Alienware M15

A heavy-hitting laptop for gaming on the go, but it’s mighty expensive and faster machines are on the horizon.

PRICE As specified, £2,043 (£2,449incVAT) from dell.co.uk

Alienware laptops have never been skinny, so the new Alienware m15 is something of a departure. Still, parent company Dell might be going a bit far by hyping the m15 as the “lightweight champion of the world” and proclaiming it to be the most powerful gaming laptop of its size and weight.

As we’ll see, its performance is certainly up to snuff and it’s light compared to previous Alienware laptops – but it could still stand to lose a few pounds. And that applies to the price as well.

Slimline design

Alienware never skimps on design materials, and the m15 is more of the same. The chassis is made almost entirely from magnesium alloy, and at 2.16kg it’s 20% lighter than the Alienware 13 from 2017.

I’m a big fan of the Nebula Red colour scheme on the laptop’s lid, which pairs nicely with the jet black interior. Alienware also offers a silver finish, but the red is much more fetching. I also like the rubberised material on the palm rests and base of the m15, which give it a feeling of added quality.

But I don’t like the bezels surrounding the display. Although they aren’t too thick at the sides, the upper and lower bezels are chunky and ugly, making the Alienware m15 appear outdated when compared with, for example, the Razer Blade 15 (see issue 288, p63). It doesn’t help that the surface of said bezels is glossy and reflective, which can be distracting in brightly lit conditions. I would have preferred a matte finish.