• The list in brief
1. Best overall
2. Best 14-inch
3. Best 16-inch
4. Best 18-inch
5. Best AMD
• How to choose
Alienware is Dell's dedicated gaming brand, and it's been around for about as long as gaming laptops have been a thing. Over the years, the company has put out some wild portable gaming PCs, and the company is continuing to push out some impressive hardware today. If you're looking for an Alienware of your own, there's a multitude to choose from in different sizes and configurations.
Alienware doesn't make a huge number of different gaming laptops, but we've still listed the best across its x-series and m-series devices to help you find the best one for you. All-in-all, the "x" moniker means the laptop is ultra-premium, with a thin and flashy design paired with the best internals from NVIDIA and Intel. The "m" moniker means power is more important than style, with thicker and more mundane chassis giving you a lower starting price.
Whichever laptop you choose from this list, Alienware sits among the best gaming laptop manufacturers alongside other companies like Razer, Lenovo, and MSI. If you need a great pre-built gaming PC, Alienware has you covered there, too. Alienware is even a part of our list of the best gaming monitors, so you can rely on one company for a complete setup of premium, feature-packed gaming hardware.
Recent updates
May 17, 2024 — Updated with newer versions of the best Alienware laptops such as the Alienware x16 R2, m16 R2, m18 R2, and m16 R1 AMD. Also made improvements to formatting and navigation.
Zachary Boddy is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, and has provided years of expertise on all things Microsoft, with a special focus on Xbox and Windows PC gaming. Zachary has reviewed a wide variety of PC gaming hardware and accessories for Windows Central, including gaming laptops from Razer, Alienware, and more.
Best Alienware gaming laptops: The quick list
Alienware has a small lineup, and basically every laptop on the list is good. Here's a quick rundown of the Alienware family, so you can get to the laptop you need quicker, be it the ultra-premium or ultra-powerful, compact or large-screened, Intel or AMD-powered.
The Alienware x16 is the company's latest ultra-premium gaming laptop, with a gorgeous design paired with impressive internals from Intel and NVIDIA. It's a pricey laptop, but the cost is worth the privilege of owning it, with an amazing mechanical keyboard and excellent build quality.
If you need solid gaming performance in as compact and portable of a package as possible, the Alienware x14 R2 should be near the top of your list. It joins a growing list of great 14-inch gaming laptops, but stands out thanks to Alienware's distinct design language.
Alienware redesigned its legendary m-series with a new compact and sleek design. It loses power in higher-end configurations versus the last generation, but this iteration still offers incredible gaming performance and comes in cheaper than the Alienware x16.
If you're looking for desktop-level performance in a laptop, look no further than the Alienware m18 R2. It's absurdly huge and heavy, but it packs the most powerful internals you can possibly get in a gaming laptop. Its performance matches its size, and it's a joy to game on.
The last-gen Alienware m16 is still available with AMD internals, for those who are fully Team Red when it comes to CPUs. It's a large and beefy computer, but offers excellent performance and some nice configuration options like a 480Hz display and CherryMX mechanical keyboard.
The best Alienware gaming laptops right now
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From the slick and shiny x-series to the powerful m-series, here are all the best Alienware gaming laptops. It doesn't matter what kind of gamer you are, Alienware likely has something that fits your needs. We'll only recommend what we know is good, so read on to find out our favorites.
Best overall Alienware laptop
- Read our in-depth Alienware x16 R1 review
The Alienware x16 began Alienware's move away from the 15-inch and 17-inch size archetypes into the new, roomier 16-inch and 18-inch alternatives. This is Alienware's highest-end, most premium gaming laptop, and it shows no matter how you look at it. Packed with some of the most powerful gaming hardware you can squeeze into a laptop, it's one fine gaming machine. Now, it should be better than ever.
It starts with a high price tag and ends exorbitantly expensive, but in exchange you're getting the best from Intel and NVIDIA packed into a surprisingly slim, luxurious chassis adorned in RGB lighting and premium materials. That includes up to Intel Core Ultra 9, a shift from the last generation that trades theoretical performance for better efficiency, which should do wonders for the x16's thermal management. You also get the latest from NVIDIA with up to an RTX 4090 GPU.
