The Dell Alienware m15 R7 offers high performance for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning tasks due to its powerful processor and graphics card, but comes at a premium price and with less portability due to its larger size and heavier weight. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is much more affordable, has a touchscreen and is lighter and easier to carry, making it a good fit for general use and portability. However, it has less power for demanding tasks and games compared to the Alienware. Choose the Alienware for performance-heavy tasks or the Lenovo for everyday use and better portability. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m15 R7
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Good speakers
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Flex 5 14
Very good portability
Very good battery life
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.8/10
6.2/10
8.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
7.0/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
8.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 is good.
The Dell Alienware m15 R7, with its high-performance AMD Ryzen 9 processor and Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, is better suited for demanding engineering and design tasks requiring more processing power and advanced visuals, but it is heavier and less portable. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 14 offers portability and the convenience of a touchscreen with satisfactory performance for less resource-intensive engineering work, but it has a less powerful integrated Vega 8 graphics and a lower-resolution screen, making it less ideal for complex graphical tasks.
Screen Quality
8.2/10
6.4/10
15.6in
SIZE
14.0in
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
300.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
277.0 nits
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has a better screen than the Lenovo Flex 5 14 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 offers a high-resolution display with a panel that provides vivid colors and brightness, making it suitable for general use and professional engineering and design tasks that require accurate color representation. However, for gaming and 3D, its lower refresh rate may not deliver as smooth an experience as gaming-specific screens. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 14's screen, while fair for everyday tasks and some design work due to its adequate resolution and panel quality, lacks the advanced color gamuts and high refresh rate, leading to a less optimal experience for both professional creative work and 3D gaming.
Battery
5.0 Hours
11.5 Hours
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has 5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has 11.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Fair
Very Good
15.6in
SIZE
14.0in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
3.4 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has very good portability, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
8.5/10
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has very good build quality, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,200
$420
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has a price of $2,200 and the Lenovo Flex 5 14 costs $420.
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 and Dell Alienware m15 R7 are both good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
7.5/10
7.6/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 and Dell Alienware m15 R7 are both good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.3/10
7.4/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 and Dell Alienware m15 R7 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
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How the Dell Alienware m15 R7 and the Lenovo Flex 5 14 compare to other laptops
"The Alienware M15 offers solid gaming and leading endurance. It makes the most of its CPU and GPU while delivering stellar battery life for a gaming laptop. Opening the lid presents a full-size keyboard with honeycomb cutouts above it on the deck. An oblong RBG lightning element surrounds the entire rear panel and can be color-synced with the other lights on the laptop. There’s not a lot to dislike about the M15 Its productivity performance lagged in some areas, particularly in the storage benchmark, and it’s a bit heavy. Alienware has a clear winner here with the M15 based on its strong overall performance and endurance."
"The highlight of the latest IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is clearly its AMD CPU. The octa-core Ryzen 7 5700U is insanely fast even when compared to the best Tiger Lake Ultrabooks in the market or even Core H CPUs in many gaming laptops. It's a lot of raw processing power for what is supposed to be a budget 14-inch convertible. If your daily workloads can benefit from extra multi-thread CPU performance, then look no further than the inexpensive AMD-powered Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14. For regular on-the-road browsing or video streaming, however, a slimmer and lighter 10th gen Core Yoga, Spectre, or XPS would be a more balanced option."
Get a great deal on the Dell Alienware m15 R7 or the Lenovo Flex 5 14
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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