Verdict
Overall, the Area 51M R2 is one of the greatest gaming laptops available right now, despite the fact that it will most likely cost you an arm and a leg and then some. Yes, it’s pricey and probably a lot bigger than you expected, but it still does what it’s supposed to do: play games. And it does it admirably, handling all of today’s AAA games with ease.
So, if you’re looking to buy a gaming laptop in 2021 to play a variety of games, this is a fantastic alternative if you can afford it. Just don’t expect to be able to tote it about with you and play games while you’re on the go.
Pros:
- Prints of extremely high quality
- Print speed is good
Cons:
- The print area is less than that of similar models.
- Software is not easy to use
It came to kick and chew bubblegum, according to Alienware’s CEO. You already know the remainder of the event. Alienware is expected to take its position as the king of semi-mobile gaming with a revolutionary style and the first-ever design that allows upgradeable graphics. As tested, the Area-51m retails for $5,099 (started at $2,549). It looks nothing at all like anything we’ve seen from the brand before. This year’s celebration of the Fourth of July is more Flight of the Navigator. More to this infant than a beautiful new face, though, is at work.
Powered by Intel’s Core i9 processor and Nvidia’s RTX GPU, it smashed every test we placed at this. Your budget will also take a significant hit. However, when you consider Alienware’s first future-proof gaming laptop, it’s only a small price to pay for what Alienware claims as its first genuine desktop replacement. Also, you can see the HP Omen 15 Gaming Laptop – Full Review
Dell Alienware Area-51M R2 Competitive Gaming Laptop Review:
- Design and Features
- Performance
- Keyboard and Touchpad
- Audio
- Ports
- Gaming, Graphics, and VR
- Battery Life
- Upgradability
- Heat
- Price
- Specifications
Why Should You Buy Dell Alienware Area-51M R2 Gaming Laptop?
The Area 51m laptop series is as good as it’s ever been. “It’s got everything you need for a quality gaming laptop.” Alienware’s monster gaming laptops are a joy to own and enjoy – if you can afford them. Also, you can see the best laptops for engineering students
It is undoubtedly one of the most powerful gaming laptops available right now, without having to wait for the expected 30-series computers to arrive next year. The price tag – which easily exceeds $3,000 / £3,000 – will just be too expensive for many, placing it out of reach for a large number of players. However, you can’t deny that it does a lot of things well. It’s a beast of a system, and Alienware’s new look for their machines makes it a stunning beast as well. It excels at all it does and would put many of the best gaming PCs to shame.
Design and Features:
The Area 51m laptop is one of the best laptops in the industry, with an architectural aesthetic and a fashionable design to boot; it truly is one of the nicest laptops on the market, hitting the balance between being a gaming laptop and a stylish, well-designed piece of electronics in general. It was a little bigger and stronger than the smallest and lightest gaming laptops in the market but has its own personality in terms of style and shape that matches the PC-replicating power it brings. An excellent example of this is the rear end’s fatness and the exhaust design. Also, you can see the best laptops for work and gaming
It’s a substantial amount, yet it all feels proportionate. It’s also heavy, as you’d anticipate, yet the laptop works within the design. In fact, it has a quality and substantial feel about it. A good example is a screen. I frequently do a basic test to determine if there is any apparent wobbling or slippage from the screen’s position. There was no wobbling in this case; it’s actually rather robust.
This applies to the whole construction: everything feels premium and as though you’re holding the best design and build available.
Other excellent details can be found throughout the behemoth: the RGB alien head and rim to the oval ‘exhaust’ on the back are fascinating; the RGB lighting on the keyboard is gentle and pleasant, and the whole touchpad glowing while in use is just amazing. Another interesting feature is the screen’s ability to recognize when you’re gazing at it.
When it comes to more practical issues, there are a variety of ports to choose from. The fact that the laptop is slightly thicker at the rear means you can connect items into three sides of the computer, which is a pleasant benefit given how many thin and light laptops don’t have ports at the back. Given the machine’s high price tag and abundance of other connections, I would have preferred one more USB port, but the USB-C port is a great addition, and the dual power ports and Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port do take up some space.
