Review Framework Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra) review: Familiar formula, now with Core Ultra and a 2.8K display

[Admin]

The Framework Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra) offers unmatched configurability and repairability—for a price.

Framework Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra) review: Familiar formula, now with Core Ultra and a 2.8K display : Read more

 

[bit_user]

I don't care how good it is or what it costs. I'm not buying a laptop without physical buttons on the track pad. Period.

Ideally, there'd be 3 buttons.

 

[slightnitpick]

I don't care how good it is or what it costs. I'm not buying a laptop without physical buttons on the track pad. Period.

Ideally, there'd be 3 buttons.

I was going to the comments section to make the same observation.

I hope someone in the extended Framework community has though of making this option (you can swap the track pad in and out like any other feature). I'd also like more port availability on the 16" model, or through a hub "dongle" that plugs in like the current plugs but just sticks out a bit.

Do you know of any laptop companies which currently offer buttoned track pads?

 

[Notton]

Do you know of any laptop companies which currently offer buttoned track pads?

Lenovo Thinkpad, X1 Carbon, T14, T16, P15, etc.
Asus TUF F15, A15

 

[cyrusfox]

Disappointing showing for Meteor lake here on this platform, bested in Single thread by prior gen and killed by the XPS QUALCOMM comparison.

This is Frameworks 4th Intel iteration and its a poor showing of battery life regression here, even with a bigger screen (You can achieve higher refresh rate and lower power consumption thanks to VRR which this has). Would love to see another battery comparison on 13th vs 14th gen with the screen being identical.

Battery regression is not new for Framework, which showed regressions also from 11th to 12th gen . Only 12th to 13th gen showed battery life improvements (6.7%). Encouraging that the big issues are being ironed out though (Continuous power consumption HDMI card). Also somehow Intel is beating ryzen on battery on framework: Forbes review

With the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U inside, the Framework 13 ran for 6 hours and 21 minutes. But Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H outlasted it, staying alive for 6 hours and 33 minutes of video playback.

Congrats, Intel: you finally landed a win!

With Qualcomm and M1-M4 on the scene destroying x86 on battery life, I truly hope Framework will embrace Lunar lake even though it is antithesis of reparability (Ram on package with CPU). Otherwise I hope Arrowlake is competitive with power.

I am seriously considering a framework purchase but if they are not more performant, or more efficient on the same chip (See comparison to zenbook with OLED which is not a power efficient display) as well as being the more expensive option as configured ($800 more than the Asus $1300 vs $2100) makes justify such a purchase impossible. Want to support the framework eco system but that is a bit too rich and big of a chasm for my ideals.

 

[TheSecondPower]

Having used Apple's haptic touchpad at work, I don't want to go to a hinged trackpad again. Every laptop should have a haptic touchpad.

 

[bit_user]

Disappointing showing for Meteor lake here on this platform, bested in Single thread by prior gen

I think this is not news, given that Intel is still selling Raptor Lake as the HX laptop SoC. Performance-wise, Meteor Lake seems like a bit of a dog. IPC didn't improve much and clockspeeds are lower than Gen 13, which pretty much leaves efficiency as the main grounds for competition.

So, the real question I'd have is how they compare on efficiency. The battery life tests only get you part way towards answering the efficiency question. One would also need to know the size (i.e. in Watt Hours) of the respective batteries.

I am seriously considering a framework purchase but if they are not more performant, or more efficient on the same chip (See comparison to zenbook with OLED which is not a power efficient display) as well as being the more expensive option as configured ($800 more than the Asus $1300 vs $2100) makes justify such a purchase impossible. Want to support the framework eco system but that is a bit too rich and big of a chasm for my ideals.

Yeah, I keep stuff a really long time. That means I don't feel so bad about buying a non-modular laptop.

Also, I like to build PCs and I'm very particular about all of the details. So, I don't see myself ever reusing a Framework compute module in a mini-desktop chassis, or something like that.

 

[bit_user]

Having used Apple's haptic touchpad at work, I don't want to go to a hinged trackpad again. Every laptop should have a haptic touchpad.

By "hinged", do you mean like where the entire pad is a big clickable button? I don't like those, either. When I've had those clickable trackpads, I would always just hit the discrete buttons.

 

[slightnitpick]

Having used Apple's haptic touchpad at work, I don't want to go to a hinged trackpad again. Every laptop should have a haptic touchpad.

Your next laptop may have a haptic touchpad, and that’s good

The mechanical touchpad has a number of weaknesses that haptic touchpads can address. That's why it's so great that they're making their way to Windows laptops.

www.digitaltrends.com

With haptic touchpads, clicks are registered equally across the whole surface.

Aah, no. That's what I hate about clickable pads. Trying to select or drag on the pad and accidentally clicking instead.

 

[TheSecondPower]

Your next laptop may have a haptic touchpad, and that’s good

The mechanical touchpad has a number of weaknesses that haptic touchpads can address. That's why it's so great that they're making their way to Windows laptops.

www.digitaltrends.com

Aah, no. That's what I hate about clickable pads. Trying to select or drag on the pad and accidentally clicking instead.

Apple's touchpads are pretty reliable. I can click and drag across the whole screen with a lower likelihood of a mistake than my likelihood of right-clicking while trying to left-click the buttons under the touchpad.

In fact, I think I can click and drag more reliably on the haptic touchpad I use for work than on the touchpad with two buttons on my personal laptop. And for physical buttons that's the best-case match up.

 

[TheSecondPower]

By "hinged", do you mean like where the entire pad is a big clickable button? I don't like those, either. When I've had those clickable trackpads, I would always just hit the discrete buttons.

Hinged trackpads are as you described. I think Apple stopped using them circa 2014 in favor of "force-touch" trackpads which I believe are generically called "haptic". These don't move, they just simulate a click when pressed with a little force. (And they simulate well; I used one for months before learning that the trackpad wasn't physically moving and clicking.) They don't require lifting a finger before clicking like tap-to-click, they just take a little force, perhaps about as much as pressing a light physical button. I usually turn off tap-to-click on any trackpad because it's too common that a tap is registered by mistake.

It did take me a few days to get used to a haptic trackpad. Clicking feels really similar to tap-to-click so my muscle memory wanted to lift and tap, which doesn't work.

I'm disappointed in how uncommon those are. If Apple still made hardware with Linux drivers I would probably buy a Mac but Asahi Linux is too limited.

 

[Phuntasm]

This time around, Framework has also introduced a new display 2880 x 1920 display option with a 120 Hz refresh rate, which is a big improvement over previously available displays.

Our review unit came with a 2880 x 1920 panel (3:2 aspect ratio, 120 Hz), a nice upgrade from the 2256 x 1504 panels included in previous models.

You need to actually state what the "nice upgrade" or the "big improvement" is! Yeah, obviously, it has a higher resolution, and refresh rate, but there's more to a display than those two very basic specs. How's the brightness? Contrast? Color accuracy? How much of the color spectrum is covered by either display? How's the usability?
Can you please elaborate?

 

[Amdlova]

With this price tag I want to crash and burn

find one HP elite G10 with 32gb 512gb nvme and ryzen 7540u for 510usd

 

[cyrusfox]

find one HP elite G10 with 32gb 512gb nvme and ryzen 7540u for 510usd

Thats a steal... I would end my search for a laptop as well if I found something of that nature. Problem is I am spending someone else's money and only need to pay for anything above $1300. I am open to either AMD or Intel. Looking for a machine to last awhile so build quality and either expandable memory or 32gb fixed. Secondary being light with decent display and 9 hour battery life.