Alienware m17 R5 review

CPU and GPU fronts would be a huge understatement. It was hard to find an AMD-based laptop, let alone an Alienware high-end gaming system with a Ryzen CPU, a Radeon GPU, and a brand-new display milestone. Even so, we have an Alienware m17 R5 with a Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU and Radeon RX6850M XT graphics on our testbed. It has a variety of screen options, including the first-ever 480 Hz 1080p FreeSync Premium panel.

Which lets you play esports games at high frame rates without any stuttering. Also on board is a great-feeling Cherry mechanical keyboard with a low profile that can be added as an option and new AMD Smart Access graphics technology. The Alienware m17 R5 uses a multiplexer (MUX) chip to switch between the dedicated graphics for gaming and the graphics built into the APU for tasks that don’t require as many pixels.

Spoiler: This gives a high-end gaming system very good battery life, but you’ll have to put up with a few seconds of system slowdown when the graphics change. On top of all that, the Alienware m17 R5 chassis has the company’s attractive Legend 2.0 design and optional Wi-Fi 6E connectivity from Qualcomm.

There are even ports on both sides and on the back of the laptop, which isn’t the case with the higher-end Alienware x17 R2. This makes it easier to use your accessories. Why wouldn’t you like it? In general, performance is more good than great, and gaming results are closer to those of an RTX 3070 Ti than of a 3080 or 3080 Ti.

High-end Intel Alder Lake processors are better at getting work done. But for $2,649 in the configuration we tested, the Alienware m17 R5 is a powerful and good-looking system that you should think about, especially if you like long battery life for tasks other than gaming. Find out if Alienware’s gaming monster, which is powered by AMD, makes it onto our list of the best gaming laptops.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Design

The Alienware m17 R5 looks pretty much the same as its predecessors, so there isn’t much new to say about it. That’s not something bad: The sci-fi design, with a ringed LED light on the back and a futuristic logo on the lid, is unique and shows that this is a gaming PC without being too flashy. The only color option for the R5 is Alienware’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” not the white “Lunar Light” we’ve seen in other reviews.

Alienware may be promoting its more streamlined X series these days, but the 15- and 17-inch M series is still the best choice for performance. The m15 and m17 have been among the best in terms of frame rate for their sizes, while the X models focus on being thin at the expense of raw power. The M17 R5 keeps this separation going. You can get this laptop from its official website.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Keyboard and Touchpad

The laptop is built similarly to the m17 R4. One of the optional highlights is the Cherry MX mechanical keyboard, which we called one of the R4’s most pleasant surprises. Many gaming laptops have “fake” mechanical key solutions, but this one is the real deal because it comes from the most well-known name in mechanical switches. You won’t find as much travel as on a desktop keyboard, but the clicky feel and tactile feedback are satisfying. Each key has its own backlighting, and the RGB lighting can be changed.

There are ports all over the chassis, but there are less of them at the back than there used to be. On the left side is an Ethernet port and a headphone jack. On the right side, there are two USB 3.2 Type-A ports. The power jack, another USB-A 3.2 port, a USB-C port, and an HDMI video output are all on the back thermal block.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Display

When we tested it, it covered 107.5% of the sRGB color space and 107.5% of the sRGB space. That makes it about the same as the rest. But the average brightness of the Alienware was 435.8 nits, which is a lot brighter than the average brightness of the other laptops in our charts.

As I played the opening sequences of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, the screen made the cell-shaded style, with bright colors highlighting the ridiculously meta fantasy landscapes and characters and blacks that were dark enough to help keep the constant barrage of skeletons and other characters from becoming a confusing visual mess.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Ports and Connectivity

There are two USB Type-A ports on the right side of the m17 R5. Both are USB 3.2 Gen 1, which means they can reach a maximum speed of 5 Gbps. This works great for most USB devices and is in a good spot for gamepads and mice. We probably would have liked a second USB Type-C port on this side as well.

The alien logo and the area around the port cluster and cooler exhaust on the back of the M17 R5 can both be lit up with RGB lighting that can be changed. You can make it work with the lights on the keyboard or let it do its own thing. The color of the light seems to be cyan by default.

Around the back is another USB Type-A port (5 Gbps) and a USB Type-C port that supports the new USB4 protocol with a 20 Gbps transfer rate. We didn’t have any USB4 devices to test with, but this should be a great option for things like Thunderbolt docks, which can add a lot more connections if needed. There is also an HDMI 2.1 port if you want to connect an external display.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Performance

The m17 R5 looks the same as previous versions. The Legend Industrial design has held up well over time, and this is still one of the best and most unique laptops on the market. It’s 17 inches long and weighs 3.3 kilos, but it’s still only 1.08 inches thick. It comes in the color “Dark side of the moon,” and the high-quality plastics feel solid and don’t let fingerprints or smudges stick to them.

There are a lot of ports on the outside and better heat management on the inside of the big chassis. On the right are two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and on the left are an Ethernet port with a 2.5Gbs speed and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. The rest of the ports are on the back, which also has the LED ring that goes all the way around.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Battery Life

On paper, the 8-core Ryzen 9 6900HX shouldn’t be able to compete with Intel’s new 12-core Core i7 Alder Lake processors. The Radeon RX6850M XT GPU, on the other hand, has a TGP of 140W and 12GB of vRAM, making it sound much more interesting.

The 4K media benchmarks from Expert Reviews gave a score of 385, which was the lowest in our group of comparisons. The GeekBench 5 scores showed the same thing and showed that Intel’s Alder Lake i7 and i9 chips are faster than AMD’s Ryzen 9 CPUs.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Heat

The Alienware CryoTech cooling system is designed to aid in this. The system’s dual intake, quad exhaust design pulls in cool air from the top and bottom vents and expels it from the left, right, and rear vents to keep your lap safe. According to Alienware, copper is 1.3% lighter, which increases airflow by 6%.

Also available is Alienware’s Smart Fan control technology, which is pending patent protection and allows users to adjust the speed of individual fans or keep them at a steady rate. Different sensors in the system make the call on what has to be done. The CPU fan and GPU fan have blades that are 26% thinner, 17% thinner, and 2% larger in diameter, respectively.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Price

We wrote this before this version of the Alienware m17 R5 came out, so we didn’t have prices for all of the options yet. Alienware says that the starting price for an AMD configuration (likely a Ryzen 7 6800H and Radeon 6700M) will be $1,910.99. Our top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU and Radeon 6850M XT AMD GPU configuration costs $2,649.99.

Along with the 4K, 120 Hz screen, this comes with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. The base model comes with a 1080p, 165Hz screen, but you can upgrade to a 360Hz screen or, if your eyes and reflexes are fast enough, a new 480Hz 1080p display. Alienware says the fastest screen option will cost $300 more than the price of the base display.

Alienware m17 R5 review: Conclusion

Alienware’s m17 R5 is a powerful and good-looking gaming PC. It can’t compete with the best Intel and Nvidia PCs when it comes to frame rates, but it’s not too far behind. It’s also a little bit thicker and heavier than some of the competition, including the company’s own x17 R2.

But the battery life gets a big boost from switching between the dedicated graphics and the iGPU. The system usually slows down for just a few seconds when you leave or enter a game. In general, the software didn’t work as well as it usually does on Intel-based gaming computers.