Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Good construct high quality
- Fine gaming efficiency
- Lots of ports (together with Ethernet)
Cons
- Too costly for the specs
- Dim show
- No biometrics for Windows Hello
- No NPU for AI options
Our Verdict
The Alienware 16 Aurora is the lowest-end mannequin in Alienware’s laptop computer lineup. With a lower-end show and a slower CPU, the value simply feels too excessive for this expertise.
Price When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
$1,499
Best Prices Today: Alienware 16 Aurora
$1149.99
$1,329.99
$1389.99
$1500
The Alienware 16 Aurora is a budget-focused 16-inch gaming laptop computer. At $1,499, nonetheless, the value is simply too excessive: This machine makes many compromises, from the CPU to the show and the stunning lack of any NPU in any respect. This value is creeping in direction of the mid-range mark, and you’ll spend much less to get higher {hardware} from a competitor.
It’s unlucky: I reviewed this machine alongside the Alienware 16X Aurora, and that specific mid-range laptop computer is a superb worth for the {hardware}. If you’re this Alienware laptop computer, I like to recommend wanting on the 16X Aurora as a substitute.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Specs
The Alienware 16 Aurora is a 16-inch laptop computer with an Intel Core 7 240H CPU — or an Intel Core 9 270H chip if you happen to spring for the top-end mannequin. However, our evaluation unit had the Core 7 chip. Somewhat confusingly, whereas these are Intel Core (Series 2) processors, they’re primarily based on the older Raptor Lake architecture. It doesn’t have an NPU, so that you gained’t get Copilot+ PC features on this machine.
Our evaluation unit was a $1,499 mannequin that got here with an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU, however this machine can be accessible with RTX 3050, 4050, and 5070 graphics. The RTX 5070 possibility specifically doesn’t make a lot sense, because it makes the machine almost as costly as Dell’s higher-end Alienware 16X Aurora, which provides an all-around higher expertise.
Our evaluation unit additionally had 32GB of DDR5 RAM, which is probably the most RAM this machine is out there with — Alienware additionally provides variants with much less RAM.
The base mannequin begins at $1,149 on Dell’s web site on the time of the evaluation, but it surely contains an older RTX 4050 GPU and solely 16 GB of RAM.
- Model quantity: AC16250
- CPU: Intel Core 7 240H
- Memory: 32 GB DDR5 RAM
- Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060
- NPU: None
- Display: 2560×1600 IPS show with 120Hz refresh fee
- Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
- Webcam: 720p digital camera
- Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.1 Gen 2), 1x HDMI 2.1 out, 1x Ethernet (RJ-45), 1x combo audio jack, 1x energy in
- Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
- Biometrics: None
- Battery capability: 94 Watt-hours
- Dimensions: 14.05 x 10.45 x 0.89 inches
- Weight: 5.49 kilos
- MSRP: $1,499 as examined
Naturally, the Alienware 16 Aurora delivered cheap efficiency at reasonable settings in these video games.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Design and construct high quality
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16 Aurora appears to be like like a black laptop computer from some angles, however the darkish blue of its “Interstellar Indigo” coloration is seen from sure angles. This laptop computer has a reflective Alienware emblem on its lid, however apart from that it may simply be knowledgeable workstation laptop computer. Alienware hasn’t emphasised the normal gamer aesthetic on this design.
This machine has an anodized aluminum lid, however the remainder of the physique is plastic — for extra metallic, you’ll need to spend further on a higher-end gaming laptop computer. But plastic is ok, and the laptop computer appears to be like good and feels strong, though it’s a little vulnerable to choosing up fingerprints. The hinge is straightforward to open with a single hand and feels strong, and it doesn’t transfer round as you kind or sport on the laptop computer. It’s a well-put-together machine.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Keyboard and trackpad
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16 Aurora has a full-size chiclet-style keyboard full with a quantity pad on the proper. The 1.4mm of key journey leads to a pleasant typing expertise. It’s fairly snappy and never mushy as it’s on many lower-end laptops. This is a strong keyboard.
Dell included a backlight on the keyboard, but it surely doesn’t have customizable colours — you need to use white mild, however that’s it.
The trackpad right here works advantageous. It’s a fairly sized trackpad — many laptops have a lot bigger ones, however the measurement is ok with me. The click-down motion feels advantageous. A pleasant glass trackpad feels smoother — that is clearly a plastic floor — but it surely’s nonetheless easy and responsive.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Display and audio system
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16 Aurora has a 16-inch 2560×1600 decision IPS show with a 120Hz refresh fee and as much as 300 nits of brightness. It’s a advantageous show with a strong decision and a good refresh fee, however I want it was brighter. Whenever I take advantage of a gaming laptop computer with a show that caps out at 300 nits, I at all times need extra brightness. It doesn’t wow, although — the colours aren’t almost as spectacular they are often on a higher-end show in costlier gaming laptops. It’s cheap for a price range laptop computer, but it surely feels low-end for a $1,499 laptop computer.
This isn’t a contact display, and it’s not an OLED show both — it has an anti-glare coating that works effectively, so it’s not a shiny, reflective show. Higher brightness settings are sometimes essential to overpower glare on shiny shows, however that isn’t the case right here.
I check each laptop computer’s audio system by enjoying Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. The sound high quality throughout Aja was first rate, though a bit of flat — there wasn’t the sort of crisp instrument separation you hear on high-end audio system. Daft Punk’s Get Lucky had a enjoyable sound, though there wasn’t a ton of underlying bass.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The Alienware 16 Aurora has a 720p webcam. The picture is fairly grainy and washed out, and that’s no shock — 720p webcams are low finish, and Dell is slicing a nook right here to maintain the laptop computer’s value down. It will work if you have to have a video assembly and don’t want a high-resolution picture, however that’s about it. And, as a result of there’s no NPU on this machine, you don’t have entry to Windows Studio Effects webcam results on this machine.
