Framework Laptop 16 (RTX 5070) Review: A Dream Come True

Ability to upgrade graphics connected a laptop is simply a PC nerd’s dream. Comes with six hot-swappable enlargement slots for ports. Bright, color-accurate surface with 165-Hz refresh rate. Decent gaming show and artillery life.

Keyboard customization doesn’t consciousness afloat realized. Mainboard upgrade requires immoderate other work. Design is simply a spot clunky, with heavy bezels and chassis. Expensive for the performance.

Framework has earned itself a reputation. It’s 1 of the fewer electronics companies successful the satellite trying to hole the e-waste occupation with repairable and upgradable laptops. The Framework Laptop 16 bid is the largest and astir almighty laptop successful the company's lineup, featuring faster chips, much hot-swappable ports, and adjacent much customization options.

But its astir awesome feature, erstwhile it archetypal launched successful aboriginal 2024, was the committedness of upgradable graphics. It was an ambitious thought astatine the time, arsenic you typically can't upgrade oregon swap galore of the interior components of a laptop extracurricular of memory. However, with the instauration of the RTX 5070 Graphics Module, Framework is making bully connected that promise.

A Utopian Upgrade System

The plan of the Framework Laptop 16 hasn’t changed since its archetypal launch. That’s some bully and bad. Although Framework doesn’t marketplace it arsenic a gaming laptop, determination are a fig of dormant giveaways. You’ve got per-key RGB backlighting, ample bezels, and a reasonably thick, 0.71-inch chassis. It besides has the Graphics Module connected the back, which resembles the “thermal shelf” utilized successful gaming laptops for ventilation, and sometimes adjacent larboard placement. On the Framework Laptop 16, it houses the graphics module, which lets you upgrade the GPU successful the future, abstracted from the laptop. That’s precisely what I did.

I upgraded a 2024 Framework Laptop 16 with some the caller mainboard and graphics module, which gave maine a bully consciousness of however progressive the process is. It’s not bad, acknowledgment to the thoughtful plan and adjuvant guide. Getting into the instrumentality is innovative, starting with unlocking the spacers to the near and close of the touchpad. The spacers, touchpad, and keyboard tin past each beryllium removed without immoderate screws oregon finicky ribbons. Then there’s a metallic sheet that shields each the components below, and requires 16 screws to beryllium removed, and a ribbon connector. Once you’ve done that, it’s conscionable a fewer screws for the battery, and you’re fundamentally there.

There are 2 unfastened slots for storage, stacked close connected apical of each other. The secondary SSD goes underneath and needs to beryllium the smaller, quadrate format (M.2 2230), portion the longer, modular M.2 2280 format goes connected top. Just similar before, it comes with six enlargement slots, which are Framework's hot-swappable ports, letting you put them successful immoderate mode suits your needs. The graphics module besides has an further USB-C larboard astatine the back, meaning you get up to 7 full ports.

If you're upgrading the full mainboard similar I was, determination are a mates of trickier parts of the upgrade process, namely the powerfulness fastener and speakers. These some necessitate cautiously inserting a mates of tiny ribbons into a connector. The Wi-Fi module’s antenna cables besides gave maine immoderate occupation this clip around. They’re tiny, and they don’t click successful similar astir of the different connections. Overall, determination are much moving parts present than connected the Framework Laptop 13, but I was inactive impressed by however rapidly I swapped retired the full motherboard of this laptop.

Most importantly, there’s the caller graphics module itself, which present comes with an enactment for an Nvidia RTX 5070. It’s a dead-simple upgrade. Once you person the spacers, keyboard, and touchpad disconnected (which takes seconds), it’s conscionable 3 screws hidden nether the compartment to merchandise the aged module. You don’t adjacent person to region the metallic plate. Pop successful the caller module, which snaps successful with a satisfying click (like astir of the laptop’s parts). And conscionable similar that, you've gone from integrated graphics to discrete. Never has determination been specified an inventive and palmy implementation of adding discrete graphics to a laptop.

Quality Where It Counts

None of this would substance if the assorted components of the laptop weren’t high-quality. I’m blessed to study that the touchpad and keyboard are excellent; the touchpad feels creaseless and responsive, arsenic does typing connected the keyboard. I cognize not everyone appreciates the RGB aesthetic, but the backlighting is accordant and has 3 brightness levels.

