The best Dell gaming laptops & Alienware gaming laptops
Updated: Nov 20, 2023 11:48 am
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If you’re in the market for the best Dell gaming laptop then this is the page for you. We’ve selected the best of the lot, according to budget and user experience, to help you find the option that best fits your needs.
All our buying guides are regularly updated with the best gaming laptops worthy of inclusion, so you can rest assured that these are the best options currently available. If you want to get a better idea of what features you should be looking for before you buy, have a scan of our ‘things to consider’ and FAQs sections further down this page. If you’re just looking to make a quick purchase, then we’ve listed the top 3 picks below, though we recommend reading further down the page for individual reviews and more buying options. If you’re looking for some fantastic savings, then so also take a look at our Black Friday gaming laptop deals page this November.
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01
Best Dell laptop for competitive gamers
Alienware m18 (480Hz 1200p)
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02
A great value upper-mid-range RTX 4070 laptop with QHD display
Alienware m16
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03
One of the cheapest RTX 4070 laptops you’ll find
Dell G16 7630 (165Hz QHD+, RTX 4070)
Today’s best gaming laptop deals
Dell gaming laptops vs Alienware gaming laptops
Dell’s most premium range of gaming laptops are their own sub-brand known as Alienware. Whilst Dell do make ‘Dell brand’ gaming laptops, these tend to be budget to mid-range offerings, with the real high-end performers being the Alienware X17, Alienware Area 51m, and others besides. So whether you go with a Dell or Alienware branded gaming laptop really depends on your budget. We have options from both listed below.
Best Dell gaming laptop 2023: reviews
Take a gander below at our current Dell and Alienware selections that are worth your consideration this year.
Best Dell laptop for competitive gamers
Alienware m18 (480Hz 1200p)
Pros
- Very powerful GPU & CPU options
- Ridiculously high 480Hz refresh rate
- good color replication
- great build quality
- Lots of RAM and storage options
- good array of I/O ports including Thunderbolt
- looks great
Cons
- mediocre battery life
- fairly heavy
This Alienware m18, equipped with Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics card and AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX processor will demolish any game you throw at it on maximum settings. This particular model, which comes equipped with a 1200p 480Hz display, is ideal for competitive online gamers, as this refresh rate is the fastest you can get in a laptop, and more than enough for anybody’s needs – in fact it’s arguably a bit overkill. Playing at this resolution with this speed of display, you will be able to enjoy liquid smooth gameplay on any fast-paced twitch shooter – maximising your advantage.
Besides being fast, the color replication of the display is also impressive: covering 100% sRGB and 97% DCI-P3 coverage, with a color accuracy of around 2.00 Delta E, meaning you’ll be able to do color accurate work on the side as well as gaming in the sRGB gamut at least. The contrast is solid, and the brightness caps out at just shy of 350 nits, which is a reasonable result for indoor use.
The overall build quality is great and the laptop looks very tasty as you’d expect from this Dell sub-brand. There are extensive RAM and SSD upgrade options, a good array of ports (including an SD card reader), and the battery life, whilst not the best, isn’t terrible (considering this is an Alienware machine) at between four and a half and five hours of general use. Obviously at 18-inches this is a big laptop, and weighs a fair bit to boot, so couldn’t be described as portable, but if you’re okay with that then this is a great machine.
A great value upper-mid-range RTX 4070 laptop with QHD display
Alienware m16
Pros
- Powerful GPU & CPU options
- Good value for money
- good color replication
- great build quality
- good array of I/O ports including Thunderbolt
- looks great
Cons
- poor battery life
- fairly heavy
For those who think Alienware laptops are over priced, although you’re often correct, this Alienware m16 is a notable exception. You get some powerful components plus the high-end Alienware build quality, for a very reasonable asking price indeed. Specifically, the loadout we recommend is the RTX 4070 graphics card combined with the Intel Core i7-13700HX. The high TGP variant of this GPU alongside this CPU packs a meaty punch, and you’ll be able to play pretty much any game on this rig on high settings for great FPS.
