I've had one of these for three years now. I've never had a laptop that I used for three years straight, let alone traveled with, used at work, repaired WHILE traveling, AND upgraded the performance in the process. I've basically done exactly what Beau did here and mounted it to the back of my old monitor...and now we have a very efficient, almost completely silent kitchen PC that has a 27" gaming monitor attached to it LOL.
Thx for the review, very helpful. I'm just a "casual" user but I'm very tired of buying new laptops over and over as you described at the beginning. This will be my first time of DIY anything computer-related.
I managed to convince my brother to get a framework laptop 13 and he loves it. Compared to his old laptop its an upgrade in every possible way, he loves the sturdy metal construction and the better screen and keyboard. And to top it all off, hes able to pick his own port layout, and will be able to upgrade it down the line. Truly a device for the modern ages. I myself use a framework laptop 16. Its even cooler in my opinion because of all the additional modularity and power that it provides, however it might be a bit bulky and expensive for some people. The modular keyboard deck that allows for numpads, extra ports, and the expansion bay module slot in the back of the device are certainly useful additions though. With the GPU module, you get a total of 7 ports (the GPU module has an additional USB-C port on the back that supports dedicated display output). Which is a lot of ports. Also the speakers and screen on the 16 are definitely a lot better, with a good EQ profile on Realtek audio console, you end up with something that sounds about as good as proper desktop speakers. And it covers pretty much everything except sub-bass (as laws of physics still apply.) Interesting you mention FXsound as well, I set up my brothers laptop with FXsound to improve the sound quality of his framework 13. In my opinion the best way to adjust the sound would be according to the frequency response graphs on the RTINGS website (I used the frequency response graphs to tune both laptops.)
I love that the Framework doesn't feel like a cheap plasticky product that goes obsolete in a matter of years! Regardless of what people think about the actual design it just feels *solid!*
Received my Framework 13 AMD Ryzen 7 in December last year. ZORIN OS 17 runs flawlessly out of the box, including fingerprint sensor. Works quietly and reliably for 238 days now. Love the design and handling, which is somewhere the best of both worlds of a MacBook Air and an DELL XPS. Best laptop experience ever. Kudos to the Framework team.
Thank you for this. I’m hoping in a couple of years to get some version of the Framework 16 as I love the idea of a replaceable GPU. No nonsense videos like this help me track the brand and its development. They’re not cheap, but I do believe they’re setting a standard everyone should adopt in terms of repairability, instead of manufacturers forcing us into replacing our laptops every 3-5 years.
Hey Beau, great to see you with a Framework :) I Transitioned from my Legion Go to the Framework 16. Love the Concept, but had issues. Had a Mainboard Replacement within the first 3 Weeks.
@@TechGuyBeau it was but it didn't solve my Heat/Performance Problem. I modified the Cooling and added PTM7950 instead of their Liquid Metal and gained over 1000 Points in CB23 on my Replacementboard and nearly 2000 Points compared to my First Mainboard.
I'm waiting for these to hit more mainstream so that they polish up the 16" model. I need the larger screen for software development, but their 16" isn't getting similarly good reviews as the 13".
A lot of the issues people had with the 16 have been resolved. I personally use one, Its a great laptop once you get over the minor fit/finish issues that are still present with the touchpad spacers.
Love your work and honest reviews and subtle consideration suggestions you make more often helps in decision making. Based on your earlier suggestion, I didn't pursue upgrading the WWAN slot on Thinkpad p16s Gen2 AMD and went for the Fibicom LTE card with esim support and it just works great. I have now dual sim support, both esim and physical sim support. sim1 and sim2. I have read others gambling with a WWAN slot and ended up with device not recognized. So it was a good thing that I checked with Lenovo before the purchase and dropped the storage expansion option for the WWAN port, but use it for LTE card as intended. Good work. Keep making these videos. So so informative. Thanks a lot.
