I realized shortly that I wasn’t a fan of typing for too lengthy on a left-aligned keyboard, so I yanked every little thing out and center-aligned the keyboard and trackpad as a substitute. As an alternative of clean steel spacers across the keyboard, I put in some customizable LED modules, which principally exist to look fairly. That took me simply two minutes. The keyboard, by the best way, is great to sort on, with 1.5mm of key journey and a smooth touchdown that simply dampens my heavy typing. The trackpad can be easy to the contact and has a responsive click on. It is so nice that I’ve to surprise how some Home windows laptops nonetheless ship with irritating touchpads — I am you, ZenBook 14 OLED.
There’s a lot to like concerning the Framework Laptop computer 16, I used to be genuinely bummed to find that it was a reasonably mediocre gaming machine, at the least for its excessive worth. Throughout a number of video games and benchmarks, it fell in step with laptops sporting NVIDIA’s RTX 4060 GPU, a card sometimes present in programs beginning round $1,000 (and typically much less). Framework is not utterly out of line, although, Razer nonetheless sells the Blade 16 for $2,500 (down from $2,699). Keep in mind, you are paying for the magic of customizability, not simply uncooked efficiency.
Our evaluate unit included the Radeon GPU module, the Ryzen 7 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, which might all value at the least $2,144 to configure. (That does not embody the price of growth playing cards or extra enter modules.) For that amount of cash, I actually would have appreciated to see greater than 61fps on common whereas taking part in Halo Infinite in 1440p with Extremely graphics settings. In Cyberpunk, I hit 53fps on common with maxed out graphics and mid-range ray tracing settings. Each video games fared higher in 1080p — 85fps in Halo and 76fps in Cyberpunk with the identical settings — however nonetheless, these are numbers I might sometimes solely put up with in a funds gaming laptop computer.
As for benchmarks, the Framework Laptop computer 16 scored 200 factors lower than the Razer Blade 18 with an RTX 4060 in 3DMark’s TimeSpy Excessive. And as standard, the AMD GPU nonetheless lagged behind within the Port Royal ray tracing demo. Nonetheless, the Laptop computer 16 held up decently within the broader PCMark 10 benchmark, which checks productiveness apps and never simply gaming. The Framework machine hit a rating of 8,129, placing it alongside a few of the quickest machines we noticed final 12 months (it even beat out the Blade 18, which was operating a beefy Intel i9-13950HX CPU).
Whereas I might have appreciated to see greater numbers throughout the board, the Framework Laptop computer 16’s 16-inch display screen was at the least a pleasure to behold all through my testing. It is an LED panel operating at 2,560 by 1,600 pixels with a 165Hz refresh charge, a decent 500 nits of brightness and 100-percent DCI-P3 shade gamut protection. The show made the neon-soaked world of Cyberpunk pop greater than standard, although it definitely did not have the additional brightness of MiniLED screens or the eye-searing distinction of OLED panels. On the danger of repeating myself, the fantastic thing about this display screen is that you would be able to yank it off the laptop computer in a couple of minutes and exchange it in case your child damages it, or if Framework releases new modules. (Once more, massive if there.)
Photograph by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Personally, I’d additionally eagerly swap out the Laptop computer 16’s 3-watt audio system the moment Framework gives upgrades. They’re serviceable, however given what Apple and Dell provide lately, they really feel nearly insulting. Music sounds far too tinny, and so they can barely even convey the fake drama of a typical film trailer. I’m positive most individuals would use headphones whereas gaming, however if you happen to’re the form of one who depends in your laptop computer audio system for music, I urge you to contemplate different choices.
I’d additionally advocate some form of noise blocking resolution that may overpower the Laptop computer 16’s followers. Whereas I used to be gaming and benchmarking the system, I might swear it was about to carry off like my DJI drone. The followers are louder than any gaming laptop computer I’ve encountered over the previous few years, however at the least they did their job. CPU temps stayed round 80 levels Celsius underneath load, whereas the GPU sometimes stayed underneath 70C.
Because it’s an enormous gaming laptop computer, I didn’t anticipate a lot battery life from the Framework Laptop computer 16, and I used to be proper: It lasted for 4 hours and 5 minutes within the PCMark 10 “Trendy Workplace” battery benchmark. I noticed comparable outcomes whereas penning this evaluate, and as you’d anticipate, it lasted round two hours taking part in a demanding sport like Halo Infinite.
Photograph by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Very similar to the unique Framework pocket book, the Laptop computer 16 is supposed for a distinct segment group of PC customers, those that prioritize customizability and upgradability in any respect prices. When you’re a gamer making an attempt to get essentially the most frames on your greenback, this isn’t actually the machine for you (think about these funds gaming PCs, or wait to see how we really feel concerning the Zephyrus G14 in our evaluate). However in order for you a pocket book that would final you for the subsequent decade, and don’t thoughts so-so gaming efficiency, the Laptop computer 16 might be the pocket book of your desires.