Dell Alienware M18 R1 gaming laptop review

Does expensive always mean better? That may be the case with some consumer tech gadgets, but it certainly isn’t a mantra to follow when it comes to gaming laptops. More expensive gaming laptops may pack the punch, but do they also have the emphasis on cooling, design, ports and other aspects that make or break your gaming experience?

That is the question we will be answering today with one of the most expensive gaming laptops you can buy in India right now – the Dell Alienware M18 R1. Priced at Rs 3,74,389 for its lower-end variant, the Alienware M18 is undoubtedly ultra-premium, and not for everyone. But, does it make for a good buy at the price? Let’s find out in our full Dell Alienware M18 R1 review.

Dell Alienware M18: Design

The Dell Alienware M18 is a big, chunky laptop, which is no surprise given its specifications. Weighing a little over four kilograms, this 18-inch laptop is not very portable, but then again, it isn’t meant to be tossed in your office backpack.

What you do get, however, is one of the best premium gaming laptop designs, with a sleek, metallic design, and just the right amount of lighting. You get a per-key RGB keyboard, as well as a nicely themed Alienware power button, also with RGB lighting.

The signature RGB Alienware logo on the lid, along with a nice perimeter light for the I/O ports on the bottom really add to the look of the laptop not just from the front, but also from the back. In an open-desk setting, expect this laptop to turn heads from all directions.

Dell Alienware M18: Display

Complimenting the design is a nice 18-inch display. It doesn’t have the slimmest bezels, and certainly has quite the chin, but when you realise this machine is not trying to be minimal in anyway, it all adds up.

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Plus, the extra space does allow for an IR-sensor next to the 1080p webcam up top. In an age where gaming laptops may completely ditch the webcam altogether, it’s nice to see a built-in 1080p webcam that can also support Windows Hello logins.

Coming back to the panel itself, you get an 18-inch QHD+ IPS LCD panel. There’s 165Hz refresh rate for the competitive gamers out there along with 3ms response time, 100 per cent DCI-P3 coverage and Nvidia G-Sync support.

The panel is bright enough for all environments where you’ll likely use this laptop (mostly indoors) and shows crisp colours. Those who do like to indulge in 1440p gaming will also like the fact that this panel supports higher resolutions and 165Hz refresh rates at the same time, unlike lower-end gaming laptops that may make you choose.

This lets you enjoy visually stunning eSports titles like Call of Duty: Warzone or Fortnite without compromising on framerates.

Dell Alienware M18: Performance

Being a full-fledged gaming laptop, the Dell Alienware M18’s most important aspect, is its gaming performance, where we can happily say that the laptop delivers. Not only are high-end AAA games not a problem for the M18, but this is also the best thermal performance on any high-end gaming laptop we have used so far.

The cooling is thanks to the laptop featuring four fans as well as numerous heat pipes across the body, along with many other Alienware-specific additions like an extended vapor chamber, and vents on the back and sides.

However, this does translate to very noisy fans, especially when the laptop is in its Overdrive mode, just something to keep in mind.

The gaming experience here is also unparalleled. We tried titles like Forza Horizon 5, God of War and FIFA 23 with the laptop and were not disappointed. Thanks to a 13th-Gen Intel Core i9 chipset and an Nvidia RTX 4080 laptop GPU at the helm, these titles were not a problem for the laptop, even at higher graphics settings.

FIFA 23, for instance, offered a stutter-free gameplay even with Ultra graphics and features like strand-based hair movements turned on. We connected the M18 to a larger display, paired a couple of Sony DualSense controllers, and almost forgot we’re not on a console like the Sony PlayStation 5.

Speaking of external connectivity, it is worth mentioning that the Alienware M18 also comes with plenty of USB 3.2 Type-A and Type-C ports (including two Thunderbolt 4 Gen-2 ports), along with an HDMI port, a mini-Display port, an RJ45 connector, a combo audio jack and even an SD-card reader for creators.

Most of these ports are also rear facing, along with the power cable connector, offering a clean look on the desk and leaving space on the side for accessories like an external gaming mouse.

Lastly, 32GB RAM and 1TB of SSD storage also make sure this laptop is quite future proof and can hold multiple installed titles at once. If that doesn’t cut it, the ability to upgrade allows you to extend the RAM to 64GB and the storage to an insane 9TB.

Dell Alienware M18: Keyboard and Trackpad

The keyboard is where the Alienware M18 really sells the premium gaming laptop tag, and one-ups most of its rivals. You get a Cherry MX low-profile mechanical keyboard on this laptop, along with a full-size layout with the numpad. Even the arrow keys, which are sometimes mad too tiny in the pursuit of compact layouts, are nice and well-spaced.

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This keyboard is no-doubt great in games, but also offered a great typing experience while writing longer text pieces, with the subtle mechanical feedback of the keys and the travel making all the difference compared to the membrane keys on most other laptops. Per-key RGB lighting also lets you customise this layout to your liking, as we did.

The trackpad and its integrated buttons are nothing special, but it is large enough for comfortable use. Of course, for most games where you need a precise pointing device, you will still need an external gaming mouse.

Dell Alienware M18: Battery

The Dell Alienware M18 R1 comes with a 97Whr 6-cell battery with a 330W proprietary charging adapter. While you don’t expect much from gaming laptops when they’re not plugged in, the M18 can still pull through for 4-5 hours when unplugged if you’re running light tasks, surfing the web, or enjoy some media.

We do expect that number to drop with some casual gaming, but for anything AAA, you’d want to plug the machine in for the best performance without a sudden low-battery warning.

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This is also where we found the only nitpick we have with the Alienware M18 R1 – its power connector. The cable does get the job done and even has a nice ring-light on it to know when power is being supplied, but it (and this could be an issue with our unit) doesn’t have a good, secure connection with the laptop.

The cable misses a satisfying snap when tethered to the laptop, making the cable almost feeling loose. This makes it easy for the charger to simply come off easily mid-game with something like an accidental tug. We really hope Dell fixes this, and makes the connector more secure.

Verdict: Who should buy the Dell Alienware M18?

If you’re looking for a no-compromise, near-console level gaming experience, and have the budget to afford this machine, it doesn’t really get better than the Dell Alienware M18. With a big display, best-in-class cooling, and all the performance you need for the games of today and tomorrow, the Alienware is a win in every department.

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Apart from everything we have mentioned above, the laptop also comes with other features like stereo speakers, AlienFX lighting zones with support for 16.8 million colours and Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E support. You also get MS Office Home and Student 2021 and a year’s subscription of McAfee LiveSafe.

That said, not everybody will want to spend the budget of a fancy international trip on a gaming laptop. For those who don’t mind missing out on some of the power this machine offers or the extra features, can consider options like Asus ROG Strix SCAR 16, which comes with pretty much the same specifications, but with a smaller 16-inch screen, lesser weight, and a much-lower price.