Best Alienware laptops for gaming in 2024

It’s a testament to the quality of this laptop that it not only sits at the top of this list, but also at the top of our list of the best laptops overall. Our reviewer, Zak Storey, said “Alienware’s M16 R2 is a well-built, fast gaming laptop for a surprisingly generous price” and scored it an impressive 9/10. That’s a great summary, but let’s go into more detail.

From its fantastic screen to its upgradeable parts, and its decent spec list, there are a lot of reasons to love the M16 R2. With the Core Ultra 155H CPU, it averaged out at 102fps even when playing Cyberpunk 2077 on the ultra ray-tracking preset. Cyberpunk is a processing-intensive game, so those results are pretty impressive.  Unfortunately, it does struggle beyond 1080p, but considering all that it encompasses, that’s a small thing to be bothered by.

Outside of gaming, its 240Hz panel can provide a crystal clear 2560 x 1600 resolution. The picture quality on the screen is pretty much the best you can get without going for an OLED model. Of course, that’s not much good to you if you want to play games at 1600p, but it still makes everything look pretty great during general day-to-day use.

Another feature we particularly appreciated about this laptop was its use of standard SODIMM slots for memory. Instead of soldering the parts to the motherboard like a lot of other gaming laptops do, it uses two M.2 SSD connectors. This leaves the doors wide open for customization, which is good news for anyone who likes a bit of tinkering (like we do). Even before you upgrade it, it comes with a great 32GB of RAM, so it’s not like it desperately needs to be enhanced.

If you’re deadset on an OLED model, then this won’t be the laptop for you. However, if that’s not essential for you, then it’s very hard to find fault with the Alienware M16 R2.

Read our full Alienware M16 R2 review.

If you don’t regularly move your gaming laptop and want as much screen real estate as possible then you would be hard-pressed to do better than the Alienware M18 4080 which is the best 18-inch Alienware laptop.

Similarly to the 16-inch model, we’ve opted for the 175W RTX 4080 equipped machine as it offers the best price-to-performance ratio in the high-end segment of the market. The 4090 is getting into silly-money territory and we wouldn’t recommend it until it is highly discounted.

The same 13900HX makes its presence known and will provide enough computing power to keep the frames high and the render times low. The 18-inch model doesn’t miss out on the 16:10 screen ratio either, so gaming and productivity have extra room to stretch.

Given that the laptop is bigger, there is more room inside for cooling so the M18 will run a little quieter as a result with better-sustained performance. Also making use of the bigger size is the numpad, which is great for users who love strategy games with many macros. Unfortunately, the QHD+ panel can only go up to 165Hz, rather than the 360Hz seen on the X17 R2.

The uniquely powerful yet thin Alienware X14 gaming laptop is ideal if you want to game on the go. Its well-built metal chassis has a premium feel, and while the ports are unusually all at the back of the laptop, this doesn’t affect access. The main downside of the X14 is limited upgradability. While you can upgrade the storage (a single m.2 NVMe slot) the RAM is soldered.

There is pause for thought when buying a 3060 GPU in 2024 – games are getting more demanding and the longevity of 6GB of VRAM is questionable, but with tools such as DLSS 2 and knowing where to make smart adjustments to your settings, you still get a great experience.

When running less demanding games, the 12700H keeps up with the GPU to ensure you’re getting out as many frames as possible before running into any CPU bottlenecks. With the RTX 3060, you can chew through esports titles like it’s nobody’s business – putting the 144hz screen to good work.

If you’re after the slimmest of Alienware laptops, the Alienware X16 is a great buy. It features top-of-the-line specs in an impossibly thin chassis adorned with cool RGB lighting effects which solidifies it as our pick for the best premium Alienware laptop.

Contained within its thin frame figure is an RTX 4080 graphics card, and Alienware’s Cry-tech cooling technology comes in with its gallium-silicone thermal interface and quad fans flex their cold chops to keep the beast under control. The same lovely 16” QHD+ 240Hz panel returns from the m16 which is befitting of such a premium device. The i9-13900HK makes do with 14 cores but these are still plenty powerful enough to keep everything ticking over.

With so much in such a thin package something has to give, and unfortunately, the X16 isn’t as fast as the M16 or M18, with fewer CPU cores and less cooling headroom. The result, however, is a very portable Alienware gaming laptop which used to be an unthinkable proposition. Its high price brings us back down to earth, though it’s reasonable given the specs on offer and the quality of the craftsmanship and design.