Alienware 13 is the tiniest laptop especially when you consider its screen size(although it is heavy like a brick) and has the best graphics card, display, and other amazing features. Alienware has done a really great job when it comes to making this laptop compact yet powerful and VR ready.
This laptop is really impressive since none of us can imagine a small laptop like this one being so powerful. However, Alienware has done it again and this revamped version of the previous Alienware 13 model is one of the best gaming laptops that is available in the market these days.
Without any further ado, let’s get into the review-
Specifications
Screen Size: 13.3 inches
Max Screen Resolution: 1920X1080 pixels
RAM: 8 GB
Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
Display: 13.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare 300-nits Display
Hard Drive: 256GB PCIe SSD
Item Weight:5.8 pounds
Best offer: www.amazon.com
Design and Display
The Alienware designs are classic gaming laptop designs and one of the best. The Alienware logo along with the three angled lines with a silver finish on the top gives the laptop that classic Alienware laptop finish. Although this laptop comes with a reduction in the size in comparison to the previous laptop model of Alienware 13, it is still relatively heavier than most of the other laptops in competition(but hey, none of them are as small as this one here).
The laptop comes with an amazing 300 nits display and brings a nice color accuracy that you would be able to see while viewing different experiences with the display. The 1080p display is pretty amazing and while gaming it does make the scenes look pretty realistic making this laptop worth the money you are investing.
The laptop is relatively heavier than the other laptops but it is smaller in size making it really portable and easy to carry around. This was not possible in the previous models of Alienware but since the laptop has increased power along with a smaller booty, this makes the new Alienware 13 a perfect pick for all the gamers.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard of all the Alienware laptops is pretty lit and the one on this laptop is amazing as well. The keyboard has zones where you could decide the color of the backlighting and the travel is around 2mm which makes it a really good keyboard for typing. The resistance offered by the keys is really good making it an excellent choice for someone who has a lot of typing to do and well, even gaming!
The strong chassis makes it an excellent keyboard for all the gamers out there and it has a really strong base, so strong that I doubt anything would probably happen even if you drop it down(please do not try that). The conclusion here is that the laptop has a pretty solid built quality.
The touchpad is awesome and I personally love Dell touchpads. The one here lights up and you can decide the color of your choice for the touchpad. The bright colors look really amazing and apart from the looks, the quality of the touchpad is pretty great. It is precise and accurate which makes getting used to the touchpad really easy.
Graphics and Gaming
The Alienware 13 laptop comes with an upgraded graphics card of the 10 series which is the NVIDIA GTX 1060. The graphics card makes this laptop VR ready and it also enables the user to play most of the titles in high settings at maximum screen resolution. The lighter games like Overwatch can easily run at around 100 fps on this graphics card and when it comes to the graphics demanding games like The Witcher it can fall down to a rate of 60fps at ultra settings.
The graphics card will also support your games in VR which is a really incredible feature for a laptop of this size.You can easily use your Oculus Rift and HTC vive VR headset with this laptop and it is really an upgrade from the graphics and gaming feature of the previous Alienware 13 laptop that came with a NVIDIA GTX 960 graphics card.
The storage in this system is amazing. You can easily open the panel at the back in the case you want to add extra storage but with the laptop, you would get an 8 GB of RAM which can be expanded to 32GB and a 256 GB SSD storage. You can add external storage of your choice on the laptop to make the gaming experience much better.
Battery and Overheating Issues
The battery life of the laptop is 4 hours on normal use and it would be reduced while gaming. The laptop has a pretty average battery life and that is something you have to trade for the other amazing features that come along with this laptop.
The laptop has dual fans and you would not hear them under normal load conditions but while gaming it the fans can be heard but the sound is not unusual. The laptop does not heat as much as the other laptops which are a really good feature for a 13-inch laptop.
Ports on the laptop
The ports on the laptop are- Noble lock, USB 3.0 Type-A, microphone, headphones, RJ45-LAN, mini-Displayport 1.2, HDMI 2.0, Thunderbolt 3, Graphics Amplifier, charging point, USB 3.0 Type-C and USB 3.0 Type-A.
Conclusion
The laptop has some really amazing features for a 13-inch laptop and it is one of the powerful laptops in this size that is perfect for handling VR headsets. I think Alienware has done a pretty amazing job in making this laptop the smallest VR ready laptop and if you want something that is this compact then you should surely go for it.
The display is amazing and the color contrast is really crisp along with a matte finish display. The keyboard and touchpad of the laptop like always have been amazing with different color combinations of the backlighting that is available.
The entire laptop is great for all the gamers out there and although it is a little heavy, the size makes it portable so it would be great for gaming sessions at your friend’s place and the entire set of features that comes with this laptop makes it great for hours-long gaming sessions. Alienware 13 has been one of the
Alienware 13 has been one of the best-revamped laptops since it has so many developments from its previous versions. Check out the product on Amazon if you are interested and if you want to have a look at the Alienware 15 which is VR ready then click here for its complete review.
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