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Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Alienware is at its best when it makes no-holds-barred gaming machines that are big on style and performance.
By reviving an iconic nameplate and combining it with an all-new design packing some seriously intergalactic vibes, the Alienware 16 Area-51 laptop is just that. Sure, it's so big and heavy that you won't want to move it around very often. And battery life be damned, because if you aren't plugged in, you probably aren't pushing those pixels hard enough. But if you're in the market for a classic desktop-replacement gaming notebook with flagship specs and an unmistakable aesthetic, this rig represents a beastly return to form. While it is a bit pricey at $2,000 to start, the Alienware 16 Area-51 sports top-notch components, a bright display, a clicky mechanical keyboard and a slick re-interpretation of the company's signature intergalactic design. Alienware's industrial design is so far out there that its systems have almost become a shorthand for gamer culture in. But for this generation, I think the company has done a great job of creating something unique that's also a bit more sophisticated than before. To start, there's Alienware's"Liquid Teal" paint job. It's the only available color and in person, it looks more like the kind of deep emerald green you'd see on a car due to the way it shifts and shimmers depending on the light. As always, there's Alienware's classic logo in the middle of the lid, complete with customizable lighting. On the inside, there are nice touches like RGB-lit fans, punchy up-firing speakers and a clicky mechanical keyboard with deep travel that reminds you that if you aren't using this system to frag some enemies every now and then, you're probably doing it wrong. The Area-51 laptop features mechanical switches with lots of travel and customizable RGB lighting for both its keyboard and touchpad.My favorite design element is the little window on the bottom of the laptop. At first, this seems like overkill, because just, how often do you really look at the bottom of a PC? But if desktop PCs can have glass panels that show off the insides of the machines, why not laptops too? More importantly, Alienware's raised Cryo Chamber improves thermals thanks to increased airflow and a hidden exhaust that helps move heat away from critical components like the GPU. Even so, the vent's placement means you're still not going to want to use this on your lap for prolonged periods . But as a feature that would normally be purely functional, Alienware's solution is clever and stylish. Of course, the downside to adding extra glass to an already hefty notebook is that it makes this thing even less travel-friendly. Weighing 7.5 pounds, the Alienware 16 Area-51 is actually closer to a typical 18-inch notebook like a than a similarly-sized non-gaming machine. On top of that, while the Area-51 offers a wealth of connectivity options , most of its ports are in the back. That's great for keeping cables tidy and out of the way, but they are a bit harder to reach, which reinforces the notion that you won't be moving this PC around very much. I just wish Alienware had made room for a single USB-C port somewhere on either side. Having a full-size SD card reader and 3.5mm audio on the left is super handy for quickly transferring media or plugging in headphones, but it would have been nice to have one more spot for accessories like thumb drives so you could avoid fumbling around in the back. The Alienware 16 Area-51 laptop features a 16-inch 2,560 x 1,600 LCD display with 500 nits of brightness and a 240Hz refresh rate.The Alienware 16 Area-51 packs a 2,560 x 1,600 display with a 240Hz refresh rate, G-Sync support and 500 nits of brightness. In a vacuum, it's a really solid panel. It has a matte coating to reduce reflections while still producing vibrant colors that look good even in sunny rooms. My only gripe is that for a flagship system, I would have liked to see some other display options. , a 4K screen upgrade would be a great option. Alternatively, with the Area-51 capable of accommodating up to an RTX 5090 GPU, a panel with a 300Hz or higher refresh rate could have been a nice choice for the hardcore competitive crowd. And sadly, even if you feel like upgrading to the 16-inch model'sThe bottom of the Area-51 laptop is both functional and stylish thanks to its Cryo Chamber, which provides a view at the components inside while also improving heat management.Our $2,800 review unit features an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU with 24 cores, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of SSD storage and an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU. Unsurprisingly, a loaded system like this had no issues handling games likeEven when using Ultra graphics presets at 1080p with ray tracing turned on, the Area-51 still hit 90 fps. Meanwhile, inthe Alienware fared even better at the same resolution and Epic settings when it reached 154 fps. Thankfully, if you don't have nearly $3,000 to burn, the Area-51 is rather configurable. A base model starts at a more affordable $2,000 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX chip, 16GB of RAM and an RTX 5060. On the other hand, if you want all-out performance, you can load this thing up with an RTX 5090, but doing so currently starts at $3,550.Most of the Area-51 laptops ports are in the back which is great for keeping cables out of the way, but it can be annoying if you want to quickly plug in USB accessories like a thumb drive.Peter Parker's beloved Uncle Ben once said"With great power comes great energy draw” , and the Area-51 is a perfect example of that. On PCMark 10's Modern Office battery rundown test, Alienware's laptop only lasted four hours and thirteen minutes. That's more than three hours less than what we got from its predecessor —. When I retested the ASUS only using its GPU , its time of 3:08 was worse. So when it comes to power-hungry portable gaming machines like these, if you plan on using them away from an outlet on a regular basis, you'd better make sure you have a portable charging solution on hand. Even though the Alienware 16 Area-51 might not be as portable as some of its rivals, it's got a lot to offer. There’s a striking design, a nice screen , tons of ports and class-leading performance with plenty of configurability so you can dial in its specs exactly how you like. Granted, Alienware's attention-grabbing space-age aesthetics might not be for folks who aren't ready to be beamed up to the mothership. But aside from its short battery life and high price for well-equipped models, this system delivers pretty much everything you want from a flagship gaming laptop.
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