Alienware is resurrecting the company’s iconic Area-51 branding for its upcoming 16- and 18-inch gaming laptops. As announced during CES 2025, these laptops are all about delivering power and performance in an otherworldly design. The company claims that like the new Area-51 desktop, these laptops seek to offer a “preeminent gaming experience.”
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The Alienware laptops certainly look otherworldly, thanks to their new Liquid Teal finish on anodized aluminum. This finish gives them a dark iridescent sheen that shifts colors when light is absorbed. AlienFX lighting animations illuminate the translucent thermal shelf on the back, meant to imitate the motions of the Aurora Borealis.
The alien-like design doesn’t stop there. The clear Gorilla Glass window on the laptops’ underside lets you see the machines’ internal components, while the RGB fans cast an underglow through this clear window and up through the keyboard deck. There’s even an Aurora lighting effect that serves as a boot-up animation at startup.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Alienware 16 Area-51 | Alienware 18 Area-51 |
| Price | TBA | TBA |
| Display | 16 inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) 240Hz 3ms | 18 inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) 300Hz 3ms |
| CPU | Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX | Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX | Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX | Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX |
| GPU | Nvidia RTX 50 series | Nvidia RTX 50 series |
| RAM | 16GB | 32GB | 64GB | 16GB | 32GB | 64GB |
| Storage | 1TB - 12TB | 1TB - 12TB |
| Ports | 3x USB-A, 2x Thunderbolt 5/USB-C, 1x HDMI, 1x SD card slot, 1x headphone jack | 3x USB-A, 2x Thunderbolt 5/USB-C, 1x HDMI, 1x Ethernet, 1x SD card slot, 1x headphone jack |
| Dimensions | 14.3 x 11.4 x 0.8 inches | 16.1 x 12.6 x 1.2 inches |
| Weight | 7.6 pounds | 9.8 pounds |
We won’t know how powerful these laptops are until we’ve tested them, but Alienware is promising some serious next-gen performance. Area-51 laptops have 280W of total package power (TPP) on Nvidia RTX 50-series laptop GPUs and up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. Alienware says the laptops’ thermal architecture enables them to move up to 37% more air through the system while being 15% quieter.
Area-51 are the first Alienware laptops to support Gen 5 Solid State Drives (SSDs). Alienware says that when combined with Microsoft DirectStorage technology, the GPU can directly access SSDs to help make games run faster. You’ll be able to upgrade up to 12TB of SSD storage, which is more than enough to store all of your favorite games, apps, videos, and more.
The Area 51 Alienware laptops will be available in the first quarter of 2025 with select configurations. Expect additional configurations to arrive later, including the entry configurations. Alienware didn't specify the exact cost of the 16- and 18-inch laptops, but expect them to range between $1,999 and $3,199. Higher-end models will arrive first with lower-cost versions arriving later.
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