Expert’s Rating
Pros
- High-end CPU efficiency
- Bright and exquisite show
- Great gaming expertise
- Very aggressive value
Cons
- You can get higher gaming efficiency with a quicker GPU (after all)
- Some scorching air blows out the perimeters
Our Verdict
The Alienware 16X Aurora has a high-end CPU, a quick GPU, and a ravishing show. You’d have a tough time discovering comparable {hardware} at this value.
Price When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
$1,999.99
Best Prices Today: Alienware 16X Aurora
The Alienware 16X Aurora is a 16-inch gaming laptop computer with a screaming-fast Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, and a vibrant, lovely, and clean show. A $1,999 is an effective value for these specs. With the Aurora 16X, Alienware is delivering actual worth. Alienware isn’t only a high-end premium model anymore.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Specs
The Alienware 16X Aurora is a 16-inch gaming laptop computer with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. This is a high-end laptop computer gaming CPU primarily based on Intel’s Arrow Lake architecture, though Intel manufacturers it an Intel Core (Series 2) — similar to Lunar Lake and a few Meteor Lake chips.
Our $1,999 evaluation unit had an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, though Alienware additionally gives this machine with RTX 5060 graphics. It had 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, however Dell gives this machine with as much as 64 GB of RAM. Dell gives different configurations of this laptop computer beginning at $1,549.
- Model quantity: AC16251
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
- Memory: 32 GB DDR5 RAM
- Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070
- NPU: Intel AI Boost
- Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 IPS show with 240Hz refresh fee
- Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
- Webcam: 1080p digital camera
- Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (one Thunderbolt 4, one USB 3.2 Gen 2), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), 1x HDMI 2.1 out, 1x Ethernet (RJ-45), 1x combo audio jack, 1x energy in
- Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
- Biometrics: IR digital camera for Windows Hello
- Battery capability: 96 Watt-hours
- Dimensions: 14.05 x 10.45 x 0.92 inches
- Weight: 5.86 kilos
- MSRP: $1,999 as examined
Aside from a reflective Alienware head on the lid, this laptop computer is all enterprise and appears prefer it may very well be a workstation laptop computer. It doesn’t have excessive ‘gamer’ aesthetics.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Design and construct high quality
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16X Aurora, with its “Interstellar Indigo” coloration scheme, appears deceptively like a black laptop computer from some angles, however the dark-blue-to-violet shades are seen on the proper angles. Aside from a reflective Alienware head on the lid, this laptop computer is all enterprise and appears prefer it may very well be a workstation laptop computer. It doesn’t have excessive “gamer” aesthetics.
The 16X Aurora has an anodized aluminum lid and backside cowl, giving it a extra premium really feel — Alienware’s extra budget-focused Alienware 16 Aurora simply has the anodized aluminum lid. However, it’s not all aluminum — the realm across the keyboard is matte plastic. Still, it feels good and appears good. It does choose up fingerprints greater than I’d like, as you’ll see in a few of the images — that’s the primary difficulty. The laptop computer is stable and the hinge motion is nice — it’s simple to open with one hand.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Keyboard and trackpad
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16X Aurora has a full-size keyboard full with a quantity pad. With 1.4mm of key journey, it feels good. It doesn’t have the wow issue of the snappy mechanical keyboard you’ll discover in a high-end Alienware 16 Area-51 or the surprisingly hefty feeling keyboard with the upper actuation pressure you’ll get in a Razer Blade, but it surely works nicely.
This laptop computer has a customizable backlighting, but it surely’s one zone: You can select a single coloration to use to your whole keyboard.
The Alienware 16X Aurora features a trackpad with a plastic floor. It’s superb — it’s somewhat on the small facet and a glass trackpad could be nicer, however this works nicely.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Display and audio system
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16X Aurora has a 16-inch 2560×1600 decision IPS show with a 240Hz refresh fee and as much as 500 nits of brightness. It’s a stable show with superior options like Nvidia G-Sync for variable refresh charges. That excessive refresh fee makes the expertise “buttery smooth” in video games and on the desktop, and the excessive brightness mixed with glorious coloration replica delivers a a lot better show expertise than the lower-end Alienware 16 Aurora’s show. You’re getting a noticeably higher show in your cash right here.
While I’m usually wowed by the vivid colours on OLED shows, this show delivers a ravishing image. A high-end IPS show can look unbelievable, too, and this panel proves it.
This isn’t a touch-screen show, so it doesn’t want the shiny coating touchscreen laptops are likely to have. The matte show and its anti-glare coating mixed with a excessive brightness means this laptop computer’s show does an unusually good job of minimizing reflections and glare.
I check each laptop computer’s audio system by taking part in Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. The Alienware 16X Aurora delivered first rate sound high quality, with a brighter, extra detailed sound in Aja — the instrument separation was crisper than on the inexpensive Alienware 16 Aurora I reviewed on the similar time. Get Lucky had a enjoyable sound. But, as all the time, it may use extra bass — laptop computer audio system lack bass typically, and the higher the remainder of the speaker setup is, the extra the dearth of bass stands out to me from an audio high quality standpoint.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The Alienware 16X Aurora has a 1080p webcam, and it’s considerably higher than the 720p webcam discovered within the lower-end Alienware 16 Aurora. The picture high quality and coloration replica beat that lower-end {hardware}. For a gaming laptop computer, although, that is superb. Also, as a result of there’s an NPU on this machine, you get entry to Windows Studio Effects for fixing eye contact, blurring your background, and extra.
The dual-array microphone setup on this laptop computer sounds first rate, but it surely isn’t as much as the audio high quality commonplace I’ve heard in enterprise laptops the place video conferencing is a significant concern.
