A New Framework (Laptop)

The drive for a change

Going into university, I got a new laptop to assist me with my studies. This was 7+ years ago now, and even the mid-life hardware updates I had performed to give it a new life and make it feel fresh again were not cutting it. So after freshly installing Windows on it did not improve its start time, I was once again looking for a new machine after so long.

My requirements had changed this time. I no longer needed a laptop powerful enough to handle games. Since I’ve built my desktop, and since streaming games became so easy, I now have all the options I need if I ever want to game away from my desk. I’ve also spent a lot more time in software development and discovered the difficulties in programming on a Windows machine.

Therefore, it was time to switch to Linux as a daily driver. So now to pick the specs. I’d still want a powerful laptop, mostly for ease of development. Realistically, another use would be watching videos, so the display had to be nice as well.

Discovering Framework

I learned about Framework and was intrigued by both the modularity and repairability. I had been following laptop trends and was unhappy about the newer anti-consumer practices from Apple, (and likely soon-to-follow laptop brands) with soldered RAM into their newest flagships’ motherboards. Any repair at this point would cost the price of an entire new laptop, and it would be thedefinitely default response provided by Apple. It’s not as profitable, after all, to spend money troubleshooting problems and fixing them.

In comparison, Framework felt like a breath of fresh air. New parts to repair the old ones are sold directly by the company for the home user to replace as needed. Laptops are built with that in mind, making repairs easy. I knew there would be compromises, but I decided I was going to evaluate them accordingly.

Framework is quite a small company and is still trying to get its feet off the ground. So it only had one device available when I was considering a purchase – the Framework 13. It looked like a good laptop with a couple of generations, decent specs, and even motherboard upgrades. As in, you could buy a new motherboard with an upgraded CPU and only replace that, keeping all other parts, and your data! That still seems amazing to me. However, this laptop is pricey. Niche technology from an up-and-coming company was not going to be competitive in price, and I accepted that.

Deciding on the laptop

At the time that I was searching, the Framework 13 was at its matured stage, but the Framework 16 was in its final prototype stages. The cost was very similar as part of pre-ordering and for the latest generation AMD CPU, a 16-inch screen, more hardware extensions, and a possible dedicated GPU upgrade – the decision became clear.

Not without its downsides, however, as I placed a pre-order for the FW16 in November, and finally got a shipping notification in May. So the tail end of 2023 was spent with the old laptop, following up on news, and reviews for the batches of laptops getting shipped to reviewers and other pre-order posts on the Framework forums and Reddit.

The waiting time definitely gave me cold feet, and honest reviews showcased the difficulties that come with the mass production of new products. People receiving broken, or misaligned components, design deficiencies coming to light, but also, the earnestness of support to provide help to everyone unlucky enough to receive faulty units.

I am glad I stuck with it in the end because, despite its faults, I am quite enjoying my new laptop.

What I like about it

Modular ports

With a few restrictions, all the ports to the laptop are based on USB-C, and the laptop comes with slots for modules. These modules are converters between ports, so that one can decide what capabilities their laptop can exhibit. Examples of ports include:

• USB-C
• USB-A
• HDMI
• Display Port
• Audio Jack
• External storage expansion drive
• SD-Card
• Data for designers to create their own!

The laptop comes in two flavours: prebuilt, and DIY. The DIY edition is slightly cheaper, but the user is responsible for assembling all their components, installing the OS and confirming everything works. My favourite part of setting up the DIY edition was reaching out for one of my USB cables and deciding it wouldn’t reach all the way. Instead of rearranging the cabling, I switched the laptop upside-down, unlocked the modules, flipped the USB-A port with the USB-C port, and suddenly the cable could reach!

Keyboard customisability

I usually like numpads on my laptops. Over the last couple of years though, I’ve started using a laptop without one, but usually attached with an external keyboard while docked, that does have a numpad. So the ability to switch between a centred keyboard/trackpad pair and a left-aligned version with a numpad is wonderful. I’m currently enjoying the numpad configuration, but I’m glad I can switch on the fly.

Documentation & Community

Setting up the OS was very smooth, a lot of documentation was available both on the Framework website and the forums. I went with Pop-OS in the end. I don’t have the customisability I would like at this point, but because the hardware is so new, the drivers and kinks have not been ironed out yet. So even though I would like to set up Arch eventually, I didn’t want to spend days setting things up only to still have bugs/annoyances every day. Pop-OS is close enough to Ubuntu (which is natively supported) that I successfully got away with installing it hassle-free while still being able to customise it nicely.

What I don’t like

Speakers, Mic, Camera

I had already known from the reviews, but the speakers are very weak and muted. If the laptop is not on a hard surface, half of the sound disappears. Headphones are a must if I ever want to watch a video, and I’ve got no solution for watching with multiple people.

The camera is a typical laptop camera, not terrible, but very bad with lighting. The microphone is terrible. The sound played back on the speakers probably harms the mic even more, but it sounds choppy, tinny, and crackly. I am not expecting any video calls on the laptop, and if I want to do that, my docking station has a much nicer camera/mic combo. For the price of the laptop, given that these are well-established components that aren’t modular, I was expecting much more emphasis on quality. It is one of the most disappointing parts of the laptop.

Precision/Finish of Aesthetics

This is their first iteration of the FW16. So it is understandable that there may be some errors. One of the more noticeable ones that also affects my build is the precision of the finish for the non-electronic components. The way the trackpad can be left-aligned is by removing two bezel pieces and rearranging them to both be on the right. These pieces were made precise for their original locations only. I can say this because in their alternate configuration, one sticks out on one side above the metalwork, and the other dips into it on the other side. Hopefully, later iterations of the laptop will fix this, but this is the cost I pay for getting in early.

Battery

The battery life seems weak. 4-5 hours on power saver mode. This is arguably happening for a lot of reasons.

1. I set the battery max to 80% in the bios to extend my battery’s life.
2. Pop-OS has its own battery-saving tools, different from AMD’s recommendations.
3. I’m on balanced mode instead of battery saver a lot of the time.
4. I’ve heard of other people reducing their power usage by much more, but haven’t found a way to set that up.

Even so, a larger battery would be nice. My last laptop’s battery died within a couple of years, so I’ve been wired ever since. It feels like the freedom of wireless computing isn’t going to last long with this device. At least I know I can get a new battery easily.

I was also wondering about the impact of the OS on the battery life, and if Windows would have been better than Linux since Linux is notoriously worse in this regard. I am happy with the battery I can get from it now, as having updated to Windows 11 at work and seeing my battery life halve from 6 to 3 hours, confirms that I’ve made the right call even if it’s not the best one.

Overall

Getting this laptop was a great learning experience, even with all its drawbacks. I still support the idea enough that I’m happy with my purchase and hope that the company develops enough that future purchases will improve on their current lineup.