For all avid gamers who appreciate the convenience of having a mobile gaming station they can take anywhere they go, gaming laptops are the best option. And, when it comes to this, few gaming laptop lines can match the product quality that Alienware and Razer put out on the market.
If you’re pondering the idea of buying a new laptop, you won’t go wrong with either of these options. That said, the two brands do have some noticeable differences you should know about before making your decision. This detailed Alienware vs Razer brand comparison post will help you pick the option that will keep you content for years.
Alienware vs Razer – Quick Comparison
Alienware
Heavier than most of their competitors’ models, Alienware laptops are incredibly durable and offer excellent gaming characteristics. Users primarily use them for highly demanding games, but Alienware laptops also excel in accomplishing general computing tasks. This is due to their well-balanced set of performance, storage, and graphical features.
Alienware was founded in 1996 as Dell’s computer hardware subsidiary. The entire brand is dedicated to gaming computers and marked by its alien-themed designs. Today, it’s one of the best gaming laptop brands globally and has close to 500 employees.
Pros
- Impressive gaming performance
- Very customizable
- Excellent selection of ports and slots
- Great customer support and warranty plans
Cons
- Generally heavier than most other gaming laptops
- Mediocre battery life
Razer
Razer systems are stylish, lightweight, and incredibly powerful. Laptops that carry the Razer brand prioritize top-quality design and high-performing components over affordable pricing. This is why Razer laptops are often considered to be “MacBooks for gamers.”
Razer was founded in 1998, only two years after Alienware. It’s a Singaporean-American technology company that designs various consumer electronics but specializes in gaming hardware. As a result, Razer’s products are prevalent in the gaming community. Besides gaming laptops, professional gamers often use Razer keyboards, mice, audio devices, and gamepads.
Pros
- Impressive gaming performance
- Very durable
- Stylish and sleek design with metal chassis
- Models with up to 360 Hz refresh rate
Cons
- Very expensive
- Mediocre battery life
Alienware Laptops
Alienware Design
Themed after everything extraterrestrial, Alienware laptops are unique and extraordinary. When you look at an Alienware laptop with the company’s iconic logo, you can quickly see how the design was inspired by science-fiction for every model. In this sense, no matter which Alienware laptop model you get, you can expect a sharp design and a chassis that will never look boring or uninspired.
Alienware Build Quality & Hardware
Alienware laptops are built with top-quality material and are heavier than most gaming laptops. This is in part to the chassis design but also because the laptops are packed with exceptional hardware features. All Alienware laptops use Intel processors and SSD storage. Depending on the model, you can count on anywhere from 256 GB to 4TB of storage space.
Alienware Display
The standard display for all Alienware laptops is 17.3’’. If you get the base display, you’ll get a 1920x1080p 165Hz screen with an excellent response time of 3 milliseconds. Depending on how much extra you’re willing to spend and upgrade, you can get a 17.3’’ 3840x2160p laptop display with an anti-glare layer and a wide-viewing angle feature.
Alienware Performance
It’s no secret that Alienware laptops represent some of the best-performing models you can get. From powerful processors to rigs that include up to 64GB of RAM, Alienware systems deliver on all fronts.
Moreover, as you have the option to custom-build your rig to include the latest and best components, the only thing that could limit your new laptop’s performance capabilities is your budget.
Alienware Durability
Alienware laptops are incredibly durable, as they follow all of Dell’s stringent quality standards. These gaming systems can withstand heavy use, frequent travel and aren’t as fragile as many other gaming laptop brands. While Razer laptops are very durable in their own right, Alienware unequivocally offers sturdier laptop builds than Razer.
Alienware Battery Life
While Alienware laptops are among the best in the industry, the laptop batteries aren’t on par with the rest of the rig. At best, Alienware laptops will give you around three to four hours of gaming time before the battery is completely depleted. However, if you’re using the Alienware laptop for general work or web browsing, you can expect a battery life of between six and seven hours.
Alienware Customer Service & Warranty
As Alienware is a part of the multinational and well-known Dell brand, you can count on fantastic customer service and overall much more reliable support than that available at Razer. The live chat and phone support team are skilled and efficient, so you can rely on quick solutions if you encounter any issues with your Alienware laptop.
The standard warranty plan for Alienware gaming laptops is one year. That said, you can opt for much better warranty coverage if you opt for premium support features. You can extend the warranty up to four years and include coverage for different accidental damage factors at an extra cost.
Alienware Price
As a premium gaming laptop brand, Alienware offers its products at reasonably high prices. Their cheapest models are well over a thousand dollars, while their top-of-the-line laptops come with a price tag of over four thousand dollars.
That said, Alienware has an attractive build-your-own laptop offer, which allows you to opt for a base laptop model and customize a variety of essential features. For example, the base M17 R4 laptop is available at just over two thousand dollars. The enhanced M17 R4 version with a better graphics card, more RAM, and more storage space costs over six hundred dollars more.
Recommended Alienware Laptops
Alienware M15 R6 Base Laptop
The standard Alienware M15 laptop priced at just under $1,800 is a respectable entry-level gaming rig. It uses the 11th Gen Intel Core i7, coupled with 16GB of RAM. The laptop also has a solid GeForce RTX 3060 with 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Lastly, it comes with 256GB of SSD storage, enough to allow you space to keep a couple of average-sized games on the laptop at all times.