The Alienware 16X Aurora options an IR digital camera for Windows Hello, so you may signal into Windows along with your face. It works nicely.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Connectivity
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16X has a very good variety of ports, and the one factor you may miss is an SD card reader.
On the left, this machine has a USB Type-A port, Ethernet jack, and combo audio jack. On the again, there’s a second USB Type-A port, two USB Type-C ports (considered one of them can also be a Thunderbolt 4 port), HDMI 2.1 out, and power-in port.
You may nitpick — positive, it will be good if each USB Type-C ports had been Thunderbolt 4 ports — however this can be a good setup. I all the time like to see ports — particularly the ability connection — on the again of the gaming laptop computer so peripherals get out of the best way.
Alienware consists of Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 {hardware} on this machine, which can also be good to see. The Wi-Fi labored nicely.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Performance
The Alienware 16X Aurora’s cooling system saved the system cool and the followers stayed at an affordable quantity stage. Playing the most recent large video games like Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 and Doom: The Dark Ages, the keyboard stayed somewhat heat, however not too scorching, and many of the scorching air was propelled out of the again of the machine. Some scorching air does come out of the perimeters of the laptop computer — not lots, however ideally it will all be pumped out of the again and away out of your mouse hand.
With a high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics, this machine delivered glorious efficiency in these video games — and the show delivered lovely picture high quality, too. As all the time, although, we ran the Alienware 16X Aurora by our standard benchmarks to see the way it performs.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
First, we run PCMark 10 to get an concept of general system efficiency. With an general rating of 8,794, the Alienware 16X delivered unbelievable efficiency — edging out even the costlier Alienware 16 Area-51 on this benchmark. It’s inside the margin of error, however the high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU right here is doing work.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a closely multithreaded benchmark that focuses on general CPU efficiency. It’s a fast benchmark, so cooling underneath prolonged workloads isn’t an element. But, because it’s closely multithreaded, CPUs with extra cores have an enormous benefit.
With a multithreaded rating of 13,872 on this benchmark, we as soon as once more noticed simply how spectacular this machine’s CPU is.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
We additionally run an encode with Handbrake. This is one other closely multithreaded benchmark, but it surely runs over an prolonged interval. This calls for the laptop computer’s cooling kick in, and lots of laptops will throttle and decelerate underneath load.
The Alienware 16X Aurora accomplished the encode in 477 seconds on common. That’s just below eight minutes. On this benchmark, the higher-end Alienware 16 Area-51 beat the 16X Aurora, regardless of each machines having the identical CPU. I’d wager that’s because of the higher-end cooling setup on the costlier Alienware laptop computer.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run a graphical benchmark. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU efficiency, on all of the machines we evaluation.
With a 3Dmark Time Spy rating of 13,342, the Alienware 16X Aurora’s Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics got here in in the course of the pack — a very good methods forward of the Alienware 16 Aurora with its RTX 5060 graphics however far behind Nvidia RTX 5080-powered machines.
After that, we run the benchmarks constructed into some video games. First, we use the benchmark in Shadow of the Tomb Raider to check all of the gaming laptops we evaluation. It’s an older sport, but it surely’s a good way to check GPU efficiency throughout totally different PCs.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
With a median FPS of 183, the Alienware 16X Aurora delivered glorious efficiency. You probably received’t get higher efficiency with out going as much as a laptop computer with an RTX 5080 or 5090.
Finally, we run the benchmark in Metro Exodus. This is a extra demanding sport, and we set the benchmark to 1080p decision on the Extreme element setting.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
With a median FPS of 53 on this high-end Metro Exodus benchmark, the Alienware 16X Aurora provided good efficiency even at these brutal graphical settings. Of course, it as soon as once more is available in behind laptops with higher-end GPUs.
Overall, the Alienware 16 Aurora delivers unbelievable CPU efficiency because of its high-end CPU, however gaming laptops are usually extra GPU-constrained. You may be higher off with a gaming laptop computer with a slower CPU and Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics, if yow will discover that as an possibility. The GPU is the bottleneck right here — which is ok, but it surely’s not as high-end because the CPU.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Battery life
The Alienware 16X Aurora has a large 96 Watt-hour battery, which is about as massive as they’re allowed to get earlier than the Transportation Security Administration received’t enable them on airplanes within the U.S. Many 16-inch gaming laptops embody smaller batteries. While the {hardware} is power-hungry, that battery ensures you may squeeze extra runtime out of your laptop computer if you’re away from an outlet.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode activated and the keyboard backlight turned off till the laptop computer suspends itself. We set the display to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case state of affairs for any laptop computer since native video playback is so environment friendly, and actual battery life in day-to-day use is all the time going to be lower than this.
The Alienware 16X Aurora lasted 407 minutes on this benchmark — that’s just below seven hours. In the actual world, you’ll get a number of hours away from an outlet. That’s superb for a gaming laptop computer — you’ll have to plug in for good gaming efficiency, anyway — however this isn’t the perfect machine if you would like a gaming laptop computer that may additionally ship lengthy battery life away from an outlet.
Alienware 16X Aurora: Conclusion
The Alienware 16X Aurora is a formidable machine. At $1,999 for an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an RTX 5070, and a show of this caliber, it’s critical worth in comparison with what you’d pay for competing laptops with comparable {hardware} — at retail value, it undercuts many comparable laptops by a number of hundred bucks.
It’s an incredible expertise, however some folks may desire a quicker GPU for higher gaming efficiency, an OLED panel, or a higher-end all-metal construct high quality. You’ll pay additional for touches like that, although. This is a mid-range laptop computer that delivers worth and doesn’t really feel like a price range machine. That’s very spectacular coming from a model like Alienware that’s traditionally been extra high-end, particularly with costs climbing throughout.