Dell’s Alienware gaming line has a long lineage for premium experiences, with the Alienware 16X Aurora the latest to cross our review bench.
Sitting between their baseline Alienware range, the Aurora series adds a few more tweaks with the Alienware 16X Aurora offering even more again over the Alienware 16 Aurora. The 16X steps up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, and a 16-inch OLED panel with ultra-fast response.
The 16X Aurora also comes with 16GB of RAM up to 5600 MT/s and 1TB M.2 Gen4 SSD, with the advantage of upgradability if you want to tweak your setup in the future.
These premium specs also come with a premium $6,145 price tag, so the experience has to be great. I’ve been playing with the Alienware 16X Aurora (AC16251) for the last couple of weeks and here’s how it went.
The design of gaming laptops has split somewhat over the last few years. There’s still the loud and proud gaming laptops with sharp angles, RGB light bars and other design flourishes, but there’s also this new breed of stealth gaming laptops and the Alienware 16X Aurora fits in here nicely.
The laptop has a premium look, with the ‘Interstellar Indigo’ coloured anodized aluminum lid and magnesium alloy interior frame looking decidedly business-like, with the only real giveaway the iridescent Alienware logo on the lid.
The lid has a satin finish, sliding easily into a laptop bag or backpack and doesn’t show fingerprints too much.
Opening the clamshell laptop, reveals one of the biggest updates over last year’s 16X Aurora, the introduction of an OLED panel.
The 16” WQXGA (2560 x 1600) resolution OLED panel on the upper deck is bright when it’s on, but with seriously deep blacks that really show up when you watch videos or in games.
For a great demonstration of those deep blacks, the boot-up sequence with the Alienware logo flashes on an otherwise solidly black screen is perfect to show the OLED display off.
For gamers, the panel supports up to 240Hz refresh with 0.2ms Grey-to-Grey response time.
The OLED panel also includes support for 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and shows excellent colour reproduction across the board, and those true OLED blacks come with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification.
The panel itself has a matte feel, with an anti-glare coating that reduces gloss by 32% so you see less reflections.
Above the display is the single lens FHD resolution Windows Hello compatible IR Webcam offering no-touch login using facial recognition which works pretty well in a wide variety of lighting conditions even when backlit. Unfortunately there’s still no manual privacy shutter.
The lower deck includes a full-sized keyboard with a numeric keypad and generously sized touchpad with a nicely pillowed palm rest to the side. The touchpad is responsive with multi-touch support and works well for scrolling but a mouse is definitely a better option for your gaming.
The keyboard includes 1-Zone ‘AlienFX’ RGB lighting customisable in the Alienware Command Centre with a number of options available.
The keyboard has 1.4mm of key travel, making it a good mix for gaming and typing – though can get a little pillowy if you’re typing for longer sessions.
There’s customisable M1-M3 keys in the function row, offering keybindings in the Alienware Command Centre.
The function row also has a dedicated ‘Stealth’ key, which can easily switch modes from a gaming machine to a more subdued mode with quieter fans, subdued backlit lighting keys which switches to basic white.
There’s plenty of connectivity options for peripherals, with dual USB 3.2 (Type-A) ports, a USB 3.2 (Type-C port) and Thunderbolt port, with HDMI 2.1 out and RJ45 Ethernet adapter as well.
For audio, a combo jack is supplied for wired gaming headsets or you can connect using Bluetooth 5.4. The built-in downward firing speakers have a decent amount of oomph, but you’re probably best off connecting in that headset.
The RJ45 connector, as well as one of the USB-A ports, and audio jack are located on the side, while the rest of the ports are hidden at the rear.
I generally prefer my ethernet connector at the rear, but it works where it is. If you need to though, you also get WiFi 7 support.
The spec list is top-tier, with an Intel Core 9 Ultra 290HX Plus processor released earlier this year paired with an NVIDIA RTX 5070 GPU, backed by 16GB of DDR5 memory and 1TB SSD storage.
The system can deliver up to 115W Total Performance Power (TPP) and includes a cooling system to keep the laptop cool to touch even under load.
There’s a new Cryo-Chamber which both raises the laptop off the desk for venting, as well as using dual fans to pull air in from above the keyboard into triple copper heat pipes, and using the quad-exhaust to vent.
While these specs are impressive, they’re also upgradeable with the 16X Aurora including two upgradeable PCIe Gen 4 SSD slots and two user-upgradeable DDR5 SO-DIMM memory slots under the hood. It’s not a tool-less design, but adds options down the track.
For gamers, the Alienware 16X Aurora brings out some big FPS performance. Games like Crimson Desert, Call of Duty, and Cyberpunk, as well as Fortnite, Needle in a Haystack (my new guilty pleasure) throwing up great frame rates and performance, even under load.
How did it do in the benchmarks? We ran it through 3DMark and here’s how it went.
The laptop includes a 6 cell, 96Whr Li-Ion battery – almost the maximum allowable on airlines without permission. The battery supports Express Charge, for which, a 280W charger is included in the box.
In terms of battery life, I was able to get around six hours of mixed use. Working in Google Docs, watching YouTube and trying out some basic games.
For high-end gaming though, the battery can drain rather quickly with just a couple of hours enough to completely go flat.
Charging times are fast with the 280W charger. You can recharge with a USB-C charger if you want to not bring along the massive charger, while recharge speeds are similar, you can’t quite match the draw power and performance of the supplied charger when gaming.
The Alienware 16X Aurora comes out of the box with Windows 11 Home – 25H2, which is supported through to October 2027.
That’s no issue though, with an update to Windows 11 26H2 waiting to install – and that’s supported through October 2028.
The software load on the 16X Aurora is fairly minimal with the usual Intel, and NVIDIA apps to configure settings, Realtek and Dolby apps for sound, and the usual Microsoft apps.
You do get the Mcafee app for security, which comes with a full year of protection. However it also wants you to login and prompts you to do so.
After your year is up, you get options to renew from 9.95 a year depending on what level you want.
Alienware’s configuration control software they’ve dubbed “Command Centre” offers all the configuration options you need for switching between performance modes, as well as giving you monitoring options – and of course config for your RGB keyboard and more.
The Alienware 16X Aurora (AC16251) makes all the right moves, upgrading the display to a gorgeous OLED, while still retaining that subtle style that fits in anywhere and makes it a more versatile laptop.
There’s nothing but praise for performance, games run smoothly and at high frame-rate looking smooth and bright on the OLED display.
The new CryoChamber keeps things cool, and mostly quiet even under load, keeping the new Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU brings a little more grunt to the party.
I love the ‘stealth’ gaming laptop design, and the way the Alienware designers have incorporated that stealth ethos into the machine itself with the stealth mode key just sums up the whole unit. Gaming when you want it, business when you need to.
At over ,000 it’s not the cheapest gaming laptop but if you want the specs it’s the price we pay these days, with the competition sitting similarly.
You can check the Alienware 16X Aurora out 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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