Zero whatsoever. It’s quite sturdy. Some people did want upgrades to the upper lid however, but you can now get a improved CNC lid. I have one on order because I’m going to be doing a full follow up upgrade video
I don’t necessarily know if framework is really worth it. I’m essentially paying 1500$ when there’s 1300$ machines that is better on everything on paper. If I do upgrades, like new motherboard + display + battery. The main boards for the newest gen is really expensive. The cost would come really close to just a whole new laptop. The only way I can see this to be viable is to scrounge the markets for used parts.
You can upgrade as you go. I have an upgrade video coming, from screens to chassis. The parts cost me a few hundred. And here is the kicker.. I’ll be able to make a second laptop out of the spare stuff >:)
If you are willing to go diy, and buy your own storage/memory, you can easily put together a 7640u version for 1000-1200 depending on your needs. The 7840u will cost more, but it really isn't a huge performance upgrade since the limiting factor is the 30w power envelope in a lot of cases. I would argue that the 7640u is a really solid choice for many users since you are only giving up 10-20% gaming performance, and maybe 20% peak multithreaded performance. There are also some other benefits outside of pure specs per dollar with the extensive community support (especially if you are interested in linux). It's not the absolute best value on the market if you just want to get the highest specs for the dollar, but it is very competitive depending on your priorities in a laptop.
@@b130610 this is really late, essentially necroposting. But the 7840u has 4 more compute units within its iGPU. 8 -> 12. From what I've seen the difference between these 2 are closer to 20-30%. This important because I want atleast 1080p@30 on most games. Also buying a 1000$ ryzen 7000 laptop seems quite dumb to me. Thats quite alot of money for 2 year old hardware. I've also got to try the framework 13 in person. Honestly the laptop itself is pretty cool but nothing honestly stands out. Everything is a bit mediocre or barely average. Only the keyboard actually stood out ( I really liked the keyboard.) Also I'd probably switch out the wifi card too, its garbage. Somehow the 2017 wifi 5 intel card beat the mediatek wifi 6E in the framework by quite a bit (mediatek: 200 down/100 up, Intel 500 down/150 up)
Hello, that is a neat laptop, but it's out of my budget if you are not using the old main board and all other pieces that you are not using, would you mind selling them to me. I would love to build one and I am buying it piece by piece. Thanks for taking the time to read this message!
i hope they will expand soon in southeast asia & eastern asia (aka japan, sk, china). taiwan the manufacturer is literally near by everyone else on that region
This is such a fantastic idea! Not sure how it's gonna work with the new Ryzen AI chips though - I've heard these new chips don't support SODIMM RAM... Regardless, I'm still very tempted...
HI I need your advice. 3 months ago I bought the latest legion 7i, it's working perfectly but I'm hearing creaking sound from the hinge when closing the lid. I contacted customer care for this as I have extra warranty and ADP. I described them the issue, they mailed me back with telling me this will be counted as ADP claimed if you repair it. I told them, the hinge isn't broken yet, this should come under basic warranty, I'm hesitating because ADP can only be claimed once in a year. Should i wait for the hinge to break or get it repaired right now
I love many laptops. It comes down to need I really like the framework 13 The xiaoxin and Thinkbook 14+ are superb too For gaming laptops I like my current p16 gen 2 (but it’s too expensive). And the legion 7 slim. The legion 14” is still outstanding The g14 2024 is a very nice creator laptop, although overpriced. Sold a as a gaming laptops when it isn’t, but it’s still nice. It all comes down to price, need, etc.
Eh…. Realistically not whatsoever. With the core ultra you are going to be limited to the exact same wattages. So realistically they will be about the same in performance. In terms of IGPU performance, Intel will actually perform worse. Until does benefit quite a bit from higher wattages, this has been shown by gamers Nexxus, and I have shown it in several videos. AMD is simply more efficient, so when we are looking at the lower wattage variant it is the better solution. So realistically the AMD processor still remains much more capable since they will be limited to 30 W, and power scaling is more efficient on AMD. If the core ultra is for some reason not wattage gated, it will run like an absolute inferno and throttle insanely anyways. Typically the core ultra stuff on laptops I have tested can range between 30 W variants all the way up to 60 or 65 W. So just looking at this chip model doesn’t tell you much really Perhaps someone else can confirm and what wattages the core ultras stuff runs at. Realistically I would want to run lower, to avoid severe heat issues. But at the same time then you are significantly decreasing performance.
