Products
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Framework Laptop 13 (2021)
Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Oct 29, 2025 02:52 PM
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Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Oct 29, 2025 02:52 PM
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Size
15"
Operating System
Windows 10
Size
13.5"
Operating System
Windows 10
Our Verdict
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Framework Laptop 13 (2021)
The Framework Laptop 13 (2021) and the Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) are very different. The Framework Laptop is an ultraportable productivity laptop designed for light to moderately demanding tasks, while the Alienware m15 R3 is a thick and bulky gaming laptop. The Alienware m15 R3 can handle much heavier workloads as it's available with significantly more powerful GPUs; however, its battery lasts only a little over three hours of light productivity, whereas the Framework Laptop lasts well over 11 hours. The Alienware has a wider port selection and a more comfortable keyboard, but the Framework Laptop has a higher-quality webcam and a brighter display.
Variants
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5510B) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/144Hz/i5/GTX 1650Ti/8GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5715B) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/GTX 1650Ti/16GBG/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7593BLK-PUS) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5725W) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/GTX 1660Ti/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7272WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2060/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7302WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7418WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5746W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5758W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/32GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5858W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10875H/RTX 2070/32GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7590WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10875H/RTX 2080/32GB/1TB)
- Laptop 13 (Base) (Silver - i5/8GB/256GB)
- Laptop 13 (Performance) (Silver - i7-1165G7/16GB/512GB)
- Laptop 13 (Professional) (Silver - i7-1185G7/32GB/1TB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
6.6
8.3
Battery
2.9
8.7
Portability
5.6
8.8
Vertical Viewing Angle
9.3
7.1
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
8.5
8.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.1
9.4
Hinge Photo
Range
135°
180°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
5.6
8.8
Dimensions Photo
Size
15"
13.5"
Thickness
0.9" (2.2 cm)
0.7" (1.7 cm)
Width
14.2" (36.1 cm)
11.7" (29.8 cm)
Depth
10.7" (27.2 cm)
9.1" (23.0 cm)
Volume
131.8 in³ (2,160.2 cm³)
71.1 in³ (1,165.2 cm³)
Weight
4.9 lbs (2.2 kg)
2.9 lbs (1.3 kg)
Charger Size
32.3 in³ (529.3 cm³)
5.9 in³ (97.2 cm³)
Charger Weight
2.2 lbs (1.0 kg)
0.7 lbs (0.3 kg)
Serviceability
7.8
8.9
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
9.5
9.5
RAM Slots
0
2
Storage Slots
3
1
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
Yes
Yes
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
1920 x 1080
2256 x 1504
Aspect Ratio
16:9
3:2
Pixel Density
142 PPI
200 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
83%
83%
Refresh Rate
8.6
5.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
300 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
No
Contrast
7.0
7.7
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,123 : 1
1,546 : 1
Brightness
6.6
7.7
Maximum Brightness
267 cd/m²
362 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
13 cd/m²
11 cd/m²
Reflections
7.0
7.0
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Matte
Glossy
Total Reflections
5.97%
4.67%
Indirect Reflections
4.31%
0.37%
Calculated Direct Reflections
1.66%
4.3%
Black Uniformity
6.6
7.6
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
1.591%
0.946%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
7.3
7.5
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
27°
29°
Color Washout From Right
28°
32°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
60°
60°
Color Shift From Right
60°
60°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
30°
29°
Brightness Loss From Right
32°
34°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
30°
34°
Gamma Shift From Right
30°
38°
Vertical Viewing Angle
9.3
7.1
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
45°
23°
Color Washout From Above
45°
27°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
45°
45°
Color Shift From Above
45°
45°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
42°
27°
Brightness Loss From Above
40°
34°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
45°
23°
Gamma Shift From Above
45°
29°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
6.7
6.1
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
4.2
5.18
Avg. Gamma
2.33
2.24
Avg. Color dE
3.119
3.04
Avg. Color Temperature
6,192 K
6,262 K
Color Gamut
8.6
8.5
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.87%
99.73%
sRGB uv
99.58%
99.44%
Adobe RGB xy
78.09%
76.47%
Adobe RGB uv
87.08%
86.31%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
79.94%
78.63%
DCI P3 uv
85.84%
85.3%
Rec. 2020 xy
57.56%
56.45%
Rec. 2020 uv
63.51%
