Dell Alienware M17 R2 (17-inch, 2019)

Very fast in all tests;Attractive, sturdy design;A good screen and great speakers;Excellent keyboard

Rivals slightly quicker in games;Sometimes pricier than competitors;Mediocre screen contrast

Suble and stylish design ; Fantastic power ; Thin and lightweight

Gets very hot, very quickly ; Battery life is lacking

Strong general and gaming performance. Sleek design. Highly configurable at time of ordering. Decent battery life for the category. 1TB of speedy SSD storage.

Overpriced in this configuration. Components not suited to gaming on its 4K screen. Build is underwhelming for this price.

Bottom Line: The Alienware m17 gets excellent performance from high-end parts, but with a merely okay build and power matched by less-expensive machines, the value proposition is questionable—especially at the lofty price of our review unit.

Doesn't run too hot when gaming ; Tobii eye-tracking (on some models) ; Various wide-ranging specification choices ; Cool lines and pleasing aesthetics

Less screen options than we'd like (15-inch model has higher resolution and faster refresh options) ; High price

The Alienware m17 R2 is a potential show-stopper. It's a powerful, lightweight and easy-on-the-eye gaming laptop that packs a punch - and does it with class and style you won't see much elsewhere.

Lightweight, captivating design; Powerful gaming and overall performance; Above-average battery life; Comfortable keyboard ; Expensive ; The Alienware m17 offers serious power on the gaming and multitasking fronts in the company's slim Legend design.

Expensive ; The Alienware m17 offers serious power on the gaming and multitasking fronts in the company's slim Legend design.

The Alienware m17 offers serious power on the gaming and multitasking fronts in the company's slim Legend design.

Stunning, slim design; Strong graphics and overall performance; Gorgeous 4K display; Great audio ; Runs hot while gaming; Below-average battery life ; The Alienware m17 combines powerful components and a lovely, show-stopping display in a slim,...

Runs hot while gaming; Below-average battery life ; The Alienware m17 combines powerful components and a lovely, show-stopping display in a slim, semi-portable chassis.

The Alienware m17 combines powerful components and a lovely, show-stopping display in a slim, semi-portable chassis.

The Alienware m17 can be configured with a uber-powerful Nvidia RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics card. It's significantly lighter than the company's preview 17-inch model and it's got a more subtle design.

Battery life is poor and a thin body means less ventilation and much more heat.

Alienware's m17 makes respectably few design sacrifices despite cramming huge power into a relatively thin frame.

Excellent display ; Top-end specs ; Robust performance ; Good features overall ; Different configurations available

Not always available ; Can be expensive ; is not very satisfying ; Only 60 Hz refresh rate on 4K variants ; Speaker quality needed improvements

The laptop has got an attractive design ; Thin profile ; Decent Performance ; Good overall features ; Hyper-Threading is advantageous

The ; has been replaced by faster iterations ; High-end models are very pricey ; Newer options can be found in this price range ; Only a ; display is available in this variant ; The keyboard is not a mechanical one, which is a drawback for gamers

+ Powerful ; + Ample, speedy SSD storage ; + Portable for a 17-inch gaming laptop ; + Good array of ports ; + 144Hz refresh rate ; + Aesthetically different, yet pleasing ; + Comfortable keyboard for gaming and work ; + Customizable part options by Dell

- CPU has major thermal throttling issues ; - Alienware Command Centre software needs improvements ; - Below average battery life ; - Performance essentially on par with i7-9750H + RTX 2070 ; - Pricey

The Alienware m17 R2 is a great1 gaming laptop on paper but when applied, there are a number of areas that need improvement. The Intel Core i7 variant may be the better option.