Alienware has always had a reputation as a brand that leans towards some of the more aesthetically interesting choices in gaming hardware design, but its new Alienware x16 R2 gaming laptop announced at CES 2024 might just take the cake. While the chassis design may look familiar, nestled underneath that per-key backlit keyboard on the higher spec models is an RGB multi-touch trackpad, and it's twisting my melon, man.
While light-up trackpads on Alienware laptops are nothing new, this one is much more controllable thanks to an array of 100 micro LEDs, which should mean the customisation options will be fairly comprehensive. More than that, rather than being a simply tacked on (and potentially tack-y) accessory, on the x16 R2 this sort of thing just looks so much more right, what with the RGB ring around the rear exhaust vents and the glowing Alienware logo on the lid courtesy of what the company calls its "AlienFX" lighting.
Stepping away from the showy design for a moment, the specifications for what Alienware says is its most premium gaming laptop are also rather impressive. You get a choice of Intel's new Meteor Lake Core Ultra 7 or 9 processors, a QHD 240Hz refresh rate screen, a selection of Nvidia 40-series GPUs ranging from the RTX 4060 all the way up to the RTX 4090, and Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support including 6 speakers for 3D-positional audio.
Cooling wise the x16 R2 will make use of Alienware's Element 31 thermal interface material made of a "gallium silicone matrix", which in combination with the vapor chamber cooling solution and that substantial rear end should hopefully keep all that high-end hardware running cool, although we'll have to wait to test one for ourselves to find out.
It's a glowy, showy machine this, and if you're going to make one of those it's probably best to lean in a bit. Opinions will differ of course, but for me it weirdly fits. While I've never been a fan of laptops with a stick out rear chassis design, there's something about those smooth science fiction lines in combination with that glowy pad that really suits the aesthetic overall.
Alienware lappys are supposed to be a little (and sometimes more than a little) over the top, and here it looks like they might have struck a decent balance between the sublime and the ridiculous.
That light-up RGB touchpad will be limited to the more expensive RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 configs, which if you ask me is a bit of a selling point for the top-tier models although still not enough to make me desire an RTX 4090 in a laptop chassis. Still, it's an impressive looking and well-specced machine on paper, and one that's likely to shift a lot of units given Alienware's popularity amongst gaming laptop buyers.
Alienware hasn't given us a release date for the x16 R2 just yet, but pricing is expected to start at around $2,100 for the lower end spec.
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PC Gamer's CES 2024 coverage is being published in association with Asus Republic of Gamers.
