Review: The Framework Laptop 13, one year in

Framework Laptop 13
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I wrote a review after one year of intensive use.

https://simplexity.quest/posts/2023-10-15-framework-13-1-year.html

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I thought it was interesting the specific types of concerns you brought up in this review.

  • Expansion ports aren’t a perfect fit.
  • The back of the screen hits the surface it’s on when rotated back to the fullest extent.
  • Imperfect Linux compatibility (for many the fact it’s as compatible and supported as it is would be a plus)
  • Battery life subpar on older models
  • BIOS for one model hasn’t been updated at the same pace as others, albeit there has been an announcement of Framework expanding their efforts in that area. To be seen.

Not dealbreakers by any means for most people, imo.

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I agree, for the most part. A BIOS with unpatched vulnerabilities should be a dealbreaker for most people IMO, but many will not understand that.

Overall it is a great machine, as I said in the review. Really would like to be able to wholeheartedly recommend it, but don’t want friends to run into similar BIOS problems in the future. As soon as Framework has made good on their promises and shown they can reliably patch vulnerabilities I’d love to go around and convert everyone :sweat_smile:

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I thought it was interesting the specific types of concerns you brought up

Well - this I my perspective. Other people will not worry about glossy screens or Linux compat. And that’s perfectly fine.

I also wanted to highlight a few things that would be relevant to people I know and would recommend the device to but are not commonly mentioned in the existing reviews.

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I would go a step further and argue that most people wouldn’t even update their BIOS regardless. At least not without clear prompting.

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