Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) Laptop Review

The Dell Alienware m15 R3 has a premium but very gamer-oriented design. The keyboard, Alienware logo, and edges of the back vents have RGB lighting. There are exhaust vents on the bottom, at the back, and on both sides of the laptop. It's available in two color schemes: Lunar Light and Dark Side of the Moon.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's build quality is excellent. The construction is a mix of plastic and metal, and it feels solid and premium, with a nice textured finish. There isn't much flex in the display and none in the keyboard deck.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's hinge is outstanding. It feels smooth, and the screen doesn't wobble much. You can open the laptop easily with one finger.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3 is quite heavy, making it harder to carry around. The 240W power adapter is also very bulky and heavy. If you prefer a laptop with a dedicated GPU that's more portable, check out the HP ENVY x360 (2020) or the Acer Aspire 5 (2020).

Serviceability on the Dell Alienware m15 R3 is good. The bottom panel is fairly easy to remove. Six captive screws remain attached to the bottom panel, so you don't have to worry about losing them or putting them back in the wrong places. There are two unoccupied M.2 slots for additional storage. The RAM is soldered onto the motherboard and isn't upgradable, so you need to make sure you get the configuration that you want when making your purchase. There's a service manual available on Dell's website. Opening the laptop and making changes to the hardware may void the manufacturer's warranty.

• Dell Alienware m15 R3 laptop
• 240W power adapter
• Support booklet

The Dell Alienware m15 R3 has a fairly common screen size for a laptop. It isn't as compact as an ultraportable 13 inch, but also not as cumbersome as a 17 inch. The 1080p resolution is typical for a gaming laptop this size and results in a decent pixel density, and it also makes it easier for the GPU to push out higher frame rates. The model with a 4k OLED screen provides a sharper image with better contrast, but it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, so it's best suited for content creators or people who prefer better picture quality over smoothness and responsiveness when gaming.

Our unit of the Dell Alienware m15 R3 has a very high refresh rate, delivering an incredibly smooth and responsive gaming experience. As you can see from our motion blur photo, the response time is very fast, although there's a little bit of overshoot causing inverse ghosting. A 1080p 144Hz panel option is available if you don't think that 300Hz is necessary, and there's also a 144Hz with G-SYNC option if you're sensitive to screen tearing. The 4k OLED panel is limited to 60Hz and doesn't support VRR, but the response time is expected to be near-instantaneous.

The 300Hz IPS panel on our Dell Alienware m15 R3 has a decent contrast ratio typical of most IPS panels, which means blacks look grayish in the dark. The 144Hz panel is advertised to have a slightly lower 800:1 contrast, but that's a relatively small difference that isn't noticeable. OLED panels have a near-infinite contrast ratio, making the 4k OLED variant a far better option for dark room viewing. The contrast ratio can vary between individual units.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's screen brightness is okay. It's fine for indoor use but isn't bright enough to overcome glare in very well-lit or sunny environments. It gets very dim at the minimum setting, great for reducing eye strain when viewing in a dark room. The 144Hz panel is advertised to have 300 cd/m² brightness and will likely result in similar performance to our model. The 4k panel is advertised to have 400 cd/m², which is better for brighter environments.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's reflection handling is decent. Its matte anti-reflective coating works well against direct reflections, but you'll still have some problems with visibility in very bright settings due to the relatively low screen brightness.

Black uniformity on our Dell Alienware m15 R3 is just okay; however, this can vary between individual units due to manufacturing tolerances. The whole screen looks gray, and there's backlight bleed at the top and bottom edges. It's only visible when viewing dark scenes in a dark room, though. The 4k OLED screen has perfect uniformity because OLEDs can turn off the pixels completely.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3 has decent horizontal viewing angles. Colors fade quickly when moving off-center, and the image gets dimmer. It's okay for sharing the screen with someone else, as long as image accuracy isn't a priority. The 4k OLED panel will give you better viewing angles due to OLED's emissive technology.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3 has exceptional vertical viewing angles, which means you can tilt the screen to your preference without affecting image accuracy. We expect the 4k OLED panel to have similar vertical viewing angles.

