Dell has officially unveiled its new Alienware X series of ultra-thin gaming laptops, the x15 and x17.

This is a major milestone that highlights where the high-end gaming laptop business is headed.

Both the Alienware x15 and x17 feature the latest Intel 11th generation CPUs and Nvidia Geforce 30 series GPUs in chassis thinner than an inch thick, with the option of a 4K display (17" version) and up to 64GB of RAM

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All 15 "x15 and 17 "x17 configurations will be available in the US on June 15, with starting prices of $1,999 and $2,099 respectively.

Both laptops are currently available in limited quantities on Alienware's website, in select Best Buy stores, and on Best Buy's website.

Laptops built to play games well have long had a reputation for being bulky, heavy, and unattractive, but that reputation is slowly changing, and Alienware's new x15 laptop is a prime example. At only 0.62 to 0.64 inches thick (depending on which display option you configure it with), it is nearly as thin as an M1-powered MacBook Air, but almost twice as heavy.

Even with such a remarkably thin chassis, the design of the x15 and x17 leaves little room for confusion as to whether this is a laptop for work or play. While design standards have evolved and gaming laptops seem increasingly made for the ordinary, the Alienware X Series laptops, with their programmable micro-LED lighting (including a glowing alien-head logo) and fanciful vent design, are the company's classic "out-of-this-world The company's classic "out-of-this-world" aesthetic is adhered to.

To effectively expel air and keep this ultra-thin laptop cool when all cylinders are fully open, Alienware's X Series laptops feature a new four-fan design that circulates air around the components. Notably, the company's patented Smart Fan control technology utilizes AI to help adjust the performance of each fan independently based on readings from sensors embedded throughout the chassis.

These new laptops also have a special temperature control mechanism (called Thermal Control Circuit offset) that allows owners to set temperature limits. The laptop then does everything it can to keep the CPU temperature within the limits you impose, repeatedly turning the cooling up and down as needed.

Finally, if you prefer the clicky feel of the keys, we also recommend that you can configure the large Alienware x17 with a low-profile mechanical keyboard using Cherry MX switches.

Alienware's X Series laptops seem well suited to promise the performance of a high-end gaming PC in an ultra-thin package. The x17 is particularly intriguing, offering the unusual combination of an Nvidia GeForce 30 series discrete GPU, 4K screen, and ultra-thin chassis (but still heavy).

Of course, these laptops are by no means affordable, so you'll need to get a few for testing and review before deciding if it's a wise investment. An ultra-thin gaming laptop with killer components loses much of its future if it can't last more than one to three hours on a full battery, for example, and a heavy-duty Alienware laptop with flashy RGB lighting is battery notorious for their high consumption.

Still, it is exciting to see such advances by vendors trying to extract as much performance as possible from what is available on the market. With notebook components (like Intel's 11th generation CPUs) becoming ever smaller and more powerful, expect to see further progress toward thinner, lighter, and more capable notebooks as the world finally recovers from the ongoing chip shortage.