The Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) is a 15-inch gaming laptop available in a wide variety of configurations. It has an excellent keyboard, a good touchpad, and a large number of ports, including a USB-C with Thunderbolt 3 support. It feels well-built, and it's easy to access the components for repairs and upgrades. However, it isn't very portable, and the battery doesn't even last an hour when gaming on the go. Our Intel Core i7-10750H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q model can maintain high frame rates in most modern titles, and it doesn't lose any performance over time even though it gets hot and loud. The 300Hz 1080p IPS panel we tested provides smooth and responsive gameplay, but it doesn't get very bright, and its low contrast makes it less ideal for dark rooms.
Our Dell Alienware m15 R3 has an Intel Core i7-10750H, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q, 16GB of RAM, and a 300Hz 1080p IPS screen. The Intel Core i7-10750H is the minimum CPU configuration that we recommend for most gamers, as the i5-10300H's four cores might struggle in some CPU-intensive open-world games. If you need more power for heavy workloads, the i7-10875H and the i9-10980HK CPUs give you higher boost clock speeds and two more cores than the i7-10750H. For the GPU, we recommend getting at least the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti or upgrading to the RTX GPUs if you want ray-tracing and DLSS support. As for the display options, most casual gamers will likely be happy with the 1080p 144Hz options, though competitive gamers might want to go with the 1080p 300Hz display for the best responsiveness, provided that it's paired with an RTX 2070 or 2080. We recommend the 4k OLED screen only for content creators, or gamers who want the best visuals at the cost of playing at 60Hz.
Our Verdict
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 is okay for students. The keyboard doesn't feel tiring to type on, and the touchpad is responsive, albeit small. It isn't very portable because it's somewhat bulky and very heavy, and you'll need to carry its large power adapter as well because the battery life is short. Visibility isn't a problem in most rooms, but you'll have a hard time in very bright or sunny settings.
- Excellent build quality.
- Keyboard feels premium and isn't tiring to type on.
- Plenty of ports, including USB-C with Thunderbolt 3 support.
- Easy to access internals for repairs and upgrades.
- Heavy weight makes it harder to carry around.
- Short battery life.
- Glare might be an issue in bright rooms.
- Microphone has popping sound.
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 is excellent for gaming. Our Intel Core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 configuration can maintain very high frame rates in most modern titles with high graphical settings. There's no drop in performance when gaming for an extended period, but it does get hot and loud. Our unit's 300Hz display feels extremely responsive, but it doesn't support any variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing.
- High frame rates in most games.
- No performance loss over time.
- Easy to access internals for repairs and upgrades.
- Very fast storage drive.
- Gets hot and loud under load.
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 is okay for media consumption. It displays a fairly sharp image, and the speakers sound good. However, it's not very portable due to its size and weight, and battery life is terrible for video playback, which means you need to carry the power adapter as well. The screen gets bright enough for most rooms, but you'll have a hard time in very bright or sunny settings.
- Up-firing speakers get decently loud.
- Full sRGB coverage.
- Image remains accurate when viewing at an angle.
- Heavy weight makes it harder to carry around.
- Short battery life.
- Glare might be an issue in bright rooms.
- IPS panel isn't ideal for dark rooms.
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 is excellent as a workstation. The i7 and i9 CPU options can handle demanding tasks like photo and video editing, and you can get up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER if you need more graphical processing power. It can sustain a full load for a long time without any performance loss, but it gets very hot, and the fans are loud. There are plenty of ports to connect an external monitor and peripherals. The storage drive is fast, and you can spec it up to 4TB in RAID-0 configuration.
- i7 CPU can handle most single and multi-threaded workloads.
- Plenty of ports, including USB-C with Thunderbolt 3 support.
- No performance loss over time.
- Easy to access internals for repairs and upgrades.
- Very fast storage drive.
- Gets hot and loud under load.
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 is good for business use. It has tons of ports, including a full-size HDMI so that you can connect to an external display for meetings and presentations. It's well-built but not very portable because it's heavy. Battery life is terrible, which means you'll need to use it plugged in most of the time. The webcam is okay, but the microphone makes a popping sound that may bother some people.