62.3%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
Yes
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
No Flicker
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
8.8
7.8
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
8.5
7.5
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Per-Key RGB
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
69 gf
66 gf
Actuation Force
33 gf
37 gf
Pre-Travel
1.22 mm
1.07 mm
Total Travel
1.84 mm
1.73 mm
Touchpad
7.6
8.0
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
8.0
8.0
Size
9.7 in² (62.8 cm²)
13.5 in² (87.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.8
7.5
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
76 dB SPL
74 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
6.1 dB
4.3 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
1.5
-0.7
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
217 Hz
325 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
19 kHz
8 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
0.7 dB
0.6 dB
Webcam & Microphone
7.0
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
7.0
8.5
Resolution
720p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
Yes
Face Unlock
No
No
Connectivity
Ports
9.5
8.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
3
0
USB-C Ports
1
4
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 3
Thunderbolt 4
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
2.0
No
DisplayPort
Mini DisplayPort 1.4
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
MicroSD UHS 2
No
Ethernet
Yes
No
Proprietary Port
Alienware Graphics Amplifier
No
Security Lock
Yes
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.1
5.2
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Intel
Model
Core i7-10750H
Core i7-1165G7
Core Count
6
4
Thread Count
12
8
GPU
Brand
NVIDIA
Intel
Model
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q
Iris Xe Graphics G7
Dedicated/Integrated
Dedicated
Integrated
VRAM Size
8 GB
N/A
RAM
Capacity
32 GB
16 GB
Modules
2 (Soldered)
2
Type
DDR4
DDR4
Speed
2,666 MHz
3,200 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
1,000 GB
512 GB
Usable Capacity
950 GB
477 GB
Drive 1
PC611 NVMe SK Hynix 1TB
Western Digital Black SN750
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
9.0
8.2
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,263 points
1,584 points
CPU Multi-Thread
6,122 points
5,013 points
GPU Compute
109,357 points
17,166 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
8.7
8.7
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,202 points
1,525 points
Multi-Thread
7,328 points
5,620 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
8.6
6.4
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
4.6 min
6.9 min
GPU Render Time
1.1 min
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
34 s
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
9.5
5.1
Basemark Image
Overall Score
101,365
16,658
Storage Drive Performance
9.2
9.3
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,639.2 MB/s
1,424.5 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
2,584.1 MB/s
2,562.7 MB/s
Random Write Speed
85.3 MB/s
111.5 MB/s
Random Read Speed
46.1 MB/s
48.9 MB/s
Battery
2.9
8.7
Capacity
86 Wh
55 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
3.1 hrs
11.4 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
2.4 hrs
8.1 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
0.9 hrs
1.7 hrs
Charge Time
3.0 hrs
2.7 hrs
Borderlands 3
7.6
2.2
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
92 fps
14 fps
1% Low
54 fps
10 fps
0.1% Low
36 fps
7 fps
1% Low Delta
8 ms
31 ms
0.1% Low Delta
17 ms
79 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
177 fps
31 fps
Civilization VI
8.1
4.8
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
145 fps
23 fps
1% Low
79 fps
16 fps
0.1% Low
57 fps
16 fps
1% Low Delta
6 ms
19 ms
0.1% Low Delta
11 ms
21 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
208 fps
91 fps
Avg. Turn Time
8.63 s
7.71 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
9.5
6.1
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
361 fps
78 fps
1% Low
177 fps
31 fps
0.1% Low
96 fps
25 fps
1% Low Delta
3 ms
20 ms
0.1% Low Delta
8 ms
27 ms
Avg. FPS On Low
524 fps
109 fps
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
8.1
3.5
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
108 fps
18 fps
1% Low
68 fps
14 fps
0.1% Low
41 fps
9 fps
1% Low Delta
5 ms
18 ms
0.1% Low Delta
15 ms
58 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
120 fps
30 fps
Thermals And Noise
6.7
7.2
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
37 °C (99 °F)
28 °C (83 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
44 °C (111 °F)
42 °C (108 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
51.5 dBA
51.5 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
Yes
No
Performance Over Time
9.8
9.9
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
98 °C
81 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
1% loss
0% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
71 °C
66 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
0% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 10
Windows 10
Additional Software
Yes
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
Yes
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
No
Fingerprint Sensor
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Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
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