How is Alienware m15 battery life?

Best answer: Dell did a solid job on the Alienware m15, packing in enough cells and adding technologies like NVIDIA MaxQ. All this results in a battery life of around six hours, which far surpasses many gaming laptops from other vendors.Dell: Dell Alienware m15 ($1,353)

Best of both worlds

The Alienware m15 is a gaming laptop you can actually use as a portable PC. Usually, you'd find yourself hooked up to a power outlet within an hour or two with a gaming laptop, but the m15 allows you to enjoy around six hours on a single charge. Not only is that almost enough for a full day's worth of work, it also allows for longer gaming sessions.

Depending on how you configure the laptop, you'll lose or gain time. For instance, the 144Hz panel will zap a good 30 minutes to an hour compared to the 60Hz display, but it results in more fluid gameplay, while the GTX 1070 from NVIDIA uses more power than the GTX 1060.

Even though Dell packed in dedicated NVIDIA GPUs inside the Alienware m15, the vendor is making full use of MaxQ technology. MaxQ essentially downgrades the GPU slightly, allowing the laptop to be thinner and use less power as a result. Choosing a MaxQ GTX 1070 will have similar performance to a non-MaxQ GTX 1060.

The Alienware m15 not only offers ample performance for gaming on the go, but also lets you play some titles without being tethered to an outlet.

Power and battery life

Dell Alienware m15

Lightweight, thin and with a sleek design.

Who said a gaming laptop cannot be thin and last a good few hours? Dell proves this is possible with the Alienware m15.

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.