It's a seriously impressive laptop, and that's before you consider the optional, full-sized mechanical keyboard built on CherryMX switches. I've used this laptop and this keyboard, and it's genuinely among the very best laptop keyboards I have ever used. It's comfortable, responsive, and tactile, and it feels fantastic no matter what you're doing. Sadly, the second generation requires that you opt for a pretty high-end configuration to nab this keyboard.
Battery life is as short as you'd expect for a gaming laptop this powerful, though, and it can get very hot when playing games. Thermal throttling is limited, but you still don't want to have this laptop anywhere near your lap when playing. And, as I mentioned earlier, this is a very expensive laptop. You can get similar performance for less elsewhere, but you'll be giving up the distinct and premium design and that stunning keyboard. You can pick up the Alienware x16 R2 from $1,999.99 at Dell.
My recommended Alienware x16 R2 configuration:
Best 14-inch Alienware laptop
While there aren't necessarily any Alienware laptops that could be considered budget-friendly, the Alienware x14 is the least expensive of the lot — and it still offers great gaming performance. With its Intel 13th Gen Core i5 or i7 CPU and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, this laptop will have no problem running modern games at decent settings (especially since up to 32GB of DDR5 memory is available, too). You can also opt for up to 4TB of SSD storage, which is fantastic for people who plan to install tons of games. Ultimately, it's not as performant as the other Alienware devices on this list, but it's still very capable considering its size.
The x14's specs are a great fit for its QHD display, which looks lovely and also boasts a 165Hz refresh rate. You may struggle to make full use of this display in every game you play with this laptop's hardware, but it also makes for an awesome media consumption or productivity experience when you're not jumping into your favorite PC game.
Like the other "x" laptops on this list, the Alienware x14 features Dell's latest laptop design that slims the chassis down without affecting performance. It's an aggressive, flashy design that won't be to everyone's liking, but it certainly stands out and screams "premium" at every turn. This, along with the fact that this is the smallest Alienware machine Dell offers in terms of screen size, makes the Alienware x14 the best laptop in the entire lineup if you need something as thin, light, and compact as possible.
Elsewhere, you're getting a thorough selection of rear-mounted ports that keeps your desk nice and tidy, as well as surprisingly solid battery life for a gaming laptop (let alone a 14-inch one). Because of this and its compact stature, the Alienware x14 R2 is probably the most suited out of this list to be a mobile productivity and gaming beast. It fits into basically any laptop bag and is easy to carry wherever you go. Higher-end models can get pretty pricey, but you're playing for the unique combination of performance, portability, and premium design.
My recommended Alienware x14 R2 configuration:
Best 16-inch Alienware laptop
- Read our in-depth Alienware m16 R2 review
The Alienware x-series of laptops sits at the pinnacle of the lineup, and does so off the back of its gorgeous multi-toned design and phenomenal mechanical keyboard. The Alienware m-series, however, is old — it has been the backbone of Alienware's gaming PCs for many years, and it's continuing with the capable Alienware m16 R2, which redesigns the legendary PC with a new, slimmer and more rounded design.
The m16 R2 shifts the line to more efficient Intel Core Ultra CPUs and lacks the top-end power of its predecessor, but the trade-off is a lot more portability and a smaller price tag. Don't get me wrong, though — the m16 R2 is a very powerful gaming laptop, with more than enough firepower to play any game you can throw at it. The combination of Core Ultra and NVIDIA RTX hardware makes light work of modern PC games.
The Alienware m16 R2 still isn't the most attractive gaming laptop and it can get really loud under load, but also shirks expectations by offering surprisingly reasonable battery life whenever you're not pushing the hardware. Paired with the more compact design, and the Alienware m16 R2 is actually a candidate for an everyday workhorse in a way previous entries in the series simply couldn't be.
The Alienware x16 R2 is now the more powerful gaming PC and it looks undeniably better (with superior construction), but the m16 R2 will end up being the better choice for most people. The reason for that? Pricing. Available from $1,499.99 at Dell, the Alienware m16 R2 is a solid value for a premium gaming laptop and caps out at around $3,000 at Dell when you max it out. Whichever configuration you opt for, you'll be getting the same quality design, same responsive display, and same top-notch keyboard.