Alienware X17 Upgraded Gaming Laptop
With a price of over $3,700, this model certainly isn’t within everyone’s financial range. That said, the hardware this model comes with completely justifies the sky-high price tag. It features an 11th Gen Intel Core i9 processor with 32GB of blazing-fast RAM. It also comes with the superb NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Lastly, the laptop is upgradable to an impressive 4TB of SSD storage.
Razer Laptops
Razer Design
Razer gaming laptops have a futuristic appearance and sleek design. Most Razer laptops are built to be durable and sturdy while lightweight at the same time. They boast a stylish metal design and undoubtedly stand out as some of the best-looking gaming laptops on the consumer market.
Razer Build Quality & Hardware
Razer laptops are well-known for their built quality, both inside and out. Looking into specific hardware components, all Razer gaming laptops feature Intel processors. The lowest-performing processor you can get is the still impressive 10th Gen Intel Core i7.
Storage-wise, you have many options. From laptops that have just a 256GB SSD and a free M.2 slot to models with up to 1TB in storage space, Razer covers both ends of the spectrum. Lastly, Razer laptops excel on the graphics card front. Depending on the model you opt for, you can get a Razer gaming laptop with an RTX 3080 or even the Quadro RTX 5000.
Razer Display
The company has gone all-out in designing top-quality displays for its latest models. Browsing the current Razer laptop lineup, you can pick between Full HD, QHD, 4K, and even 4K Touch displays. Razer laptops come with displays ranging from 13’’ to 17’’.
More important than sheer display size alone, you can also choose from various supported refresh rates. For example, Razer laptops support refresh rates anywhere from the standard 60Hz up to a whopping 360Hz. This provides fantastic support for gamers looking to get the most out of every game they play.
Razer Performance
When it comes to gaming performance, you can expect Razer laptops to deliver powerful performance features. Coupled with strong processors, all Razer laptops come with at least 8GB of RAM. The higher-end models include up to 32GB of RAM, delivering future-proof performance capabilities that easily handle the latest and most demanding games.
Razer Durability
Although the expected lifespan can vary from model to model, Razer gaming laptops are generally very durable. With proper care, you can expect your laptop to last you for years. Assuming you don’t get a model with a defective part on it, your Razer laptop will last much longer than it will be able to keep up with the new and more demanding games.
Razer Battery Life
Compared to the gaming laptops’ overall average battery life, Razer products fall somewhere in the middle, delivering a battery life between four and five hours on most systems.
In the context of this Alienware vs Razer comparison, Razer laptops do fare a bit better in terms of battery life, as they offer slightly longer-lasting batteries compared to Alienware models in the same price range.
Razer Customer Service & Warranty
The company’s customer support service is reliable and professional but pretty standard compared to services from other laptop brands. Razer offers support by phone, chat, or email. Live chat is the most convenient option, as you can reach a representative within a couple of minutes.
Besides the Razer customer support service, there’s also an extensive FAQ library covering nearly everything you’d want to know about popular support topics. As far as warranty goes, Razer offers the standard one-year warranty on all of its laptop models. Additionally, you can get RazerCare Elite for up to three years of repair support.
Razer Price
With all of the features and performance characteristics above in mind, it’s safe to say that Razer doesn’t offer any products for buyers with a small budget. Like Alienware laptops, Razer gaming systems aren’t available for under a thousand dollars.
Moreover, compared to Alienware, this brand has more models in the price range of three thousand dollars or more. This might seem very steep at face value, but remember that these prices merely reflect the quality of the components you’re getting with each model.
Recommended Razer Laptops
Razer Blade Base Model
As its name suggests, this is the entry-level Razer laptop and one of the cheapest options you can get if you want a Razer gaming system. It comes with an Intel Core i7 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with 6GB of video RAM. In addition, the laptop has 16GB of dual-channel RAM. Lastly, there’s a small 256GB SSD and an open M.2 slot that allows you to upgrade your storage space. You can find this model for a bit over twelve hundred dollars.
Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition
On the opposite side of the spectrum and with a price tag three times higher than the above model, the Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition is the ultimate gaming laptop. It has an Intel Core i7 processor and an amazing NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Studio Edition graphics card with 16GB of VRAM. With 32GB of RAM and a fast 1TB SSD, this laptop will run any game out there without skipping a beat.
Conclusion
There are many laptop manufacturers worldwide, but none can match the gaming support features Alienware and Razer can deliver. As you’ve probably noticed in this Alienware vs Razer comparison post, the two brands are neck and neck in every key category.
That said, we’d like to conclude with some differences between the two brands. Alienware laptops are a bit more affordable. Plus, if you go with the Alienware brand, you can count on better customer service and more dependable warranty plans.
On the other hand, Razer laptops have impeccable performance features and slightly better battery life, but at higher prices. Overall, Alienware products are great if you want an excellent all-around product suitable for various other tasks. Razer laptops are the perfect choice if you want a “MacBook for gaming” and have the budget to back it up.
