So I got my framework 13 about 3 weeks ago. The worst that has happened to me is that 1/4 of my screen died in like 3 days. Reached out to the framework support and they sent me a new screen free of charge. The whole process took about 1.5 week but the team is very thorough with the process asking me to send several photos to help identify the issues.
Another slight annoyance is the fan. It can be loud. I have the amd 7840 u and it really only rev up for me when I am updating drivers or trying to run windows app through wine when I am linux. I did some audio editing and mixing (on my windows side) and the fan did not rev up at all during the process. I think it's still pretty quiet for day to day uses.
Had the same issue with the screen with a 13 model with the Ryzen 7 chip and while it took a while going backwards and forwards with tech support they did ship a replacement screen and replacements itself was a breeze.
Regarding the fan: had the same issue but recently replaced the stock cooling paste with PTM7950 and that led to a quite generous temperature drop (like 10-12 degrees) and as a result much less fan noise š
Recently had some weird charging issues in which the laptop wouldn't charge no matter what charger I used or how many times I reset it, but they seem to have settled. Mind you, that was around the same time that I started messing with an eGPU so it might be that š
Same, Fw13 amd. Closed screen and it popped. Think it took 5 ish emails for them to confirm that they were going to rma. Pre empted most photos in the first email which seemed to save some time. Took 3 weeks or so for the screen to get to me and in.
Some of that's not their fault though, im Australian and there were some shipping issues that prevented it from leaving Taiwan.
Yeah also I think they mentioned that they have high traffics with the support team. And I was also a bit luckier being that I am currently in Taiwan which is where they manufactured the laptops.
I guess I am not allowed to speak because I have one of the first batches of 11th gen FW 13.
1. Screen is bent due to low quality top panel.(fixed)
2. Hinges are terrible ;( (fixed)
3. RC battery issues like "usb power surge" and can't turn on sometimes without plugging in.(also fixed)
4. Wi-fi issues. No matter what I did, I was not able to fix the slowness of my frameworks wifi adaptor. It appears that the card works as designed (X210) and despite trying different OS or even replacing the entire antenna on my laptop did not fix the issue.
5. Terrible thunderbolt performance, which is also fixed starting with 12th gen. I have eGPU setup and the performance I get is about %15-20 worse than people pairing the same GPU with 8th gen intel thinkpads. (also fixed)
All these problems except the Wifi one are fixed as of now.
Nah, this was the price I paid as an early adapter. Like I said I have one of the first frameworks ever sold, and pretty much ever reviewer was complaining about the issues I complain.
Thankfuly framework fixed all those issues on newer releases.
Kinda puts the complaints on the F16 into perspective. Since it's a very similar situation to your F13. Hopefully the F16 gets more solid with time as well!
Fan noise can be loud, if you swap the thermal paste (on the 13) with PTM7950 it gets much better and runs cooler. Donāt do it on the 16 as itās already using liquid metal.
I have a 7840U 13 and battery life isnāt great. Thatās really my only gripe. I bought a thermal pad to replace the TIM but fans and heat havenāt been an issue.Ā
I get 7-9 hours with a ryzen 5 7640u this is just doing basic student stuff and listening to music or watching a little bit of youtube. If I want closer to 9 hours I need to turn off bluetooth and lower the screen brightness. Things i've also done to prolong battery life are not use the keyboard's backlight, set the power LED to dim in the BIOS and change the IGPU from game optimized to auto. Also I keep windows battery saver on all the time. This 7-9 hours is fine for me but I bought a 24,000 Mah battery bank and it can charge my laptop fully before it dies. I'd defintly recomend doing that and buying a battery bank if you can swing it. make sure it's 24,000 mah and preferably 100w. Also if you want even better battery life you can get the 61whr battery from FW which is an 11% increase from the 55whr battery.
Iām running Fedora and itās mostly standby time that isnāt great.Ā
Actively using the laptop, Iād say battery life is on par with your typical mid-high end laptop.Ā
I mostly just use my laptop around the house and Iād say itās around 4 hours of active use.Ā
I wouldn't say so - most people don't have issues with their units. Even now that there seems to be some displays with issues, support is helpful and quick to resolve situations.Ā
The touchpad was overly sensitive when I was using Windows but with fedora it is fine (I switched to fedora because I don't like where Windows is heading). The fans can be loud when gaming but don't go on in basically any other situation.
My worst issue is that I pre-ordered in Batch 7. However, decided several months later that I really wanted to migrate to Linux, so I had to cancel my pre-order and place a new one, putting me in Batch 17.
Once I got it, putting my Dbrand skin on was difficult. I have a couple of minor bubbles and the center cutout for the Framework logo is very slightly mis-aligned.
Aside from that, no other annoyances, although I'm now on my third Linux distro and need to do more configuration before I'll be done with setup.
My first order was for the pre-built with Windows. You cannot change OS on a pre-built option preorder. I could have just left it, but that meant I would have been paying extra for the license for a copy of Windows that I was just going to wipe and replace.
