Alienware 16X Aurora review: A return to form for this gaming laptop

But with the 115W RTX 5060 in the Alienware 16X Aurora, you can expect most games to run at smooth frame rates and at a standard resolution of 1920 x 1200. Aside from very light games, you can play AAA games at native resolution and high settings, but it will likely require some upscaling to reach more enjoyable frame rates. For example, in Cyberpunk 2077you’ll need to lower the resolution to 1200p and preset the graphics to “High” to average 82 frames per second. Playing DLSS to balanced This will raise that to 107 fps.

Marvel competitors It’s a game where the powerful performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX CPU comes in handy compared to cheaper gaming laptops. Compared to the Lenovo LOQ 15 with the same GPU, the Alienware 16X Aurora averaged roughly 5 percent faster frame rates at 1200p at medium settings. This is interesting, as the LOQ 15 outperforms the Alienware 16X Aurora in benchmarks like 3DMark Steel Nomad.

I noticed that the surface temperatures on the Alienware 16X Aurora got quite warm. I realize that some uncomfortable warmth is inevitable at some point, especially during long gaming sessions, but the 16X Aurora stayed warm longer than I would have liked. It wasn’t unbearably hot, but the warmth tends to linger long after the game is over and the fans have stopped.

My time with the 16X Aurora made me wonder if RTX 5070 version It could also be a strong buy. (I haven’t tested it.) Currently on sale for $1,650 with 32GB of RAM and a terabyte of storage, it represents a significant upgrade at $200 over my RTX 5060 test unit. If a higher-quality display isn’t that big of a deal for you, the base Alienware 16 Aurora with an RTX 5060 is $200 cheaper than the 16X, and will likely perform just as well. Interestingly, it still comes with a higher resolution of 2560 x 1600, although the refresh rate is lower, and the screen is not as bright. However, without testing it, I can’t comment on things like the quality of the touchpad or the screen’s color performance.

There are cheaper ways to get RTX 5060-level performance, but there are also more expensive options, like the Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10, which has an OLED display but is currently priced at $150 more. With the Alienware 16X Aurora’s gorgeous display, high-quality touchpad, and decent battery life, there’s enough good stuff here to make it worthwhile, especially at discount prices. When I received my review unit, the configuration I tested was $1,450, and within a few weeks it’s now $1,550, while the configuration with more memory Reduced to $1,300. Dell’s prices will fluctuate constantly, but they always seem to have a strong discount on one of the configurations.