A good refresh rate, response time, and color range also provide excellent picture quality and motion clarity.
However, this gaming laptop’s large size and hefty weight make it hard to tote around.
As such, they are known to offer extremely smooth gaming performance.
The Alienware m18 R2 is decently thick in order to hold its powerful internals.
To get a feel for the Alienware m18 R2, I used it for over a week.
Here are my thoughts about this gaming laptop now that I’ve gotten a better understanding of its abilities.
This review was made possible thanks to a review unit provided by Dell.
The company did not see the contents of this review before publishing.
This is pricey, but about where I’d expect a laptop of this caliber to sell for.
Alternatively, moving down to the M Series keyboard rather than the CherryMX one will save some money.
So where can you buy the Alienware m18 R2?
Even then, you’ll want to ensure you have enough surface space to accommodate this beastie rig.
This looks a bit unwieldy but helps the laptop regulate its temperature for better performance overall.
Just like the m16 R2, the m18 R2’s F2 button toggles Stealth Mode.
Colors come through vibrantly, everything looks crisp, and game visuals are extremely smooth.
On top of that, G-Sync reduces lag and stutter.
The Alienware m18 R2 is decently thick in order to hold its powerful internals.
This means it has a great color range to show off your game visuals to their best advantage.
The fans did come on really quickly, though, and got plenty loud.
So if you don’t like loud fans, that’s something to be aware of.
Now, some people have been claiming that the latestIntel i9 CPUs are causing crashes and errors in games.
Many people point to the Tekken 8 Demo as a title that often sees these alleged problems.
After getting a personal feel for m18 R2 performance, I switched gears and ran some benchmark testing.
A ring of light glows around the backside of the thermal bar.
The laptop managed to average a whopping 116 fps.
Even with these far more demanding controls in place, the Alienware m18 R2 didn’t flinch.
It provided an extremely impressive average of 87 fps, which is beautifully smooth to watch.
There are plenty of ports on the backside of the m18 R2.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
That’s incredible and shows just how powerful this laptop really is.
Not bad at all.
It offers the excellent performance that we expect to see from this caliber of gaming laptop.
Only one USB-C port is located on the right side of the device.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The side vents themselves measured in at 138 degrees Fahrenheit (59C).
As for recharging, the Alienware m18 R2 comes with a relatively bulky charging adapter with a barrel plug.
The spacing between keys also feels good, giving me plenty of room to throw in without feeling crowded.
An RJ45 port, two USB-A ports, and a headphone jack are on the m18 R2’s left side.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
While I love the keyboard, the touchpad does feel a little small.
This is especially true if you better hone in on in-game sounds like approaching opponent’s footsteps.
However, there is no shutter to ensure privacy.
The m18 R2 is relatively thick and heavy in order to accommodate its powerful internals.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
This gaming laptop also offers an Intel Core i9-14900HX and up to an RTX 4090 for high-end gaming.
Being a Razer product, it is on the pricier side with a $2,999.99 starting MSRP, though.
As is typical, it doesn’t have the best battery life.
The m18 R2 is significantly larger than the m16 R2.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
However, the Intel Core i9-139870HX CPU combined with the RTX 4090 L provides some truly solid gaming performance.
As with all top-tier gaming laptops, it does cost a lot with a starting $3,149.99 price point.
This slightly smaller gaming laptop also stunned me with its powerful performance and beautiful RGB lighting.
The m18 R2 is taller and longer than the m16 R2.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
Alienware m18 R2: Scorecard
Alienware m18 R2: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if…
You should not buy this if…
It offers the smoothest performance with extremely high frame rates even when more demanding graphical tweaks are in place.
Each individual key on the keyboard can be given a different color and effect.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The biggest downsides mostly do have to deal with size.
It’s extremely powerful as long as you are willing to pay the high price for it.
It’s extremely powerful, and the 18-inch display offers an excellent color gamut with crisp resolution.
The F3 through F6 buttons are meant to be customized.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Plus, RGB lighting and a number pad provide additional perks.
Dell Command Center is clean and easy to navigate.(Image credit: Windows Central)
You can quickly change performance modes within Alienware Command Center.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Check up on the m18 R2’s performance when running specific games.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Check up on the m18 R2’s performance when running specific games.(Image credit: Windows Central)
In a color gamut test, the laptop produced 100% of sRGB, 90% of AdobeRGB, and 100% of P3.
Alienware M18 R2 running the Tekken 8 Demo.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
With Cyberpunk 2077 set at Ray Tracing: Low graphics settings, the system managed an average of 116 fps in the benchmark.(Image credit: Windows Central)
With Cyberpunk 2077 running Overdrive graphics settings, the system managed an average of 87 fps in the benchmark.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The m18 R2’s SSD offers solid performance as seen by this CrystalDiskMark benchmark.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Geekbench 6 results put m18 R2 performance at an impressive place between the Legion 9i and the Legion Tower 7i.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The i9-14900HX offers good rendering capabilities.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The Alienware m18 R2 offered the best overall system performance CrossMark results of any laptop we’ve ever tested.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The m18 R2’s i9-14900HX performed similarly to other high-end gaming PCs.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The Alienware m18 R2’s RTX 4090 L produced a similar result to competitor gaming laptops like Razer Blade 16 and Legion 9i.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The center area of the keyboard peaked at about 120 degrees Fahrenheit.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The area above the keyboard peaked at around 140 degrees Fahrenheit.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The vents peaked at about 138 degrees Fahrenheit.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
In testing, the laptop battery only tended to last two hours and 32 minutes tops.
The Alienware M18 R2 charging adapter connects to the laptop via barrel plug.
There is a full number pad on this CherryMX mechanical keyboard.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
All of the keys offer RGB backlighting.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The touchpad area is somewhat small but works well.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The F3 through F6 keys are meant to be customized.(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
The 1080p camera captures good colors and crisp detail.
The Lenovo Legion 9i (Gen 8) offers beautiful RGB lighting in addition to solid gaming performance.
The Alienware M18 R2 is the most powerful gaming laptop I’ve ever used.
