Alienware has decided to use an AMD CPU in their latest Ryzen processors. Unlike the previous generation, the Alienware m15 is a little thinner than the past generation Alienware.
This power hound gaming laptop is a 16-thread Ryzen r7 5800h CPU and comes with an 8-core. It is a laptop that provides perfect performance and a reasonable price range for its power.
It comes with two audio speakers located under the laptop and have an impressive bass, although it could be more straightforward and doesn’t have a noise-cancelling feature.
Design
The Alienware r5 Ryzen comes in a black design, and this is not like most of the other Alienware laptops that are recently being released. However, it has the same chassis as most of the previous Alienware generation laptop.
Weighing at 5.34kg, the M15 is a 14.02 x 10.73 x 0.9 inches laptop. It has a unique port selection, with USB 3.2 Gen 2Type-A ports on the right, an ethernet port and a 3.5mm microphone /headphone jack on the left. It also has a DC-in, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and Gen 1 Type-A port, and an HDMI 2.1 on the back.
Not much on the aesthetic side, this laptop focuses more on the build of the laptop. The M15 r5 has a rugged feel on the hand, and there is a circular LED strip along the rim.
Although a webcam on a gaming laptop is added more of an afterthought, the Alienware shouldn’t have been added, and it is blurry and fuzzy no matter how good the lighting conditions are.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard of the laptop has a 1.7mm key travel, and when tested, it comes to an 83wpm. It comes with an impressive backlit keyboard.
The trackpad is a little harder to press, but it is an averagely good one; it is a 4.1 x2.4-inch size with accurate precision. You might need to deal with a little bit of friction when switching apps, two or three fingers’ swipes and pinching or zooming.
Display
The Alienware M15 has a 15.6inch 1920 x 1080 IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate and an 87.3 DCI-P3 color gamut. It comes with an OLED screen and an average of 328 nits, and extreme brightness at 460.2 nits.
When testing it on a movie, there was an overall impressive experience; it comes with transparent colors and has a fast refresh rate.
Although it is hard to see the screen when you are not directly in front of it, this is due to the glare. It becomes a bit clearer when the room is dark or the movies are more colorful.
Performance
Even though the Alienware is a gaming laptop, it has the potential of giving you premium performance.
While being tested, this model hit 7288 points on multi-core tests and 1,427 points on a single-core test. The multi-core tests turned out to be pretty impressive, especially. While transferring files, it reached an 874.14MBps speed for a 25GB file transfer.
It is possible to upgrade the CPU of the M15 to the Ryzen 9 5900HX. The memory can also go from 8GB to 32GB, while the storage options can increase from 256GB to 4TB after adding an external SSD.
There was a slight temperature of 81.1degress during a video test; an increased 83.3 on the touchpad during a game test. Also, 90 degrees under the laptop and over 100 degrees on the left part of the display hinge can be the hottest zone. However, this did not affect the laptop’s performance or make it too hot to touch.
Battery
The battery life of the Alienware m15 Ryzen is below par, and you should be ready always to plug it at any time. When tested for multimedia purposes and browsing, the computer lasted for about 4 hours, shorter battery life than most Alienware laptops. There are expectations for the battery life for a gaming machine to be above average, particularly for a heavy gamer. If you’re not happy with the battery you can trade your laptop for cash with and buy a better one.
Final Verdict
Alienware made a good laptop in the m15 Ryzen model; although you cannot compare it to the Alienware M15 r4, you can still get adequate performance on the computer. It stands out in all of the laptops on its price level. The Alienware m15 Ryzen could do better with ports, keyboard and battery life, and it is a good deal for its price.
