Searching for an honest review on the internet is now a little difficult. Because there are tons of Blogs or Articles available for a single product and they have a different points of view. Secondly, it is difficult because you don’t know; whether the review you are reading is authentic and honest or sponsored. So, to solve this problem here we gave an authentic, accurate and honest review of Dell Alienware 17 R5 with facts and figures. The Review is written in simple English and everything is described thoroughly so that everyone can understand it.
Before moving to the actual part of the blog we wanted to tell you that the Review is given after the testing of this laptop by our experts. Our experts are experienced and they have extensive knowledge about technology and gadgets.
After reading this article finally you will be able to decide whether this laptop is suitable for you or not. Read this completely without leaving any part of this article.
Specs and Review of Dell Alienware 17 R5 Laptop
Dell Alienware 17 R5

Specifications
Processor: | 8th Gen Intel Core i7/i9 |
GPU: | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 |
OS: | Windows 10 Pro |
Display: | 17.3-INCH QHD~2560 x 1440-120 Hz |
RAM: | 8, 16, & 32 GB DDR4 2666 MHz |
Hard Drive: | 1TB SSD M.2 PCIe NVMe up to 32 Gbps |
Speakers: | Dual stereo speakers |
Dimensions: | 16.69 x 13.07 x 1.18 inches 424 x 332 x 29.99 mm |
Weight: | 9.74 lbs |
Camera | Video: 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) at 30 fps (maximum) |
Battery | 99 Wh |
pros and cons
Pros
- Super Graphics Performance
- Best screen with a high refresh rate
- Fast charging support
- Great Sound Quality
- Extensive Configuration Options
Cons
- Average Battery life
- Very heavy in weight
Dell Alienware 17 R5 Review

Alienware series is the most known series of Dell, especially to gamers. Some gamers can’t afford this laptop for those gamers it is a dream laptop. This series is known for its CPU performance, graphics performance, and sturdy design.
Display
The Dell Alienware 17 R5 has a big 17.3 inches display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440. Moreover, this display is a QHD with a 120Hz fast screen refresh rate. Due to the 120Hz refresh rate, everything looks smooth on the display. This thing also enhances the gaming experience. The display quality looks very impressive and the brightness and color accuracy all are fine. It’s better than most IPS displays and brighter.
The big 17.3 inches display will provide you with a very impressive screen experience. All the tasks which demand an excellent big display with high resolution, good colors, and contrast will perform well on this laptop. Furthermore, the screen-to-body ratio here is less which should be higher but it is 17.3 inches screen laptop so still, you will have a quite large area of the screen. This thing helps you to perform editing tasks easily and also enhances the gaming experience. It is a glassy screen so everything will look crystal clear.
Design & Built
In the design sector, this laptop has some advantages and some disadvantages. On the front, it has thick bezels and on the back, the chassis remains the same as the previous model laptop. Moreover, the Alienware R5 17 looks better with the exterior and interior lights. The RGB light placement in logos and at the sides makes it look impressive.
In between the top front side, there is a camera lens and 2 microphones on both sides of the camera lens and beside the camera lens, there is a camera status lens. At the top bottom of the display, a Tobii Eye Tracker is placed which allows you to interact with the laptop by using your eyes. Right above the Tobii Eye Tracker, the ALIENWARE label is embedded.
The power button is placed right below the Tobii Eye Tracker on the base of a laptop with an Alienware mask logo embedded on it. Two high-quality speakers are built at the front of the base of the laptop on the both right and left sides. The bass of the speakers is very impressive also the sound quality looks fine.
Overall the build quality of this laptop is value for money but the one thing that left this laptop behind is its weight. It comes with almost 10 pounds of weight which is not a good deal. This thing makes this laptop difficult to carry with you.
Keyboard & Touchpad
The keyboard of this laptop is unique and good in accessibility. The placement of the keyboard is also accurate. Although the keys are not mechanical still they are smooth and flashy. In addition to this, the RGB light in the interior of the keyboard enhances the key’s accuracy and gives an eye-catching look. This laptop’s Keys light is in the zone but on the other hand, competitors are using each key lit light so that is not impressive. The macros keys’ vertical row is placed on the right side of the keyboard. The commands on these keys are predefined but you can define them by yourself from the Dell Alienware commands center.