The other element of this laptop that particularly impresses is the screen. Although it’s capped to a 165Hz refresh rate, the QHD+/1600p resolution display is nice and colorful – covering 100% of the sRGB gamut and around 97% DCI-P3, plus with respectable color accuracy of around 3.1 Delta E – not quite good enough for professionals but sufficient for amateur color work, and definitely well above what you’d need for gaming. The peak brightness of 350 nits is respectable for indoor use and the contrast is similar.
Unfortunately the poor battery life that afflicts many Alienware devices rears it’s head again, and you won’t get more than about 3 and a half hours out of it sadly. Additionally the weight of this laptop does substantially hinder its portability, so bear that in mind. It does look great though and still impresses with what you get for the money.
One of the cheapest RTX 4070 laptops you’ll find
Dell G16 7630 (165Hz QHD+, RTX 4070)
Nvidia RTX 4070 (110-125W)
Pros
- High end CPU and GPU for the price
- good value for money
- solid 1600p display
- good array of I/O ports including Thunderbolt
- decent internal cooling
Cons
- very poor battery life
- poor webcam
- somewhat plastic build overall
Another RTX 4070 laptop with 1600p screen, this Dell-branded device shaves a couple of hundred dollars off the comparative Alienware pick. This Dell G16 comes with an even more powerful processor – the Intel Core i9-13900HX – so on paper you’d expect it to run better, but in games it performs slightly worse than the Alienware m16 due to the lower TGP of its graphics card plus lower voltage in general. Still, for the money this is an impressive feat.
Given the pricing of this laptop, the build quality isn’t the best as you’d expect, though this primarily is limited to the plasticky feel of the overall chassis plus some screen flex, whereas the keyboard and trackpad are actually okay. The trackpad is pretty small, but is reasonably responsive. The webcam quality is pretty poor, though will do in a pinch.
The cooling of the laptop is actually pretty solid, the number of ports/sockets quite impressive, and the display is pretty solid – again with around 350nits peak brightness, and a color gamut of around 97% sRGB and 78% DCI-P3 – certainly good enough for gaming.
Battery life is however very poor, and you shouldn’t expect more than 3 hours of general usage out of it, even on battery saving mode. Overall though, this is a very worthwhile affordable machine.
A pricey but superbly designed, slimline 17″ gaming laptop
Alienware X17 (360Hz, RTX 3080)
Pros
- good cooling despite thin size
- great color replication
- great response time
- advanced G-Sync
- thin and portable
- looks great
- decent battery life
- nice mechanical keyboard
- microSD slot
Cons
- very expensive
- massive powerbrick for RTX 3080 option
- flipped motherboard makes upgrading difficult
You can also pick up the newer Alienware X16 R1 with RTX 4080 and 240Hz 1600p display, but this is considerably more expensive,
Out of the new Alienware X15 and X17, we’ve gone for the larger X17 with its 17.3-inch display for our premium pick of the best Dell gaming laptops. This is not only because the larger display helps give greater immersion in games, but also as the size constraints of the X15 hamper its performance by comparison, whereas the larger X17 iteration manages to have a nice high TGP for its GPU options, as well as good power supply for the CPU.
This means that gaming performance for either the RTX 3070 version or the RTX 3080 version of this machine are great, particularly considering that this is a slimline laptop. Dell have managed to pull off a very impressive technical feat with the cooling in this beast, despite its thin size, keeping thermal throttling to a relative minimum. The one downside to this is the massive powerbrick that the laptop comes with to pump all those volts in, which does hamper the portability of the machine somewhat. Battery life however, in general non-gaming usage, comes in at around 5 hours for the RTX 3070 version, which, for an Alienware laptop is far better than usual, and puts it up there with the majority of the competition at this price point.
