LaptopDell70% by External Reviewers

Dell Alienware m15 R6 15.6"

Gaming Laptop

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Product Overview

Dell Alienware m15 R6 is a premium 15.6-inch gaming laptop. The 2021 iteration of Alienware's mainstay, the m15 R6 is powered by 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake mobile processors paired with NVIDIA RTX 3000-series GPUs. Dell markets the AMD-powered m15 R5, which is essentially the same laptop with a different powertrain, at the same time.

Just like the m15 R6, the m15 R6 is marginally more compact than the m15 R4 from last year. It omits the 4K OLED display option, preferring instead to offer a QHD panel with 240Hz refresh rate and 2ms response time—a decision perhaps motivated by sales numbers. It also features the 360Hz FHD display found in the m15 R5 as well as the x15, which is now Alienware's the new flag-bearer in the 15.6-inch class.

Like the x15 and the m15 R5, the m15 R6 can be configured with a mechanical keyboard with ultra-low profile CherryMX switches and per-key RGB backlighting.

In essence, Dell has split the m15 line in two: those with deeper pockets can access an even thinner chassis without sacrificing performance with the x15, while mere mortals can do with m15 R6 which is actually lighter.

Ratings

Product not yet rated.

What external reviewers found

External score 70%

Pros

Long battery life
More efficient than the RTX 3080
More efficient and frugal than the R4

Cons

No Thunderbolt 3
High temperatures under load

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Specifications

[[{"Ft":"Connectivity","Fn":"Ports","Fv":"3x USB 3.2 Gen1 + 1x Thunderbolt 4 + 1x HDMI 2.1 + 1x RJ45 (Killer E2600 1Gbps) + 1x Audio combo"},{"Ft":"Connectivity","Fn":"Wireless Connectivity","Fv":"WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.1"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Camera | Front","Fv":"720p HD, optional Windows "},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Colors","Fv":"Dark Side of the Moon"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Material","Fv":"Magnesium Alloy exterior shell and copper alloy thermal components"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Microphone","Fv":"Digital-array microphones"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Speakers","Fv":"Stereo speakers 2x 2W"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Depth","Fv":"272.5 mm / 10.73\u0026#34;"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Height","Fv":"up to 22.85 mm / 0.8996\u0026#34;"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Width","Fv":"356.2 mm / 14.02\u0026#34;"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Weight","Fv":"2.42 kg / 5.34 lbs ~ 2.69 kg / 5.93 lbs"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Aspect Ratio","Fv":"16:9"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Diagonal","Fv":"15.6 inch"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Type","Fv":"IPS"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Refresh Rate","Fv":"165 or 360 Hz"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Resolution","Fv":"FHD (1920x1080) or QHD (2560x1440)"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Response Time","Fv":"1 or 3 ms"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Audio","Fv":"Realtek ALC3254 with A-Volute Nahimic audio processing software"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Graphics","Fv":"NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB, RTX 3070 8GB, or RTX 3080 8GB GDDR6"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Keyboard Backlight","Fv":"4-Zone AlienFX RGB lighting or CherryMX per-key AlienFX RGB keyboard"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Operating System","Fv":"Windows 10 Home"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Processor","Fv":"Intel Core i7-11800H Tiger Lake"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"RGB Lighting","Fv":"RGB lighting up to 16.8 million colors"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Variable Framerate","Fv":"G-SYNC available for 240Hz and 360Hz panels"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Memory | Capacity","Fv":"8 or 16 GB"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Memory | Type","Fv":"DDR4 3200MHz"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Storage","Fv":"Up to 2x 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD"},{"Ft":"Production","Fn":"Debut","Fv":"2021-05"}],[{"Ft":"Connectivity","Fn":"Ports","Fv":"3x USB 3.2 Gen1 + 1x Thunderbolt 4 + 1x HDMI 2.1 + 1x RJ45 (Killer E2600 1Gbps) + 1x Audio combo"},{"Ft":"Connectivity","Fn":"Wireless Connectivity","Fv":"WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.1"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Camera | Front","Fv":"720p HD, optional Windows "},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Colors","Fv":"Dark Side of the Moon"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Material","Fv":"Magnesium Alloy exterior shell and copper alloy thermal components"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Microphone","Fv":"Digital-array microphones"},{"Ft":"Construction","Fn":"Speakers","Fv":"Stereo speakers 2x 2W"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Depth","Fv":"272.5 mm / 10.73\u0026#34;"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Height","Fv":"up to 22.85 mm / 0.8996\u0026#34;"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Size | Width","Fv":"356.2 mm / 14.02\u0026#34;"},{"Ft":"Dimensions","Fn":"Weight","Fv":"2.42 kg / 5.34 lbs ~ 2.69 kg / 5.93 lbs"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Aspect Ratio","Fv":"16:9"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Diagonal","Fv":"15.6 inch"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Display Type","Fv":"IPS"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Refresh Rate","Fv":"240 Hz"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Resolution","Fv":"FHD (1920x1080) or QHD (2560x1440)"},{"Ft":"Display","Fn":"Response Time","Fv":"2 ms"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Audio","Fv":"Realtek ALC3254 with A-Volute Nahimic audio processing software"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Graphics","Fv":"NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB, RTX 3070 8GB, or RTX 3080 8GB GDDR6"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Keyboard Backlight","Fv":"4-Zone AlienFX RGB lighting or CherryMX per-key AlienFX RGB keyboard"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Operating System","Fv":"Windows 10 Home"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Processor","Fv":"Intel Core i7-11800H Tiger Lake"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"RGB Lighting","Fv":"RGB lighting up to 16.8 million colors"},{"Ft":"Function","Fn":"Variable Framerate","Fv":"G-SYNC available for 240Hz and 360Hz panels"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Memory | Capacity","Fv":"8 or 16 GB"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Memory | Type","Fv":"DDR4 3200MHz"},{"Ft":"Performance","Fn":"Storage","Fv":"Up to 2x 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD"},{"Ft":"Production","Fn":"Debut","Fv":"2021-05"}]]

	FHD	QHD

External Reviews

notebookcheck^[1]

Reviewer score 70% (normalized by Neofiliac)

Reviewers from notebookcheck have found:

In idle operation, the R6 now remains cooler than the R4. However, under load it gets just as hot again, and that although at least the 3D performance is slightly lower. Under heavy stress, the surfaces on the top and bottom can reach temperatures of around 60 °C (140 °F) The positive aspect is that the speaker can become fairly loud, but unfortunately, they lack bass.