“The Alienware m15 is one of the thinnest 15-inch gaming laptops. We go hands on”
If you’re buying a gaming laptop, it’s kind of obvious that the device will be bulky and thick, which means that you won’t be able to carry it around as easily. However, Dell wants to change this notion on its head with the launch of the Alienware m15. The laptopmaker’s latest offering comes with loaded hardware while remaining sleek enough to fit in your office backpack. I managed to get up close and personal with the device, and here’s how I’ll sum up my initial impressions.
Being part of the Alienware lineup means that the m15 has a unique design. The lid sports the brand’s logo along with a hexagonal pattern and is connected to the keyboard area with a hinge in the middle. Available in two options of Epic Silver and Nebula Red, the laptop certainly manages to draw one’s attention. Moreover, the laptop does seem to have shed the bulk as it just weighs 2.16kg and features a thickness of 17.9mm.
With regards to the port placement, the m15 features cooling vents, an ethernet port, a Type-A port and a 3.5mm socket on the left side. Towards the right, you’ll find two USB Type-A ports along with cooling vents.
Typing on the Alienware m15’s keyboard is a fun experience as the keys offer good feedback, while there’s enough gap between them to ensure that there aren’t any typos. The trackpad is also extremely smooth and responds quickly.
The 15.6-inch screen is a 1080p affair, and delivers sharp visuals with pleasant colours. The brightness levels also seemed to be good, and so are the viewing angles. That said, the bezels around the display aren’t necessarily thin, especially the ones above and bottom.
Under the hood, the laptop can be configured with up to 8th-gen Core i7-8750H processor, NVIDIA’s RTX2070 Max-Q graphics card with 6GB DDR6 memory and 16GB DDR4 RAM. Taking care of storage needs is 1TB SSD. With such hardware, the performance is super smooth, and I also managed to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider in a bid to strain the hardware. While it’s too early to say anything about the gaming performance, the Dell Alienware m15 does seem promising. Taking care of thermal dissipation is Cryo-Tech v2.0 technology.
Unlike most gaming rigs that give up in a couple of hours, Dell claims that the M15 can last up to 17 hours, thanks to its (optional) 90WHr battery.
The Dell Alienware m15 will set you back by Rs 1,78,399 for its base model with Intel’s i7-8750H, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD and RTX 2060 graphics card. The device will be competing against MSI’s GL73 and ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II GL504 and while they are priced slightly lesser, Dell’s offering pack in enough to stand out, including its sleek form factor.