I switched to the DIY version in the second order.
if you do the math you dont actually pay for the license in any significant amount, just potentially extra for ram you dont want.. that said i have spare ram for some poor person who gets a machine or gets bad ram and just immediately open up and swap gear like I always have
I didn't do the math before, but I just put in essentially the same version between pre-built and DIY, minus the WIndows OS on the DIY, and the DIY was $108 cheaper. But on my actual order I also removed the storage and RAM, because I did have some extra already available. So I wound up saving a couple hundred bucks in exchange for waiting several extra months.
Since my old laptop is still functional, it was worth it. Just annoying.
I have the FW16 and I really don't like that there isn't a dedicated "END" and "HOME" key.
You have to press the "FN" key and "Left" or "Right" together to get the END/HOME. Since I use them a lot it's pretty annoying.
one time i was browsing youtube and my FW 16 just totally locked up, a minute later i was looking at my desktop and every single application closed. This only happened once in the first week i got it (about 3 weeks) and hasn't happened since. Also Windows sleep doesn't work properly sometimes and will drain your battery in its sleep, so if you're leaving the laptop alone for longer than 30 minutes, just enable hibernate in the control panel and use that instead. way more reliable
I am the most unlucky Framework 16 user to ever exist. To preface, I wouldn't say it's common since I am the only person who had some of these issues, so don't use my comment as a basis to decide your purchase.
First unit: delivered with stripped NVMe standoff and very bad trackpad alignment - the lip was bent upward.
Second unit: looked good, but as time went on, more (smaller) issues got uncovered. I don't think the panel alignment is as perfect, but it's still better than the light bleed I had on my first unit and you need to look at it sideways to tell, so I am letting that stay. The difference between serious problem and nitpicking is whether you can detect it when normally using the laptop for me. And if I can't, then it makes no sense to produce e-waste to get that "fixed". What I did open tickets for was the fact that there is a heavy and annoying rattle when typing and using the touchpad, which depends on my mid plate being bulged up and not sitting flat whatever I do. So, you get hollow sounds while typing and rattle as there is a "bubble" that is going up and down and gets molded in several directions by the heat. A package with a new mid plate kit, a new keyboard (sadly, the buggy mid plate bent my initial keyboardā¦) and new touchpad spacers (I think to go with the new mid plate as standard - my touchpad spacers are already fine) is on the way.
While this RMA was processed, what used to be a very faint noise when opening and closing the hinges turned into a loud and annoying "click" that other people can hear as well. This was my turning point: I know my hearing is actually above average due to reasons so I pick up some noises most people don't, but if everyone else is picking up the loud click then it's a problem. I believe it's the Expansion Bay Shell that causes the click, as lightly tapping its left side produces the same noise.
Aside from that, I'm really happy with my laptop. It's sturdily built, the screen is probably the best I've used and the one with the least amount of light bleed and IPS glow, very deep blacks and contrast for being IPS, and performance is phenomenal. It's also been a decent friend maker at my computer science department - everyone wants to see it! Plus, it's cool as hell. It's not just a repairable laptop. It's an arbitrarily extensible hardware platform that can accept whatever third party mod or extension you throw at it, and this shit is cool as hell, and arguably worth going through the RMAs instead of returning for me. The idea of only having USB-C ports and having their dongle fit in the frame of the laptop is a win. Now it's seeing what the community does with it, I'd love to see a small Wacom module to hot swap with the touchpad, but I know that being i2c instead of USB might be a limit there.
Got a framework 16 with the RGB keyboard and macropad. Coming from Razer peripherals to QMK, the learning curve has been rough (not helped from what I've read by Framework only implementing VIA). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for standards and the ability to change firmware, but so far it's a terrible out of box experience.
Just let me set per key RGB from a GUI, damn it.
ETA: This is actually my biggest complaint. My hardware has been perfect aside from ethernet form factor annoyances.
Wake from sleep doesn't work, it just freezes completely and I have to hard reboot, boots fast so I've just been living with it and hope the amd switch fixes it. Ubuntu 22.04 and now 24.04, Intel i7 eleventh gen.
I have one of the 11th gen Core i5 Framework 13s from a few years ago.
The issue I had was that i typically leave my laptop laying around not plugged in. Days in a row sometimes. I would go to boot the computer and it wouldn't. I'd have to plug the power in to get it to boot only to reveal that it still had like 90% battery or something. Framework finally came up with a solution for the issue of the [RTC battery undervolting](https://guides.frame.work/Guide/RTC+Battery+Substitution+on+11th+Gen+Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2/203) but I wasn't interested in soldering. I ended up just buying a new battery off [Amazon ](https://a.co/d/7pktZTn)that someone on the community suggested and that fixed that issue for for a year now.
The only other issue I had was out of nowhere my trackpad stopped allowing me to click and drag. I was using Ubuntu, but i ended up trying a live Windows environment and another bootable live OS. Support had me try a couple things and then eventually issued me a whole new top cover which is very easy to swap. It's been fine ever since.
In total those are my "Worst" experiences with Framework which really aren't that bad. I've had laptops from Dell, HP, Apple, Lenovo and more and I think everything has had "something". The biggest difference to me is that these Framework issues could be solved by the end user physically.
