Pregled Alienware x14: najtanjši 14-palčni prenosni računalnik za igre

Cena ob pregledu

$1,999

Najboljše cene danes: Alienware x14

Want the thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop money can buy? The Alienware x14 is it. It somehow stuffs up to an Intel Core i7-12700H and RTX 3060 into a chassis that’s only a hair thicker than a Dell XPS 13 from 2020. I assume a bag of holding is involved. But does the magic extend to performance – or does Alienware run out of mana? 

Specifikacije in funkcije Alienware x14

The Alienware x14’s offers only a handful of configuration options. You can choose an Intel Core i5-12500H or i7-12700H processor and one of three Nvidia GPUs: the RTX 3050, 3050 Ti, and 3060. Storage runs up to 4TB and RAM runs up to 32GB.

• CPE: Intel Core i7-12700H
• Pomnilnik: 32GB
• Grafika/GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060
• Zaslon: 14-palčni 1080p 144Hz IPS LCD
• Prostor za shranjevanje: 1TB SSD
• Spletna kamera: 720p
• Povezljivost: 2x USB-C USB4/Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB-C USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB-A USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x čitalnik kartic MicroSD, 3.5 mm avdio priključek
• Omrežje: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
• Biometrija: IR kamera, Windows Hello kompatibilen
• Kapaciteta baterije: 80 vatnih ur
• Dimenzije: 12.65 palca x 10.34 x 57
• Teža: 4.06 funtov
• Priporočena maloprodajna cena: 1,499 $ osnovno, 1,999 $ kot testirano

Pricing is competitive. The base Alienware x14 is just $1,499, which is much less than Razer’s Blade 14 and similar to Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G14. Our review unit, configured as shown in the bullet list above, was $1,999. That’s no bargain, but it’s a fair price for a compact gaming laptop.

Oblikovanje in kakovost gradnje

The Alienware x14 is a stunner. It harnesses the brand’s unique Legend design language in a tight, slim design. Every inch of the machine seems carefully considered. The x14 has none of the odd warts or sudden angles that spoil competing machines from Acer and Asus, yet it also avoids looking generic. It’s possibly the best gaming laptop design on the market today. 

The chassis is built not just from plastic and aluminum but also stainless steel and a magnesium alloy. Magnesium is a material more commonly used by Lenovo’s ThinkPad line to provide rigidity with minimal weight. It lends a unique “grippy” feel that’s unlike an aluminum laptop. It can feel a bit odd – chalky, even – but has the benefit of making the laptop easy to pick up and carry.

I noticed flex in the display lid. This is one area that doesn’t quite match the x14’s otherwise luxurious feel. However, build quality is otherwise excellent with tight panel tolerances and no misaligned parts. The laptop’s lower half resists flex when handled from a corner or edge.

Alienware x14 je izjemno tanek. Debel je le 57 palca – le nekaj desetink palca debelejši od Dell’s outgoing XPS 13. x14 je opazno tanjši od Razer Blade 14 in Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. Teža znaša približno štiri funte, kar je precej pod povprečjem igralnega prenosnika. 

Tipkovnica in sledilna ploščica

Shaving a gaming laptop as thin as Alienware’s x14 leaves minimal vertical space inside. This forces the laptop to embrace a key switch with just 1.2 millimeters of travel which, though not bad, is less than most gaming laptops. The result is a swift, short key action that bottoms with a firm, clicky sensation. It’s enjoyable to use but began to feel tiring after hours using the laptop.

The x14’s keyboard is pushed forward by the speakers and cool vent located between it and the display hinge. This leaves little space for the palmrest, which is far more shallow than usual. My usual typing position left the lower half of my palms dangling uncomfortably on the laptop’s edge. Typing can feel cramped, especially for owners with large hands. 

A customizable RGB keyboard backlight is included but only offers one zone, which limits your options. The backlight is bright and most keys appear evenly lit. There’s modest light leak around the edges of each key. 

Touchpad quality is harmed by this design choice, too. It’s four inches wide but only two inches deep, leaving little space for swiping vertically across the touchpad and using Windows’ multi-touch gestures. The touchpad is responsive, at least, and doesn’t register unintended inputs.

Zaslon, zvok

Vsak Alienware x14 ima enak zaslon: 1080p, 144Hz IPS LCD zaslon brez dotika. To podpira Nvidia G-Sync as well as Advanced Optimus, so it can switch to the Intel integrated graphics to conserve power when the Nvidia GPU’s grunt isn’t required.

