Framework Laptop 13 (2021) Laptop Review

The Framework Laptop 13 2021's design is simple and understated. It has a full aluminum chassis with relatively thin bezels on three sides and a thicker bottom chin. The speakers are on the bottom near the front, while the exhaust vents are near the back. There's a rather large Framework logo on the back of the display, but it isn't overly distracting. It features a unique modular port system that lets you swap out the ports on the fly to whatever you need. You can also use these 'expansion cards' to increase storage space.

The build quality is excellent. Its all-metal chassis feels sturdy, exhibiting only a small amount of flex in the display. The finish seems fairly scratch-resistant, and the device as a whole is evenly balanced. There are tiny gaps around the display and the expansion slots, but that's part of the design as it makes it easier to replace the display panel or swap out the ports on the fly.

The hinge is outstanding. It has a wide range so that you can share the screen with someone opposite of you, and it's very sturdy, with almost no play at all. The screen doesn't wobble even when typing aggressively.

The Framework Laptop 2021 and its included power adapter are compact and light, so they're easy to fit into most bags and carry around.

The Framework Laptop 2021's serviceability is excellent. To access the internals, you only have to remove five P5 screws, pull the keyboard up and unclip it from the motherboard. It uses captive screws, meaning they don't come out completely, so you don't have to worry about losing them. Also, you can remove all the screws used in the assembly with the included screwdriver. All the replaceable components are easily accessible, and the components are standard parts available to the general public. The display's bezels attach magnetically, making them easier to remove should you need to replace the panel. You can't replace the CPU, but you can replace the entire motherboard. You can see the repair guides here.

• Framework Laptop 2021
• 60W power adapter (optional)
• USB-C to USB-C charging cable (optional)
• 4x USB-C Expansion cards (optional and configurable)
• Screwdriver
• Documentation
• Stickers

The Framework Laptop 2021 has a high-resolution screen that displays sharp images and text. Its tall 3:2 aspect ratio gives you more vertical space so that you don't have to scroll as much when reading documents and websites, but you get black bars at the top and bottom when viewing standard 16:9 videos.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has a basic refresh rate typical of most productivity laptops. The response time is slow, causing visible blur trails behind moving objects; this means it isn't the best option for viewing fast-moving content or gaming.

The Framework Laptop has a good contrast ratio for an IPS panel; however, blacks still look gray, which isn't ideal for dark room viewing.

The Framework Laptop 2021's display gets decently bright; enough for use in most indoor settings, but not outdoors in broad daylight. It also gets very dim at the lowest brightness setting to provide a more comfortable viewing in the dark as it causes less eye strain.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has decent reflection handling. Its glossy finish struggles most with direct reflections, so it's best to avoid having bright lights shining at the screen. The finish also distorts reflections slightly, making them appear closer and stretched out.

The Framework Laptop 2021's black uniformity is good. The whole screen looks grayish, but it's very uniform except for a tiny amount of backlight bleed at the bottom left corner.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has good horizontal viewing angles. The image remains accurate until you reach a moderately steep angle to the left or right. You can share color-critical work with someone else as long as the other person isn't too far off to the side.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has decent vertical viewing angles. The image looks inaccurate from above and below, but you still have a fair amount of leeway to tilt the screen before image accuracy degrades, which can be helpful when using the laptop in tight spaces like on an airplane with small tray tables.

The out-of-the-box color accuracy is mediocre. Most color inaccuracies are minor and hard to spot, but the white balance is noticeably off, especially at higher brightness levels. The color temperature is a little warmer than the standard 6500K target, giving the image a slight reddish tint. The gamma follows the sRGB curve for the most part, but dark scenes are over-darkened.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has an excellent color gamut. It's mainly an sRGB panel as it's the only color space it covers fully. It has great coverage of the wider Adobe RGB and DCI P3 color spaces, but its Rec. 2020 coverage is sub-par. Essentially, it's suitable for content creators working in sRGB, but it isn't ideal for producing and viewing HDR content or for photo editing.

The backlight is entirely flicker-free, which helps reduce eye strain for people sensitive to flickering.

The Framework Laptop 13 2021 has a good keyboard. The keys are well-spaced and stable, and they have a good amount of travel. It doesn't feel tiring to type on for an extended period, but it may take some time to get used to the layout, especially if you aren't used to the size and location of the Delete/Insert key. You can toggle through three backlight brightness levels using FN and the spacebar or turn the backlight off completely.

