The modern Alienware m15 design is well-trodden interplanetary soil for us, having reviewed several annual iterations of the slim gaming laptop. The latest, the m15 Ryzen Edition R5 (starts at $1,567.99; $1,649.99 as tested), does what it says on the box: bring AMD’s latest Ryzen processors to bear for both gaming and media editing. The CPU is notably quicker than its Intel competition, and it teams well with the machine’s Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU to approach the frame rates of more expensive systems. As a whole, this is an appealing midrange package at a very fair price, with a nice supporting feature set like a 165Hz display and long battery life. It doesn’t quite earn an Editors’ Choice award among gaming laptops. (We like the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE and the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Edition, somewhat south and north of the Alienware’s price, respectively.) But it’s one of the best options between the two.
Welcome to the Dark Side (of the Moon)
While the internals are the exciting new draw in this edition, the exterior, as mentioned, is one we’re quite familiar with. This current iteration of Alienware laptop design has only been around since 2019, starting with the m15 R2, but we’ve already seen quite a few 15- and 17-inch laptops pass through our labs with this look.
In short, I like the modern shape and styling, which invokes some sci-fi and futuristic flourishes like the honeycomb vents and rear ringed LED. We’ve normally been sent laptops in Alienware’s white Lunar Light color scheme, but this review unit features the black Dark Side of the Moon paint job. The styling may not be for everyone, but I think it’s a uniquely intentional design language, and the black color palette makes it look more like other laptops at a glance if you’d rather yours blend in.
The build quality itself is strong, too, with a sturdy and premium feel. The R5 does have a new finish added to this chassis—what the company calls a “high-endurance clear coat with silky-smooth finish,” to be precise—and it does indeed feel nice to the touch. The previous lids felt a bit more like plastic.
The m15 is fairly portable, even if it somewhat prioritizes power over portability compared to some premium competitors like the Razer Blade 15 or the MSI Stealth 15M. Specifically, it measures 0.89 by 14 by 10.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.93 pounds, which is decent for a gaming machine but still noticeably thicker and heavier than the Razer (0.67 inch thick and 4.4 pounds).
The display measures 15.6 inches diagonally and combines full HD (1080p) resolution with a 165Hz refresh rate and Nvidia G-Sync. This is a good fit for gaming, particularly for the component combination our review configuration includes, as we’ll see in the performance section below. The screen looks good, with particularly nice colors, and the side and top bezels are quite thin. The bottom border is thicker as it blends into the relatively chunky hinge, but you won’t notice it while playing. You can also opt for a full HD 360Hz or QHD 240Hz display.
Next we come to the keyboard, which on our model is merely an above-average laptop keyboard. However, as on Alienware’s m17 R4, you can upgrade to a mechanical keyboard co-developed with leading switch maker Cherry. I was a big fan of it on the larger laptop, and I’m sure it would feel just as good here.
For our more traditional keyboard, the standout feature is its four-zone customizable backlighting, but beyond that it simply offers a comfortable typing experience with bouncy keys and balanced travel. The touchpad is less exciting, and perhaps a tad small, but it’s serviceable.
Rounding out the system is a respectable port selection. The left edge holds the headset jack and an Ethernet port, while the right flank is home to two USB Type-A ports. Most of the connections are around back, including the power jack, another USB-A port, the sole USB-C port (with power delivery but no Thunderbolt support), and an HDMI video output.
Component Check
With the external build out of the way, let’s talk components. The base model starts at $1,567.99, which nets you an eight-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen R7 5800H processor, 16GB of memory, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, a 256GB solid-state drive, and the 165Hz display. Our $1,649.99 review unit is nearly identical, but doubles up on storage with a 512GB SSD. Beyond that, you can upgrade to a Ryzen R9 processor, an RTX 3070 GPU, more RAM and storage, and the abovementioned screen options. The memory is also user-upgradable after purchase via two SO-DIMM slots.
On paper, our model is fairly priced and appropriately outfitted for its purpose. The one potential negative is the 512GB SSD, which is generally a reasonable capacity but will fill up fast with today’s bulky games. I’d hope for 1TB or more in 2021 aside from entry-level models, but it would add to the price. We’ll see how the performance pans out in a moment, but it’s a good spec combination for midrange gaming, and if there’s a modest price premium, I think it’s an acceptable one for the baseline build quality and extra features (the construction materials, key lighting, advanced thermal layout, and more) that go into the system.
To be clear, the jump up from the m15 R4 to R5 is the Ryzen Edition; there is currently no Intel version of the R5. For more on choosing a laptop processor, you can read our laptop CPU guide, and you can learn about variations among Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs here.
Performance Testing: The Ryzen Difference
Now, we’ll take a look at how the m15 R5 performed in our suite of benchmark tests. Despite its fancy features, our review configuration’s price puts it in the midrange gaming tier. As such, you can’t expect it to go head to head with the powerful, high-end configurations of the Razer Blade 15 or Alienware m15 R4 that we reviewed (both well over $2,000), so we’ll use those results for context while comparing it to other midrange systems. You can see the comparison systems and their basic specs below.
As mentioned, the Blade 15 ($2,899 as tested) and m15 R4 ($2,499 as tested) are clearly packing more power than today’s test unit, but it’s useful to see the degree to which their components are (or aren’t) superior. On the flip side, the MSI Stealth 15M ($1,699 as tested) is the closest in price to the m15 R5, and the 14-inch Acer Predator Triton 300 SE ($1,399.99 as tested) represents the smaller and more affordable side. (See more about how we test laptops.)
