 5600 MT/s RAM on the m18 is no slouch either, and I could just strip it and go for 64 GB later on. Things like the mechanical keyboard is common on both, and the extra weight is something that I would bear with using a larger backpack, just so that I could use the large real estate of the 18 inch laptop. Kind of disappointed that Alienware still did not develop a mini-LED panel or an OLED panel for its lineup, while all the other big hitters have such options. It seems that Dell has stripped away all the R&D budget towards the new XPS series laptops rather than this one. Either way, great review brother, you were pretty thorough.....

Sad. 46 dB in quiet Mode. For me is this to loud .

So it is 350nits, higher than advertised 300nits?

Does this run much cooler than the Alienware M16 R1 4080/4090?

Dell seems to be dropping the ball this year. Only the Dell Latitude 7450 (for business line) and Dell XPS 16 (prosumer line) are worth even thinking about in 2024 brand new.

Their engineers are just terrible. Simple thermodynamics will require airflow. Why is the bottom completely sealed all the way around the ventilation?! It's like playing your laptop on a bed, choked out!

Come on dell! The new Core ultra processor's peak performance is even worse than 13th Gen H45 processor, and that ancient 300 nits panel in a $3000 laptop. Man! what a shame! Nice review as always though!

Good Laptop but the screen need to be OLED then it will be perfect .

"6:34:00 minutes - poor battery life".... me on my Alienware Area 51m-R2 where on battery staring at the desktop only lasts 1:25:00 minutes 🤣

M18 R2 Is much Better?

i just dont understand the x series why would i buy an x 16 r2 thats more expensive than an m18 r2 yet less powerful

Damn, thermal on cpu is just horrendous..

Alienware laptops are not as expensive as they used to be but they not offer as much as other brands do.

You say battery life is pretty poor with 6 and a half hours. How much do you get from a legion 9i or a razorblade? Also if you are gaming 8 to 10 hours a day, a 300 nits screen will cause less harm to your eyes. And all those complaining about 64 gb ram, what is the purpose? If cyberpunk, cine bench and 19 tabs on chrome is all that they want to do, then they don't need 64 gb ram. Legion 9i with the same configuration costs 3800 dollars. Your reviews should be targeted at potential buyers rather than people who just come here to pass judgements.

Ports placement is beyond evil.

Dell has been in a downward spiral since Frank Azor left. He seemed to have been holding everything in the XPS and Alienware divisions together

Was actually going to get this if it came with either minled or oled screen, but alas it didnt, so instead i got the legion pro 7 2023 amd with 4090 and saved more than 1000 dollars..for basically the same screen and better performance. You cant make this shit up, alienware what r you doing? Give the people what they want!

The 4080 should be 12gb vram not 8

i have the x16 r1 and i can just say that dell doesnt know how to make good cooling. 4 fans and still hits 100c while other laptops out there with more cpu performance, have better thermals with only 2 fans.

The lady running AW is ruining it.

100degree core ultra 9 is unacceptable for a company like this, should’ve been much better

My m16 R1 4090 remains supreme lol

Not upgradable ram: every laptop like that is dead to me. Crazy they still produce that shit

I waited for this one and I'm so disappointed. Dont really know which one I should go for anymore

Love your channel though your taste in music sucks. 😜 But I have to ask if you made a mistake or it is really true that this RTX4080 only has 8Gb. My own five months old 2023 model has 12Gb with the same GPU.

When they were advertise the alienware X16 r2 they started by saying the stadium at the back had been upgraded to LED lights. I was shocked when the panel was still the same as the x15 from the 2021 models. This is the most disgusting lcd panel for a premium laptop. Only thing keeping me away from this beautiful machine is the luck of mini led panel option until then I will keep my x15.

350 nits??????