All of my major issues with my “Batch 1” laptop so far have been “service after the sale” style issues. To wit:
The liquid metal recall program was, in my opinion, a “minimum effort” disaster. I never received an official Framework replacement pad despite ordering it 3 months before the first pads shipped. When I contacted Framework Support about the initial shipment of pads, I was told that they ran out of pads and that I was on a list to get one “someday.” I ended up having to procure the replacement part at my own expense. That part arrived last week and the issue is now resolved. The official Framework pad is still MIA. In addition, Framework should have been (at the very least) exchanging these boards and heat sinks instead of just supplying replacement thermal pads. Dealing with liquid metal is no joke and should not be attempted by amateurs.
Numerous USB-PD firmware issues have been ignored over the past year. These issues cause certain devices to malfunction when plugged into the laptop. A few months ago, Framework made the problem worse by releasing a new non-reversible firmware upgrade that added even more USB-PD firmware issues. This should be a priority item to fix and not something that’s on a list of “things that we’ll get around to eventually.”
Like, at this point, I’m starting to doubt the mission, or the leadership of the mission, or the user base of the mission. Something isn’t quite coming together.
Like, at this point, I’m starting to doubt the mission, or the leadership of the mission, or the user base of the mission. Something isn’t quite coming together.
I personally checked out after the February 2025 announcement event. The announcement of an entirely new category of product (Framework “Desktop”) that isn’t germane to their core mission of “thoughtfully repairable devices” while simultaneously ignoring a recently launched problematic product category (Framework 16) did not leave me with a lot of confidence in the current leadership or direction.
Yes, I’m aware of the maximum output of 140W on a single port. I don’t know if we’ll ever get power banks that’ll output 240W. They seem pretty far off given that there’s like one 240W charger and Framework’s charger is the only other charger over 140W.
I also agree that the industry behavior is a bit misleading (seems intentional). I do have to say for Anker products they do a pretty good job at letting you know what the highest output is while looking at the product on their site. But they still label it as total output.
I’m currently out of town and got to use it a little on a flight out here with my FW16. Unfortunately (fortunately?), I had a layover this time and the first flight was really short, and the second flight had 60W USB ports. So, I didn’t really get to compare the difference with it.
I’m hoping there won’t be any issues with the power delivery when I test it. One thing I did notice during that second flight was when I was charging the laptop using the Anker Prime and simultaneously charging the Anker Prime from the 60W port the output to the FW16 was slightly less than the charge from the port. Seems to be how the Anker Prime handles passthrough charging and not related to the FW16.
I’ve had my FW16 for just a few months, and overall I’m happy. I’ve ran NixOS on it, Arch, Windows 11 - everything seems to work. I don’t have any issues. I am concerned about it’s future though. I did buy it with the hope that upgrades were on the way. Now I have some doubts. Nothing concrete, but it does seem like there will need to be some major changes to address TDP limitiations. And with so many graphics powerhouses available that are thinner, lighter, and more capable - it’s looking tough.
On the other topic a developer said the production of 7840U is “complete”. It’s very sad to see it go.
I consider 7840U the best version. More energy efficient and higher performance than intel 13th gen, higher performance and cheaper to Core Ultra, more efficient except “min idle” power consumption.
Much lower idle power draw and higher GPU performance:price compared to Ryzen AI. AI 5 340 is meh. AI 7 350 is slightly more expensive than 7840U(before discount) and has the same cores/threads but the GPU is worse, 780M is better than 860M as 7+8>8+6. AI 9 HX370 is way too expensive.
The AI bubble is dragging performance and cost effectiveness down.
They don’t, with zen5 you got 2 different kinds of core (zen5 and zen5c), the c cores are equal but don’t clock as high (but you can have more of them on the same area and they may be a bit more power efficient).
Similar and same were different words last time I checked. Zen5 should have somewhat better perf per w across the board.
I think the gpu cores are still pretty much the same though so there is that.
Zen 5 vs Zen 4 is a pretty big difference performance per Watt wise.
AI300 has RDNA3.5
AI200/7x4x/8x4X have RDNA3
3.5 vs 3 is just a minor Difference n4p vs n4 Process and little higher Clocks. Speak Below 5% Difference Core by Core. The Used Memory LPDDR vs DDR has a bigger Impact.
Well, I might have dodged a bullet. It was probably a sign that points to “Framework is not ready”.
I’ve been low-key eyeing the FW13 7840U 2.8K option since I have so many parts still from the FW16 (cards, SSD, memory, etc). It was out of stock for a while, but this morning I saw they were in stock. I went to order the DIY kit with just the bare minimum, but it says my card was declined.
Strange - I called my bank and they said they didn’t see any charge attempts so there was nothing they could do on their end. They weren’t preventing the purchase.
So I sent a support ticket about it. I know they take forever to respond, but was hoping because this is a sales question not technical support, it may be quicker. It’s now almost end of business day and still no response.
Guess what? The laptop is now out of stock.
Maybe I dodged a bullet.
