To tackle heat generated on a gaming laptop, Dell’s Alienware brand gave its range a protrusion around the back. Some even call it booty but we prefer the term ‘thermal shelf’! Alienware M16 R2 decided to change the design.

Compared to the previous generation, the M16 R2 is just 9.82 inches deep or a loss of 1.58 inches compared to the M16 R1, making it easier to rest the laptop anywhere. From the front, the laptop doesn’t look very different. It’s only when you close the lid, the difference can be clearly seen.

Always among the top gaming laptops money can buy, the M16 has a 16:10-ratio display, and it can now slip into a regular laptop backpack. Alienware has developed a more efficient cooling system for the M16 R2, which tops out at an RTX 4070. It can be configured with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, 64GB of DDR5-5600 memory and 8TB of storage. The 16-inch display comes with a 240Hz refresh rate (2,500 x 1,600 resolution).

The M16 R2 has a new “Stealth Mode” that will allow you to switch the day-glo RGB keyboard lighting to a muted white with the press of the Fn and F2 keys. The new mode will switch the keys to white, turn off additional RGB, and set the performance profile to Quiet Mode.

What Dell has done is quite interesting. The M16 R2 is geared towards people who love to play games but also want to use the gaming laptop as a regular machine for “other” tasks.

In terms of monitor, it has been upgraded to a 16-inch QHD+ display. It comes standard with a 240W GaN adapter, but there’s also an option for a faster 360W GaN adapter.

The higher-end Alienware X16 R2 still has the thermal shelf. The bigger laptop can sport up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090.