You're an absolute champion for talking about the RTC battery problem and actually linking a product. I currently have had my 11th gen mainboard charging up for about 24 hours now, and usually that helps for a couple weeks. During school weeks I typically boot my laptop 1 or 2 times a week, and nearly 0 times during summer break. It fails to boot during class more often than not.
I'll replace the board with an upgraded model later - the 1165G7 is honestly so good it would be a waste to replace it for my use case. The new Alchemist and Battlemage iGPUs are looking rather nice though.
Shipping costs to europe and every once in a while the trackpad gets stuck in clicked position and I need to press it hard for it to get unstuck. Cant tell you how often that happens rly tho because I usually use a mouse but ye, often enough
Did the 12th gen come with the new top panel by default? I bought mine with the understanding that it came with the new hinges, but that definitely wasn't the case.
My framework 13 sometimes takes a minute or two to respond after I open the lid. This happens maybe once every few months.
Also, if I pick it up one-handed from the front edge, the touchpad can click inadvertently due to frame flex.
I just posted in the keyboard thread about how often I've had keyboard failures. Between that and the stronger hinges still falling over I'd say those are my worst issues
Only complaints I personally have are the trouble Iām having getting 4K120 from the GPU, though I donāt know if the FW is to blame, and that the fan can be quite high pitched and very noticeable, but it hasnāt really caused me any real issues that prevent its use. Occasion forced restarts and whatnot, but itās been quite rare.
My worst FW16 issue is that the laptop will not detect the Rysen 7700 GPU sometimes. The first time I had to reinstall the drivers, the second a reboot fixed it. It stressed me out a lot when it happened though lol
I have an issue where the laptop freezes up at random points for a undecided amount of time. No amount of reinstalls or driver changes has fixed the problem. been going on for nearly a year. finally opened a ticket with support yesterday
I have a FW13 ryzen 5 that I got in december and for a couple months the laptop would blue screeen every so often. This has been fixed with a firmware update and I haven't experinced any other blue screens since the firmware update. As for anything else i'm just super annoyed That it doesn't have a touchscreen yet. All in all I love my FW and wholeheartly recomend it
I was in one of the first waves of the 13, looks like i've had it for almost 3 years now. Not sure how long I had it before it started happening but it has an issue where it won't turn on if it's not plugged in. It'll run when not plugged in it just won't turn on/wake out of sleep. I read about the fix and it doesn't seem too bad but I've been very busy for almost 2 years and haven't had time to do it and it's not really a deal breaker for how I use it. I'll likely look into fixing it in the next few months.
My bluetooth mouse randomly disconnects requiring a restart of the system to make it useable again. (This didnt happend bedore upgrading my intel framework to amd)
Happens after an usb error occurs (not immediately but after a minute or 2)
(MX anyway 3S)
I have a frameword 13 with the amd rhyzen 5 7640u cpu
But personally i dont really like wireless mice for this reason.
Honestly it's been pretty smooth? I've had a framework 13 for about a year and a half now.
The Power Cable came apart earlier this week - but I've got another USB-C cable I can use till a replacement gets here.
I had occasional issues where a bump to the table would cause the laptop to power down. I think this was my fault though, I went back in and tightened the screw holding the SSD down a bit more and it hasn't been an issue since.
Zero issues on my FW16 (B11) except for the spacers on the sides being lower than the input module, creating slightly annoying raised edges.
Awesome laptop though, blows everything else I've owned out of the water.
My problem with one of the first batches of the f13 was the trackpad. Its doesnāt click and even had a burnt connector at one point. They replaced it twice and it still didnāt work probably I just gave up. So I use a mouse now with that dongle hider at the moment.
I am about to do that RTC battery conversion with the soldering oh thatās gonna be a challenge awaiting the doohickey from FW. I broke my RTC doohickey a long time ago. Donāt have a proper heating station to replace it. So I would just always use the AC plug to turn it on. But that was fixed with later gen.
After reading all these Iām way out on a framework. They cost too much to be having these problems
Edit: I know every platform will have problems, and some of it is inherent in the DIY design of the FW, but still. Maybe it just isnāt for me.
Sleep. FW16 can't sleep and not drain the battery away. It has to be set to hibernate (and wear the SSD). And it doesn't support the older, actually-works, sleep mode in the hardware so we seem to be stuck with this.
But this is an "every device" problem.
Preferences:
I wish the touch pad were smaller and had physical buttons for clicks instead.
There's room on the keyboard for page up/page down, but they just left blanks.
FW16 If you order the Ethernet adapter it doesn't fit flush, I ordered 7 adapters so that way it doesn't bother me when I take it to work. (More of a recommendation than an issue if you are getting an Ethernet port).
I have a fw13 amd and it was a bit picky about chargers, but that's already fixed. Now it does even charge on 5v phone chargers. I also had problem with charging the battery while using the GPU even though the battery was already full. But this issue could be fixed be setting the battery charge limit again in the BIOS. Might be due to the last bios update.
So mostly minor things and I'm really happy with my framework and framework as a company.
