For the Framework 13 Laptop AMD Ryzen 7040 Series, you need to be mindful of the following for Fedora:

- Step 6 matters. Specifically, the link off to this page (scroll down). Follow our guide, it’s a great experience. Fedora is constantly improving things.

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Others here will have their own feedback, but this is mine.

It’s too nice and I don’t want to put stickers on it.

2 main concern.

Firstly the battery is really not good as it should be for this price range. Do not expect the battery to power the laptop for the entire day.

Secondly, the framework is quite fragile. I mean, carry it in a good sleeves. Unfortunately even if you put tte laptop inside a good sleeves, you can easily bend it if it drops from a small height. I’m always careful when I carry my laptop.

The keyboard isn’t great, it feels cheap for the pricetag. Also the layout is a little daft in places.

Mostly my personal points, but also some I do not personally care about. And only criticisms

• While FW goes further in Linux Support than most manufacturers, I would not say they are making sacrifices to Windows functionality in order to increase Linux compatibility or open-source-ness of the device (I like it that way, users using mainly Linux may not)
• The modularity of the outputs and modularity in general also brings with it negatives. In terms of power consumption, performance, compatibility (additional adapters involved for the outputs. While it should not be a problem, it still makes things more complex and by its nature prevents certain stuff, like the functionality of native HDMI outputs, DP++, power efficient USB-A outputs.) Early problems with power efficiency have been improved. It remains an open question for me how much of the remaining difference versus competitors is simply result of a not very specialized product (can run as desktop for example), the modularity or design experience. For example my device seems to wake up from Modern Standby so much more frequently than other Intel devices I have seen, causing higher sleep power consumption than seems necessary)
• a particular problem of the system design: device does not power up from hibernation if lid is opened (unlike when power is plugged in). Kind of needed when you lift the keyboard for disassembly, but far less convenient on Modern Standby devices that automatically switch from suspend to hibernation dynamically.
• fan grumbles at lowest speeds (you basically hear the motor in a really quiet room) and fan control has an audible step at that speeds that just pisses me off. Staying at higher speeds would be better. Less of a problem the more power efficient the CPU is. Intel CPUs seem to output enough heat in power saving modes and on desktop to necessitate running the fan at least on lowest speeds. So it is rarely completely off.
• The particular way the outputs are modular takes up a lot of space that limits the space the laptop has for other components
• still playing catchup with other manufacturers features: (small points, I would not have expected in early devices or on launch, but that could be available as upgrades)
  • HDR screen
  • auto-brightness of keyboard backlight instead of having it to do manually, auto-timeout so it won’t stay on forever for example when watching a video
  • BIOS supervisor PW does not apply to boot-order changes / boot-menu unlike EVERY other device I have owned. I’d consider this a security issue
  • no option to disable automatic booting of any BootROM behind USB4/TB
  • no ReBar support
• either unwillingness or inability to provide software updates (firmware, BIOS) in any acceptable amount of time. At least for older products. Includes some issues officially announced as security issues that are outstanding for almost a year now. They say they are improving and not silently dropping support for older generations. That improvement can not yet be observed and plans have not been detailed enough for me to trust in that improvement before I see it. What they stated makes it seem like they new they did not have the resources for doing software support for more than 1 device if at all. Who knows if the current plan will actually add enough resources to support all generations still being sold (which are still all of them)
• Remains to be seen, how much of the stated goal of producing longer lasting devices can be achieved, if there is no way for software upgrades over time, when the hardware is technically capable of it, without replacing the entire mainboard, the most expensive part, with a newer version. Their board design shows FW trying to think of a lot of things for future possibilities (non-notebook use on limited power, touchscreen support etc). But I think a longer lasting device can only reach its full potential with ongoing software support including some software feature additions like mentioned above. While I think they have a good record for making revised hardware available, fixing flaws / disadvantages compared to competitors, like the hinges, speakers, more rigid lid for what I think are fair prices, they have not done any of that for the BIOS/software. For example the simply nice-to-have GUI is tied to the 13th gen FW board and newer, requiring an upgrade of the entire board (just an easy example not sth. I care about. I’d much more care about the software points mentioned above). They have stated, that they don’t want to ship software feature upgrades. That, together with the questionable ability to even ship security updates, makes me estimate how long I am willing to stay on one FW device significantly lower than I initially hoped for.

Weak speakers, simple cooling solution (a big issue on Intel models imo) and a dated design

The battery life isn’t great, but I’m pretty sure the issue with it discharging while off is fixed. But yeah battery life is probably my biggest complaint, but if you carry a good usb-c charger most places like I do it’s not a big issue.

Linux support is really good tho. Fedora specifically is officially supported (as well as ubuntu) but people have gotten all kinds of distros working great, usually with little to know issue at all.

My only complaint is when using the device on my lap or holding it with one hand from the front corners the trackpad likes to “click” due to flex in the chassis. This isn’t the only laptop that does this but it is super annoying.

I did not put this system together. It was a refurb 11gen that was pre assembled.

- Battery life is below average, seems to be around 6-7 hours on my 7840U w/ Fedora on 25% brightness (Still quite bright)
- Speakers are tinny at high volume
- Seems there is no hibernate mode, so I lose about 8-10% battery overnight if not plugged in

The pros outweigh the cons though

11th gen i5 owner here. my main (and only really) criticisms are the speakers and battery life.

• the optional ethernet adapter sticks out a bit (the RJ45 connector would be too large otherwise)
• the earlier models have a reflective screen
• having to use the Fn key for home end pgup pgdn is more of an annoyance than I expected coming from a ThinkPad with dedicated keys
• it’s sort of spoiled me for working on other laptops

Since upgrading from Tiger Lake to the AMD 7640U, my two biggest gripes (loud fan and short battery life) have been resolved to my satisfaction. That leaves only the more minor issues:

1. Speakers are not great. Generally not an issue since I’m usually on headphones (thank you, FW, for including the 3.5 mm headphone jack!), but when I do use the speakers, they often sound pretty muffled.
2. After two years, I have still not gotten used to using the Function keys in order to page up/page down. A six-key layout for the arrows would have been far superior.
3. Trackpad button click is still unreliable. Yes, you can tap the trackpad for the same effect, but that feels unintuitive to me and I would still greatly prefer physical mouse buttons that I can feel.

The weak speakers is the biggest thing I’ve noticed. They just aren’t loud enough if you want to cue up a video and show it to a few people. They can’t cut though the background noise.

Sometimes if I bump it really hard, the trackpad registers a false click.

There are cheaper ways to get a laptop with the same specs as a framework, but the thing to consider is not just the upfront cost, but the long term cost of ownership. If something breaks or you want to upgrade, you can swap out the components instead of replacing the whole thing.
eg. instead of spending $1500 every 2 years on a new laptop, you can spend $2000 now, then $1000 every 2 years on upgrades.

I don’t find it that expensive compared to other high end laptop, for similar specs it seems to me Lenovo Thinkpads or Apple products are more expensive.

For me the only problem is that I’ve been used to Lenovo Trackpoint in the middle of keyboard, and going back to a trackpad where you need to move your hand out of the keyboard when you want to use mouse is a big setback. So many non necessary hand an arm movements.

My only minor complaint is that I wish I had more battery life. What I have is certainly adequate, but an additional 2 or 3 hours is a dream of mine. As I understand it, I can get an additional 10% battery life with Framework’s higher capacity battery, which I will do when I notice my stock battery starting to fail.