After unveiling their new premium series of gaming laptops back in May, Alienware have arranged for us to get a look at the flagship of the series, the Aurora 16X.
Priced from just over $2,549, the Aurora 16x is made for gamers seeking a more premium gaming experience, without scaling up to Alienware’s flagship Area51 gaming line-up.
The Aurora 16x includes Intel and NVIDIA silicon, with options to ramp up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 – which is the model they’ve sent over for review.
The laptop starts with 16GB of DDR5 RAM which you can bump up to 32GB though it’s starting to be a pricy option with today’s prices. A 1TB SSD is on-board by default, but you can also double that to 2TB if you need more room for games or apps.
The fully specced review unit is priced at $3,899 with everything included and I got to spend a couple of weeks with the Alienware Aurora 16x and here’s how it went.
There’s been something of a flip in the past few years in terms of design. The loud gamer laptops sporting RGB light bars and cyberpunk design flourishes are still there, but there’s a new more subtle class of gaming laptop, and this is where the Alienware 16X Aurora fits in.
The laptop has a classic clamshell look, with a gorgeous 16” IPS display on the upper deck with a single lens Windows Hello compatible IR Webcam above. The lower deck includes a full-sized keyboard with a numeric keypad and generously sized touchpad, which is responsive but a mouse is definitely a better option for your gaming.
That keyboard includes single zone RGB backlighting – about the only ‘gamer’ flourish aside from the three configurable ‘M1-M3’ keys on the top row. Also on that top row is a button (F7) to switch the laptop between Game Mode and Stealth mode, switching between performance and quiet modes, as well as rendering any outlandish RGB keyboard settings to a simple white.
The keyboard is quite nice to type on, though it’s offset with the numeric keypad at the end which feels a little cramped. Keys have 1.8mm of travel, which feels a little spongy when typing fast, but great when you’re in a game.
The usual notches are on the F and J keys for typing, but I also appreciate the addition of the dot on the S key to allow you to easily keep track in-game.
The speaker bar above the keyboard contains dual 2W speakers that offer a decent amount of volume with good clarity – though they tend to distort at higher volumes and don’t include enough bass – but a bluetooth or wired headphone sorts out that issue.
Only a simple iridescent Alien head logo which colour shifts in the right light embedded in the ‘Interstellar Indigo’ coloured anodized aluminium lid.
The anodized aluminium continues down onto underside of the lower deck, with a raised area for air intake, with exhaust vents out the sides fuelled by dual ultra-thin blade fans inside moving air over three heat pipes positioned across the CPU and GPU.
The rear panel can be removed so you can upgrade the SSD or RAM, with the Dell Support site offering instructions, as well as details on which DIMMs you’ll need to purchase. This allows for expandability down the track – when RAM prices have settled.
There’s a heap of connectivity options built-in to the Alienware 16X Aurora gaming laptop and while it’s a gamer laptop, there’s no ‘booty’ hanging out the back of the laptop – though it does have a number of ports, including the charging port on the back end, with a couple on the left.
There’s multiple options there though, with dual USB-C, one of which is Thunderbolt4, as well as dual USB Type-A ports, HDMI 2.1 out with NVIDIA GSYNC support, compact 1Gbps RJ45 ethernet jack and a headphone jack.
The right hand side of the laptop has been kept free of ports, leaving only the exhaust vents for the cooling system.
The 16” In-Plane Switching (IPS) non-touch display included in the Aurora 16X has a 2560×1600 resolution and offers up to 240Hz refresh rate with 3ms response – in short, it’s impressive.
The panel is excellent, with great viewing angles – as you’d expect with IPS technology. It’s easy to simply want an OLED panel, but the IPS display here is great and keeps the pricing down. There’s no sacrifice on quality, with the panel showing vibrant colours including full support for 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut so you can edit with confidence.
The anti-glare display has a matte finish which works well in brighter areas, suppressing reflections. It pairs well with the 500nit brightness display to boost it when you’re out and about.
The display can refresh at up to 240Hz, as well as supporting NVIDIA GSYNC, offering a smooth and crisp experience while both gaming, or just using the system.
Dell has packed the Alienware Aurora 16X with a very respectable ‘Arrow Lake’ Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX series processor, with an 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX5070 – and specced this one with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2GB Gen 4 M.2 SSD.
The system runs fast, booting up from a cold start into Windows and ready to load apps in a sliver under 25 seconds. App and Game loads are similarly quick, as is navigating around the system itself.
In terms of performance there are four modes to choose from, all set from the Alienware Command Centre app::
Understandably, the Performance option can really ramp the internal fans up, with excess warm air pumped out of the rear and sides of the machine. The sound isn’t overly loud, but you are going to notice it, while the Quiet mode works very well in an office environment.
The system can produce up to 155W of Total Performance Power – 110W TGP and 55W TDP – which is to say it has plenty of grunt. Games run well, with titles like Call of Duty 7, Grounded 2, Cyberpunk 2077 and more all running at high frame-rates across the board. You do get a noticeable drop in performance on battery versus powered, though even chugging the battery you get very respectable 40-50fps on most games.
As usual it ran through the suite of 3DMark bench marking
Despite the relatively thin frame, Dell has managed to pack a massive 96Wh battery inside the Aurora 16X, while the laptop is thin – the 240W power brick included in the box is decently sizeable.
The battery life is scaled based on what you’re doing. Office work can see you pecking away on a keyboard for a good 8 hours – easily lasting a full office day, however an hour of gaming at full res on Performance mode will knock the battery out in a little over an hour and a half in more intensive games, though I can hit up Hollow Knight or It Takes Two for a fair chunk longer.
That big 96Wh battery can take a while to charge, with the 240W adapter taking over an hour and a half to recharge. You can of course recharge the laptop using a USB-C charger if you find that more convenient, though it takes a lot longer depending on the wattage.
The Aurora 16X comes out of the box with Windows 11 Home – 24H2, which is supported through to October 2026, though an update is available for the latest 25H2 update launched in September which is supported through to 2027.
There’s very little in terms of pre-installed software. The usual apps for NVIDIA, Intel, Dolby, Realtek etc to run your hardware are included by default offering config options beyond the scope of Alienware’s Command Centre application.
In terms of bloatware however, McAfee + Premium 1-year is included and you’ll get pop ups until you register or just uninstall it.
Alienware’s config software – Command Centre – offers all the configuration options you need for switching between performance modes, as well as configuring the pre-set keys, RGB options for backlighting, or checking out some good deals.
The Alienware Aurora 16X represents a great mid-range gaming experience with enough options for configuration and upgradability to satisfy most.
The classic design adds to the experience for users wanting a laptop that’s going to give them performance when they need it, but won’t make them stand out when you need to take it on the road.
The decisions made to keep the price ‘right’ on the mid-range gaming are smart with the anodized aluminium giving just enough premium look and feel without needing the full metal chassis – and likewise the IPS display is a great alternative for an OLED, and if you want those options, the Alienware Area51 range beckons.
As it stands though, the Alienware Aurora 16X is a brilliant gaming machine that offers performance without breaking the bank.
You can see all the features, and check out configuration options over on the Dell website.
Daniel has been talking about, learning about and using tech since he was able to toggle switches and push buttons. If it flashes, turns on or off or connects he wants to use it, talk about it and learn more about it. Like this article? Buy me a coffee!
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