Dell Alienware m15 R2: the full Review

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After the Alienware 17.3 inch model, it is the turn of its little brother – the 15.6 inch – to pass into our hands. The Alienware m15 R2 arrives in a somewhat unusual configuration but sold well on the Dell site. It is quite exotic because it includes a 4K panel and an Nvidia graphics card of RTX Max-Q type, a panel full of pixels with a swift graphics card but not as powerful as a “classic” RTX. It is not necessarily the best "combo" to play. A good Full HD screen is more than enough because, among the GPUs for laptops, there is only the RTX 2080 chip which is capable of not suffering too much in UHD.

Dell Alienware m15 R2

Anyway, the m15 R2 we received is displayed at 2900 euros. With any promotions going on at Dell, it is quite possible that this attractive machine will cost less.

Announce the color immediately: we will not talk about the finish, typing comfort, or the layout of the connectors on this Alienware. And for good reason, the m15 R2 is designed on the same model as the m17 R2, received and tested a few weeks ago. They are therefore identical in many ways and we invite you to read our Review of the brand's spearhead at the head of an extraterrestrial to make a full tour of the owner.

Dell Alienware m15 R2

It will be mentioned all the same that the keyboards of the m15 R2 and the m17 R2 are not quite the same. The 15.6-inch model does not have a numeric keypad or programmable shortcut keys. Dell took them both out of the equation while these elements were present on the first version of the m15 released late last year.The touchpad, for its part, is also smaller but, these are the only big visible differences.

 Read also : Review of the HP Omen X 2S, are the two screens of this gaming laptop an asset for the game?

Dell Alienware m15 R2

An OLED screen with far too large a definition for gaming

This 15.6 inch model stands out from its predecessor by the presence of a Tobii camera present in the hinge of the screen. As a reminder, this is a gaze tracking device that can be used in some compatible games. It also allows you to analyze the movement of your eyes when you play online or even … it can control certain functions with the sole force of your retinas.

Honestly, this is a gadget that will only be used by a tiny fraction of gamers. It is therefore clearly dispensable equipment, but fortunately Alienware offers screen models devoid of this tool.

Dell Alienware m15 R2

As we said in the introduction, Dell is putting on a somewhat special panel to impress us. It is a 4K definition which will have to display your games and which, good news, digests back co-pedaling in Full HD and 1440p. As we will see later, it is saving.

Not only do you have a multitude of pixels on the screen but, in addition, these are displayed by an OLED panel. This is quite rare on a gaming machine, as this technology is not known to allow high refresh rates. The proof, it is necessary to be satisfied with this m15 of 60 Hz maximum.

Dell Alienware m15 R2

Lack of speed, we have to settle for quality and there we are served. The measured brightness is the best obtained for several months as shown in the graph below (the m15 is in light green). It amounts to 435 cd / m2 on average with a peak at 450 cd / m2 in the upper left corner of the screen.

OLED requires, impossible to measure the contrast ratio since it is said to be infinite. The dark areas are therefore … very dark and the colors, bright. But not fair. Or, in any case, not as much as we hoped. The delta E measured is 4 which places the m15 R2 slightly above the average calculated from the last PCs passed by the editor and which amounts to 3.38.

In detail and it is visible to the naked eye, oranges and reds are omnipresent, so much so that they are sometimes distorted. The probe indicates very high values, corroborating our observation. Green is also present. You just have to find yourself in a wooded or lush green universe in a game to see it, again, without having to be an expert in colorimetry. The fact remains that the OLED always produces its small effect, which almost causes us to be lenient with regard to this slab.

The fact remains that if you are more of a network, multiplayer game player, where everything is going very fast and where the responsiveness of the display is crucial, go your way and bet on a version of the m15 R2 with a Classic Full HD panel, refreshed in 144 Hz. The rendering will probably be less spectacular, but the reactivation will be flawless.

The 4K OLED panel is clearly made for lovers of a great ehealth game show, with beautiful settings to savor and in which you walk for hours (Red Dead Redemption 2 alone, The Witcher 3, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, etc.). Especially since, playing in native 4K on the machine is not smooth and without some rigidities, related to the configuration.

A configuration too classic for such a beautiful machine

This Alienware opts for a very standard gaming configuration at the moment for a machine of this price. It is a quartet led by the Core i7-9750H processor which plays the score. At his side are 16 GB of DDR4 memory (soldered), a 512 GB SSD (expandable) and a GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q card that provide the music.

Dell Alienware m15 R2

On paper, with such equipment, you are armed for current and future AAAs … as long as you do not exceed 1440p. Below, the performance graph obtained with the Alienware m15 R2 (in dark pink) limited to a Full HD definition.

3D game performance graph

We get between 79 and 98 frames per second on The Division depending on the level of details (High / Ultra) and on Rise of the Tomb Raider, in DX 12, we cap at 95 ips on average. In short, the playability and the beauty are there.

Dell Alienware m15 R2

However, when we pass these same tests in 4K, the fall is brutal. We go from 79 to 37 fps in The Division and from 95 to 37 fps in tomb Raider ! Clearly, it is playable but as soon as the scenes are loaded with details or the animations suddenly become complex, the variations in images will be severe, risking transforming the title into a succession of pretty slides.

Finally, note that the Core i7-9750H processor – just like the 17.3-inch model – is affected by throttling crises. It lowers its operating speed to avoid heat stroke in the event of significant activity and this after 6 to 7 minutes of stress. Beyond that, he does yo-yo.

Hearts rise above their basic speed (2.6 GHz) to tickle the 3 GHz but not for long. In one minute, the CPU reduces the airfoil, in stages, and the frequency drops to 2 or even 1.9 GHz at the worst of the storm. Then three minutes later, he manages to go back to 3 GHz … without holding them. And so on. However, Dell did not skimp on copper to dissipate all these little people.

Less noisy than the first version, but still as hot

The Alienware m15 R2 being a reduced version of the m17 R2, it is quite natural to find an identical heat dissipation system, composed of two fans and a solid network of metal pipes.

Dell Alienware m15 R2

It is however much more discreet than on the large model. The noise pollution emitted was measured at 37.4 dB at the height of the storm (compared to 45 dB for the m17 R2 and its RTX 2080 Max-Q). On the other hand, the two brothers make equal play at rest: between 28 and 29 dB.

We also carried out our classic temperature measurements at different places on the machine. Below, the mercury reaches 50.8 ° C in full stress, and 33 ° C on the palm rests. Two values ​​fairly close to those noted on the first version of the m15 (the R1 therefore) at the very beginning of this year.

Not very heavy, but not really enduring

We finish with the consumption and autonomy of this Alienware 15 R2. Side AC adapter, it is equal with its big brother, it is always a large block of more than 950 grams that must be put in the suitcase if you ever have to move with the computer. Computer which, by the way, weighs only 2.2 kilos which would almost allow it to be nomadic. Unfortunately, this is not at all the case.

In the endurance race, this 15.6 inch is positioned at the back of the pack. Allow 1 hour 40 minutes on average, both for streaming ehealth content and for more versatile use. As for playing on drums, don't even count it. Despite the Battery Boost from Nvidia – which limits the performance of the machine to allow the battery to last a little longer, you will have at best 30 to 40 minutes of ehealth game activities available.

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