The out-of-the-box color accuracy of the 1080p display on our Dell Alienware m15 R3 is okay. While most colors are only slightly inaccurate, the white balance is noticeably off. The color temperature is on the warmer side, giving the image a slight reddish tint. Gamma is quite bad and doesn't follow the sRGB curve, causing most scenes to appear darker than they should. We don't know how the 1080p 144Hz and 4k panels perform. Color accuracy may vary between units.

The 1080p 300Hz display on our Dell Alienware m15 R3 has an excellent color gamut. It has full sRGB coverage, the color space used in most content, and its Adobe RGB coverage is great, though it might not be good enough for photography professionals. Its DCI P3 coverage is very good, but its Rec. 2020 coverage is pretty limited and doesn't meet our threshold to be considered a wide gamut. The 4k OLED panel is advertised to have a wider color gamut, but we don't know how much wider it is.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's backlight is entirely flicker-free. This effectively eliminates image duplication, and it also helps reduce eye strain for some people. We expect the 144Hz to be similar, but the 4k panel likely flickers, which is typical for OLEDs.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's keyboard is excellent. The keys are stable, and the layout is fairly standard. The scissor switches have a very short pre-travel distance and feel very responsive. They require a fair amount of force to get over the tactile bump, but the overall typing experience is still light and doesn't feel tiring. It has full RGB backlighting, which you can customize through the Alienware Command Center software.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's touchpad is good. It feels smooth and very responsive, but it's small. Palm rejection isn't very good at the top, and it's hard to click and drag from one corner of the touchpad to another.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's speakers are good. Like most laptop speakers, there's almost no low bass at all, making the overall sound treble-heavy. They get decently loud with almost no compression at max volume. The big dip in the low-mid is only noticeable in some content.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's webcam is okay. The image looks a bit over-exposed and noisy. It does capture some fine details, but it's hard to make out the different shades of the colored pencils. Voices come across clearly with no static, although there's a popping sound here and there.

There are many ports available on the Dell Alienware m15 R3, on both sides of the laptop and the back. The USB-A inputs support USB 3.2 Gen 1 with up to 5Gbps data transfer rate. The USB-C supports Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gbps), DisplayPort 1.2, and USB 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10Gbps). You can charge via USB-C, but the battery would still drain if you're using the laptop at the same time because USB-C charging is limited to 100W. The Alienware Graphics Amplifier is a proprietary port designed for external GPUs, which Dell discontinued. The Ethernet supports up to 2.5Gbps, and the security lock is a Noble TZ18T. There should be enough ports for most people, although some might be disappointed that there isn't a full-size card reader or a second USB-C port.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's wireless adapter is a Killer Wi-Fi AX1650.

Our Dell Alienware m15 R3 has an Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, but it's also available with an i5-10300H, i7-10875H, or i9-10980HK. The i5 has enough processing power for general productivity and games that aren't overly CPU-intensive, but because it only has four physical cores, it struggles in some open-world games that can benefit from a higher core count. The i7-10750H in our unit is the 'sweet spot' and is powerful enough to handle most modern titles.

Upgrading from the i7-10750H to the i7-10875H gives you two additional cores, but very few games use more than six cores at this time. The i9 is the highest configuration and the only CPU unlocked for overclocking, ideal for enthusiasts who want as much performance as possible. However, the i7-10875H and the i9-10980HK are still good options if you want to stream while gaming, perform demanding tasks like video editing, or just want to future-proof the device.

Our Dell Alienware m15 R3 has the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q, but there are many GPU options to choose from, which means the performance will vary significantly depending on which one you get. For gaming, we don't recommend the AMD Radeon RX 5500M or the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650Ti, mainly because they only have 4GB of VRAM. A smaller VRAM size means you have to turn down settings like textures, impacting the game's visual quality.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 have relatively similar performance and are a good fit for the 144Hz panel option; the main difference is that the 1660Ti doesn't support ray-tracing and DLSS (NVIDIA's AI upscaling technology). If you choose to get the 300Hz or 4k panel, you'll need an RTX 2070 or 2080. Although all GPU options are well-suited for content creation, we recommend those working with high-resolution material to opt for a higher-end GPU, like the RTX 2070 or 2080, as they'll provide the smoothest experience.

