Dell Alienware m18 R2 vs Asus TUF Gaming A18 (2025)
Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Review
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m18 R2
- Higher screen refresh rate: 480 versus 144 Hz
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 2
- Around 11% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Features a a little bigger (~8%) battery – 97 against 90 watt-hours
Advantages of the Asus TUF Gaming A18 (2025)
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 1630 grams less (around 3.59 lbs)
- Thinner bezels and 16% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Provides 67% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 300 nits
- Much smaller footprint: 14% more compact case (175 vs 203.5 square inches)
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 4.23 kg (9.33 lbs) | 2.6 kg (5.73 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 410.3 x 319.9 x 24.1-25.1 mm 16.15 x 12.59 x 0.95-0.99 inches |
399 x 283 x 18.9-26.7 mm 15.71 x 11.14 x 0.74-1.05 inches |
| Area | 1313 cm2 (203.3 inches2) | 1129 cm2 (175 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~71.6% | ~83.2% |
| Side bezels | 11.3 mm | 5.7 mm |
| Colors | Black | Black |
| Material | Aluminum | Top: Aluminum Middle: Plastic Bottom: Plastic |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 135° | 180° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | Optional | No |
| Liquid metal | Yes | No |
| Number of fans | 4 | 2 |
| Noise level (max. load) | 56.6 dB | 32.5 dB |
Display
| Size | 18 inches | 18 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 480 Hz | 144 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | - | No |
| PPI | 126 ppi | 126 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1200 pixels | 1920 x 1200 pixels |
| HDR support | No | No |
| Sync technology | G-Sync | G-Sync |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Coating | Matte | Matte |
| Ambient light sensor | No | No |
| Contrast | 1000:1 | - |
| sRGB color space | - | 100% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 100% | 67.9% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 69.3% |
| Response time | 3 ms | 3 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | 11.4 V | - |
| Full charging time | 2:00 hr | - |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | Yes |
| Charging port position | Bottom | Left |
| Charge power | 280 / 360 W | 100 / 240 W |
| Weight of AC adapter | 1076 grams | 700 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 2.2 GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 5.2 GHz | 5.1 GHz |
| Cores | 16 (8P + 8E) | 8 |
| Threads | 24 | 16 |
| L3 Cache | 30 MB | 16 MB |
| Integrated GPU | Intel UHD Graphics (16EU) | Radeon 780M |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 4 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 140 W | 115 W |
| Nvidia Optimus | MUX | MUX |
| Type | Dedicated | Dedicated |
| Fabrication process | 5 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | 2295 MHz | - |
| GPU boost clock | 2370 MHz | - |
| FLOPS | 16 TFLOPS | 14.9 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | GDDR6 | GDDR7 |
| Memory bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | ~16 Gbps | ~24 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 3072 | 2560 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 96 | 80 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 48 | 32 |
| GPU performance | 16 TFLOPS | 14.9 TFLOPS |
GPU Benchmarks
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Blender GPU | 3566 | 3143 |
| Solar Bay | 53453 | 46041 |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 1x8 GB | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | 5600 MHz | 5600 MHz |
| Type | DDR5 | DDR5 |
| Upgradable | Yes | Yes |
| Total slots | 2 | 2 |
| Max. ram size | 64 GB | 64 GB |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x512 GB | 1x512 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | Yes |
| Total slots | 4 | 2 |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | Realtek ALC3254 | Realtek ALC256 |
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Power | 2x2W | 2x2W |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~82.5 dB | ~74.5 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 2 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v7 | v6E |
| Bluetooth | v5.4 | v5.3 |
| Fingerprint | No | No |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | Optional |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | 3x USB 3.2 | 3x USB 3.2 |
| USB Type-C | 3x USB 4.0 | 2x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 | No |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI 2.1 | 1x HDMI 2.1 |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | Yes | Yes |
| SD card reader | Yes | No |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Mechanical | Island |
| Numpad | Yes | Yes |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.8 mm | 1.7 mm |
| Size | 13.1 x 8.0 cm | 15.0 x 9.9 cm |
| Surface | Glass | Plastic |
| Windows Precision | Yes | Yes |
Further details
Notes on Alienware m18 R2:
- A 32GB memory option supports 6400 MHz via XMP, while others max out at 5600 MHz.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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