Dell Alienware M15 R6 Review: An Impressive Gaming Laptop

| Updated on March 26, 2024
Product Image
Product NameDell Alienware M15
Price
Available Colors Black
Review Rating
4.5

Heavy-duty gaming has long been associated with the Alienware brand, which puts the best hardware on display. Gaming lovers and competitive players alike can expect the greatest performance from Alienware laptops. The company’s M15 models, however, haven’t quite lived up to expectations, with the first couple of generations falling short of execution anticipations and the next generation failing to find a suitable compromise between price and performance. The Alienware M15 R6 is a gaming laptop that offers some of the greatest hardware available without carrying a hefty price tag.  

Dell Alienware M15 R6

Features of Alienware M15 R6

Let’s analyze the basic features of the M15 model one by one. 

Display

The M15 R6’s 15.6-inch QHD (1440p) IPS LCD panel has a 240Hz refresh rate and a 2ms response time. You also get the M15 R6’s base model, which has a 165Hz refresh rate and a 3ms reaction time. Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus are also supported on the screen of the device. This monitor produces realistic colors with great viewing angles. One must admit that using the screen on the M15 R6 is a complete joy because it is bright, color-accurate, and incredibly smooth. The Quad HD resolution is also the ideal compromise between gaming and clear, sharp images. Therefore, Quad HD is the means to move if you want a better resolution without making a significant compromise in frame rate.

Screen

The 1920 x 1080 resolution on a 15.6-inch LCD screen with a refresh rate of 360Hz and matte surface is what defines the Dell Alienware M15 R6 Laptop Screen. The LCD panel on this Alienware M15 R6 is 1080p. If you want, you can purchase it with a QHD resolution panel, which is really what a laptop this powerful deserves. A few years ago, ultra-high resolution gaming laptops seemed a little meaningless.

Alienware M15 R6 Screen

However, this device packs a punch thanks to its RTX 3080 graphics card. We hope to see Alienware’s premium gaming laptops launch with potentially a 1440p resolution screen shortly. When playing games at 1080p, pixelation is visible around Windows 10 and in those that don’t use anti-aliasing very well. The contrast of the screen is also not particularly high; it is essentially par for the course for an LCD.

Price

While the 11th Gen Core i7 / RTX 3080 variant is more expensive at Rs 2,40,000, the Alienware M15 R6 has a starting price of around Rs 1,60,000. The RTX 3080 variation is competitive with most of the competitors, despite the base model’s higher price. Making the M15 R6 less expensive undoubtedly necessitates a few trade-offs, but let’s see if they matter and whether the M15 R6 performs as expected in the real world.

Touchpad and Keyboard

Dell Alienware M15 R6 has a Cherry design keyboard with a 1.8 mm thickness and a 4-zone RGB backlight and PVC touchpad. In an unexpected turn, the Alienware M15 R6’s keyboard is undoubtedly its most remarkable component. Typically, you approach gaming laptops seeking the highest potential performance. As a result, the M15 R6 feels both quick and meaty. Compared to almost all competitors, this keyboard is more enjoyable to use. Additionally, it accentuates how annoying the keyboard base’s minor bend is. But unless you type in a fit of rage, you seldom ever notice the bowing effect while using the device.

Alienware M15 R6 Keyboard

The keyboard is significantly more engaging than the touchpad on the Alienware M15 R6. It’s the standard, out-of-date laptop gaming pad that appears to have been packed in with the idea that it wouldn’t get much use. It’s a little pad with a noisy plastic surface, not a piece of glass, and it’s relatively small. Despite being a little noisy, the clicker is not offensive. However, do not anticipate it to feel as fantastic as the pad of a sleek portable laptop, such as the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4.

Video and Audio

About gaming laptop speakers, the new Alienware M15 has some of the loudest available. Despite being extremely loud, the speakers lack bass. Don’t bother with music if you’re going to watch movies; you will find the audio to be more than adequate while doing so in a room that would rather be large and have some background noise. You may want to acquire a pair of headphones to wear when gaming because even though the speakers here are loud, they aren’t sufficient to block out the fan noise in Performance mode. 

Windows Hello Face Unlock is supported via the top-mounted 720p webcam, which is quite practical. You’ll be relieved to learn that in Quiet mode, the microphone doesn’t actually pick up much of the noise from the noisy fans, so don’t worry about having trouble hearing yourself over them. Overall, the webcam is more than adequate for everyday use, and the speakers are loud and mediocre in sound quality but still rather decent for a gaming gadget.  

Battery Life

An 86Wh battery and 240W power adaptor are included with the Alienware M15 R6. In everyday use, you will discover that the M15 R6 provides about 3.5 to 4 hours of battery vitality on a solo charge while MS Word and five Google Chrome tabs can be opened at once. 

However, if you reduce the brightness to 30% and the resolution to 1080p when the laptop is in power-saving mode, you can obtain an additional hour. The M15 R6’s battery life is disappointing a lot, especially because some of the newest AMD gaming laptops easily reach the eight-hour mark. Positively, Dell has been able to provide a relatively compact 240W adapter.

Ports

Port quality on the M15 R6 is adequate. On the right of the device, there are two full-size USB ports, and on the left, there is an Ethernet port. A USB Type-C port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a further USB Type-A port are included on the back, where the majority of the action takes place. Also, Thunderbolt 4 is available with the USB-C port.

Performance

Performance-wise, the M15 R6 model is equipped with a 32GB RAM and 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H processor. A 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD is another storage option included with the Alienware M15 R6. You get a discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 mobile GPU in addition to integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics for graphics. The M15 R6 succeeded in delivering on all fronts in terms of gaming, whether it be AAA games or competitive multiplayer.

In the hour or so that were enabled to test Cyberpunk 2077, we averaged 89 frames per second on high with ray tracing and DLSS turned off. Control managed an average frame rate of 105 fps on high settings without DLSS or ray tracing. On the highest settings, Shadow of the Tomb Raider tested, it averaged 122 frames per second. Battlefield V was assessed in the crusade mode on high settings with DLSS and ray tracing allowed, and it provided anything from 60 to 90 frames per second, averaging out at about 75 frames per second. 

Alienware M15 R6 Pros

A few pros of this device are given below:

In a 2.5kg laptop, the Nvidia RTX 3080 delivers impressive performance.
Excellent keyboard with responsive keys and good feedback.
360Hz display with incredibly fast response.
Good battery life with a few adjustments.

Alienware M15 R6 Cons

As we have already reviewed the pros of Alienware M15 R6, it’s time to see some of its cons which are listed below:

Plastic touchpad.
Mediocre speakers.
There is less body rigidity than with other earlier Alienware versions.
Utilizes the RTX 3080 middle-grade configuration version.

Verdict Time!

In certain ways, the Alienware M15 R6 lacks the dynamism of some of its competitors. It utilizes a middle-weight Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card as opposed to some that can consume more power when the fans are allowed to spin more quickly. Moreover, it lacks a number of features seen in the top models from Razer and Lenovo. The touchpad isn’t particularly good, and the design of the device is stuck in a reserved middle ground between gaming laptops that keep to the traditional loud “gamer” aesthetic and something more sober and basic.However, the Alienware M15 R6 will play all of the games released today flawlessly, and it has a fantastic keyboard, which you should never undervalue.  For everyone looking for the best gaming Keyboards, M15 can be a decent option. Although this keyboard is excellent for both work and gaming, the underlying plate should shine even brighter.


Khushboo Chhibber

Senior Web Writer and Video Creator


Related Posts
×