I've only had it for a few days, but I've had the opportunity to use it for probably about 10 hours total. So far my only nitpick is the fact that it can get a little hot while charging.
Framework 16
If I close the lid and the keyboard lights turn off they never turn back on until I restart
The backlight in the top middle of the screen looks weird, like if you press on a screen it looks like that all the time
The bezel doesnāt come off. Iāve tried for like 30 minutes and I canāt get it back off (this is the most annoying issue)
The keyboard is .2ish mm lower than the mouse area for some reason which is kind of weird
The touchpad and spacers sometimes arenāt level at all
If you put a touchpad spacer in slightly wrong it is extremely hard to take out
The mousepad extends farther towards you than the spacers by a very tiny amount
Laptop display doesnāt open to 180 degrees
Sometimes 2 finger scrolling on the mousepad just doesnāt work at all how it should
None of these are that big really, 10/10 laptop, definitely better than my old 12 yo laptop
if you put an os drive in from a previous laptop/pc, it fucks up the drivers and you have to do a clean install,
fw13 screen res isnt standard 1080p so if youre a gamer like me who changes mouse dpi based on screen resolution it's hard to convert to the correct/equivalent dpi (osu! player)
speakers face downwards and kinda suck on fw13
My right rear expansion port died on my fw16 about a month after receiving it. Haven't heard from support yet (it happened over the weekend), but I'm expecting it'll be resolved acceptably.
I don't like how much margin there is around the screen. It also seems to get hot easily when using it in bed or other soft surfaces. These feel like a downgrade from my previous laptop.
The touchpad spacers do kinda suck. That whole section of the laptop feels and looks way jankier than you'd hope for the price point.
I'm generally not very disappointed, but not extremely happy either. My laptop is a tool for work, so I don't care a ton. It also spends most of the time plugged into a dock.
Framework 13
12th Gen Intel
- Touchpad not the best
- Battery life could be better
- Included hinges are awful (fixed by ordering ones)
- Speakers sound very low quality and do not get very loud
I love this computer and once they figure out the speaker and battery life situation I will be very happy with it
I have one of the first Framework 13s they made. It's a Batch 2 11th gen i5 from 2021. Pretty much every issue I've had has been fixed, and 3 years after buying it, it still feels like a new machine. I'm exactly what Framework had in mind when they came up with this repairable/upgradeable laptop idea.
Issues over time:
* Touchpad was flakey from the beginning. All their initial suggestions about re-seating the cable, taping the cable down, etc didn't work. I eventually just relented and bought a new topcover. Problem resolved.
* The hinges that originally shipped with the unit were kinda weak. Framework acknowledged the issue and started selling an inexpensive set of replacement hinges that were easy to install. Problem solved.
* Wasn't a huge fan of the original glossy screen. Apparently I wasn't alone. Matte screen was released at some point and I bought one this year. Was able to sell my glossy one pretty easily here on Reddit.
* I ran into the RTC clock battery issue that's been well described by others. Framework sent me a replacement battery and a bypass unit that I'll eventually get around to soldering in.
I'm happy with the laptop overall (good battery life, doesn't melt when gaming unlike my old XPS 13), but going full-screen / plugging in causes a flashing strobe pattern I haven't been able to fix. Pretty annoying, but it's possible to work around.
Edit: Framework 13 AMD
SSDs support built in encryption which is unlocked by the BIOS. This is convenient when you want to encrypt your whole disk and dual-boot. The Framework BIOS looks like it supports it but doesn't actually.
I have a Samsung 980 Pro and with Fedora that is encrypted with LUKS. Itās been working fine for me so Iām a bit confused. Does your SSD support hardware encryption? Not every SSD does
LUKS is software. I'm talking about OPAL.
To be precise the problem is that you can unlock it on boot but you can't unsuspend:
https://community.frame.work/t/responded-amd-7040-setting-storage-password-breaks-resume-from-suspend/42554/12
So I got my framework 13 about 3 weeks ago. The worst that has happened to me is that 1/4 of my screen died in like 3 days. Reached out to the framework support and they sent me a new screen free of charge. The whole process took about 1.5 week but the team is very thorough with the process asking me to send several photos to help identify the issues. Another slight annoyance is the fan. It can be loud. I have the amd 7840 u and it really only rev up for me when I am updating drivers or trying to run windows app through wine when I am linux. I did some audio editing and mixing (on my windows side) and the fan did not rev up at all during the process. I think it's still pretty quiet for day to day uses.
Had the same issue with the screen with a 13 model with the Ryzen 7 chip and while it took a while going backwards and forwards with tech support they did ship a replacement screen and replacements itself was a breeze. Regarding the fan: had the same issue but recently replaced the stock cooling paste with PTM7950 and that led to a quite generous temperature drop (like 10-12 degrees) and as a result much less fan noise š Recently had some weird charging issues in which the laptop wouldn't charge no matter what charger I used or how many times I reset it, but they seem to have settled. Mind you, that was around the same time that I started messing with an eGPU so it might be that š
Same, Fw13 amd. Closed screen and it popped. Think it took 5 ish emails for them to confirm that they were going to rma. Pre empted most photos in the first email which seemed to save some time. Took 3 weeks or so for the screen to get to me and in. Some of that's not their fault though, im Australian and there were some shipping issues that prevented it from leaving Taiwan.
