Just arrived: Alienware m17 in review
The 17.3-inch Alienware m17 is a spin-off of the Alienware 17 with the looks and design of the 15.6-inch Alienware m15. The end result is an "Alienware 17 Lite" as the m17 has omitted some hardware features in order to offer such a small form factor.
Our table below summarizes the main differences between the new Alienware m17 and last year's Alienware 17 R5. In particular, the m17 drops several features including a third storage bay, column of macro keys, per-key RGB lighting, subwoofer, and second USB Type-C port. Even the battery is smaller by 10 percent or more depending on the configuration.
Two other major changes are on the keyboard and inner skeleton. The m17 uses a more standard chiclet layout as opposed to the beleved layout of the original and it lacks the inner skeleton reinforcement as shown by our comparison screenshots below. Gamers who may not like the keyboards of most Ultrabooks may find the chiclet layout to be a downgrade.
Expect our full review on the Alienware m17 in the coming week. In the meantime, catch a preview of our results below.
| Alienware m17 | Alienware 17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Touchpad | 10.5 x 6.5 cm, integrated mouse keys, no backlight | 10 x 5.5 cm, individual mouse keys, backlit |
| Tobii | No | Yes |
| Storage Bays | 2x M.2 2280 or 2x M.2 2280 + 1x 2.5-inch SATA III | 2x M.2 2280 + 1x 2.5-inch SATA III |
| Speakers | 2.0 (Stereo) | 2.1 (Stereo + subwoofer) |
| Keyboard | Chiclet, quad-zone RGB backlighting, no Macro keys | Beveled, per-key RGB backlighting, Macro keys |
| Ports | 3x USB Type-A, mDP 1.3, HDMI 2.0, Graphics Amplifier, Gigabit RJ-45, 3.5 mm combo audio, Thunderbolt 3, Noble Lock | 2x USB Type-A, mDP 1.2, HDMI 2.0, Graphics Amplifier, Gigabit RJ-45, 2x 3.5 mm audio, Thunderbolt 3, USB Type-C, Noble Lock |
| Battery | 60 Wh or 90 Wh | 99 Wh |
| Dimensions | 23 x 410 x 292.5 | 30 x 424 x 332 |
| Weight | 2.63 kg | 4.42 kg |
| Cinebench R15 | |
| CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| PCMark 10 | |
| Score | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| Digital Content Creation | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| Productivity | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| Essentials | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| PCMark 8 | |
| Home Score Accelerated v2 | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Work Score Accelerated v2 | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| 3DMark | |
| 1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| 2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU | |
| Alienware m17 P37E | |
| Alienware 17 R5 | |
| Alienware m17 P37E AU Optronics B173ZAN01.0, IPS, 3840x2160 | Alienware 17 R5 JYWWF_B173QTN (AUO1496), TN, 2560x1440 | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | ||
| Display P3 Coverage | 86.4 | 63.4 |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.9 | 86.1 |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 99.1 | 62.9 |
| Response Times | ||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 35.6 ? | 20.8 ? |
| Response Time Black / White * | 28 ? | 6 ? |
| PWM Frequency | ||
| Screen | ||
| Brightness middle | 357.9 | 398 |
| Brightness | 347 | 367 |
| Brightness Distribution | 94 | 86 |
| Black Level * | 0.33 | 0.51 |
| Contrast | 1085 | 780 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 6.57 | 5.45 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 9.86 | 10.36 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 6.74 | 2.56 |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.3 | 5.4 |
| Gamma | 2.6 85% | 2.4 92% |
| CCT | 6403 102% | 7453 87% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 88.4 | 56 |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 100 | 86 |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) |
* ... smaller is better
| Alienware m17 P37E i9-8950HK, GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q, 90 Wh | Alienware 17 R5 i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile, 99 Wh | |
|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | ||
| Reader / Idle | 543 | 268 |
| WiFi v1.3 | 296 | 218 |
| Load | 49 | 64 |
| Alienware m17 P37E i9-8950HK, GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q | Alienware 17 R5 i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile | |
|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | ||
| Idle Minimum * | 21.2 | 28 |
| Idle Average * | 29.6 | 32 |
| Idle Maximum * | 34 | 37 |
| Load Average * | 130.9 | 112 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 177.5 | 192 |
| Load Maximum * | 219.7 | 231 |
* ... smaller is better
Source(s)
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