The aliens are back. We did not have the chance to review the first edition of the Alienware 15 R3 (Skylake + Pascal), but we can finally have a look at the promising gaming notebook with the Kaby Lake update. How does the 15-inch system hold up against the competition?

A balanced gaming laptop. MSI also uses the GeForce GTX 1070 graphic card in the GT62VR 7RE. The processor is new: Kaby Lake is used now. The rest of the features is also alright: IPS display, SSD+HDD, and 16 GB of RAM.

Green with envy. Kaby Lake is trickling down from the expensive Spectre series to the more affordable Envy lineup. While the new Envy 15 is thinner and lighter than its predecessors, it unfortunately shoves touchscreen down our throats with heavy throttling under extreme loads.

Everything will be good?! Dell refreshes its XPS 15 with the latest Kaby Lake processors and a GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card, so the performance takes a big leap forwards. How does this affect the emissions and the battery runtime? Did Dell finally fix the numerous bugs from the predecessors? We have initial results and will finish the review over the next couple of days.

Enduring mobility. Acer's 14-inch laptop pleases with its silent system and very long battery life. This is due to the combination of a Braswell processor and high-capacity battery. With a price of 400 Euros (~$422), it is also an affordable device.

Weak cooling. The small Lenovo Yoga 700 is a portable and very versatile companion thanks to its 11.6-inch screen and different operating modes. However, there are problems in terms of input devices and the passive cooling solution, because the processor cannot utilize its full potential.

Entry-level Gaming Laptop. MSI's entry-level model into the gaming world costs about 1050 Euros (~$1117). You will get a well-equipped 15.6-inch notebook for this price. Its main weaknesses are the display, the battery runtimes and the automatic fan control. MSI should at least improve the latter.

Affordable ThinkPad pioneer. After the smaller E470 quite convinced us, we now have Lenovo's ThinkPad E570 as a 15.6-inch Kaby Lake pioneer in the test. Our in-depth report reveals whether the larger model from the E lineup is just as convincing.

Focused on the essentials. Gigabyte's newest version of ttheir P55W hasn't really changed that much. While the predecessor used a GeForce GTX 970M, the new model is equipped with a GTX 1060 - and that's a very noticeable difference.

Mobile multimedia. Stylish, compact, light, and versatile. Sounds good, doesn't it? While most subnotebooks live the life of an office machine, the multimedia-suitable 710S refresh allows playing an occasional game. Our test clarifies if the newcomer can tread in the big footsteps of its predecessor.

Well-balanced. At a purchase price of almost 1300 Euros (~$1390), the Omen 17 w100ng is presently the cheapest device within its lineup. This slightly lower-performance model also renders games smoothly on its matte Full HD panel. The Omen offers a very good battery life for a gaming laptop.

Elegant business beginner. The Dell Vostro is an inexpensive 15-inch laptop for smaller companies and covers all the essentials. It is also wrapped up in a nicely designed chassis. You will have to make some compromises, but we cannot find any serious issues.

Not convincing! The multimedia device from Dell convinces with good system performance thanks to Kaby Lake and dedicated GPU. However, the poor display costs important points. We will find out which device gets the best scores in the individual review sections.

AMD office. HP's 17.3-inch device is made for users who are looking for a simple 17.3-inch notebook for home use. Accordingly, the computer comes with plenty of storage space (1 TB) and a more than sufficient amount of RAM (8 GB; dual-channel mode). However, these are all of the laptop's highlights. The list of shortcomings is more extensive.

Finally, a 2-in-1 InfinityEdge. Dell has successfully translated its award-winning XPS 13 notebook into a convertible with many of its original features intact including the design and display. Users will have to sacrifice some performance and features along the way when compared to the latest Ultrabooks.

Marginally improved. Not much has changed since the last Gigabyte P57X we reviewed. But with a newer Kaby Lake CPU, more RAM, and a greatly improved 4K display, is this perhaps the one to own?

Low-cost convertible. Approximately 230 to 250 Euros (~$245 to ~$267) have to be ponied up for Trekstor's 11.6-inch convertible. The buyer gets a device with a Cherry Trail processor and viewing-angle stable Full HD IPS panel. The device shows weaknesses in battery life, though.

17-inch multimedia notebook! Multimedia laptops are very versatile systems. HP offers a solid basis with a Kaby Lake processor and a discrete GPU. How does the package work?

Low-cost office. HP delivers a home-office laptop with the 15-ba077ng. Its quiet system noise, low temperature development, and fast solid-state drive speak for the laptop. However, the laptop has some drawbacks. This was to be expected considering the price of approximately 450 Euros (~$482).