Dell Alienware 15 (15.6 Inch, 2017)

Fits into a normal size backpack—sort-of. ; Desktop level performance in a laptop ; 120 Hz screen great for gaming

Still much larger than other 15-inch laptops ; Hinge is an inconvenient eyesore ; Mediocre battery life

Two inches makes a world of difference, though. I couldn’t see using the Alienware 17 as my day-to-day laptop. All 17-inch machines are huge, but a 17-inch machine that’s still over an inch thick and weighs 9.5 pounds? No way.

Impeccable build quality and design ; Massively powerful ; Excellent cooling

Expensive ; Big and heavy for 15-inches ; Average battery life

The Alienware 15 R3 is an incremental update over the previous generation but offers the power and refinement that gamers on the go will love. It’s a big and heavy beast but, if you don’t mind the weight, it’s a potent laptop that can do it all.

Attractive redesigned chassis; Good graphics and overall performance; Comfortable keyboard; Tobii eye-tracking integration; Lovely G-Sync enabled display

Below-average battery life; A bit heavy for the size

a lot of features (macro keys, eye tracking, etc.) ; clever port layout ; many hardware options ; numerous illumination elements ; reference-class case quality ; handy Alienware tools ; pretty simple maintenance ; good input devices ; very high...

high noise development under load ; CPU with temperature issues ; only 12 months base warranty ; unaesthetic fan exhausts ; sound could be better ; high weight ; no card reader

The visuals of the third revision of the Alienware 15 R3 are beyond any doubt (except for the protruding fan area). There is currently no other gaming notebook with such a sophisticated, stable, and well-built chassis. Then there is also the unique...

The Alienware 15 makes the most of its components, and it has a well-designed lighting scheme. Plus, it comes with a decent G-Sync monitor, and it can drive an external display at a high refresh rate and with G-Sync.

It's on the heavy side at 7.8 pounds, the battery life is middling, and its fans are loud.

A solid if somewhat uninspiring gaming laptop, the Alienware 15 is a good choice when you need fast performance but not the big screen.

Built to last ; Top-notch screen with low lag ; Excellent gaming performance

Still big and heavy ; Who stole the SD slot? ; Battery life was never going to be brilliant

A no-compromise gaming laptop for the hardcore crowd

The Alienware 15 R3 is a gaming laptop that is hard to beat. It has as much power as any of its mainstream rivals, and has lighting that is both eye-catching and customisable, but can also be switched off when you’d rather let you laptop slip into the...

Great build quality ; GTX 1070

Unified heatsink ; Slightly pricey

The Alienware 15 R3 packs in an NVIDIA GTX 1070 along with an Intel Core i7 6700HQ. Although, this isn’t the retail unit, it is pretty close in terms of performance. Alienware has certainly improved the build quality of the gaming laptops with added...

Incredibly sturdy construction, clean and sophisticated design;Fairly thin (just 25 mm);Good keyboard and touchpad;Good IPS panel;Supports up to 3 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs;Not a bad cooling solution considering the form factor and the demanding...

CPU and GPU underclocked by default, third party software needs to be installed for overclocking;A bit loud under load;Heavy (3.5 kg);G-Sync is optional and most units come with only 60Hz displays;The screen uses PWM from 0 to 99% brightness (our...

Outstanding build quality ; Impressive LED customization ; 120Hz refresh rate ; Great gaming performance ; excellent cooling

Cramped typing experience ; No Number Pad ; Plastic interior shroud prohibits easy access to the motherboard ; TN panel is inaccurate ; Expensive for a GTX 1070 laptop

The GTX 1070-equipped Alienware 15 hits the ball out of the park in terms of build quality, features, and performance. However, the 120Hz refresh rate introduces display accuracy trade-offs, and the high price can be a bit much to stomach.