A conventional 1080p IPS LCD doesn’t sound exciting in 2022, but the x14’s display is as good as the technology gets. It has extremely accurate color, a massive color gamut, a bright of up to 420 nits, and an anti-glare coat.  The display is so good it can easily be used for photo or video editing, making the x14 a reasonable choice for content creators in need of a highly portable mobile workstation. 

Cramming 1080p into a 14-inch means a pixel density of about 158 pixels per inch. That’s just a few pixels short of a 4K 27-inch monitor. Games look crisp with excellent detail in textures and sharp polygon edges. The only problem is the display’s lack of contrast, which snaps depth from dark scenes. However, the x14 does perform better than most LCD screens. 

Audio quality is not as impressive. The speakers provide a clear presentation that rarely becomes muddy, but there’s a serious lack of bass. Action scenes and bass-heavy music can sound hollow and distant. 

Spletna kamera, mikrofon, biometrija

The Alienware x14 has a basic 720p webcam. It produces a soft, dull image that has serious trouble handling low-light or mixed-lighting situations. Though fine for occasional video calls, you’ll need an external webcam to look your best.

Snemanje zvoka poteka z mikrofonom z dvojnim poljem. Zagotavlja sprejemljivo kakovost zvoka, čeprav bo snemanje vedno bolj oddaljeno in nejasno kot s samostojnim mikrofonom. Tihi hrup v ozadju je običajno odstranjen, vendar bo oster ali glasen hrup prišel skozi. 

An IR camera is included and enables Windows Hello facial recognition login. This is a great extra that’s rarely found on gaming laptops. It’s the quickest and arguably most secure option for biometric login.

Povezovanje

Čeprav je tanek, Alienware x14 ponuja odlično fizično povezljivost. Vključuje dve vrati USB-C, ki podpirata Thunderbolt 4, USB4, DisplayPort in do 15 vatov napajanja. Ena dodatna vrata USB-C podpirajo USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort in do 15 vatov napajanja. 

Video output is handled over either the USB-C ports or a single HDMI 2.1 output. It’s good to see HDMI 2.1 is included, since this helps make the most of a HDMI 2.1 monitor or HDTV.

Dodatne možnosti vključujejo ena vrata USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 in čitalnik kartic MicroSD. Omejeno število vrat USB-A je lahko boleča točka, saj veliko perifernih naprav za računalniške igre uporablja USB-A. Moral sem uporabiti zvezdišče USB-C, da sem povezal svojo letalsko palico Microsoftov simulator letenja.

Tudi vrata Ethernet niso vključena, čeprav je fizična povezava Ethernet mogoča prek adapterja USB-C ali zvezdišča USB-C. 

The lack of Ethernet is partially excused by the x14’s excellent Wi-Fi. It supports Wi-Fi 6E which, at short ranges, can achieve connection speeds above Gigabit Ethernet. You’ll need a high-end Wi-Fi 6E router to make the most of this feature, however. Bluetooth 5.2 is also available. 

Uspešnost

Osnovni Alienware x14 je opremljen s procesorjem Intel Core i5–12500H in grafičnim procesorjem Nvidia RTX 3050, vendar je bil moj pregledni vzorec nadgrajen na procesor Core i7–12700H z grafičnim procesorjem RTX 3060. Ta nadgradnja k ceni doda precej skromnih 500 USD. Moj primerek je bil opremljen tudi z 1TB pogonom SSD in 32 GB RAM-a.

Moji testi zmogljivosti so se začeli s PCMark 10, sintetičnim testom, ki je močno odvisen od zmogljivosti procesorja, vendar je bolj uravnotežen med enojedrno in večjedrno zmogljivostjo kot nekateri drugi testi. 

Alienware x14 se tukaj dobro obnese, saj je dosegel rezultat 6,981. To je za Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 z najnovejšim procesorjem AMD Ryzen 6900HS, vendar pred Razer Blade 14 z odhajajočim Ryzen 9 5900HX. X14 zlahka premaga večji, cenejši Acer Nitro 5 z Core i5-12500H.

Intel Core i7-12700H skače naprej v Cinebench R20, z rahlo zmago nad Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 in zlahka premaga starejši Razer Blade 14. To je na splošno zelo močan rezultat in kaže, da je Alienware x14 dobro opremljen za obvladovanje zahtevne produktivne aplikacije. 