Productivity, Storage, and Media Tests
PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance suites developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL. The PCMark 10 test we run simulates different real-world productivity and content creation workflows. We use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet jockeying, web browsing, and videoconferencing. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of the system’s boot drive. Both tests yield a proprietary numeric score; higher numbers are better.
We’ve come to expect AMD’s latest Ryzen processors to edge out Intel’s offerings in CPU-heavy tasks. PCMark 10 doesn’t push a processor to its limits, but as a measure of everyday competence, it shows that the Alienware m15 R5 is more than capable. All of these laptops go beyond the minimum acceptable level, but the m15 R5 can handle multitasking even more smoothly than the rest. The next three tests will be a better measure of these processors at the high end.
First comes Maxon’s CPU-crunching Cinebench R15, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC’s suitability for processor-intensive workloads.
Cinebench is often a good predictor of our Handbrake video editing trial, another tough, threaded workout that’s highly CPU-dependent and scales well with cores and threads. In it, we put a stopwatch on test systems as they transcode a standard 12-minute clip of 4K video (the open-source Blender demo movie Tears of Steel) to a 1080p MP4 file. It’s a timed test, and lower results are better.
We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image editing benchmark. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG test image. We time each operation and add up the total. As with Handbrake, lower times are better here.
It comes as no surprise that the Ryzen-powered m15 R5 is the leader across these three tests. By and large, the Ryzen R7 and R9 chips have shown supremacy over equivalent Core i7 and Core i9 CPUs for media creation and editing. While the gap in some of these tests isn’t great, the AMD advantage in Cinebench is telling. If you’re a content creator or media editor professionally or as a hobby, and would like your laptop to serve as a workstation when not playing games, the R5 is better suited than the others here.
Graphics Tests
We run two tests apiece in two gaming simulations. The first, 3DMark, measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. We run two different 3DMark subtests, Sky Diver and Fire Strike, which are suited to different types of systems. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to midrange PCs and integrated graphics, while Fire Strike is more demanding and made for high-end and gaming PCs to strut their stuff. The results are proprietary scores.
Another benchmark, Unigine’s Superposition, similarly renders and pans through a complex 3D scene, but measures results in frames per second (fps). We run the test at 720p and 1080p resolution with low and high image quality settings respectively; 30fps is a common goal for smooth animation but serious gamers prefer 60fps or higher.
The Alienware m15 R4 and Razer Blade 15 should surpass the m15 R5 in these tests given their stronger GPUs, but the R5 actually acquitted itself pretty well. This has a lot to do with the wattage mentioned earlier, as Alienware tends to push toward the max power for a given GPU in its systems, which aren’t as thin as some competitors. That turns into usable raw power in real-world scenarios. Presumably, the CPU is no slouch in helping boost these numbers as well, though for the most part Ryzen processors haven’t shown us as much of an advantage in gaming as they have in media tasks.
Real-World Gaming Tests
The synthetic tests above are helpful for measuring general 3D aptitude, but it’s hard to beat full retail video games for judging gaming performance. Far Cry 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider are both modern, high-fidelity titles with built-in benchmarks that illustrate how a system handles real-world gameplay at various settings. We run them at 1080p resolution at the games’ medium and best image-quality presets (Normal and Ultra for Far Cry 5 under DirectX 11, Medium and Very High for Rise of the Tomb Raider under DirectX 12).
The m15 R5 looks perhaps even better here than it did in the synthetic tests. You may crave an RTX 3070 or 3080 for bragging rights, but the Ryzen Edition achieves frame rates reasonably close to those of much more expensive gaming rigs. The latter’s extra 10 to 15 frames per second may satisfy performance maniacs, but 103fps and 115fps at these titles’ top settings is highly respectable. The included Alienware Command Center software lets you squeeze out a few more fps with Full Speed performance mode, but its added heat and fan noise make it not worth it in my opinion.
For shoppers seeking the best value, the m15 R5 offers better bang for your buck than any of the more expensive systems. The smaller and less expensive Predator comes close, but its smaller size and price clearly bring a performance compromise despite using the same GPU. All told, the Ryzen R7- and GeForce RTX 3060-based Alienware comes darn close to delivering high-end frame rates at a midrange price.
Battery Rundown Test
After fully recharging the laptop, we set up the machine in power-save mode (as opposed to balanced or high-performance mode) where available and make a few other battery-conserving tweaks in preparation for our unplugged video rundown test. (We also turn Wi-Fi off, putting the laptop in airplane mode.) In this test, we loop a video—a locally stored 720p file of the same Tears of Steel short we use in our Handbrake test—with screen brightness set at 50% and volume at 100% until the system quits.
Last but not least, the Ryzen Edition offers impressive battery runtime. It’s not quite a chart-topper in this group, but it’s not far off, lasting long enough to actually be useful for travel or brief gaming sessions off the charger. Some of these 15-inch alternatives, despite their thin frames and (in some cases) lower weights, can’t really be used on the go very much. The Alienware, as mentioned, isn’t the most compact gaming laptop in the world, so some use cases away from home won’t be practical, but it’s nice to have the option when needed.
A Strong Midrange Contender
The overall design and feature set of this system may be familiar, but we won’t turn up our noses at its Ryzen-based improvements. Between its performance and specs, the m15 Ryzen Edition is a good value. Our test configuration combines very capable gaming performance, class-leading processing efficiency, and a high-refresh-rate screen, all wrapped up in an appealing and unique chassis.
There isn’t much to fault, other than to say the system’s a bit heavy as modern 15-inch gamers go. The Predator Triton 300 SE remains the best value in the midrange tier, and we love its compact form factor, but if you have a bit more in your budget, the AMD Alienware is a worthy option.
