Dell Alienware 15 R4 Laptop : Review

Dell Alienware 15 R4 was first launched in 2018. Although old, it still holds a lot of power pack performance and can still be considered for gaming in today’s time, but with so many new laptops and models coming into play, how will this Dell Alienware 15 R4 is compatible in comparison to today’s new laptops?

Here is a full review of this laptop, so you can decide on your own whether to consider this Alienware 15 R4 for your gaming or prefer something else.

Dell Alienware 15 R4 Laptop : Review

 Specifications of Dell Alienware 15 R4

• Price – $1,899
• Dimensions (W x D x H) –  15.3” x 12” x 1”
• Weight – 7.8 pounds (3.5kgs)
• Display – 15.6” FHD (1080p resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, G-sync enabled)
• OS: Windows 10
• 8th Generation Intel Core i7 8750H Processor
• Graphics Card – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB DDR5)
• 16 GB DDR4 RAM (2400MHz) Memory
• Hard Drive – 1 TB HDD (7,200RPM), 256 GB PLIe m2 SSD
• Connectivity Ports –  2 USB 3.0 Type C Ports; 1 Thunderbolt Port; 1 Ethernet Port; 1 3.5 mm Headphone Jack; 1 HDMI port; 1 Mini DisplayPort

Features of Dell Alienware 15 R4

1. Design and look

Dell Alienware 15 R4 has a premium feel. It comes in a completely black color, including its aluminum lid, unlike other models of Dell Alienware laptops.  

It has a very sleek and impressive design. Its logo on the top lid is infused with RGB, which gives it a very modern and stunning feel and look.

With its weight being around 3.5 kg it is quite a heavy laptop, so in aspect to both sides and weight, it is bigger and heavier than other gaming laptops.

More Similar Content: Alienware Aurora 2019; Review

2. Screen display

It has a full HD display of 15 inches. With this full HD feature, the colors and screen views are pretty bright and vibrant.

If you are watching or playing games that have a high level of CGI, it will look quite stunning and give you the perfect feel.

Its brightness is 311 nits, which is higher compared to other gaming laptops that have usually nits of around 200 to 300.

With a refresh rate of 60 Hertz, you will get a great gaming experience and visuals or even when you are not playing a game or just watching something, it has a great display quality.

3. Other features

The keyboards of this laptop are similar to mechanical keyboards. Even though they are standard ones, because of their hard and sturdy feel it does give the feel of using a mechanical keyboard.

This might be because it has a deeper key travel distance which is more than 2 mm, the average key travel distance in other laptops.

Using this keyboard can be fun and the typing may feel fluid and smooth.

As for its touchpad, it is simple, but its size is smaller than what we usually get in other laptops.

The size of the touchpad is 3.9 inches X 2.1 inches. Using a window gesture is smooth, but having a slightly larger touchpad would have been better.

The quality of the webcam is quite great, having 1080p FHD. The picture quality that comes out of the webcam is vibrant and good.

4. Connectivity

There are pretty good connection ports in this gaming laptop. These connection ports include 3 USB 3.0 type A ports, a singular USB thunderbolt port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and an Ethernet port as well.

Apart from these, HDMI and display ports are also present, so if you want to connect multiple monitors to this laptop you can do so.

The only drawback is not having type C ports. If it had a USB 3.0 type C port, that would have been really beneficial.

5. Battery life

The normal battery life for Dell Alienware 15 R4 is around 5 to 6 hours. While playing games or doing heavy activities similar to playing games, it won’t last more than 3 hours.

Henceforth, the battery life is quite okay-ish for this laptop. If you want to watch YouTube movies or binge on some stuff, do not expect the battery life to last for longer.

6. Performance

The performance of the laptop is quite great considering it was launched in 2018. Even if its specifications are 5 years old, they are pretty much decent even in today’s time.

You can run heavy software programs like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, or Adobe premium smoothly on the laptop.

Having an RTC graphics card, you can play high-end modern games on this laptop seamlessly, though on medium settings.

All in all, the performance of this laptop in 2023 is quite decent and great compared to similar models in this price range.

Pros of Dell Alienware 15 R4

• Good performance
• Simple and sleeve design
• Bright and vivid display
• Fine and study built
• Good keyboard typing experience

 Cons of Dell Alienware 15 are 4

• Big and heavy; can give you a back pain if carried for long
• Specifications are almost outdated
• Quite expensive considering it is now an old laptop.

Conclusion

The Dell Alienware 15 R4 is a pretty decent gaming laptop even in today’s time. Though, the graphic card it comes with, NVIDIA G4 GTX 1070 8 GB is no longer as powerful as it once used to be. The modern RTX graphics cards are way more powerful and great.

As for using graphic design software products, it can take the power of those humongous pieces of software and can run smoothly. You can easily edit photos or videos and can also do 2D or 3D animations or renderings on this laptop.

The price range is quite expensive considering this laptop is 5 years old, but you can still go for it as it gets your job done pretty nicely and easily.

In the gaming aspect, it is great, but you have to opt for medium settings if you are playing high and modern games on this laptop. If you want to go for this laptop you can, though, it won’t be easy to find in 2023.

Overall, Dell Alienware 15 R4 is not worth buying if you have the money to go for better-performing laptops, however you can still give it a try as it is pretty decent enough and get the job done.