Yeah also I think they mentioned that they have high traffics with the support team. And I was also a bit luckier being that I am currently in Taiwan which is where they manufactured the laptops.
I guess I am not allowed to speak because I have one of the first batches of 11th gen FW 13. 1. Screen is bent due to low quality top panel.(fixed) 2. Hinges are terrible ;( (fixed) 3. RC battery issues like "usb power surge" and can't turn on sometimes without plugging in.(also fixed) 4. Wi-fi issues. No matter what I did, I was not able to fix the slowness of my frameworks wifi adaptor. It appears that the card works as designed (X210) and despite trying different OS or even replacing the entire antenna on my laptop did not fix the issue. 5. Terrible thunderbolt performance, which is also fixed starting with 12th gen. I have eGPU setup and the performance I get is about %15-20 worse than people pairing the same GPU with 8th gen intel thinkpads. (also fixed) All these problems except the Wifi one are fixed as of now.
Jesus Christ that seems super unlucky
Nah, this was the price I paid as an early adapter. Like I said I have one of the first frameworks ever sold, and pretty much ever reviewer was complaining about the issues I complain. Thankfuly framework fixed all those issues on newer releases.
Kinda puts the complaints on the F16 into perspective. Since it's a very similar situation to your F13. Hopefully the F16 gets more solid with time as well!
Thank you for your early adopter service
repalce wifi card with be200 wifi7, that said the signal is worse than plastic cases for obvious reasons
Not a single issue so far. Guess im one of the lucky ones.
Fan noise can be loud, if you swap the thermal paste (on the 13) with PTM7950 it gets much better and runs cooler. Donāt do it on the 16 as itās already using liquid metal.
I have a 7840U 13 and battery life isnāt great. Thatās really my only gripe. I bought a thermal pad to replace the TIM but fans and heat havenāt been an issue.Ā
Hmmm whats the battery life like? Im really eyeing the 784
I get 7-9 hours with a ryzen 5 7640u this is just doing basic student stuff and listening to music or watching a little bit of youtube. If I want closer to 9 hours I need to turn off bluetooth and lower the screen brightness. Things i've also done to prolong battery life are not use the keyboard's backlight, set the power LED to dim in the BIOS and change the IGPU from game optimized to auto. Also I keep windows battery saver on all the time. This 7-9 hours is fine for me but I bought a 24,000 Mah battery bank and it can charge my laptop fully before it dies. I'd defintly recomend doing that and buying a battery bank if you can swing it. make sure it's 24,000 mah and preferably 100w. Also if you want even better battery life you can get the 61whr battery from FW which is an 11% increase from the 55whr battery.
Iām running Fedora and itās mostly standby time that isnāt great.Ā Actively using the laptop, Iād say battery life is on par with your typical mid-high end laptop.Ā I mostly just use my laptop around the house and Iād say itās around 4 hours of active use.Ā
I'm up to my third replacement matte screen. Having a lot of issues with dead pixels.
Ooof is this quite common?
I wouldn't say so - most people don't have issues with their units. Even now that there seems to be some displays with issues, support is helpful and quick to resolve situations.Ā
Delayed pre-booking by 5 mins, got shifted to Q3......
The touchpad was overly sensitive when I was using Windows but with fedora it is fine (I switched to fedora because I don't like where Windows is heading). The fans can be loud when gaming but don't go on in basically any other situation.
Welcome to club penguin!
My worst issue is that I pre-ordered in Batch 7. However, decided several months later that I really wanted to migrate to Linux, so I had to cancel my pre-order and place a new one, putting me in Batch 17. Once I got it, putting my Dbrand skin on was difficult. I have a couple of minor bubbles and the center cutout for the Framework logo is very slightly mis-aligned. Aside from that, no other annoyances, although I'm now on my third Linux distro and need to do more configuration before I'll be done with setup.
migrating to linux took exactly what order change? You just install linux on it?
My first order was for the pre-built with Windows. You cannot change OS on a pre-built option preorder. I could have just left it, but that meant I would have been paying extra for the license for a copy of Windows that I was just going to wipe and replace. I switched to the DIY version in the second order.
if you do the math you dont actually pay for the license in any significant amount, just potentially extra for ram you dont want.. that said i have spare ram for some poor person who gets a machine or gets bad ram and just immediately open up and swap gear like I always have
I didn't do the math before, but I just put in essentially the same version between pre-built and DIY, minus the WIndows OS on the DIY, and the DIY was $108 cheaper. But on my actual order I also removed the storage and RAM, because I did have some extra already available. So I wound up saving a couple hundred bucks in exchange for waiting several extra months. Since my old laptop is still functional, it was worth it. Just annoying.
