The Alienware x14 R2 is a gaming laptop with a 13th-gen gen Intel Core H-series processor, a 2560 x 1600 pixel, 165 Hz display, and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series graphics.
But it’s also a fairly compact notebook (by gaming standards), measuring 12.6″ x 10.3″ x 0.6″ and weighing just under 4.6 pounds. So while there’s no doubt that this is very much a premium notebook designed for gaming, it doesn’t have the most powerful CPU or GPU. Instead this laptop leaves a little performance on the table in the name of portability.
For example, its larger sibling, the Alienware x16 is available with up to an Intel Core i9-13900HK processor, up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics with 16GB GDDR6 RAM and up to a 330W power supply. But that’s a 6 pound notebook with a larger display.
The Alienware x14, meanwhile, is available with up to a Core i7-13620H 10-core processor and up to 85W NVIDIA RTX 4060 graphics with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. It ships standard with a 130W USB Type-C power adapter and all models ship with an 80.5 Wh battery.
The computer has an all-metal chassis made from aluminum and magnesium-alloy and a cooling system that includes dual fans. Models with NVIDIA GeForce 40-series graphics also have an advanced cooling system with a vapor chamber and Dell/Alienware’s Element 31 thermal material applied to the CPU and GPU (on models with NVIDIA RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 graphics).
Dell will offer models with up to 32GB of LPDDR5-4800 memory and up to 4TB of PCIe NVMe solid state storage. Keep in mind that the memory is soldered to the mainboard, so it’s not user upgradeable (interestingly that’s true for the 16 inch model as well).
The laptop has a 1-zone backlit keyboard with support for 16.8 million different colors (if you want per-key lighting, you’ll need to opt for the 16 inch model).
Wireless features include support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 and the laptop has a 1080p webcam, dual microphones, and an IR camera for face recognition. Ports include:
- 2 x Thunderbolt 4
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
- 1 x HDMI 2.1
- 1 x 3.5mm audio
- 1 x microSD card reader
The Alienware x13 R2 will be available in April, 2023 for $1799 and up. But you’ll probably have to pay a lot more to get a model with all the maxed-out specs mentioned above. Entry-level configurations will ship with a Core i5-13420H 8-core processor, 50W NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics with 6GB GDDR5 RAM, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