The touchpad is great. It's decently large, and it tracks all movements and gestures well. Palm rejection works as intended. The buttons don't feel very satisfying, though, and you can't click towards the top of the touchpad.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has good speakers. They're best suited for spoken content as they have a mid-centric frequency response with very little bass or treble extension. Unfortunately, they don't get very loud.

The webcam's video quality is excellent. The image is well-exposed, has a good amount of fine details, and the colors look natural. The microphone sounds clear, but it's very loud and picks up some background noise. There are privacy covers for both the camera and microphone.

The port selection is excellent. It has a modular port system that allows you to change the type of ports you have on the fly. Each port is a small cartridge called an 'expansion card,' and you can install up to four at a time. However, one of the ports has to be a USB-C port; otherwise, you wouldn't be able to charge the laptop. You can get an expansion card with the following port or storage drive:

• DisplayPort 1.4
• MicroSD UHS-I
• USB-A (USB 3.2 Gen 2, up to 10Gbps)
• USB-C (USB 4, charging, DisplayPort Alt Mode)
• HDMI 2.0b
• 250GB SSD
• 1TB SSD

Note: The USB-C port doesn't officially support Thunderbolt 4; however, it works with most Thunderbolt 4 docks, and it can output up to two 4k displays at 60Hz.

The wireless adapter is an Intel Wi-Fi AX201. The pre-configured Intel Core i7-1185G7 model has an Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 with vPro. If you choose a DIY Edition, you can skip the wireless adapter altogether.

Whether you choose a pre-configured model or a DIY Edition of the Framework Laptop 13 2021, there are essentially three CPU options: an Intel Core i5-1135G7, an Intel Core i7-1165G7, or an Intel Core i7-1185G7. All three are power-efficient processors designed for thin and light laptops with 4 cores and 8 threads. However, the Core i7s run at higher clock speeds and have a larger L3 cache than the Core i5. The Core i7s will be faster than the Core i5 overall, but the performance difference isn't huge and is only noticeable if you push the CPUs to their maximum capacity. It's unlikely that you'll see much difference in performance if you have a light workload that consists of tasks like web browsing, text formatting, and video playback, the types of workloads these processors are designed for. The Core i7-1185G7 is the fastest CPU option, but the performance gain over the i7-1165G7 is minimal as it only has a small clock speed bump. That said, the i7-1185G7 has extra vPro features that some businesses may require. Intel's vPro platform ensures that you get the highest performing chips, and it also includes additional security and remote manageability features.

The Framework Laptop 2021 is only available with integrated graphics. All three CPUs have Intel Iris Xe graphics; however, the Core i5's GPU has 80 execution units, while the Core i7s have 96 execution units. The Core i7s will perform better than the Core i5, but the difference is small and only noticeable when performing demanding tasks that push the GPU to its maximum capacity.

The pre-configured Base model of the Framework Laptop 2021 has 8GB of memory, the Performance model has 16GB, and the Professional model has 32GB. If you choose a DIY Edition, you can configure it with 8, 16, or 32GB in single-channel or dual-channel mode, or skip it altogether if you want to add your own memory modules. Unless you plan on adding upgrading yourself, it's best to avoid the single-channel configurations as running in single-channel mode can hamper performance in some applications.

The pre-configured Base model of the Framework Laptop 2021 has 256GB of storage, the Performance model has 512GB, and the Professional has 1TB. If you go the DIY route, you can choose between a PCIe 3.0 Western Digital Black SN750 SSD or a faster PCIe 4.0 Western Digital Black SN850 SSD. The SN750 is available in various sizes ranging from 250GB to 4TB, while the SN850 is available from 500GB to 2TB. These are all M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs that go inside the laptop, not the expansion cards. You can skip the storage configuration if you want to add your own custom storage drive.

The Framework Laptop 2021's overall score in Geekbench 5 is great. Its single-thread performance is outstanding and better than many laptops with a power-hungry H-series processor, but it isn't as good as Apple's M1 SoC. Its multi-thread performance is good; however, if you regularly use heavily multi-threaded applications, it's best to get a laptop with a processor that has more cores and threads. Likewise, while its GPU compute score is good for integrated graphics, it's significantly behind dedicated GPUs.

For the most part, the Intel Core i7-1165G7 is powerful enough for general productivity tasks like web browsing, text formatting, spreadsheets, and video playback. It can also handle some moderately intensive workloads like photo editing as long as the material isn't overly complex and there aren't too many layers and effects. However, it isn't ideal for demanding tasks like 3D animation or video editing. The Intel Core i7-1185G7's overall performance will be a little better, but the Core i5-1135G7 will be slightly worse.