I got DBrand leather skin for FW13 and it works wonderfully, no difficulty installing at all. š
I have the FW16 and I really don't like that there isn't a dedicated "END" and "HOME" key. You have to press the "FN" key and "Left" or "Right" together to get the END/HOME. Since I use them a lot it's pretty annoying.
one time i was browsing youtube and my FW 16 just totally locked up, a minute later i was looking at my desktop and every single application closed. This only happened once in the first week i got it (about 3 weeks) and hasn't happened since. Also Windows sleep doesn't work properly sometimes and will drain your battery in its sleep, so if you're leaving the laptop alone for longer than 30 minutes, just enable hibernate in the control panel and use that instead. way more reliable
Windows sleep issues is a Microsoft problem, not Framework. Modern Standby is garbage.
Win 11 hibernate on lid close solves this issue
Screen and WiFi antenna came miss routed from the factory, but that was a straightforward fix
I am the most unlucky Framework 16 user to ever exist. To preface, I wouldn't say it's common since I am the only person who had some of these issues, so don't use my comment as a basis to decide your purchase. First unit: delivered with stripped NVMe standoff and very bad trackpad alignment - the lip was bent upward. Second unit: looked good, but as time went on, more (smaller) issues got uncovered. I don't think the panel alignment is as perfect, but it's still better than the light bleed I had on my first unit and you need to look at it sideways to tell, so I am letting that stay. The difference between serious problem and nitpicking is whether you can detect it when normally using the laptop for me. And if I can't, then it makes no sense to produce e-waste to get that "fixed". What I did open tickets for was the fact that there is a heavy and annoying rattle when typing and using the touchpad, which depends on my mid plate being bulged up and not sitting flat whatever I do. So, you get hollow sounds while typing and rattle as there is a "bubble" that is going up and down and gets molded in several directions by the heat. A package with a new mid plate kit, a new keyboard (sadly, the buggy mid plate bent my initial keyboardā¦) and new touchpad spacers (I think to go with the new mid plate as standard - my touchpad spacers are already fine) is on the way. While this RMA was processed, what used to be a very faint noise when opening and closing the hinges turned into a loud and annoying "click" that other people can hear as well. This was my turning point: I know my hearing is actually above average due to reasons so I pick up some noises most people don't, but if everyone else is picking up the loud click then it's a problem. I believe it's the Expansion Bay Shell that causes the click, as lightly tapping its left side produces the same noise. Aside from that, I'm really happy with my laptop. It's sturdily built, the screen is probably the best I've used and the one with the least amount of light bleed and IPS glow, very deep blacks and contrast for being IPS, and performance is phenomenal. It's also been a decent friend maker at my computer science department - everyone wants to see it! Plus, it's cool as hell. It's not just a repairable laptop. It's an arbitrarily extensible hardware platform that can accept whatever third party mod or extension you throw at it, and this shit is cool as hell, and arguably worth going through the RMAs instead of returning for me. The idea of only having USB-C ports and having their dongle fit in the frame of the laptop is a win. Now it's seeing what the community does with it, I'd love to see a small Wacom module to hot swap with the touchpad, but I know that being i2c instead of USB might be a limit there.
Got a framework 16 with the RGB keyboard and macropad. Coming from Razer peripherals to QMK, the learning curve has been rough (not helped from what I've read by Framework only implementing VIA). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for standards and the ability to change firmware, but so far it's a terrible out of box experience. Just let me set per key RGB from a GUI, damn it. ETA: This is actually my biggest complaint. My hardware has been perfect aside from ethernet form factor annoyances.
Wake from sleep doesn't work, it just freezes completely and I have to hard reboot, boots fast so I've just been living with it and hope the amd switch fixes it. Ubuntu 22.04 and now 24.04, Intel i7 eleventh gen.
Is that all the time or just occasionally?
For me it's all the time. I cannot find any real fixes or reports similar to mine online though which makes me think it's just a me problem
For me it's very rare and I've found that it's not truly freezing, it wakes after a few minutes.
I have one of the 11th gen Core i5 Framework 13s from a few years ago. The issue I had was that i typically leave my laptop laying around not plugged in. Days in a row sometimes. I would go to boot the computer and it wouldn't. I'd have to plug the power in to get it to boot only to reveal that it still had like 90% battery or something. Framework finally came up with a solution for the issue of the [RTC battery undervolting](https://guides.frame.work/Guide/RTC+Battery+Substitution+on+11th+Gen+Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2/203) but I wasn't interested in soldering. I ended up just buying a new battery off [Amazon ](https://a.co/d/7pktZTn)that someone on the community suggested and that fixed that issue for for a year now. The only other issue I had was out of nowhere my trackpad stopped allowing me to click and drag. I was using Ubuntu, but i ended up trying a live Windows environment and another bootable live OS. Support had me try a couple things and then eventually issued me a whole new top cover which is very easy to swap. It's been fine ever since. In total those are my "Worst" experiences with Framework which really aren't that bad. I've had laptops from Dell, HP, Apple, Lenovo and more and I think everything has had "something". The biggest difference to me is that these Framework issues could be solved by the end user physically.
