The Alienware 16X Aurora with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 graphics is my favorite gaming laptop for most people. This is a really solid mid-ranger that offers great performance for the money, an incredible 240Hz matte display, and a dreamy keyboard. It’s also not particularly attractive, so if you don’t want a machine that looks like a stereotypical gaming laptop, move on right away (although its loud fan will probably give it away).
The 16X Aurora offers surprisingly good performance for a laptop that comes in under $2,000 as tested. Its Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 19,774 means it’s the third-fastest laptop we’ve tried, behind the $3,599.99 Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 OLED (20,369) and the $3,649 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro chip (22,758). That’s not a huge surprise, considering the 16X Aurora I tried packed a new, high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, but hey, the same thing happened with that $3,600 Lenovo model. you become comparable oomph For a fraction of the cost.
In 3DMark’s TimeSpy benchmark, which we run on gaming laptops to measure their graphics performance, the 16X Aurora scored 14,023 points. This is the fourth-best score in our database, and 15 percent better than the score of the Alienware m16 R2 with last-generation RTX 4070 graphics. (It’s its predecessor and our previous top pick in this category.) Suffice to say, AAA games Run great on it.
The downside of this power is that the 16X Aurora runs fast and hot. Its keyboard and the vent above it were always a little sore during my testing, even when I was using the laptop to browse the web. Plug it in and play cyberpunk 2077 made the fans roar, even though its surface never really developed warm The spots, so I guess they were doing their job. Unplugging the 16X Aurora reduces the fan noise significantly, but the problem is that the machine doesn’t last very long on battery. When I ran my video rundown test with its dedicated GPU and RGB keyboard backlighting turned off, it shut down after five hours and 40 minutes. (Turning on both features will make it go away much faster.) You’re in a tough situation: either learn to plan your gaming sessions around its charging cycle, or invest in an amazing pair of noise-canceling headphones.
On a more positive note, I don’t have any major issues with the design of the 16X Aurora. I don’t think it will be too divisive, as the aesthetics of gaming laptops can sometimes be. It’s painted a deep navy blue called “Interstellar Indigo” and its only highlight is an iridescent Alienware logo on its lid. Its top and bottom panels are made of smooth aluminum; It picks up fingerprints, but otherwise has a premium feel. I got my hands on its attractive island-style keyboard, which also includes a numpad. Its touchpad is plastic like the rest of its keyboard deck, but it feels nice and smooth. (I will mention that it’s off-center, which may bother some people.) Its webcam is grainy garbage, but it’s not terrible. Anyone doing serious streaming on this thing will be buying a separate webcam.
My absolute favorite component is probably the 16X Aurora’s display. It has a 240Hz refresh rate, crisp 2.5K resolution, vibrant colors and, importantly, a matte finish. I haven’t seen a laptop screen this matte since I tried the Dell XPS 13 (RIP), and I think it really makes for a comfortable, pleasant viewing experience.
Like most gaming laptops, the 16X Aurora is heavy and bulky. It weighs about six pounds on its own, and its 280W charger adds an additional two pounds. Plan to park it at the desk.