My recommended Alienware m16 R2 configuration:
Best 18-inch Alienware laptop
- Read our in-depth Alienware m18 R2 review
Did you think the Alienware m16 listed above was ridiculous? Well, say hello to its big sibling, the colossal monument to PC gaming that is the Alienware m18 R2. Alienware clearly said "yes" to every question of how much power it should squeeze into this laptop, as it's among the most powerful mobile PC gaming systems you can possibly buy. And, unlike its smaller sibling, the m18 R2 did not get a slimmer redesign.
With an 18-inch screen and an unapologetically thick chassis, the m18 R1 is one step away from actually just being a desktop PC. It's big and heavy enough that you won't want to move it around if you can avoid it, but you'll at least have all the power you can get with the Intel's most powerful mobile laptop CPU, the insane Core i9-14900HX, alongside the NVIDIA RTX 4090 and all the RAM and storage you could ask for. Of course, you can also get a 480Hz FHD display and a CherryMX mechanical keyboard (yes, just like the one on the x16 R2).
It gets expensive, but, like the m16, does offer a decent price-to-performance ratio for what you're getting. It blows every other Alienware laptop out of the water when it comes to raw power, though, with the highest-end configuration equipped to handle all the most demanding PC games for years to come. All that power makes the laptop run hot, however, enough that its thermal management can struggle to keep up during extended, intense sessions of gaming.
If performance is all that matters and you don't care about portability or a premium design, the Alienware m18 R1 sits at the very top of Alienware's kingdom. An x18 may come at soon that will challenge it with a more compact, luxurious design, but it's doubtful that any Alienware laptop is going to dethrone the m18 in terms of raw power. The Alienware m18 R2 starts from $1,899.99 at Dell.
My recommended Alienware m18 R1 configuration:
Best AMD Alienware laptop
If you want a beastly 16-inch laptop that doesn't rely on Intel hardware from Intel, you should opt for the Alienware m16 R1 AMD. This laptop offers the best of the 7th Gen AMD Ryzen CPUs, which are known powerhouses. It's not the latest and greatest anymore, but it's still plenty for any game you can throw at it. There are no AMD GPUs here, but you can pair this monster laptop with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 for all the power you'd ever need.
Other options include up to 64GB of speedy DDR5 RAM, up to 8TB of SSD storage, and a ludicrously fast 480Hz FHD display. The m16 R1 does still use the slightly older Alienware design that's thicker than what you'd get if you were to opt for the Intel-powered m16 R2. However, that means Alienware shoved as much power as possible in this heavy chassis. Also, you get plenty of ports!
This laptop enjoys the fantastic CherryMX mechanical keyboard I gushed over above with the Alienware x16, and it's just as good here. If regular laptop keyboards just don't cut it in gaming laptops, Alienware has an awesome alternative. This laptop isn't as fancy or premium as the more compact x-series laptops, but it's still a powerful gaming laptop that can serve you well.
This is especially true because the m16 R1 AMD is a very good value, especially when you look out for steep discounts that often hit older Alienware laptops. There may not be quite as many configuration options anymore, but you still have space to design the perfect m16 R1 AMD for you from $1,649.99 at Dell. Even if you max this laptop out, it'll never approach the heights that the Alienware x16 R2 can reach with similar configurations.
My recommended Alienware m16 R1 AMD configuration:
How to choose the best Alienware laptop for you
Alienware has a long, storied history of crafting excellent gaming laptops, even before it joined Dell and began benefiting from that company's expertise making some of the best Windows laptops for years. Alienware is well-known for its distinctive, out-of-this-world design language and reputation for premium products, and that still holds true today.
Fortunately, Alienware doesn't make dozens of different laptops like some other companies do, so it's never too hard to pick the one for you. Mostly, it comes down to how much you're willing to pay, what kind of power you need, and how big you want your laptop to be. Overall, the best of the best Alienware makes is the flagship x16 R2 available from $1,999.99 at Dell, but Alienware offers smaller, bigger, and more affordable alternatives, and each is equipped to play all the best PC games.
The Alienware x14 R2, for example, is a genuinely fantastic compact, 14-inch gaming laptop that goes toe-to-toe with other great options from Razer and ASUS. It's not the most powerful gaming laptop on this list, but it's surprisingly viable as a general-use laptop thanks to its decent battery life and portability. If you need big savings, you can opt for older Alienware laptops that are heavily discounted as they're phased out. Whatever you choose, rest assured Alienware's laptops will provide you a great gaming experience for years to come.