Regarding NVIDIA's GPU hierarchy and naming convention, the SUPER variants are improved versions of the regular models, so they're expected to have the best performance among the GPUs of the same tier. On the other hand, the Max-Q variants typically have a lower power draw to keep thermals low, so they usually perform worse than the non-Max-Q variants.

If you want a similar laptop with newer NVIDIA 40-series GPUs, check out the Dell Alienware m16 R1 (2023).

You can configure the Dell Alienware m15 R3 with up to 32GB of RAM. For gaming, 16GB is enough for the majority of games on the market. 32GB might be overkill for now, but it does give you some headroom if you want to stream, and it also makes the laptop a bit more future-proof, especially since the RAM is soldered onto the motherboard and isn't upgradeable. We don't recommend 8GB because some games might not run properly, although it's fine if you're just doing light productivity tasks. For content creators, more memory is better.

You can customize the Dell Alienware m15 R3's storage from 256GB up to 4TB in RAID-0 configuration. Having more storage means you don't have to uninstall games to make room for newer ones as frequently, which can prolong the life of the SSD because regular writing and erasing of data causes more wear and tear. A RAID-0 array with two or more drives can increase drive speed by spreading the data evenly across all drives and treating the drives as a single unit, but the failure of one drive can cause the loss of data across all drives.

The Core i7-10750H in our Dell Alienware m15 R3 has an outstanding score in the Geekbench 5 benchmarks. It performs well in single and multi-threaded workloads, and it's powerful enough to handle most tasks. If you use many multi-threaded applications, the 8-core i7-10875H and i9-10980HK give you a smoother experience because they have two additional cores. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q in our unit scores very high in the GPU compute test, great for hardware-accelerated software applications like photo and video editing programs. As for the choice of GPU, it depends on what kind of applications or material you're working with. We recommend professionals who need a lot of GPU compute power to opt for the RTX 2070 or 2080 to get the smoothest experience. If you need a laptop with better multi-thread performance for demanding productivity tasks like video editing or 3D rendering, check out the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021).

Our Dell Alienware m15 R3's Core i7-10750H performs well in both the single and multi-threaded tests in Cinebench R23. We expect the single-threaded performance to be similar between all the CPUs. However, the difference in multi-threaded performance is much more noticeable as it largely depends on the number of cores available. The more cores the CPU has, the better its multi-threaded performance will be, so you should opt for the 8-core i7-10875H or i9-10980HK CPUs if you want the best performance.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's Blender score is excellent. Regardless of which CPU you get, it's almost always better to perform 3D rendering with the dedicated GPU, even with the lowest-end AMD Radeon RX 5500M. The more powerful the GPU, the faster it can complete the rendering task. The render time is significantly shorter when using the Optix API, but it's only available on NVIDIA's RTX GPUs as it uses the ray-tracing cores to accelerate the process.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER in our Dell Alienware m15 R3 scores exceptionally well in the Basemark GPU benchmark, as expected for one of the most powerful mobile GPUs of its generation. You can get pretty high frame rates in most games at 1080p, even with high graphics settings. We expect the AMD Radeon RX 5500M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650Ti to be able to maintain 60fps in most games, but depending on the game itself, you might have to lower some settings to get there. If you want a similar gaming laptop with more powerful GPUs, check out the MSI Raider GE67 HX (2022).

The SSD's performance is outstanding. Its read and write speeds are very fast, making the system feel more responsive and shortening loading times. A RAID-0 configuration will provide significantly better performance when using more than one drive. The speed of the SSD may vary depending on the size, as larger SSDs tend to perform better.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's battery life is bad. At a 300Hz refresh rate, we can only get a little over two hours of video playback, and it only increases by another 12 minutes at 60Hz. You can get longer battery life if you're only doing light productivity tasks, but it's still not nearly enough to get you through a typical 8-hour workday. Unfortunately, it doesn't even last an hour when gaming.

