The best laptop in the market if you care about sustainability upgradability your right to repair and gaming. The FrameworkLaptop 16 defies categorization. It is a gaming laptop unless you decide not to choose discrete graphics in which case it is a productivity workhorse.
Even then you have decisions to make. Which keyboard? Should you choose a number pad? Perhaps an RGB macro pad? What about spacers ports storage? This is simply the most customizable laptop I have seen.
There are two drawbacks starting with the price. But all the
various input options expansion choices and graphics swaps make specifying the
Framework Laptop 16 a complicated matter. For the PC Pro readers familiar with
the inner workings of PCs this would not be a problem. But Framework is hitting
the point where you need a degree of expertise or you would make a costly
mistake.
Starts with
the basics
As always with the Framework you can either build the laptop yourself and bring your own OS using its DIY edition or opt for a pre built model. The former starts at £1399 the latter at £1699. If you opt for the pre built you have three options.
- Performance
- Performance Pro
- OverKill
Both
performance models have the same core spec of an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS 16GB of the
memory and 512GB of storage. Overskill ups the ante with a Ryzen 9 79440HS 32GB
of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.
Framework
sent us its £1749 Performance Pro configuration but with the Graphics Module
containing a discrete AMD Radeon RX 7700S chip which adds £400 to the price. So
our test system costs £2149 but that is before adding any extras. As part of
the price you get six USB expansion cards to slot into the six bays built into
the side of the chassis and if you stick to USB-A or USB-C you would not pay
any extrs. Want HDMI a displayPort
icroSD card and or an audio jack? Those cost an extra £10 apiece. And if you
want Ethernet you will pay £30 more. You can also order storage expansion card
with 256GB or 1TB options available. In short this is the smorgasbord of a
laptop for you to kit out as you wish.
Choose
carefully though. You can only charge from the back four ports. While only
three of the six ports supports display output and USB-C works in any port but
only the back two allow full USB 4 speeds.
Key
Decisions
At this
point it would not surprise you that the choice of keyboard and touchpad
modules on the framework laptop 16 depend on you. Your choices however must
include a keyboard module touchpad module and spacers with the possibility of a
number pad macro pad and LED Matrix spacer as extras.
Framework
expects you to work out where to put the keyboard. It could be central with two
spacers on either side. Or perhaps you are left handed and would prefer to put
the number pad there. Just as importantly if one of these parts dies. It is
easy to replace.
There are
a load of options to pick from and Framework is happy to sell them to you. A
RGB backlit keyboard US English only for now costs £50. A number pad
offers 24 programmable RGB backlit keys that you can configure how you like in
software.
And there
is many more while the black spacers for the keyboard come standard you can
easily switch to orange grey or lavender for £5 a pop. Or go wild and
buy the LED Matrix design for £39 each. The downside of this modularity
is that there are seams while everything is guided by magnets and fits snugly
you can where the modules and the spacers are separated.
The keyboard
and macros are controlled by the open source software VIA and while framework
uses a simplifies browser based version there is still a learning curve. Framework
needs to work on this. It should be far easier to Program the RGB macro pad for
instance.
My other
grip is about the keyboard. Framework says that the keys offer 1.5mm of travel but
they were too musky for my taste. If only Framework offered a ThinkPad like
keyboard option.
Upgrade
ability
While shuffling
around the Framework modular input mechanisms is enough actually getting into
the device is harden than on the Framework Laptop 13. After removing all the
input modules you have to pull a cable in the metal plate helpfully labeled number
1. From there you can use a T5 screwdriver to remove 16 captive screws labelled
2 to 17.
Our pre
built model came with a single 512GB M.2 2280 SSD installed. If you want to add
another there is room for a smaller M.2 2240 SSD underneath. The DDR5 memory is
upgradable as is the battery and in theory the motherboard. The other upgrade
is the GPU but at the moment the Radeon RX 7700S is your only option. I had
like to see Nvida get involved but the Framework is making no promises.
You can
also buy the laptop with both Graphics Module and the Expansion Bay Shell. The
idea is that if you want to travel lighter you can swap the shell with the
graphics module. However it is a trickier process than it should be.
Frequent
travelers will probably make the effort though as even without the Graphics Module
the laptop weights 2.1 kg. With it that goes up to 2.4kg and the height at the
back increases from 18mm to 21mm.
Speed
boost
Framework
16in anti glare display comes with a 2650 x 1600 IPS panel and it performed
well in our technical tests it covers 75% of the DCI-P3 gamut with a peak
brightness of 485cd/m2 and an average Delta E of 0.21. There is also
an anti glare coating which is better for work than for games or watching
films.
Still when I started testing with one
of my favorite games. Control it looked great. The game features a lot of red
lightning which looked bright and vibrant on the Framework Laptop. The pair of
speakers sound good too only the lacking in bass.
As for the speed I started at 1920 x
1200 on high settings with medium ray tracing presets where the game ran
between 40fps and 48fps but with the several stutters. Cutting ray tracing and
dropping to medium settings kept me more reliably above 50fps albeit again with
a few hiccups. The fans were spinning loudly during the gameplay. Keeping the
system cool.
Final words
While I have my criticisms of the
Framework Laptop 16 then it is obvious in so many ways that this is a company with
ethics at its heart. That stretches to the 1080p webcam which produces good
details and colors but also the features a switch next to it that turns it off.
There is another switch for the microphone too.
While the Framework laptop 16 is not
for everyone it offers tech enthusiasts the chance to build their dream laptop
provided that the dream involves a 16in screen and all AMD parts.
