Alienware x14 review

Let’s not sell it short. The x14 is a remarkable piece of tech and we mean it. It’s small, yes, but it’s also made like it's meant to be a 14in gaming laptop. What we mean by that is the Alienware x14 never felt like Alienware tried to cram gaming specs into a small chassis and call it a day. 

The build is not haphazardly done, nor is the overall Alienware design language compromised. The design is synonymous with the Alienware x series gaming laptops. Minimalist characters with a round-shaped rear that look like the back of a sports car. It may sound snobbish, but the Alienware x14 can give you instant bragging rights.

There are also quality materials here. The Lunar Light colourway is very close to eggshell white. The PS5 white is similar too. The keyboard area has a soft-touch material, but nothing like the XPS rubberised finish. In short, the Alienware x14 has a beautiful design and solid build quality. It’s not changed much from the last few years.

We gloated the design so much that we forgot to tell you the dark side of it — Performance. Bear in mind that the x14 is barely thicker than our MacBook Pro (2019), and that makes it pleasantly portable and even the 14in form factor keeps it dutifully tiny.

Since the Alienware has matching outfits with the PS5 we played a console-seller on this 14in gaming laptop. God of War runs at 30 to 35FPS on ultra settings and if you crank up the DLSS settings to Performance mode, you can squeeze in a bit more frames and get around 42FPS. The Nvidia 3050 Ti can do much better if you play cinematic games at medium settings. 

Evil Dead: The Game runs at a locked 60FPS with Nvidia’s DLSS enabled and graphics settings set to Medium. It’s not news, but most games are playable on the FullHD resolution on this laptop. Unless you crank up the graphics to their highest settings and enable Ray Tracing chops.

Online co-op games like Valorant and Apex Legends run properly. You may not reach the designated 144Hz on this laptop without compromising on the graphics quality. However, in the grand scheme of ‘rank-chasing’, that is a small sacrifice. Apex Legends delivers a stable 60FPS on the highest settings. So you can easily get more than 100FPS by turning down the graphics settings. 

Like most thin and light gaming laptops, the x14 will start to limp its way after excessive heat builds up. It also cannot be used as a regular 14in laptop thanks to power-hungry insides. The Nvidia Optimus is more of a hindrance than anything. It has an automatic MUX switch of sorts. The laptop automatically switches between integrated and discrete GPU depending on which software you run. This means you have no control over it. Unlike Asus ROG’s software, the Alienware Command Center doesn’t come with a MUX switch toggle. You’ll have to delve deep into the bios territory to kick the Nvidia Optimus out.

Surprisingly, Alienware hasn’t done much to the Alienware Command Center in recent years. We once revelled in its software because of its better UI and cleaner aesthetics, but now the Command Center has easily been left behind by its competitors. It lacks meaningful software features and hardware control that the competition is offering.

Next up, ports. Like Steve Jobs once said, ‘Cables? Yuck’. Or maybe it was about styluses, we’re not sure. The point is the ports are shoved at the back. There’s nothing on the sides apart from heat vents. So your setup will always look clean. Although it may be a problem for anyone trying to use the ports on a regular basis. The effort to crane your neck over or turn the laptop around to find the port is a hassle. There are all the important ports here that a gamer will need and also an HDMI 2.1 port. You get a Type-C to Ethernet converter in the box which is useful.

The FullHD display isn’t the sharpest or the brightest, but having a 144Hz refresh rate is a lot satisfying for gaming. Even if you’re a casual gamer. Windows 11 runs oh-so-smoothly on this after the new updates. Although, enjoying the Dolby Vision quality on this is a bit slippery. 

The Netflix app on Windows barely does justice to Dolby Vision. So take it with a pinch of salt. However, the colours and scenic vistas in games pop pleasantly. Although, the Asus ROG laptops with their P3 colour gamut and Pantone certification have richer colours.

Remember how we raved about its build quality? Well, the whole thing is made from aluminium, magnesium-alloy and stainless-steel parts which means you can John Wick-style smack your enemies in the head with it. Sorry, we mean there’s no give on the keyboard area. It’s solid without any flex on the keyboard area while typing. The keyboard itself is fun to type but the function key logos are a bit obscure. We have no idea what those square-shaped symbols mean.

The audio quality is commendable. The sturdy build lets the Alienware x14 deliver lower frequencies without rattling its insides, and the Dolby Atmos support provides a perceivable depth to the audio image by gaming laptop standards. It is one of the few gaming laptops with such a small chassis to have such brilliant audio quality. Maybe the engineers from Dell XPS sneaked in and tinkered with it.

The Alienware x14 is easily one of our favourite laptops of 2022. Not because it’s a thoroughbred gaming laptop (which it is), but because it’s packing big power in a small chassis. You can use it as a regular laptop but the battery life is barely four hours with just Google Chrome running. We know it’s an impressive laptop to see and experience, but the question is, do you really want to live with it? 

The answer is simple, if you want a compact gaming laptop then the Alienware x14 is a lust-worthy option. It has its limitations as we expected from any gaming laptop that is compact but packs powerful insides. You cannot keep it on your lap because it needs the full strength of the wind to keep the RTX 3050Ti and Intel i7-12700H cool. And while gaming, the smaller chassis is less than desirable to keep the heat at bay. 

That said, the portability and the power for its size are just too impressive for anyone who wants to carry a gaming laptop everywhere.