Before today, you would have needed to spend a minimum of roughly $1,700 for one of Dell's Alienware laptops (though, Dell's revolving discounts mean you'd likely pay less than this figure). With the arrival of the Alienware 15, the price of entry has dropped to $1,300.
Of course, you'll need to accept a few tradeoffs to hit this lower price, but the Alienware lineup has expanded downward to attract more gamers -- specifically, those who find themselves on tighter budgets in this era of supply shortages and rising prices.
Dell has also announced two mainstream laptops today in the Dell 14S and 16S. Let's take a look at the three new models.
The new entry-level Alienware
The Alienware lineup now comprises three tiers, with the new Alienware 15 at the bottom, the 16/16X Aurora in the middle and the flagship 16/18 Area-51 at the top.
The Alienware 15 offers a choice of Intel and AMD processors and current and previous-gen Nvidia RTX GPUs up to an RTX 5060. It's based on a 15.3-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels and a refresh rate of 165Hz, which is wrapped in an all-plastic chassis. Those are fairly uninspiring display specs, as is the 300-nit rating for brightness.
The AMD and Intel options are each a generation or two behind the times. You have your choice of a pair of AMD Ryzen 200 series processors (a Ryzen 5 220 or Ryzen 7 260) or a pair of Intel Raptor Lake chips (a Core 5 210H or Core 7 240H). Dell says it's adding Ryzen AI 400 series processors options soon.
The GPU options span three generations: RTX 3050, 4050, 5050 or 5060. The graphics chips are throttled to keep thermals in check. The RTX 3050 and 4050 are set at 70 watts, and the 50 series GPUs top out at 85 watts. That's one sacrifice you make in dropping down from the Alienware 16X Aurora, which I tested with an RTX 5060 running at its full 115-watt capacity.
The Alienware 15 also lacks the Aurora's aluminum top panel that adds a dash of style and more rigidity to protect the display. It also lacks the Aurora's RGB keyboard backlight and illuminates its keys in only basic white.
A couple of factors I liked seeing for the Alienware 15 has to do with upgradability and sustainability. The RAM and SSD aren't soldered to the motherboard and can be replaced or expanded.
Okay, let's talk pricing. The AMD-based models start at $1,299, and the Intel-based models start at $1,349.
Alienware 15 pricing
| CPU | GPU | RAM | SSD | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 5 220 | RTX 4050 | 16GB | 512GB | $1,299 |
| Ryzen 7 260 | RTX 4050 | 16GB | 512GB | $1,399 |
| Ryzen 7 260 | RTX 5050 | 16GB | 512GB | $1,459 |
| Ryzen 7 260 | RTX 5060 | 16GB | 1TB | $1,849 |
| Core 5 210H | RTX 4050 | 16GB | 512GB | $1,349 |
| Core 7 240H | RTX 4050 | 16GB | 512GB | $1,449 |
| Core 7 240H | RTX 5050 | 16GB | 512GB | $1,509 |
| Core 7 240H | RTX 5060 | 32GB | 1TB | $2,299 |
The above pricing is the US list price. I would expect Dell to discount various configurations of the Alienware 15 with some regularity to where you might be able to find a sale price that dips below $1,000 for one of the lower-end configurations because the Alienware 15 is less appealing when you can find a 16 Aurora discounted to just $1,200.
Slim twins: The Dell 14S and 16S
Dell announced a new laptop series that slots in between its entry-level Dell laptops and its Dell Plus line. The new Dell 14S and 16S are slimmer versions of the baseline Dell series and feature all-metal chassis. And they appear to be very slim: Dell lists the thickness as just 0.6 inches for both the 14- and 16-inch models.
The Dell 14S comes in either frost blue or celestial blue.
Dell/CNETThese new mainstream laptops feature a selection of Intel Panther Lake processors, from the Core Ultra 5 322 to a Core Ultra 9 386H and including the Core Ultra X7 358H that features the flagship integrated Intel B390 GPU that has 12 Xe cores. I've tested laptops with this CPU, and they offer a compelling mixture of a thin design, quiet operation and long battery life with enough 3D performance to satisfy casual gamers.
Display options abound, with both basic IPS and superior OLED panels offered, with and without touch support. You can outfit either model with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.
The Dell 16S is a slim, 16-inch laptop based on Intel's Panther Lake processors.
Dell/CNETMany times, a manufacturer offers a sparse port selection when it goes for a super-thin, sleek design, but thankfully, that's not the case here. Both the Dell 14S and 16S feature a broad array of ports with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI connection and a headphone jack.
I'm looking forward to testing them to see how they stack up against two of my favorite thin-and-light laptops, the Asus Zenbook A14 and Zenbook A16.
The Dell 14S and 16S are available now. The Dell 14S starts at $1,270, and the Dell 16S starts at $1,320.