Performance:
The Area 51m R2 completely dominates everything that is thrown at it, as one might expect. We’ve all come to expect top-notch performance from Alienware laptops, particularly the Area 51 models, so it’s no surprise that the one we tested follows suit. It delivers world-beating statistics and performance, as seen by the benchmarks we used. Also, you can see the best gaming laptops you can buy today
The good news is that these figures translate into truly fantastic gaming experiences. Anything that can run Metro Exodus in full ray-tracing mode and settings, as well as Red Dead Redemption 2 at its top settings at more than 60 fps per second, seems too wonderful to be true. However, performing them at that level of smoothness is a true delight. Yes, the fans start up after a while and get very noisy, but this is a gaming laptop, after all, and, like the low battery life, fans performing their job feels more like a statement of fact than a critique. We may one day have silent gaming laptop fans, but that time is not here.
The nuance with the Area 51m R2’s performance and power is in the power supply. In general, I find having two power ports and units to be a major pain and irritation. Especially because some other top gaming laptops, such as Razer laptops or any with equivalent capabilities, do not require such a configuration. This does, however, provide you more options in terms of what you can accomplish. With both connected, you’ll get the complete unadulterated experience, which means you’ll be able to tweak and change the machine’s power output and performance in the hardware to the maximum extent possible. If you just have one power source, you’ll receive a lower performance level, but it’ll still be solid, pleasant, and of a high grade. The additional power source becomes the lynchpin in the Area 51m R2’s oscillation between a fantastic gaming laptop and a PC-equivalent portable computer. For the sake of comparison, we ran all of the benchmarks while the laptop was powered by both power sources.
I really loved using the laptop as a work computer, with the illuminated touchpad and comfortable keyboard serving as excellent partners for day-to-day tasks and productivity.
Meanwhile, the 17.3-inch screen gives that wonderful bigger laptop screen size, as well as a spacious desktop and ample screen real-estate for that great gaming screen experience. It took some getting used to the screen shutting off and then on again since it could quickly identify my face!
Keyboard and Touchpad:
The good news is that Alienware has maintained its classic keyboard. Alienware has always been at the top of our list for keyboards in gaming laptops, due to its strong feedback and pure comfort via its TactX keyboard. Without reducing any essential keys, the firm managed to include a complete number pad and a column of macro keys.
The Area-51m stands up to its reputation, with key travel of 2.2 millimeters, well above our 1.5mm requirement. At 71 grams, the actuation was also above average.
The 10fastfingers typing test gave it a score of 73 wpm, which was somewhat higher than my norm of 70 wpm. The 3.9 x 2.2-inch touchpad responded almost instantly to my gesture motions, and navigating through documents and webpages was a breeze.
Audio:
Greetings, front-firing speakers! The Area-51m conceals a strong pair of speakers behind a pair of black glossy vents. With brilliant highs and powerful mids, Kevin Ross’ almost acapella version of “Prototype” poured through my speakers. The tenor of the singer was rich, allowing the harmonies and snares to show through.
The trumpets sounded somewhat distorted at maximum power when I switched to David Guetta Songs. While the hi-hats and snares assaulted the music, the rapper’s sing-song delivery was clean. Although the lows were a little boomy, I was grateful that I could hear them at all.
While I was playing Battlefield V, a few folks tried to chat with me. It didn’t work out. The sound of cannon fire filled our lab, with a continuous staccato of gunshots. The voice of a gravelly-voiced narrator pierced through the mayhem, carried along by mournful strings that slowly transformed into a cadre of hopeful-sounding flutes when I wasn’t fighting and running for the next cover.
Alienware has integrated its audio software into its Command Center software center, making it a one-stop-shop for all of your gaming and audio requirements. There are eight settings in the app. While you should absolutely check out all of the presets, I found that Music and Alienware were my favorites. The best overall audio performance came from music.
Ports:
Bring on the mice, monitors, and hard drives! The Area-51m is capable of handling all of your peripherals and then some. A pair of USB 3.1 ports are located on the right side of the machine.
Another on the left has a Thunderbolt 3 connection as well as headphone and microphone ports. Between the back vents are two DC ports with an HDMI 2.0 connection, a Mini DisplayPort, and a Gigabit Ethernet jack. You may also attach the company’s Graphics Amplifier if the Area-51m isn’t strong enough for you.
Gaming, Graphics, and VR:
The stats for the Area-51 RTX m’s 2080 graphics are in, and this setup is in the lead. In Battlefield V, I sneaked up to an opposing base. But it wasn’t long until I was throwing a grenade at a set of explosive barrels, which exploded in a shower of red, yellow, and orange flame at 122 frames per second.