Handbrake turns in another solid result for the Alienware x14 and flexes the muscles of Intel’s new Core i7-12700H processor with six performance cores and eight efficient cores. The x14’s thin design seems no obstacle for performance in multi-threaded workloads. 

Our first graphics test, 3DMark Time Spy, produces a less favorable result for Alienware. The x14’s final score of 7,615 isn’t bad but does come behind the Acer Nitro 5, a larger but less expensive laptop with the RTX 3060 GPU. It’s also behind Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and Razer Blade 14, both of which we tested with more powerful GPU options not available to th Alienware. 

Naš prvi prenosnik za igre v resničnem svetu, Rise of the Tomb Raider, reached an average of 103 frames per second at 1080p resolution with detail at Very High. This is a good result, squeezing out a small victory over the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and Razer Blade 14. It’s possible this represents a processor bottleneck that keeps the Asus and Razer systems from making the most of their superior GPUs. 

Končamo naprej Izboljšana izdaja Metro Exodus, izjemno zahtevno merilo uspešnosti, tudi če je Ray Tracing nastavljen na najnižjo »normalno« prednastavitev. Alienware x14 uspe doseči povprečje nad 30 sličic na sekundo, vendar se znajde za zmogljivejšima Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 in Razer Blade 14.

On the whole, the Alienware x14 delivers good performance for a laptop of its size. It’s generally behind the quickest small laptops, but this is mitigated by the x14’s fair pricing. You’d be hard pressed to see better results from a 14-inch laptop sold at $2,000. The x14 also does well in processor tests, which may appeal to content creators who need a fast but compact laptop.

Življenjska doba baterije

A large 80 watt-hour battery is crammed in the Alienware x14’s small frame. This helps the laptop cope with its demanding hardware, but battery life remains less than lengthy in taxing situations. 

Naš standardni preizkus življenjske dobe baterije, ki predvaja videoposnetek 4K Solze iz jekla z zaslonom, nastavljenim na svetlost 200 nit, je baterijo pojedel v treh urah in 46 minutah. To je boljše od mnogih prenosnikov za igre s podobno strojno opremo, vendar na splošno še vedno ni izjemno.

However, real-world results can vary significantly depending on how the laptop is used. A demanding 3D game can easily drain the battery in under two hours, but browsing the web may extend battery life to five or six hours. The inclusion of Nvidia Advanced Optimus, which can switch off the discrete GPU when it’s not needed, helps extend battery life in light-load situations. 

Hrup ventilatorja in toplota

Cramming powerful hardware into a slim gaming laptop is never easy. Reducing size means less space to spread out a thermal load and less airflow. Alienware combats this with vapor-chamber cooling and a gallium-silicone thermal interface, but it’s not enough.

The Alienware x14’s fan is a constant companion at its default settings and, at high load, becomes a whirlwind of noise and heat. This isn’t the loudest fan ever but its high-pitched character is difficult to ignore. 

Alienware’s bundled software has several thermal modes including a Quiet setting. It does reduce fan noise. With Quiet on, the fan is often hard to hear at idle. Demanding loads lead to lots of fan noise, but it’s tolerable. However, Quiet mode takes a chunk out of performance. The RTX 3060 performs more like an RTX 3050 when Quiet mode is on. CPU performance is even worse off, cut roughly in half compared to Balanced mode.

To je sprejemljivo pri igranju starejših iger, vendar igralci, ki želijo uživati Metro Exodus z ray-tracingom (ali katero koli zahtevno igro) se bo treba sprijazniti s šumom. 

zaključek

The Alienware’s x14 is the world’s thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop. This is a blessing and a curse. Though portable and sleek, the x14 can’t brush aside the fundamental physics problem of a laptop this small. It’s loud, runs hot, and performs no better than a budget gaming laptop with a 15-inch display and RTX 3060 GPU.

Kljub temu je x14 glede na svojo velikost in specifikacije občudovanja vreden. Na papirju bi morali x14 preseči alternative z zmogljivejšimi grafičnimi procesorji, kot sta Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 in Razer Blade 14, vendar rezultati v resničnem svetu postavljajo Alienware blizu njegove konkurence. x14 ima tudi ustrezno ceno, saj je osnovni model nižji od Razer Blade 14 za 500 $.

Vse se skrči na tole: ali ti potrebujemo tanek 14-palčni igralni prenosnik? Če je tako, je Alienware x14 odlična izbira, če pa ne, izberite 15-palčni model.

Prenosni računalniki