The customization of the keyboard is neat too, allowing you to adhd a fig pad oregon RGB macropad module to the right. I’d inactive similar to spot much options disposable successful the future, though. I was hoping Framework would adhd antithetic keyboard layout options, possibly 1 with full-size arrow keys—or possibly adjacent an add-on with ample macro keys. The quality to customize this portion of the laptop has a batch of potential, but it inactive doesn’t consciousness afloat realized.

There’s a batch to similar astir this display. It’s sharp, with a 2560 x 1600-pixel solution and a 165-Hz refresh rate. There are gaming laptops with faster refresh rates, but for an RTX 5070, 165 Hz is plenty. It’s much than conscionable a bully gaming screen, though—it’s 1 of the champion IPS screens you’ll find connected a laptop. It maxes retired astatine 480 nits of brightness, and the colour sum is fantastic (100 percent sRGB and 99 percent Adobe RGB). I was impressed with the calibration, with an mean colour mistake of 0.88. Content creators, photographers, and video editors whitethorn not emotion the matte display, but it's an different beauteous screen.

The speakers and webcam are lone average. It uses a 1080p webcam that's beauteous subpar. The audio is decent for lone stereo speakers, bully capable for video calls, and the occasional video oregon euphony playback. But they aren't arsenic good rounded arsenic different high-end creator laptops similar the Dell 16 Premium oregon Razer Blade 16, which person up to six-speaker dependable systems.

Adding Graphics

Upgradable discrete graphics are a large deal. I privation to springiness Framework each the accolades for achieving this, due to the fact that it's been a imagination for truthful long. But show does matter, due to the fact that upgrading to the Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics module isn't precisely cheap. It costs an other $650 if you're buying the strategy fresh, whereas it's a $699 upgrade if you're coming from the archetypal Framework Laptop 16.

Between that and the imaginable $300 CPU upgrade you'll privation to get—the AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370—the laptop volition commencement astatine $2,449, and it'll lone spell up erstwhile you adhd different components similar representation and storage. To enactment things successful perspective, the highly high-end Razer Blade 16 with the RTX 5070 is astir $2,300 (though it often dips connected merchantability beneath $2,000). With the Framework Laptop 16, you're paying other for the quality to swap retired parts successful the future.

Fortunately, what you get successful instrumentality is coagulated gaming performance. It's bully capable to springiness you an enactment of playing successful autochthonal solution successful immoderate games, specified arsenic Cyberpunk 2077. The framework rates you spot supra were each tested astatine the highest graphics preset without enabling upscaling oregon ray tracing, truthful you tin get higher framework rates by dropping the settings. I similar that there's capable show to fto gamers take smoother gameplay oregon sharper visuals depending connected the crippled and the benignant of play. Of the games I tested, Black Myth: Wukong was the lone rubric that couldn't tally smoothly astatine the max graphics settings. The RTX 5070 lone has 8 GB of VRAM, which is its biggest deficiency successful AAA titles, dissimilar the desktop GPU of the aforesaid name, which has 12 GB.

The trade-off successful adding a discrete graphics paper is successful artillery life, though it's not arsenic atrocious arsenic you mightiness think. Despite having conscionable arsenic almighty graphics, the Framework Laptop 16 inactive nets astir 25 percent much artillery beingness than the cheaper gaming laptops retired there. In my testing, it lasted for adjacent to 9 hours successful section video playback. That volition equate to overmuch little successful a real-life workload—I was getting person to 5 hours successful my emblematic regular work. One unsocial payment of the strategy is that you tin ever region the graphics module if you privation to get a fewer much hours of artillery beingness portion traveling, and you don't program to play games.

One of the awesome things astir the Framework Laptop 16 is that it runs wholly disconnected USB-C power. The 240-watt GaN powerfulness charger is nary bigger than a modular charger, yet it tin powerfulness the full system, graphics included. Just marque definite to really usage some sides of the included charger to get the afloat performance.

The Framework laptops were conceived and designed earlier the caller changes successful laptop pricing. You tin present bargain a truly large laptop for $650—even little during large income events. Unfortunately, Framework's pricing doesn't thin to change, and the institution doesn't merchantability done third-party retailers. But there's an assemblage for a repairable, sustainable, and present much almighty laptop—whether you privation it to tally Linux oregon Windows. Just beryllium acceptable to wage a premium.