The dual-array microphone on this machine produces reasonably muffled audio — this machine wasn’t constructed with video conferencing in thoughts, though it provides the fundamentals if you happen to want them.
The Alienware 16 Aurora doesn’t have any biometric {hardware}, so you may’t signal into Windows together with your face or a fingerprint. A $1,499 laptop computer ought to have biometric assist, whether or not that’s a fingerprint reader or facial recognition. That’s too huge a nook to chop at this value level.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Connectivity
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Alienware 16 Aurora has a terrific choice of connectivity — it even has an Ethernet port!
On the left, you’ll discover a USB Type-A port, a combo audio jack, and an Ethernet (RJ-45) jack. On the again, this machine has a second USB Type-A port, two USB Type-C ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a power-in port.
It’s a terrific choice of ports, and the one factor lacking is perhaps an SD card reader, if you happen to’re in search of that. Aside from that, it’s effectively laid out — particularly with a lot of the ports being within the again, the place it’s straightforward to plug the ability cable and different equipment in in order that they keep out of your manner.
This machine has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 {hardware}, so it’s as future proof as might be with the newest requirements.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Performance
The Alienware 16 Aurora’s cooling system works effectively. Playing the newest huge video games like Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 and Doom: The Dark Ages, the followers stayed on the quiet facet for a 16-inch gaming laptop computer — particularly a extra budget-focused laptop computer, as quieter followers are usually reserved for higher-end gaming laptops and less-expensive laptops usually go for the “jet engine” sound profile. This laptop computer blows a lot of the sizzling air out of the again, and the keyboard solely will get mildly heat. Some sizzling air comes out of the edges — in an ideal construct, it will all exit of the again and away out of your mouse hand — but it surely’s not too dangerous.
Naturally, the Alienware 16 Aurora delivered cheap efficiency at reasonable settings in these video games. As at all times, although we ran this machine by means of our standard benchmarks to see the way it performs in additional element.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
First, we run PCMark 10 to get an concept of total system efficiency. With a PCMark 10 total rating of 7,068, this machine is available in noticeably behind the pricier Alienware 16X Aurora. The Intel Core 7 Meteor Lake CPU right here can’t preserve tempo with the higher-end Intel Core Ultra 9 and AMD Ryzen AI 9 chips within the higher-end laptops we’re evaluating it to. It’s a lower-end gaming CPU.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a closely multithreaded benchmark that focuses on total 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 Cinebench R20 multi-threaded rating of 6,284, this machine as soon as once more is available in behind different laptops. That’s largely as a result of the Intel Core 7 240H CPU right here has 10 cores, whereas the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX has 24 cores. Most purposes don’t profit from multithreading this a lot, nonetheless, so this isn’t consultant of the distinction in real-world gaming efficiency.
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 16 Aurora took 900 seconds on common to finish the encode. That’s 15 minutes, and it’s considerably slower than different laptops — once more, this CPU simply doesn’t have as many cores as I’d wish to see.
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 laptops we evaluation.
With a 3Dmark Time Spy rating of 10,263, the Alienware 16 Aurora got here in behind different laptops as soon as once more — that’s as a result of Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU right here. This chart helps illustrate how necessary the selection of GPU is and the way a lot sooner higher-end GPUs might be.
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 an effective way to check GPU efficiency throughout completely different PCs.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
With a mean FPS of 132, the Alienware 16 Aurora delivered advantageous efficiency. It was behind different laptops with sooner GPUs, however not by a lot. This older sport is seeing diminishing returns from higher-end GPUs.
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 mean FPS of 43 on this high-end Metro Exodus benchmark, the Alienware 16 Aurora supplied fairly playable efficiency even at these brutal graphical settings. It’s a superb instance of the strong efficiency you will get with out splurging on a top-tier CPU or GPU nowadays. Of course, it is available in behind costlier laptops with higher-end GPUs.
Overall, the Alienware 16 Aurora delivered playable efficiency, but it surely’s held again by the elements in comparison with higher-end, costlier gaming laptops.
Alienware 16 Aurora: Battery life
The Alienware 16 Aurora we acquired had a big 94 Watt-hour battery, though Dell’s spec sheet mentioned it had a 60 Watt-hour battery — anticipate that smaller battery on lower-end variants and this bigger battery on higher-end ones. It delivered surprisingly good battery life away from an outlet for a gaming laptop computer, doubtless because of its lower-end CPU.
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 at all times going to be lower than this.
The Alienware 16 Aurora lasted 603 minutes on common — that’s simply over 10 hours. For a gaming laptop computer that isn’t significantly centered on battery life, that is fairly good!
Alienware 16 Aurora: Conclusion
The Alienware 16 Aurora doesn’t impress, which is a disgrace as a result of I reviewed it alongside the Alienware 16X Aurora, and that laptop computer did impress with the worth it delivered. The core downside right here is the value — $1,499 is simply too excessive for an expertise like this one.
It’s a price range expertise at a mid-tier value. If this machine had a sooner CPU or a extra spectacular show — ideally each — it will be straightforward to advocate. For now, you’re in all probability higher off wanting some place else for a price range gaming laptop computer — except Dell is having an enormous sale on this mannequin.
I’d advocate you have a look at the Alienware 16X Aurora if you happen to’re in search of an Alienware laptop computer, nonetheless — that’s significantly better worth for cash. Or, if you happen to’re in search of a price range gaming laptop computer, try PCWorld’s best gaming laptops list for higher values.