Although we haven't tested other possible configurations, we can assume that the i5-10300H takes less power and that the i7-10875H and i9-10980HK draw more, as faster clock speeds generally mean higher power consumption. The same goes for GPUs, which means you can get better battery life on a device with the AMD Radeon RX 5500M than one with an NVIDIA RTX 2080 SUPER. We expect battery life to be better with the 144Hz panel; however, it's hard to say how a 4k OLED model performs because it's a different type of panel at a different resolution and refresh rate. Battery life can vary greatly depending on your usage. If you want a gaming laptop with longer battery life, check out the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022).

Our Dell Alienware m15 R3 equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER pushes out good frame rates on the 'High' graphics preset at 1080p in Borderlands 3. However, the frame rate drops quite a bit in demanding scenes, causing noticeable stutters. Lowering the quality of some settings will result in much better frame rates. You might have to play at the lowest settings just to achieve playable frame rates on the lower-end GPUs, like the AMD Radeon RX 5500M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650Ti.

Civilization VI runs well for the most part. There are some micro-stutters from time to time, but they're not noticeable. Civilization VI is a turn-based strategy game that doesn't require fast reaction time, so it's playable even at 30fps, which all GPU configurations can maintain. Faster CPU clock speeds and more cores will result in a shorter turn time.

CS:GO is an older esports title that runs well on most systems. Our configuration of the Dell Alienware m15 R3 can push out frame rates well above the screen's refresh rate at 1080p. There are some stutters, but they don't happen often. Every configuration can push out high frame rates.

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the system is CPU-bound at 1080p with the 'High' graphics preset, which means the NVIDIA GeForce 2080 SUPER in our unit can handle higher graphics settings without much loss in frame rates. It's also the reason that there isn't much improvement at the lowest settings. SOTR supports NVIDIA's DLSS, which improves frame rates by rendering at a lower resolution and upscaling the image through AI, so you can likely get even better frame rates with it enabled, although that feature is only available on the RTX GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 5500M and the NVIDIA GeForce 1650Ti and 1660Ti can reach 60fps, though you might need to tweak some settings. The large spikes in frame time are due to scene changes.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's thermals and noise performance is okay. It gets fairly hot under load, but the hot spot is above the keyboard and shouldn't cause discomfort for most people. Fan noise isn't noticeable when the laptop is idle; there's only a faint mid-pitch sound if you listen very closely. However, it gets loud at full load, producing the same mid-pitch sound but with more bass. The i7-10875H and the i9-10980HK models may get even hotter and louder because higher clock speeds and more cores generally result in more heat, causing the fans to work harder.

The Dell Alienware m15 R3's performance over time is superb. The CPU gets very hot, but there isn't any noticeable drop in performance. That said, the temperature is pretty close to the upper limit. We don't expect any performance loss on the i5-10300H and i7-10875H CPUs, but there might be some with the Intel Core i9-10980HK because it has a higher power limit. There's no GPU performance loss as the temperature is well within the typical range, and we expect the other GPUs to be similar.

There are many pre-installed pieces of software on the Dell Alienware m15 R3, including:

• Alienware Command Center: Software that lets you control the fan, power, audio profile, RGB lighting, and overclock the CPU or GPU.
• Alienware Customer Connect: Survey about the system's performance.
• Alienware Mobile Connect: This lets you connect your mobile phone to the laptop to receive notifications and make calls, similar to the 'Your Phone' app on Windows.
• Alienware Digital Delivery: This lets you download digital content purchased from Dell.
• Alienware On-Screen Display: Displays volume and brightness controls on the screen.
• Alienware Update: Checks online for any BIOS, driver, or firmware updates for the laptop.
• Killer Control Center: This lets you manage your Wi-Fi or LAN connection.
• My Alienware: Shows your laptop's specifications, warranty, and other info.
• Support Assistant: App for troubleshooting or fixing system issues. It can download drivers and updates, perform file cleanup, tune the laptop's performance, and optimize network settings. It also informs you on how to contact customer support.

If you prefer a macOS laptop, check out the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019).

The Dell Alienware m15 R3 has RGB lighting on the Alienware logo, the keyboard, and around the exhaust vents on the back. You can customize the lighting of each zone individually through the Alienware Command Center software.