Furthermore, the touchpad is also well-placed and has good build quality. RGB light is also available on the touchpad which looks cool. Touchpad tracking is good but the gesture detection on synaptic software is not good.
Performance
In the performance sector, this laptop is very good. It comes in two CPU options Core i7 and core i9. But here we are talking about the Core i7 model. After performing a lot of tasks we concluded the final result; that it will not disappoint you in performance areas. Moreover, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU enables you to perform heavy graphics tasks like a fly. The GPU looks decent and powerful which will give you an enhanced graphics performance. The dell Alienware 17 is the overall best-performance laptop. But here we can say that the competitors are using the better CPU in this price range. So, we think this will be a little disappointing. Still, it is a very powerful laptop, especially the optimization and the GPU are stunning.
Gaming
In Gaming Department this laptop is considered a very good option for you. It has multiple reasons why? Firstly, it has the big brighter display that every gamer wants to have to get a good gaming environment. In addition to this a better refresh rate of the screen. Secondly, the GPU of this laptop is very powerful which will enhance the graphics. As most games demand good graphics performance and this laptop actually has that. You, will not find any difficulty in terms of CPU and GPU performance everything will work smoothly.
Let us share some refresh rates of different games over 1080p Ultra settings:
- Doom – 154 fps
- Witcher 3 – 82 fps
- Fortnite – 171 fps
- PUBG – 99 fps
- Overwatch – 196 fps
The gaming experience on all these games was excellent graphics were looking good and frame rates were also going smoothly.
Connectivity
For connectivity, a lot of options are available for this laptop. The extendible amount of ports allows you to connect peripheral devices and enhance the performance of the laptop. On the back of this laptop, there is an RJ45 Ethernet, a mini display, an HDMI, a Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C), External graphics, and a Power-adapter port. In addition to this on the left side, a Security-cable slot (for Noble locks), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C), USB 3.1 Gen 1 with PowerShare, Microphone/headphone, and an additional Headset port are placed. Moreover, on the right side, there is one USB 3.1 Gen 1 port. So, collectively you will not experience any type of port shortage here with this laptop.
The ethernet controller is integrated with this laptop with 10/100/1000 Mbps internet capability. For wireless communications, Bluetooth and wifi are available with this laptop. So, in the communication field, this laptop is a perfect laptop that almost allows you to connect any type of peripheral device.
Battery
Although this laptop comes with a 99Wh big battery still it is not enough for this laptop. There are multiple reasons why it is not enough. Firstly it has a big display, and Secondly, the lights around this laptop consume a lot of battery. So, the battery life on this laptop is mediocre. We performed a battery test by switching everything off like led, and Tobey eye-tracking off we got around 4 hours of battery life which is acceptable with these heavy features and hardware.
Moreover, to tackle this problem you got a super fast 330 Watt fast charging adaptor that will charge your laptop in minutes.
FAQ’s
Yes, it is the most suitable laptop to choose from for gaming. With the big brighter screen and a powerful GPU, you will get the best gaming performance.
The dell Alienware 17 R5 comes with different RAM options which are 8GB 16GB and 32 GB. But the maximum you will get is 32GB DDR4 RAM.
Normally, it comes with a 1 TB SSD drive but it’s up to you can increase or decrease it. The SSD drive is an M.2 2280 with PCIe NVMe up to 32 Gbps.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a powerful laptop with a brighter and color-accurate display then this laptop can be a good choice for you. Moreover, gamers and video editors can also consider this laptop as it also has good GPU performance. But for students and office people, this laptop cannot be a good choice as it is larger in size and heavy in weight so you will find the difficulty while carrying this laptop. This is like you are taking a desktop in your bag.
We tried to provide you with authentic and accurate information about this laptop and discussed here every aspect of this laptop thoroughly. If you still have any queries you can contact us.