- i7 CPU can handle most single and multi-threaded workloads.
- Excellent build quality.
- Keyboard feels premium and isn't tiring to type on.
- Plenty of ports, including USB-C with Thunderbolt 3 support.
- Easy to access internals for repairs and upgrades.
- Heavy weight makes it harder to carry around.
- Short battery life.
- Glare might be an issue in bright rooms.
- Microphone has popping sound.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 24, 2023: Added mention of the Dell Alienware m16 R1 (2023) as an alternative with newer NVIDIA 40-series GPUs in the GPU section.
- Updated Feb 16, 2023: Added mention of the MSI Raider GE67 HX as an alternative with faster GPUs in the Basemark GPU section.
- Updated Nov 01, 2021: Review published.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Dell Alienware m15 R3 specced with an Intel Core i7-10750H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. The CPU, GPU, display, memory, and storage are configurable, but there are limitations as Dell only allows certain choices depending on the base preset configuration. At the time of writing, it may be hard to find the m15 R3 with these configurations because Dell has already refreshed the lineup with newer Intel 11th Gen CPUs and NVIDIA 3000 series GPUs.
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Note: There are many possible storage configurations depending on which type of M.2 SSD slots are available on the unit. The M.2 2230 slots support up to 512GB, while the M.2 2280 slots support up to 2TB. If you choose to add additional drives (up to 4TB total), you can have them set up in a RAID-0 configuration. |
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Our display and performance results are only valid for the configuration that we tested. If you come across a different configuration option not listed above, or you have a similar Alienware m15 R3 that doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update it. Some tests, like black uniformity and color accuracy, may vary between individual units.
You can see our unit's label here.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021) and the Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) are very different laptops. The Apple laptop runs macOS and is targeted at creative professionals, while the m15 R3 is a Windows gaming laptop. The Apple laptop's M1 SoC performs better than the Intel 10th Gen processors available on the Dell; however, the Dell has dedicated GPU options that outperform the M1's integrated graphics, especially in regards to gaming and GPU compute tasks. The Apple model has a much brighter and more color-accurate display, a larger and more responsive touchpad, and its webcam captures a better image for video calls. It also has longer battery life and doesn't get as hot or loud under load. On the other hand, the Dell laptop's keyboard feels better to type on, and it's more serviceable, making it easier to upgrade components yourself later on.
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) and the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) are very different laptops. The M15 R3 is a 15 inch gaming model that runs Windows, while the MacBook Air is a 13 inch productivity-focused ultraportable. If you only need a laptop for productivity, you're better off with the MacBook Air because it's more portable and has a significantly longer battery life. The MacBook Air's screen is sharper, brighter, and more colorful, with full sRGB and DCI P3 coverage. However, the m15 R3 may be a better option for creative professionals because it can be configured with a discrete GPU. The m15 R3 is much better for gaming, not only because it has better graphical performance, but because the MacBook Air runs on an ARM-based SoC, and the majority of games haven't been optimized for this new architecture.
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) is better than the Acer Nitro 5 15 (2020) for most uses. The Dell is available with much more powerful CPUs and GPUs, meaning it can push out higher frame rates for a smoother gaming experience. The Dell also has better display options, including a 1080p 300Hz and a 4k 60Hz option, whereas the Acer's top-end display option is limited to 1080p 144Hz. The Dell has a larger selection of ports, as well as a much better keyboard and webcam. Battery life is better on the Acer for light productivity and video playback, but both laptops can only last about an hour when gaming.
The Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) and the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019) are very different. The MacBook Pro is a productivity laptop for creative professionals and runs macOS, while the m15 R3 is more of a gaming laptop and runs Windows. That said, the m15 R3 might be a better choice for some content creators because it's available in various configurations, with top-end CPU and GPU options that perform better than the MacBook Pro's Intel 9th Gen CPUs and AMD Radeon Pro Graphics. You can play games on the MacBook Pro, but you need to play on Windows through Boot Camp to get the best experience.
Test Results
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