Framework Laptop 16
Slapping parts together, Dave James takes this modular laptop with upgradable GPU for a spin.
The Framework 16 is the laptop we’ve always wanted. Well, if you put the Framework 16’s GPU party piece into the Razer Blade 14, you’ve got the laptop we’ve always wanted, but this is a vital step down that path. And without Framework, there’s no chance of getting there; it’s also incredible this innovative machine works so well even in this first generation.
Because this is a new breed of notebooks. One that ought to pave the way for genuinely upgradable laptops, in almost the same way we have endlessly configurable desktop PCs. For all the promise of MXM modules, this is the first laptop in which you can replace the graphics card in six twists of a Framework-supplied screwdriver.
Its party piece is the ability to remove the graphics card as easily as you can a desktop PC’s add-in board. It’s all housed in a removable module that slots into the rear, and can also be replaced with a blank housing if you just want to run on the machine’s processor graphics.
The promise here is that, much like with Framework’s existing mainboard offerings, you’ll eventually be able to buy a next-gen module that adds a new, more powerful generation of graphics silicon to your machine. You will no longer have to buy an entirely new laptop if you want to use a new line of mobile graphics.
Do drop in
Framework has made it its mission to create a business on the back of the idea of offering total upgradability with its own laptops, and its Framework 13 machine delivered on that for non-gaming notebooks. It’s so far three generations into Intel mainboards and has started offering AMD mobos, too, all able to be dropped into the same machine you might have bought three years ago.
But this is Framework’s first stab at a proper gaming laptop with a discrete graphics card, and a modular, userupgradable one at that. It offers the same modular inputs on either side of the chassis, except with this larger frame, you get space for two more. These are identical to Framework’s other input modules, offering you almost complete choice as to how to configure your machine.
Want to fill all six slots with USB Type-C ports? Go for it. Need a couple of HDMI and maybe a DisplayPort and Ethernet connection to boot? No problem. Want to mix and match depending on whether you’re at home or on the move? They’re as easy to switch as a USB stick.
It’s a refreshing approach, but the 16-inch goes further than the original 13-incher in every respect. One of the things we love the most about the modularity of the Framework 16 is the configurability of the keyboard. We’re fine with a mono-colour LED backlight, so the extra RGB options aren’t a huge sell, but the option to have a numpad as and when you want it absolutely is.
So, if you just want the standard keyboard on its own, that’s fine, but shift it over to one side and there’s space for a good sized numpad to drop in. And better still, you can have it on either side. If you prefer a left-side numpad, this is the first laptop to ever give that option.
There’s also an optional RGB macro-pad to fill that numpad space, too, which is a 24-key clear keycap pad that you can configure how you like through Framework’s configuration tools. The tools, for both the keyboard and the optional LED matrix spacers – yeah, you can properly glow up your machine – are largely online, which makes it all very accessible whether you’ve gone for the straight Windows prebuild or the DIY option and Linux.
This issue with all this modularity is in the final finish. Where we’ve become used to our laptop chassis hewn from single pieces of aluminium, the use of spacers either side of the trackpad module to allow it to move means there’s a necessary break in the finish. And it doesn’t look great, most especially if you’re offsetting the trackpad for a left-sided numpad, where you end up with two of the thin aluminium spacers side by side.
Again, it’s a somewhat inevitable consequence of the ultra-modular design, and while the finish isn’t totally MacBook-perfect, it’s still a compromise we’re absolutely OK with in exchange for all the ease and utility that comes with Framework’s customisable approach.