Dell Alienware x16 R2 review

Dell Alienware x16 R2 (2024): the modern Alienware sheet, fully formed

The Dell Alienware x16 R2 is the 2024 edition of the thin flagship: a Core Ultra 7 155H with a GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile 8GB and 32GB of memory at $1,152. Its sheet is the most complete modern Alienware reading in this batch — reliability at 88 sits 66 percent above the gaming-class median, and the CPU score of 87.02 lands in the enthusiast band, 34 percent above class.

Where it holds up

The capability axes are nearly all top-tier: photo design at 99 is the joint-best reading of this batch, modeling and CAD both reach 98, office at 88.99 is top-tier, gaming at 82 is high-band, and overall performance at 80.37 is high-band. Value at 70.85 is high-band — unusually honest for a flagship-tier machine — and reliability at 88, top quartile of the class, is the headline hardware-quality figure.

Where it falls short

Two honest costs. Memory: 32GB against a gaming-class median of 64 — the named weakness on the verdict, and a real cap for heavy multitasking. Portability at 16.9 is low-band, the thinnest reading among this batch's x-series; the x16 gains capability over the x15 but gives back ground on the chassis metric that once defined the line. The 8GB of video memory on the 4060 is adequate, not generous, for the machine's modeling ambitions at 98.

Price and depreciation

At $1,152, the x16 R2 sits in the upper-middle of this batch's pricing, and its depreciation ledger carries no dollar anchors — the rate of 18 percent per year is class-level, and first-year exposure sits with the buyer. The value reading of 70.85 suggests the price is defensible against the sheet; the 18 percent annual class rate is what a 2024 platform still carries on the used market.

Alternatives to consider

The HP Omen Transcend 16 (2023) at $922 undercuts it by $230 with the same 82 gaming band and a better value reading of 86.75, at the cost of a slightly weaker CPU score. The Victus 16 (2023) at $922 matches gaming at 82 with modeling at 98. Within Dell's own line, nothing else in this batch carries the 4060 — the x16 R2 is the modern-GPU Alienware entry here.

Bottom line

Fairly priced for the class. The x16 R2 posts the joint-best photo score of the batch at 99, near-top modeling and CAD at 98, a top-quartile reliability figure, and a genuinely high value reading — with the 32GB ceiling and low-band portability as the trade-offs. For a buyer at $1,152 who wants the current-generation Alienware sheet, this is the one in this field.