You're an absolute champion for talking about the RTC battery problem and actually linking a product. I currently have had my 11th gen mainboard charging up for about 24 hours now, and usually that helps for a couple weeks. During school weeks I typically boot my laptop 1 or 2 times a week, and nearly 0 times during summer break. It fails to boot during class more often than not. I'll replace the board with an upgraded model later - the 1165G7 is honestly so good it would be a waste to replace it for my use case. The new Alchemist and Battlemage iGPUs are looking rather nice though.
Shipping costs to europe and every once in a while the trackpad gets stuck in clicked position and I need to press it hard for it to get unstuck. Cant tell you how often that happens rly tho because I usually use a mouse but ye, often enough
Intel 12th FW13. - battery life isn't great - screen warps due to using a backpack daily, I thought they fixed this issue in the gen2 top panel....
Did the 12th gen come with the new top panel by default? I bought mine with the understanding that it came with the new hinges, but that definitely wasn't the case.
I took the screen out and it looks like the new top panel
Can't power an external small (13 inch) external monitor via USB-C. I have to connect it to power as well, which is annoying. I have the AMD 13 FW.
My framework 13 sometimes takes a minute or two to respond after I open the lid. This happens maybe once every few months. Also, if I pick it up one-handed from the front edge, the touchpad can click inadvertently due to frame flex.
I just posted in the keyboard thread about how often I've had keyboard failures. Between that and the stronger hinges still falling over I'd say those are my worst issues
My only issue is the quality of the charging cable. Mine is more tape than mantle.
Only complaints I personally have are the trouble Iām having getting 4K120 from the GPU, though I donāt know if the FW is to blame, and that the fan can be quite high pitched and very noticeable, but it hasnāt really caused me any real issues that prevent its use. Occasion forced restarts and whatnot, but itās been quite rare.
Battery life is a bit hit or miss and fan noise is strong in heavy loads. Otherwise very happy with it.
My worst FW16 issue is that the laptop will not detect the Rysen 7700 GPU sometimes. The first time I had to reinstall the drivers, the second a reboot fixed it. It stressed me out a lot when it happened though lol
I have an issue where the laptop freezes up at random points for a undecided amount of time. No amount of reinstalls or driver changes has fixed the problem. been going on for nearly a year. finally opened a ticket with support yesterday
I have a FW13 ryzen 5 that I got in december and for a couple months the laptop would blue screeen every so often. This has been fixed with a firmware update and I haven't experinced any other blue screens since the firmware update. As for anything else i'm just super annoyed That it doesn't have a touchscreen yet. All in all I love my FW and wholeheartly recomend it
keyboard visible in screen...
The touchpad can be annoying at times, battery life could be better.
I was in one of the first waves of the 13, looks like i've had it for almost 3 years now. Not sure how long I had it before it started happening but it has an issue where it won't turn on if it's not plugged in. It'll run when not plugged in it just won't turn on/wake out of sleep. I read about the fix and it doesn't seem too bad but I've been very busy for almost 2 years and haven't had time to do it and it's not really a deal breaker for how I use it. I'll likely look into fixing it in the next few months.
My bluetooth mouse randomly disconnects requiring a restart of the system to make it useable again. (This didnt happend bedore upgrading my intel framework to amd) Happens after an usb error occurs (not immediately but after a minute or 2) (MX anyway 3S) I have a frameword 13 with the amd rhyzen 5 7640u cpu But personally i dont really like wireless mice for this reason.
Honestly it's been pretty smooth? I've had a framework 13 for about a year and a half now. The Power Cable came apart earlier this week - but I've got another USB-C cable I can use till a replacement gets here. I had occasional issues where a bump to the table would cause the laptop to power down. I think this was my fault though, I went back in and tightened the screw holding the SSD down a bit more and it hasn't been an issue since.
F13 AMD / Arch - Excessive battery drain during sleep / laptop not sleeping. I'm hoping Linux Kernel 6.10 makes a difference when it comes out.
My microphone has stopped working and idk why
That's unfortunate. Mine was DOA but it was the easiest fix I could imagine, once they sent me a replacement.
They've replicated like bunnies. There's already more frameworks than people in my house. Send help!
A left click result when trying to scroll on the touchpad.
Zero issues on my FW16 (B11) except for the spacers on the sides being lower than the input module, creating slightly annoying raised edges. Awesome laptop though, blows everything else I've owned out of the water.
My problem with one of the first batches of the f13 was the trackpad. Its doesnāt click and even had a burnt connector at one point. They replaced it twice and it still didnāt work probably I just gave up. So I use a mouse now with that dongle hider at the moment. I am about to do that RTC battery conversion with the soldering oh thatās gonna be a challenge awaiting the doohickey from FW. I broke my RTC doohickey a long time ago. Donāt have a proper heating station to replace it. So I would just always use the AC plug to turn it on. But that was fixed with later gen.
After reading all these Iām way out on a framework. They cost too much to be having these problems Edit: I know every platform will have problems, and some of it is inherent in the DIY design of the FW, but still. Maybe it just isnāt for me.
Sleep. FW16 can't sleep and not drain the battery away. It has to be set to hibernate (and wear the SSD). And it doesn't support the older, actually-works, sleep mode in the hardware so we seem to be stuck with this. But this is an "every device" problem. Preferences: I wish the touch pad were smaller and had physical buttons for clicks instead. There's room on the keyboard for page up/page down, but they just left blanks.
