Alienware 16X Aurora Review: A Return to Form for This Gaming Laptop

But with the 115-watt RTX 5060 in the Alienware 16X Aurora, you can expect to play most games at smooth frame rates at the standard 1920 x 1200 resolution. Outside of very light games, you can play AAA games at native resolution at high settings, but it will probably require some upscaling to get to more enjoyable frame rates. For example, in Cyberpunk 2077You’ll need to drop the resolution to 1200p and the graphics preset to High to average a smooth 82 fps. Launching Balanced from DLSS It will bump up to 107 fps.

Marvel rivals A game where the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX’s powerful CPU performance comes in handy compared to cheaper gaming laptops. Compared to the Lenovo LOQ 15 with the same GPU, the Alienware 16X Aurora had about 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 temperature of the Alienware 16X Aurora became quite warm. I understand that some uncomfortable warmth is inevitable at some point, especially during long gaming sessions, but the 16X Aurora was warmer for longer than I would have liked. It never got so hot that it was unbearable, but the warmth lingered long after the game was over and the fans turned off.

My time with the 16X Aurora makes me wonder if RTX 5070 version Can also be a difficult purchase. (I haven’t tested it.) Currently selling for $1,650 with 32 GB of RAM and one terabyte of storage, it’s a $200 upgrade over my RTX 5060 test unit. If a high-quality display isn’t a big deal to you, the base Alienware 16 with an RTX 5060 is $200 cheaper than the Aurora 16X and will likely perform just as well. Interestingly, it still comes with a higher resolution 2560 x 1600 display, though the refresh rate is lower and the screen isn’t as bright. Without testing it, though, I can’t comment on things like the touchpad’s quality or the display’s color performance.

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