@@TechGuyBeau Just josh released a review on the core ultra mainboard, and it also maxes out at 30w sustained despite the tweaked thermal system. Also, while intel's igpu benchmarks impressively, it generally performs worse in gaming than the 780m in the 7840u. I think the main reason to go for the intel platform is still for the expanded thunderbolt connectivity, and possibly for certain workloads that make use of intel's npu/ai acceleration libraries which is pretty niche. The rest of performance is either a wash, or favors the 7040 series from what I've seen in this power envelope.
I read that Framework cannot support the latest AMD and Intel AI CoPilot laptops because they must have soldered RAM. So unless Framework ditches modular RAM, they will have to use non-AI chips or switch to CAMM2 instead. Of course, CAMM2 means a redesign and the current chassis will likely not be able to be converted. So, it will be interesting to see how this happens, but it is a worry for anyone investing now who is expecting upgradeability down the line. The main deal-breaker in the UK is price. It is £2100 for 32GB/1TB/Core Ultra 7, and that chip will be obsolete in a month or so. I could not use that glossy display, so I would have to pay £350 more for the 120Hz matte one when available, so now it costs £2450. That is a lot for non-OLED and no dGPU. With Intel, AMD and Qualcomm all having massive discounts, you really have to want to live in a modular world or be loaded to justify such poor value.
I also find the price of this laptop on the high side, compared to this a regular lenovo laptop might cost almost half the price, at that point upgradeability looses its significance even in a long term usage.
Well yes and no. You spend about 30-40% more to buy in. But you can then be good for like 10+ years. So after a second purchase you are already saving money. You can also pick up used frameworks and upgrade them like I did for super cheap
You could get the Lunar Lake whenever they end up releasing it on Framework laptops as the RAM is soldered on package. So it would probably be a motherboard swap rather than the typical CPU swap like with the normal Ultra line up
@@TechGuyBeau the highest spec version with an intel 165H and NO DISCRETE GPU is almost $3,000. My recently released Lenovo Yoga 9i has a 185h and a 4060 for $1,899
@@mrlahey88but it's also basically a Windows laptop that simply works, has no bloatware, and can be upgraded later on down the line. Nvidia is charging out of their behind for dGPUs in their laptops. ARC and the 780M iGPUs from AMD and Intel aren't 4060 level of performance but they're still really good.
I've had one of these for three years now. I've never had a laptop that I used for three years straight, let alone traveled with, used at work, repaired WHILE traveling, AND upgraded the performance in the process. I've basically done exactly what Beau did here and mounted it to the back of my old monitor...and now we have a very efficient, almost completely silent kitchen PC that has a 27" gaming monitor attached to it LOL.
Thx for the review, very helpful. I'm just a "casual" user but I'm very tired of buying new laptops over and over as you described at the beginning. This will be my first time of DIY anything computer-related.
awesome. as someone using for 5-6 months i can say its really been great
The best rel life guy experience reviewer. Zero fancyness and 100% what we all want to know/test.
Thanks, I am here to educate (and play with cool tech 😅)
I managed to convince my brother to get a framework laptop 13 and he loves it. Compared to his old laptop its an upgrade in every possible way, he loves the sturdy metal construction and the better screen and keyboard. And to top it all off, hes able to pick his own port layout, and will be able to upgrade it down the line. Truly a device for the modern ages.
I myself use a framework laptop 16. Its even cooler in my opinion because of all the additional modularity and power that it provides, however it might be a bit bulky and expensive for some people. The modular keyboard deck that allows for numpads, extra ports, and the expansion bay module slot in the back of the device are certainly useful additions though. With the GPU module, you get a total of 7 ports (the GPU module has an additional USB-C port on the back that supports dedicated display output). Which is a lot of ports.
