Great question, thanks for asking.
So, my work is building machines that build very small parts, so tight tolerances are my day job. I also spent a few years in knife forums where scrutinizing the most insignificant details of specialty consumer goods was pretty much all there was to do, and there I developed a bit of self-awareness when criticizing things I am enthusiastic about. Lastly, I am a big supporter of the philosophy and the mission behind Framework products.
All these things combine to give you my opinion that the build quality of my Framework Laptop 16 that I’ve had since early March (batch 3) is…
…
…
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pretty darn good.
I give that esteemed rating not grading on a curve because I want the company to succeed and this was the first release of this product. They did not advertise this as a rough draft of a product, surely they don’t want it seen that way, and I feel it’s somewhat insulting to them to say “hey, it’s great for a first try!” No, I am not coddling Framework when I say this is a well-built machine. It feels solid, the various parts and modules fit great (apart from the touchpad and spacers, but I’ll get to that), it feels good to use, and it looks really good. There are some very impressive levels of polish on this product, and it really just oozes engineering effort.
But I am not without complaints, namely the touchpad/spacers and the flexible screen (which may or may not be a problem, I’m not actually sure yet but it feels weird). These are not build quality issues. These are design issues. I think it’s an impossible task to get the thin aluminum of the touchpad and spacers to line up as perfectly as they need to to not look shoddy or occasionally pluck hairs from my arm. Do something else there. I don’t understand why they had to make the display so thin. Add more material and stiffen it up. It’ll be fine. It’ll still look great, and it won’t make me nervous when I put my phone on top of it.
Still though, I’m nitpicking. These things don’t actually affect the way I use or feel about this laptop. I only enjoy using it. Though if they do want to impress me even more, it’s on the design engineers, not the production process. A nitpick in itself, really.