So email being their only customer support, no number, no chat… being a email only support not only thwarted me from getting timely support, but when giving them a 2nd chance, it thwarted a purchase.
Framework is telling me something - they don’t want my business. sigh
I’ve had x2 Framework 16 laptops for about 9 months now, one for work and one for personal use. I use the work one far more than the personal one and it has held up well so far despite being taken on multiple data center, conference, and general travel trips.
My gripes with the Framework 16.
The touchpad spacers are quite annoying since they pull my arm hair and they don’t fit perfectly flush. The touchpad module should be full length to eliminate this.
The keys scratch the screen when the laptop is closed and used in transit. I suspect this is due to the general flex in the display assembly that allows the screen to touch the keys.
Webcam quality is atrocious and quite frankly unacceptable for work usage. I purchased the Gen2 module and it has better frames per second but the quality is about that same.
The screen bleed from its backlight is apparent when using it in a dark environment.
Touchpad is okay but my palm sometimes hits it when typing and registers a press that can move my cursor focus.
The width of the laptop is larger than a MacBook 16" which makes it not fit in some bookbags. For example, the Framework 16 does not fit in my motorcycle bookbag but the MacBook 16" does.
Battery life is okay. I’d like some AMD AI chip for the 16 if it helped with battery life. I have some range anxiety when using the laptop outside my study.
Heat and fan noise was an issue until I swapped out the thermal solution to the PTM that Framework sent out.
I know I only listed gripes here and I don’t want that to overshadow the fact that I do love this laptop. It’s a great v1 product and I’m glad to support Framework as they grow and refine their lineup. If I did more traveling in my role I’d probably not own this Framework 16 and instead get some MacBook Air or perhaps try the Framework 13 with the AMD AI chip.
Still using mine on a daily base - and happy with all it provides.
Note that I don’t use the web-cam nor the microphone on that one.
The rest is fine, working as expected
I’ve only had mine since the beginning of the year, and overall I like it. The webcam is fine for my work - it’s better than the ones people with work provided dells and HP have. I don’t like the touchpad, but I don’t use it that much, I have a mouse and keyboard plugged into it. I’ve ran a couple Linux distros on it (NixOS, Manjaro) and now it has Windows - I use it for work. It is big and heavy - I’m really hoping a new mainboard comes out.
I’d be curious what the complaint bias is in this situation. Here in the forums, you mostly read the bad, but the total number of units in the wild vs the complaints probably tells a different story. The fit and finish of my FW16 is good. The BIOS is working as designed. The heat is properly routed away, the fans don’t stay on constantly - and when they are on, they are pretty quiet. I even took a straight edge along the back to see if my case was warped - it’s not.
That’s a bummer that you keep having rough luck with Framework.
I don’t use my FW 16 very hard, so that’s probably why I don’t experience a lot of the issues others have had (other than the thermal issues, which seem to be better once I ditched the liquid metal). But I’ve had a FW 13 w/7840u since they first released and I use it nearly every day. It has been a good machine for me.
It’s a shame you didn’t finally find success with Framework, but either way, I just hope you end up with something that causes you a whole lot less frustration than you had with your FW 16.
At this point I just don’t know. I am about 5 RMA’s in, and there are times when I straight up get back the unit with the same problem that it had prior.
I simply don’t believe most units are fine. I believe it’s much more likely that a lot of users just shrug off the faults and use the device anyway. But my experience with the QA, both original device and replacement parts, is badly disappointing. I don’t think I have ever owned a machine where the QA situation was so critically awful.
I have very recently ended up with a device that is not perfect, but in a shape that is at least good enough to be used just one RMA away from the number that triggers EU’s Lemon Law, so I am - I think rightfully - disappointed
I have a feeling that they replaced everything that isn’t the main problem
I have had mine since November, so a much later production. Keyboards’ fine, I can’t tell any difference in consistency at all. Expansion cards are loose, you can wiggle one around with your finger, but it doesnt rattle even if I drop the laptop on the desk hard, just one “thud”. Very quiet keys, of all things. But I am not a discerned typer. I can type 90-100 on practically anything, and even managed 40WPM on the film industrial keyboard.
Trackpad is also fine, though the click is somewhat odd feeling. Even though its a clean click.
Maybe a bottom chassis? It’s really hard to tell from a engineer’s perspective. I imagine your device still turns on, functions properly (e.g., doesnt immediately overheat/crash or have broken stuff). From a engineer’s perspective, it’s “all clear”. I imagine they wont break out a caliper to measure the size of the expansion card slots, and the E-mail system is just brutal.
I hope they do better with Version 2. I’m looking forward to get a stiffened bottom plate or something. That, or redneck the heck out of mine by bolting a steel plate to it.
I do have complaints but overall I am pretty happy. I use it to VJ at music festivals. I was never able to get the dust out of my previous laptop. With the framework I can partially take it apart and clean it better than any other laptop.
A solid single piece palm rest would go a long way to make it feel more solid IMO. I think I saw someone make a clear single piece palm rest.