Also the speakers and screen on the 16 are definitely a lot better, with a good EQ profile on Realtek audio console, you end up with something that sounds about as good as proper desktop speakers. And it covers pretty much everything except sub-bass (as laws of physics still apply.)
Interesting you mention FXsound as well, I set up my brothers laptop with FXsound to improve the sound quality of his framework 13. In my opinion the best way to adjust the sound would be according to the frequency response graphs on the RTINGS website (I used the frequency response graphs to tune both laptops.)
I love that the Framework doesn't feel like a cheap plasticky product that goes obsolete in a matter of years! Regardless of what people think about the actual design it just feels *solid!*
I use mine every day :)
Received my Framework 13 AMD Ryzen 7 in December last year. ZORIN OS 17 runs flawlessly out of the box, including fingerprint sensor. Works quietly and reliably for 238 days now. Love the design and handling, which is somewhere the best of both worlds of a MacBook Air and an DELL XPS. Best laptop experience ever. Kudos to the Framework team.
Holy Shit Balls!! Im a die hard Mac guy but that is so dope!! Well done dude
Thank you for this. I’m hoping in a couple of years to get some version of the Framework 16 as I love the idea of a replaceable GPU. No nonsense videos like this help me track the brand and its development. They’re not cheap, but I do believe they’re setting a standard everyone should adopt in terms of repairability, instead of manufacturers forcing us into replacing our laptops every 3-5 years.
This is one of the best reviews of this laptop anywhere. Thanks!
I’m glad it was useful
Hey Beau, great to see you with a Framework :) I Transitioned from my Legion Go to the Framework 16. Love the Concept, but had issues. Had a Mainboard Replacement within the first 3 Weeks.
Im assuming it was a non issue under warranty?
@@TechGuyBeau it was but it didn't solve my Heat/Performance Problem. I modified the Cooling and added PTM7950 instead of their Liquid Metal and gained over 1000 Points in CB23 on my Replacementboard and nearly 2000 Points compared to my First Mainboard.
@@SpartanCE117 its wonderful stuff. i have it on my framework and just published a video about it yesterday
Amazing review as always!
Thanks. I’m glad you watched and enjoyed
I'm waiting for these to hit more mainstream so that they polish up the 16" model. I need the larger screen for software development, but their 16" isn't getting similarly good reviews as the 13".
i'd love to get my hands on a 16" to review. well see if i can build up enough funds
A lot of the issues people had with the 16 have been resolved. I personally use one, Its a great laptop once you get over the minor fit/finish issues that are still present with the touchpad spacers.
Love your work and honest reviews and subtle consideration suggestions you make more often helps in decision making. Based on your earlier suggestion, I didn't pursue upgrading the WWAN slot on Thinkpad p16s Gen2 AMD and went for the Fibicom LTE card with esim support and it just works great. I have now dual sim support, both esim and physical sim support. sim1 and sim2.
I have read others gambling with a WWAN slot and ended up with device not recognized. So it was a good thing that I checked with Lenovo before the purchase and dropped the storage expansion option for the WWAN port, but use it for LTE card as intended.
Good work. Keep making these videos. So so informative. Thanks a lot.
I’m glad you found them helpful. And yeah the WWAN slot is a roll of the dice,
And I'm waiting my batch 2... I'm waiting
Too bad not available in singapore
right? im honestly heartbroken
Aren't there any proxy importers. I've obtained a lot of oversea stuffs through these services. Though I'm in another Asian country.
hows the bottom panel flex when you hold it by one hand?
Zero whatsoever. It’s quite sturdy. Some people did want upgrades to the upper lid however, but you can now get a improved CNC lid. I have one on order because I’m going to be doing a full follow up upgrade video
@@TechGuyBeau I was thinking between this FW13 or MacBook Pro 14. This is good thing to hear that the FW13 solid build
I don’t necessarily know if framework is really worth it. I’m essentially paying 1500$ when there’s 1300$ machines that is better on everything on paper.
