For a balance of performance and portability with a focus on gaming and creative tasks, the Dell Alienware m15 R7 is a strong contender, offering a high-refresh-rate display and powerful graphics with the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti, suitable for intensive gaming and engineering work. However, it's heavier and has a shorter battery life compared to the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i. The Yoga Pro 9i, on the other hand, is a versatile choice with a touchscreen and superior color accuracy, making it excellent for general use and professional work that requires color precision. It's also more portable, lighter, and has a longer battery life, but its gaming and engineering performance is less robust due to the less powerful Nvidia RTX 4050. Consider the Alienware for performance-intensive tasks and gaming, and the Yoga Pro 9i for general use and portability with a superior display for color-critical work. 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 overall build quality
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Best in class overall display quality
Good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Key differences
General Use
7.5/10
8.1/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
300.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
5.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
6.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good for general use, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good.
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.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
8.7/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
8.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i and Dell Alienware m15 R7 are both very good for engineering and design, though the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
7.5/10
8.3/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good for content creation, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good.
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
8.1/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good for software development, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good.
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.
Screen Quality
8.2/10
9.8/10
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
300.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has a better screen than the Dell Alienware m15 R7 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
5.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has 5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has 9 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
Good
15.6in
SIZE
16.0in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
4.9 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has 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
7.4/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has very good build quality, while the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,200
$1,450
$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 Yoga Pro 9i costs $1,450.
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 and Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i are both good for gaming and AI.
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.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Dell Alienware m15 R7 and the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 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."
Get a great deal on the Dell Alienware m15 R7 or the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
131,295
Recommendations made
28,448
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.