Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15 vs Dell Alienware m17 R4
43
out of 100
VS
49
out of 100
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 Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 15
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 960 grams less (around 2.12 lbs)
- Thinner bezels and 16% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Display has support for touch input
- 57% sharper screen – 200 versus 127 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Much smaller footprint: 30% more compact case (128.3 vs 182.6 square inches)
- Provides 27% higher max. screen brightness: 380 vs 300 nits
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m17 R4
- Performs significantly better (up to 11.8x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
- Higher screen refresh rate: 144 versus 60 Hz
- Can run popular games at about 306-418% higher FPS
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Around 90% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Features a much bigger (~81%) battery – 86 against 47.4 watt-hours
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1.54 kg (3.4 lbs) | 2.5 kg (5.51 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 339.5 x 244 x 14.7 mm 13.37 x 9.61 x 0.58 inches |
399.8 x 294.6 x 16.9-22 mm 15.74 x 11.6 x 0.67-0.87 inches |
| Area | 828 cm2 (128.5 inches2) | 1178 cm2 (182.6 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~80.9% | ~70% |
| Side bezels | 11.3 mm | 8.4 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gold, Gray, Blue | White, Gray |
| Material | Aluminum | Plastic |
| Transformer | No | No |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | No | Yes |
| Liquid metal | - | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | 2 |
| Noise level (max. load) | 40 dB | 50 dB |
Display
| Size | 15 inches | 17.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 144 Hz |
| PPI | 200 ppi | 127 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:9 |
| Resolution | 2496 x 1664 pixels | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Sync technology | No | G-Sync (configurable) |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
Alienware m17 R4
17.3″ (16:9 ratio) = 127.9 in2
Surface Laptop 4 15
15″ (3:2 ratio) = 103.8 in2
~23% more screen space
| Contrast | 1558:1 | 600:1 |
| sRGB color space | 97.7% | 100% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 62% | - |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 65.1% | - |
| Response time | 45 ms | 7 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | - | 11.4 V |
| Full charging time | 2:20 hr | - |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | No |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Bottom |
| Charge power | 65 W | 240 / 330 W |
| Weight of AC adapter | 306 grams | 1300 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.2-3.0 GHz | 2.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.8 GHz | 5 GHz |
| Cores | 4 | 8 |
| Threads | 8 | 16 |
| L3 Cache | 12 MB | 16 MB |
| Integrated GPU | Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EU | Intel UHD Graphics 630 |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 14 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 15 W | 130 W |
| Nvidia Optimus | - | No, direct |
| Type | Integrated | Dedicated |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 8 nm |
| GPU base clock | 300 MHz | 1387 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 1350 MHz | 1703 MHz |
| FLOPS | 2.1 TFLOPS | 13.8 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | GDDR6 |
| Memory bus | - | 192 bit |
| Memory speed | 4.27 Gbps | 14 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 768 | 3840 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 48 | 120 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 24 | 48 |
| GPU performance | 2.1 TFLOPS | 13.8 TFLOPS |
GPU Benchmarks
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Blender GPU | - | 2630 |
| Solar Bay | - | 39636 |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x4 GB | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | 4266 MHz | 2933 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR4X | DDR4 |
| Upgradable | No | No |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) | PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 1x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | Yes |
| Total slots | 1 | 3 |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | - | Realtek ALC3281-CG |
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers) |
| Power | - | 4x4W |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
| Loudness | ~78.7 dB | ~87 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 2 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5 | v5.1 |
| Fingerprint | No | No |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1280 x 720 |
| USB-A | 1x USB 3.2 | 3x USB 3.2 |
| USB Type-C | 1x USB 3.2 | 1x USB 3.2 |
| Thunderbolt | No | Thunderbolt 3 |
| HDMI | No | 1x HDMI 2.1 |
| DisplayPort | No | 1x v1.4 |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | Yes |
| SD card reader | No | Yes |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | Yes |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.3 mm | - |
| Size | - | 10.4 x 7.8 cm |
| Surface | Glass | Plastic |
| Windows Precision | Yes | Yes |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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