Alienware used its Update 2023 event to announce the expansion of its peripherals and accessories range with new headsets, keyboards and mice.
Previously Alienware hasn’t been all that adventurous in the peripherals market, despite being a gaming PC heavyweight, among a range of competitors that very much do take the accessories category quite seriously (such as Razer, ASUS, MSI and a host of others).
Actually, the company’s accessory range has been tucked away in its own small pocket of the Dell website for quite some time now (as it’s a Dell subsidiary), split off from its parent company’s tech and handled kind of like an afterthought.
And now that section is getting bolstered with four new devices, including two new headsets, two new keyboards and a new mouse. Alienware took to Twitch to host Alienware Update 2023, where it retread its laptop announcements from CES 2023 to kick off, and then got stuck into the accessories.
The mouse was first to be shown off – the AW620M. It offers up to a 26,000 DPI (with a DPI slider on the top), and functions wirelessly with a dongle (charged via a cable), with a 140-hour battery life and 10 hours of battery life from just a five-minute charge. Alienware reckons this mouse is perfect for RPG or MMO players.
Then came the headsets, both featuring Dolby Atmos support. The AW720H, comes with an improved suspension headband and memory foam earcups made from a breathable fabric. There’s 3D sound in the speakers and a retractable boom microphone with integrated AI noise cancellation, along with an on-device slider that allows you to quickly adjust game audio and chat audio. You can use either a headphone jack with the device or use it wirelessly via a dongle, with 30 hours of battery life on a full charge and six hours of battery life in just 15 minutes of charging. There’s also the less-exciting AW520H, which is a wired version of the above AW720H without the sound slider.
Finally, the keyboards. I was actually really impressed with the AW920K, a wireless gaming keyboard that features Alienware’s new magnetic charging tech. The idea is that if you’re in the middle of a game and you have a low keyboard battery, you can put this thing on charge by just attaching the magnet, without needing to precisely insert the charging cable (the magnet charger is the big rectangle hub shown below, which just slots into the underside of the keyboard). The cable adapter also has space for a keyboard, mouse or headset dongle, in case you want nearby connectivity for your wireless tech. Alienware’s calling it its most customisable and responsive gaming keyboard, and it’s the first wireless keyboard from the Dell subsidiary (with 42 hours of battery life over 2.4Ghz, or 46 hours over Bluetooth).
The company also announced that its miniature TKL keyboard from last year, the AW420K, will soon be available in white, in case you want a small, wired device.
After showing off all the new tech, Alienware also announced a refresh of its ‘Command Centre’ app for controlling system settings, fan speed, and of course, RGB. It definitely looks a lot more intuitive than how it appeared during my review of the 2022 Alienware M15 R7, allowing the user to adjust their PC’s settings with greater ease.
For context, every gaming PC and accessories maker has a similar app, but Command Centre has always been a bit tricky to get a hang of. Hopefully, this new version changes that.
The AW720H will be available in Australia from March 31, while the AW920K and the AW520H will be available from May 19.
The availability of the other devices is yet to be announced, as is the local pricing of each of today’s announcements.