On our simulated benchmarks, the laptop maintained its dominance, achieving 92 frames per second on Rising of the Tomb Raider, above the 63 frames per second premium gaming laptop average. At 76 frames per second, even the MSI Titan with its own RTX 2080 proved no match. The Aorus X9 and Origin PCEon 17-X, both equipped with GTX 1080 GPUs, scored 73 and 69 points, respectively.
The Area-51m retained its dominance with 143 frames per second in the Hitman test. It beat out the Titan while blowing past the Eon 17-X and X9, which tied for first place with a 96-frame-per-second average.
The Area-51m outperformed the 75-fps category average on the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark, clocking in at 105 frames per second. The Titan stayed in the second position with 91 frames per second, but the X9 and Eon 17-X were relegated to third and fourth place, respectively.
The Area-51m outperformed the Titan, X9, and the category average in the Middle-Earth: Shadow of War test, delivering 132 frames per second.
Feel free to break out the Oculus Rifts and HTC Vives when it comes to virtual reality. The Area-51m breezed through the SteamVR performance test, scoring a perfect 11 on the scale.
Battery Life:
Even with an integrated graphics card, the Area-51m still needs to fight with a power-hungry desktop CPU. At your own peril, unplug this baby. On the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the system barely lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes.
It’s faster than the 3:15 average for premium gaming laptops, but slower than the Eon 17-X (1:59) and the X9 and Titan, which both ran out of battery around 2:20.
Upgradability:
Alienware has introduced one of the finest features of a desktop computer to the laptop in a big way: upgradeability. It’s not the first gaming laptop to provide access to the inside, notably the RAM and storage. It is, however, the first in a long time to allow you to switch out the CPU and GPU.
While the majority of DIYers will be able to swap out the cards on their own. Alienware is working on a method to send a specialist to your house to conduct the task for you if you aren’t comfortable messing around in the innards of your system. Keep an eye out for additional details.
Heat:
All things considered, the Area-51m kept relatively cool for such a big laptop. That’s thanks to Alienware’s Cryo-Tech v2.0 system, which employs a combination of fans, smart design, and components to keep the laptop cool.
A huge cluster of honeycombs towards the bottom of the laptop hides six fire-resistant liquid-crystal polymer high voltage fans. The fan’s structure increases via the bottom and pushes it out the sides and back of the notebook, away from where your hands are most often found. The Area-51m includes a staggering 8 heat pipes and multiple copper fin stacks to help with heat dissipation, in addition to the fans.
After spending 15 minutes smashing through the opposing line in Battlefield V, I wasn’t shocked by the chilly temperatures. The temperature on the touchpad was 84 degrees Fahrenheit, while the center and undercarriage were 102 and 106 degrees, respectively. It’s a few degrees above our 95-degree comfort threshold, but it’s downright cold when compared to other laptops in this weight class. Even though I was playing a very demanding game, I could hardly hear the supporters.
We reran our heat test after a brief cooling period, but this time with a 15-minute HD movie. When we tested the temperature of the touchpad this time, the middle and bottom reached 84, 86, and 84 degrees, respectively.
Price:
It should be illegal to have this much fun with a laptop. I got to play with one of the Area-51most m’s expensive models. The system costs $5,099 and includes an Intel Core i9-9900K desktop processor with 64GB of RAM, two 1TB PCIe M.2 SSDs in RAID 0 with a 1TB (+8GB SSHD) Hybrid Drive, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU with 8GB of RAM, an Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU, and a 1920 x 1080 144Hz monitor.
The $2,549 base model has a lower pricing and better specifications. A 3.6GHz Intel Core i7-8700 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB (+8GB SSHD) Hybrid Drive, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 GPU with 8GB of RAM, an Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU, and a 1920 x 1080 60Hz display are all included.
Specifications:
| Processor | Intel Core i9-9900K |
| Processor Speed | 3.6 GHz |
| RAM | 32 GB |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Boot Drive Capacity | 1 TB |
| Secondary Drive Type | Hard Drive |
| Secondary Drive Capacity | 1 TB |
| Screen Size | 17.3 inches |
| Native Display Resolution | 1920×1080 |
| Panel Technology | IPS |
| Variable Refresh Support | G-Sync |
| Refresh Rate | 144 Hz |
| Graphics Processor | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 |
| Graphics Memory | 8 GB |
| Wireless Networking | 802.11ac, Bluetooth |
| Dimensions | 1.7(H) by 16.1(W) by 15.9(D) inches |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro |
| Battery Life | 2 hours and 3 minutes |
| Weight | 9 lbs |
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