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Updated January 10, 2024·
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 is less expensive and offers a larger screen, longer battery life, and is better suited for gaming and intensive tasks due to a powerful GPU and CPU. However, it's heavier and less portable. The Dell XPS 13 Plus, while more expensive, provides a higher-resolution touch-enabled OLED screen, doubling the memory, and is significantly lighter and more portable, which can be appealing for general use and on-the-go purposes. The XPS 13 Plus delivers superior screen quality and a longer battery life under typical usage. Choose the Alienware for gaming or heavy tasks, and the XPS for everyday mobility and screen clarity. 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 m17 R5
- Good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Dell XPS 13 Plus
- Very good for general use
- Very good for software development
- Very good for content creation
- Very good overall build quality
- Excellent portability
- Very good battery life
- Best in class speakers
- Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.8
8.4
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
301.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
374.0 nits
5.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
10.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
5.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
9.1/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for general use, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 is good.
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 with its larger screen, higher RAM capacity, and substantial CPU power delivers solid performance for general use but is less portable and has a shorter battery life compared to the Dell XPS 13 Plus, which offers a highly portable design, longer battery life, and a superior screen quality due to its OLED display, making it very good for general use despite having less storage capacity.
Gaming and AI
7.7
6.4
7.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
480Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.7/10
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 is good for gaming and AI, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus 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.
Content Creation
7.8
8.3
8.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for content creation, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 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
7.4
8.3
8.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is very good for software development, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 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
8.1
8.4
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
480Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
301.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
374.0 nits
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 has a better screen than the Dell XPS 13 Plus for gaming and AI, while the Dell XPS 13 Plus has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
When considering general use, the Dell XPS 13 Plus excels because of its higher resolution and brightness, which enhances everyday activities like browsing and watching videos. For engineering and design, its superb color accuracy and range provides an advantage in tasks requiring color precision, such as photo editing or CAD work. However, for gaming and 3D applications, both laptops fall short due to lower refresh rates which can't deliver as smooth an experience as models designed specifically for these purposes.
Battery
5.0 Hours
10.0 Hours
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 has 5 hours of battery life. The Dell XPS 13 Plus has 10 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
Poor
Excellent
17.3in
SIZE
13.4in
7.3 lbs
WEIGHT
2.7 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has excellent portability, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.8
8.5
The Dell XPS 13 Plus has very good build quality, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,100
$1,849
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 has a price of $1,100 and the Dell XPS 13 Plus costs $1,849.
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Key similarities
Engineering and Design
8.1
8.2
8.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
7.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Dell XPS 13 Plus and Dell Alienware m17 R5 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Dell Alienware m17 R5, with a high-performance AMD Ryzen CPU, a dedicated Nvidia RTX graphics card, a large screen with IPS technology, and significant memory and storage, offers robust capability for demanding engineering and design software, albeit in a less portable and heavier chassis.
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How the Dell Alienware m17 R5 and the Dell XPS 13 Plus compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Dell Alienware m17 R5 | Dell XPS 13 Plus |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$1,100 | $1,849 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | June 1, 2022 | May 1, 2022 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 15.6'' x 11.8'' x 1.05'' | 11.6'' x 7.8'' x 0.6'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 7.3 lbs | 2.71 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 15.64" | 11.63" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 11.76" | 7.84" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 6800H | Intel i7-1280P | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | 5 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 2 | 0 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 1024 GB | 512 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 5 Hours | 10 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 97 Wh | 55 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 17.3" | 13.4" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | IPS | OLED | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 3840 x 2400 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 480Hz | 60Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 301 nits | 374 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 7.8/10 | 8.5/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 5.5/10 | 9.2/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | Yes | No | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 7/10 | 8.8/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 8/10 | 9/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 8/10 | 9.5/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 720p | 720p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | No | Yes | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | No | No | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 3 | 0 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 1 | 2 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | Yes | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 2 | 2 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | N/A | 4 | |
Shopping
Dell Alienware m17 R5
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Christian Hintze | January 2023
"Overall, the all-AMD system in the Alienware m17 R5 is impressive, especially the graphics performance. However, various driver issues and unnecessary inconsistencies prevent us from truly enjoying such a potent gaming machine. In addition to strong 3D performance, we particularly like the build quality, the fairly bright UHD display with high color space coverage, and the fact that the gamer is often quiet when not under load and also rather quieter than some competitors under load."
Dell XPS 13 Plus
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Andreas Osthoff | July 2022
"The XPS 13 Plus is powerful, but has its drawbacks. Dell did not only update the processor generation, but also decided to offer two completely different models from now on. The XPS 13 Plus gets the faster Intel Alder Lake-P chips, and the Core i7-1260P in our review unit offers good performance figures. However, the device once again shows the problems of the current Intel CPUs, because the high performance requires a lot of power. This affects the battery runtime as well as temperatures, so the new model (even with the Optimized power profile) is louder than the older model."
Get a great deal on the Dell Alienware m17 R5 or the Dell XPS 13 Plus
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.
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