The display on this Alienware is predictably superb in terms of color replication, contrast, and brightness. All display options cover at least 100% of the sRGB space, making them ideal for color work / graphic design in this space. Of all the display options we’d strongly recommend that you go with the 1080p 360Hz option, as this is the only one with G-Sync, a MUX Switch to disable Optimus (vital for ensuring the best performance) and also a stated 1ms response time, making it by far the best gaming option.
The mechanical keyboard and trackpad of the X17 are both great to use (though it does lack a numpad) and it comes with a handy microSD card slot. The motherboard is of the flipped variety, making it more difficult to upgrade the GPU and CPU should you wish to, but at least the RAM can be upgraded.
Ultimately the biggest issue with this laptop is the very high price, but if you want a piece of laptop excellence and can afford it, this is one of the best around.
Best affordable Dell gaming laptop
Dell G15 5520 (120Hz, RTX 3060)
Nvidia RTX 3060 (110-125W)
Pros
- High TGP RTX 3060 GPU
- High performing Intel Core 17-12700H CPU
- Great performance for the money
- decent build quality
Cons
- poor display response time
- mediocre battery life
- sub-par color replication
The Dell G15 is a very worthy option for a mid-range Dell gaming laptop, coming as it does with some powerful core components capable of pushing those FPS in games. You can go with the cheaper all AMD option if you want (the Dell G15 5505), which comes with a Ryzen 5 4600H CPU and Radeon 5600M GPU, alternatively there’s the Dell G15 5515, which combines a Ryzen 7 5800H processor and an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics card. The option we have here however is the G15 5520, which comes equipped with an Intel i7-12700H plus RTX 3060, and this is the one we’d recommend. The RTX 3060 GPU is a particularly powerful one, with a high TGP that means it can perform to the equal of many RTX 3070 laptops in game, combined with the powerful processor, this laptop can punch well above its weight in gaming scenarios.
The 1080p 120Hz display has mediocre color replication, coming in at around 68% sRGB, but for gaming its fine, and the refresh rate is reasonable for a cheaper device. This highly charged RTX 3060 does mean that the laptop doesn’t have the longest battery – you’ll get around 4 and a half hours of general usage – though this isn’t terrible by gaming laptop standards. It does run quite cool however, both internally and externally.
The overall build quality of the laptop is good, though the keyboard and trackpad could be better. All told though, the Dell G15 5520 is a solid, affordable, mid-range choice.
Things to consider when buying a Dell gaming laptop
Before you go ahead and splash your cash on a new Dell machine, it’s a good idea to have a read of the below factors that you should bear in mind when making your choice.
Dell gaming laptop battery life
The majority of Dell gaming laptops – be they Dell branded or Alienware – tend to have pretty poor battery life, although there have been a few exceptions to this in recent years. The Alienware X17, as discussed above, has a surprisingly great battery life, even though it’s a powerful and slimline machine. Some Dell models equipped with Ryzen CPUs, in particular the 5000 series and 6000 series line, do also have pretty impressive battery durations, thanks to the energy efficiency of these CPUs.
Final Word
This has been our guide to the best Dell gaming laptop models in 2023. We hope it has proved useful and helped you find the option which is right for you. If you want to check our more options from different brands, then see our various best gaming laptop guides for different price ranges under the main site menu on the top of this page. Alternatively, you can have a look at our best gaming laptop page for our selections across all price ranges and brands.
Best Dell gaming laptop FAQs
Does Dell make a good gaming laptop?
Dell makes a number of good gaming laptops – most of these are admittedly through their premium Alienware brand, although the standard Dell branded laptops do include some solid, affordable gaming machines.
Do Dell gaming laptops last long?
Dell gaming laptops don’t necessarily last any longer or shorter than those of any other brands – it really depends on the model in question.
The main factor that determines the longevity of a gaming laptop is the internal cooling – if the CPU and GPU run too hot for prolonged periods of time, it can degrade their performance and that of the surrounding components inside the device – so check out our individual product reviews in our buying guides for mentions of this before you pull the trigger.