The Framework Laptop 2021's overall score in Cinebench R23 is excellent. Its single-thread performance is outstanding, matching the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)'s M1 Max SoC. Its multi-thread performance is good for a 4-core, 8-thread CPU, but it lags behind other processors with more cores and threads.

The performance in Blender is mediocre. It has one of the best CPU rendering times for a power-efficient U-series processor, but it's too slow for professionals working on a deadline. It's best to do this type of rendering work on a laptop with a more powerful H-series CPU or an Apple MacBook Pro with Apple silicon, like the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021). Blender doesn't support the integrated GPU; however, it'll likely take longer than the CPU to render the same scene. The Core i5-1135G7 will be slower, likely in the same ballpark as the Acer Swift 3 14 (2020). The Intel Core i7-1185G7 will be slightly faster, but it still won't be good enough for professional use.

The Framework Laptop 13 2021 performs poorly in the Basemark GPU benchmark. It's among the better scores for integrated graphics, but it's still much lower than even an entry-level dedicated GPU like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 in the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15 (2021). Essentially, you can run some lighter or older titles, but you almost certainly have to lower the graphical settings to near minimum to get smooth frame rates.

The 512GB Western Digital Black SN750 SSD performs exceptionally well. It has fast read and write speeds, so the system boots up, launches apps, and transfers files quickly. The Western Digital Black SN850 SSDs will be even faster as they're PCIe Gen 4 drives. The speed of the SSD may vary depending on the size, as larger SSDs tend to perform better.

Framework advertises that the expansion card storage drives support USB 3.2 Gen 2 standards. The 250GB drive has up to 1000 MB/s read and 375 MB/s write speeds, while the 1TB drive has 1000 MB/s read and 1000 MB/s write speeds.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has excellent battery life. You can easily get through a typical 8-hour day of light productivity with plenty of charge to spare. Video playback consumes more power, but it still lasts long enough to get through a couple of full-length movies and TV show episodes. The battery life is extremely short when performing CPU- and GPU-intensive tasks like gaming and video editing, though it's better than most laptops with a dedicated GPU.

The Framework Laptop 13 2021 performs badly in Borderlands 3. It can barely reach playable frame rates at the lowest graphical settings, and even then, it's still very choppy due to frame drops. Neither the Intel Core i5-1135G7 nor the Core i7-1185G7 will provide a satisfactory gaming experience.

Civilization VI runs poorly on the Framework Laptop 2021 with an Intel Core i7-1165G7. The average frame rate at high settings is low; however, the frame times are very consistent, so gameplay feels relatively smooth. It isn't the smoothest experience, but it's somewhat playable because Civilization VI is a turn-based game that doesn't require fast reaction times. The turn time is reasonably fast, and it'll be slightly shorter on the i7-1185G7 but longer on the i5-1135G7.

The Framework Laptop 2021 with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 has mediocre performance in CS:GO. Its average frame rate at high settings is over 60fps, but there are lots of stutters as the frame rate drops into the 20s regularly. It'll be much smoother if you turn the graphical settings down to minimum. The i7-1185G7 will perform similarly, while the i5-1135G7 will be slightly worse.

The Framework Laptop 2021 performs poorly in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p with high settings. It can reach playable frame rates at the lowest graphical settings, but there are still some stutters here and there. None of the CPU options can provide a smooth gaming experience.

The Framework Laptop 2021 has decent thermal and noise performance. The keyboard deck is cool when idle, and although it gets slightly toasty under load, it doesn't cause discomfort. Unfortunately, the fans are loud under load. It isn't as bad as powerful gaming laptops with lots of fans, but it can be annoying if you're in a quiet room.

The Framework Laptop 2021's performance over time is superb as there isn't any thermal throttling on the CPU or GPU. The CPU gets hot under load, but there's still plenty of thermal headroom, so it's unlikely that the higher-clocked Core i7-1185G7 will throttle.

The Base and Performance pre-configured models come with Windows 10 Home, while the Professional model comes with Windows 10 Pro. If you get a DIY Edition, you can choose between Home and Pro, or skip the operating system altogether. There aren't any pre-installed applications aside from those that typically come with Windows 10.

The Framework Laptop 13 2021 has a fingerprint sensor at the top right corner of the keyboard deck, above the Delete key. It lets you log into Windows quickly and make purchases on the Windows Store.