If I do upgrades, like new motherboard + display + battery. The main boards for the newest gen is really expensive. The cost would come really close to just a whole new laptop. The only way I can see this to be viable is to scrounge the markets for used parts.
You can upgrade as you go. I have an upgrade video coming, from screens to chassis. The parts cost me a few hundred.
And here is the kicker.. I’ll be able to make a second laptop out of the spare stuff >:)
Its cheaper to buy the Factory Seconds laptops and everything separate
If you are willing to go diy, and buy your own storage/memory, you can easily put together a 7640u version for 1000-1200 depending on your needs. The 7840u will cost more, but it really isn't a huge performance upgrade since the limiting factor is the 30w power envelope in a lot of cases. I would argue that the 7640u is a really solid choice for many users since you are only giving up 10-20% gaming performance, and maybe 20% peak multithreaded performance. There are also some other benefits outside of pure specs per dollar with the extensive community support (especially if you are interested in linux). It's not the absolute best value on the market if you just want to get the highest specs for the dollar, but it is very competitive depending on your priorities in a laptop.
Not paying for the Windows license is nice
@@b130610 this is really late, essentially necroposting.
But the 7840u has 4 more compute units within its iGPU. 8 -> 12. From what I've seen the difference between these 2 are closer to 20-30%. This important because I want atleast 1080p@30 on most games.
Also buying a 1000$ ryzen 7000 laptop seems quite dumb to me. Thats quite alot of money for 2 year old hardware.
I've also got to try the framework 13 in person. Honestly the laptop itself is pretty cool but nothing honestly stands out. Everything is a bit mediocre or barely average. Only the keyboard actually stood out ( I really liked the keyboard.)
Also I'd probably switch out the wifi card too, its garbage. Somehow the 2017 wifi 5 intel card beat the mediatek wifi 6E in the framework by quite a bit (mediatek: 200 down/100 up, Intel 500 down/150 up)
Hello, that is a neat laptop, but it's out of my budget if you are not using the old main board and all other pieces that you are not using, would you mind selling them to me. I would love to build one and I am buying it piece by piece. Thanks for taking the time to read this message!
Any thought on 2nd gen hinge upgrade?
Can't wait for my 2.8k amd one to arrive. Went for clear keyboard too
i hope they will expand soon in southeast asia & eastern asia (aka japan, sk, china). taiwan the manufacturer is literally near by everyone else on that region
you did video editing with the old intel mainboard?
what resolution did the videos have and what programm did you use?
I did yes. I was doing 4K editing on the 11th Gen. it was fine.
But the 7840u is much snappier
This is such a fantastic idea! Not sure how it's gonna work with the new Ryzen AI chips though - I've heard these new chips don't support SODIMM RAM... Regardless, I'm still very tempted...
HI I need your advice. 3 months ago I bought the latest legion 7i, it's working perfectly but I'm hearing creaking sound from the hinge when closing the lid. I contacted customer care for this as I have extra warranty and ADP. I described them the issue, they mailed me back with telling me this will be counted as ADP claimed if you repair it. I told them, the hinge isn't broken yet, this should come under basic warranty, I'm hesitating because ADP can only be claimed once in a year. Should i wait for the hinge to break or get it repaired right now
does the dbrand skin come with extra expansion card skins?
Not extra. Only 4
How'd you take off those skins after apply without destroying them?
Carefully. Adding some heat with a hair dryer helps a lot
@@TechGuyBeau Still how' you put them back on the non stick paper (the paper where they come applied on) (God my English is bum)
If i have an spare motherboard can i just resell that to them? To Framework i mean
I highly doubt it. But you could sell it on eBay to someone who wants it
Beau tell us, which laptop do you really love?
I love many laptops. It comes down to need
I really like the framework 13
The xiaoxin and Thinkbook 14+ are superb too
For gaming laptops I like my current p16 gen 2 (but it’s too expensive). And the legion 7 slim. The legion 14” is still outstanding
The g14 2024 is a very nice creator laptop, although overpriced. Sold a as a gaming laptops when it isn’t, but it’s still nice.