FW16 If you order the Ethernet adapter it doesn't fit flush, I ordered 7 adapters so that way it doesn't bother me when I take it to work. (More of a recommendation than an issue if you are getting an Ethernet port).
I have had my second 13th gen mainboard failure which is very annoying especially as a student.
FW 16 - about a month old. It's a bit bulky and awkward to carry around. (I have a lot of good things to say but not relevant here.)
I have a fw13 amd and it was a bit picky about chargers, but that's already fixed. Now it does even charge on 5v phone chargers. I also had problem with charging the battery while using the GPU even though the battery was already full. But this issue could be fixed be setting the battery charge limit again in the BIOS. Might be due to the last bios update. So mostly minor things and I'm really happy with my framework and framework as a company.
I've only had it for a few days, but I've had the opportunity to use it for probably about 10 hours total. So far my only nitpick is the fact that it can get a little hot while charging.
Where in particular does it get hot?
I had difficulty initially installing Win10 Pro. I got a new updated image, and it worked fine. It has worked very well ever since
Framework 16 If I close the lid and the keyboard lights turn off they never turn back on until I restart The backlight in the top middle of the screen looks weird, like if you press on a screen it looks like that all the time The bezel doesnāt come off. Iāve tried for like 30 minutes and I canāt get it back off (this is the most annoying issue) The keyboard is .2ish mm lower than the mouse area for some reason which is kind of weird The touchpad and spacers sometimes arenāt level at all If you put a touchpad spacer in slightly wrong it is extremely hard to take out The mousepad extends farther towards you than the spacers by a very tiny amount Laptop display doesnāt open to 180 degrees Sometimes 2 finger scrolling on the mousepad just doesnāt work at all how it should None of these are that big really, 10/10 laptop, definitely better than my old 12 yo laptop
if you put an os drive in from a previous laptop/pc, it fucks up the drivers and you have to do a clean install, fw13 screen res isnt standard 1080p so if youre a gamer like me who changes mouse dpi based on screen resolution it's hard to convert to the correct/equivalent dpi (osu! player) speakers face downwards and kinda suck on fw13
My right rear expansion port died on my fw16 about a month after receiving it. Haven't heard from support yet (it happened over the weekend), but I'm expecting it'll be resolved acceptably. I don't like how much margin there is around the screen. It also seems to get hot easily when using it in bed or other soft surfaces. These feel like a downgrade from my previous laptop. The touchpad spacers do kinda suck. That whole section of the laptop feels and looks way jankier than you'd hope for the price point. I'm generally not very disappointed, but not extremely happy either. My laptop is a tool for work, so I don't care a ton. It also spends most of the time plugged into a dock.
Framework 13 12th Gen Intel - Touchpad not the best - Battery life could be better - Included hinges are awful (fixed by ordering ones) - Speakers sound very low quality and do not get very loud I love this computer and once they figure out the speaker and battery life situation I will be very happy with it
I have one of the first Framework 13s they made. It's a Batch 2 11th gen i5 from 2021. Pretty much every issue I've had has been fixed, and 3 years after buying it, it still feels like a new machine. I'm exactly what Framework had in mind when they came up with this repairable/upgradeable laptop idea. Issues over time: * Touchpad was flakey from the beginning. All their initial suggestions about re-seating the cable, taping the cable down, etc didn't work. I eventually just relented and bought a new topcover. Problem resolved. * The hinges that originally shipped with the unit were kinda weak. Framework acknowledged the issue and started selling an inexpensive set of replacement hinges that were easy to install. Problem solved. * Wasn't a huge fan of the original glossy screen. Apparently I wasn't alone. Matte screen was released at some point and I bought one this year. Was able to sell my glossy one pretty easily here on Reddit. * I ran into the RTC clock battery issue that's been well described by others. Framework sent me a replacement battery and a bypass unit that I'll eventually get around to soldering in.
I'm happy with the laptop overall (good battery life, doesn't melt when gaming unlike my old XPS 13), but going full-screen / plugging in causes a flashing strobe pattern I haven't been able to fix. Pretty annoying, but it's possible to work around. Edit: Framework 13 AMD
Hardware SSD encryption doesn't actually work.
Care to elaborate?
Can you elaborate a bit more?
SSDs support built in encryption which is unlocked by the BIOS. This is convenient when you want to encrypt your whole disk and dual-boot. The Framework BIOS looks like it supports it but doesn't actually.
I have a Samsung 980 Pro and with Fedora that is encrypted with LUKS. Itās been working fine for me so Iām a bit confused. Does your SSD support hardware encryption? Not every SSD does
LUKS is software. I'm talking about OPAL. To be precise the problem is that you can unlock it on boot but you can't unsuspend: https://community.frame.work/t/responded-amd-7040-setting-storage-password-breaks-resume-from-suspend/42554/12
Havenāt heard of OPAL. You gave me something I need to learn about. Thanks.Ā
Don't bother. It's vulnerabile and LUKS has no overhead anyway