It all comes down to price, need, etc.
No matte screen????
i think core ultra 7 155h is more powerful is compares to ryzen hs series not u
Eh…. Realistically not whatsoever. With the core ultra you are going to be limited to the exact same wattages. So realistically they will be about the same in performance.
In terms of IGPU performance, Intel will actually perform worse. Until does benefit quite a bit from higher wattages, this has been shown by gamers Nexxus, and I have shown it in several videos. AMD is simply more efficient, so when we are looking at the lower wattage variant it is the better solution.
So realistically the AMD processor still remains much more capable since they will be limited to 30 W, and power scaling is more efficient on AMD. If the core ultra is for some reason not wattage gated, it will run like an absolute inferno and throttle insanely anyways. Typically the core ultra stuff on laptops I have tested can range between 30 W variants all the way up to 60 or 65 W. So just looking at this chip model doesn’t tell you much really
Perhaps someone else can confirm and what wattages the core ultras stuff runs at. Realistically I would want to run lower, to avoid severe heat issues. But at the same time then you are significantly decreasing performance.
@@TechGuyBeau Just josh released a review on the core ultra mainboard, and it also maxes out at 30w sustained despite the tweaked thermal system. Also, while intel's igpu benchmarks impressively, it generally performs worse in gaming than the 780m in the 7840u. I think the main reason to go for the intel platform is still for the expanded thunderbolt connectivity, and possibly for certain workloads that make use of intel's npu/ai acceleration libraries which is pretty niche. The rest of performance is either a wash, or favors the 7040 series from what I've seen in this power envelope.
I read that Framework cannot support the latest AMD and Intel AI CoPilot laptops because they must have soldered RAM. So unless Framework ditches modular RAM, they will have to use non-AI chips or switch to CAMM2 instead. Of course, CAMM2 means a redesign and the current chassis will likely not be able to be converted.
So, it will be interesting to see how this happens, but it is a worry for anyone investing now who is expecting upgradeability down the line.
The main deal-breaker in the UK is price. It is £2100 for 32GB/1TB/Core Ultra 7, and that chip will be obsolete in a month or so. I could not use that glossy display, so I would have to pay £350 more for the 120Hz matte one when available, so now it costs £2450. That is a lot for non-OLED and no dGPU. With Intel, AMD and Qualcomm all having massive discounts, you really have to want to live in a modular world or be loaded to justify such poor value.
That simply cannot be true. There are already AMD ai 300 laptops with ram modules
@@beau-urns Co-Pilot. None I could find. Both ASU’s releases are soldered RAM.
I also find the price of this laptop on the high side, compared to this a regular lenovo laptop might cost almost half the price, at that point upgradeability looses its significance even in a long term usage.
Well yes and no.
You spend about 30-40% more to buy in. But you can then be good for like 10+ years. So after a second purchase you are already saving money.
You can also pick up used frameworks and upgrade them like I did for super cheap
You could get the Lunar Lake whenever they end up releasing it on Framework laptops as the RAM is soldered on package. So it would probably be a motherboard swap rather than the typical CPU swap like with the normal Ultra line up
interesting
BATTERY LIFE????
Not available in India
Mid specs and a mid screen for 3,000? I’m good
Who spending $3000 for this!? It’s like half that my man
@@TechGuyBeau the highest spec version with an intel 165H and NO DISCRETE GPU is almost $3,000. My recently released Lenovo Yoga 9i has a 185h and a 4060 for $1,899
@@TechGuyBeau That link was CA. But in USD it’s still $2100 which is $200 more for a laptop with no GPU and worse everything
@@mrlahey88but it's also basically a Windows laptop that simply works, has no bloatware, and can be upgraded later on down the line.
Nvidia is charging out of their behind for dGPUs in their laptops. ARC and the 780M iGPUs from AMD and Intel aren't 4060 level of performance but they're still really good.