Framework Laptop 13 review: A steep price for a compelling upgrade

The Framework Laptop 13 (2025) isn’t so much a new computer, per se, as it is a refresh of some of the parts of the prior Framework Laptop 13. Aside from a new CPU (and the mainboard it comes packaged on) and a revised keyboard, much of this new Framework Laptop 13 is identical to the model tested last year. While this sameness may not make it an exciting system to upgrade to from earlier models, especially when considering the $1,946 price tag for the configuration tested here, current Framework Laptop 13 owners get to enjoy the much more affordable upgrade pathway that sets Framework apart from its competing brands. The mainboard in our test unit is just $699 after all.  

This upgradeability may make the Framework Laptop 13 a compelling option for certain types of users who pursue performance upgrades but want consistency otherwise. But for those who need a reliable system today and enjoy occasional changes, many of our favorite laptops are available at lower prices. Even if upgrades in the future are more expensive, you can try to defray those future costs with the sale of your old machine or simply enjoy the second life it can have in the hands of a friend or family member. 

Editor’s note: The Framework Laptop 13 (2025) is now available for pre-order, with shipments expecting to begin in May 2025.

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Specs and features

• CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 7 350
• Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600
• Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon 860M
• Display: 13.5-inch, 2880×1920 matte IPS with 120Hz refresh rate (rounded corners)
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 4x configurable and swappable ports, 1x combo audio jack
• Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint
• Battery capacity: 61 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 11.7 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Weight: 2.99 pounds
• MSRP: $1,946 as-tested ($1,109 base w/o Windows license or power adapter)

The new Framework Laptop 13 is built around AMD’s new Strix Point Ryzen AI 300 series CPUs with integrated graphics and discrete XDNA 2 NPUs. Framework offers both DIY (assemble-yourself) and pre-built versions with the Ryzen AI 5 340 (starting at $989), the Ryzen AI 7 350 (starting at $1,349) tested here, and the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (starting at $1,829). Each base configuration includes a 2256×1504 matte display, but Framework offers a $140 upgrade to a 2880×1920 matte display with a 120Hz refresh rate (albeit also with rounded corners). The plastic bezel around the display is also customizable with a variety of opaque and translucent colors — black and clear are free, but all others cost $10. The keyboard and deck are also included in the price, though Framework has a few special options for $10 more. 

The base configurations listed come with no storage, memory, operating system, charger, or expansion cards to give the laptop I/O like USB-C ports or HDMI. You can select these items while configuring your laptop, and they’ll raise the price in turn. If you already have any of these, then you’re able to skip these items and avoid the extra cost at checkout. However, if you don’t have these and need to have a ready-to-use laptop, the actual base price will change a bit. For instance, the $989 base rises to $1,109 for a complete laptop, and that’s still before adding a $139 Windows license (you could use Linux for free instead) and a $59 charger.

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Design and build quality 

IDG / Mark Knapp

The 2025 Framework Laptop 13 doesn’t really change much from its predecessors, and that’s by design. Since Framework’s laptops are upgradeable, they feature a consistent chassis that new parts can slot into. So this new model continues to feature the same all-aluminum construction of its predecessors, and combines that silver with a black keyboard.

It’s surprisingly thin for an upgradeable system, and it’s not overly flexible. The display hinge is a bit wiggly. After opening it or making adjustments, it will wiggle for a couple of seconds before coming to a rest. But otherwise, the system feels pretty sturdy. 

In the effort to make it accessible, Framework appears to have struggled some with seamlessness, though. There’s a clear seam between the lower and upper panels of the base, and while they fit quite closely around the sides, they don’t at the front edge. The front edge is held together with just two screws in each corner, and this setup doesn’t create enough pressure in the middle, leaving an unsightly gap between the panels.

IDG / Mark Knapp

Each side features four slots for different I/O models, which have a fairly smart retaining mechanism. They slide on rails and have a small catch to lock them into place. They fit in securely, but they also show unsightly and uneven seams. Alas, that just appears to be the cost of customizability, and it may be a tradeoff worth making. 

The customization does come with some fun options. Our test unit included a translucent purple display bezel that harkened back to old N64 controllers, for instance. Unfortunately, it had square corners that didn’t quite line up with the rounded corners of the display — not a glaring aesthetic issue, but a minor upset. The display didn’t get the most competitive bezels either, boasting thicker top and bottom bezels than you’d typically find on a similarly priced laptop in 2025. 

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Mark Knapp

The Framework Laptop 13’s new Gen 2 keyboard is largely satisfying. After a little over an hour of use, I was able to get up to a typing speed of 115 words per minute with 97 percent accuracy in Monkeytype, and by the end of my testing, I bumped that to 121 words per minute and 98 percent accuracy. On an exceptional keyboard, I find I can go a bit faster with still more accuracy, but that’s not a bad result for the Framework Laptop 13. I find the keys have decent travel and stabilization, but a slight sponginess holds them back slightly. The keys feature white backlighting with several levels of brightness. These bleed out a little around the keycaps, but they also effectively illuminate the legends. 

The trackpad included on the laptop is modestly sized, offering decent width and height for swiping and multi-finger gestures. It’s nowhere near as massive as I’ve seen on some Asus or Dell laptops, but it’s a respectable size and avoids running into my palm while I’m typing. My fingers glide smoothly across its glass surface, and it tracks my movements well. It depresses slightly when pressed, offering a mostly silent but tactile click. 

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Display, audio

IDG / Mark Knapp

The display on the Framework Laptop 13, as configured, is great. It’s not winning any awards for its quality, but its utility is top-notch. The screen gets incredibly bright, reaching almost 540 nits in my testing. That, combined with its excellent anti-glare finish, makes it exceptionally visible in most conditions. For its size, it’s sharp, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes everything smooth. Even its contrast is surprisingly strong for an IPS display, reaching 1710:1 in my testing. Color isn’t its strong suit, though. It offers a solid 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color space, but it comes up lacking in DCI-P3 color, where it only achieves 86 percent coverage. 

The speakers are similarly utilitarian. They can push out a decent amount of volume focused in the mid-range, giving human voices plenty of sound, but they can drop off considerably at the low end and can sound boxed in depending on what’s playing. They offer a nice enough performance for music, but not an impressive one, especially with their lacking bass. 

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The webcam on the Framework Laptop 13 is decent. It offers 1080p resolution and has a fairly wide angle, making it easy to frame yourself. While it ends up with a lot of noise in low-light scenes, it does a good job boosting the exposure to avoid crushed shadows while also steering clear of clipped highlights.

The mic isn’t so impressive. Even in a quiet room, I sounded a bit distant, and there was some room echo. Both the camera and microphones have hardware switches at the top of the display bezel for disabling them. These are nice to see, though they feel a little flimsier than the rest of the laptop’s build.

For signing into the system, the Framework Laptop 13 has a square fingerprint reader at the top right corner, above the keyboard. This has worked on occasion, but like many fingerprint readers on Windows laptops I’ve tested, it’s not terribly consistent.

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Connectivity

IDG / Mark Knapp

Connectivity on the Framework Laptop 13 is what you make of it. Beyond a built-in 3.5mm audio jack, the system includes four slots for customizable I/O, and Framework offers USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, 2.5Gb Ethernet, DisplayPort, microSD, and SD card slot modules. Most will sit flush with the side of the laptop, but size constraints meant that the Ethernet card had to stick out from the side of the laptop. 

While you get all these options, there are some limitations depending on which modules you insert where. All four slots support charging with USB-C modules. But the front slot on either side has limited bandwidth, so a USB-C module on those slots will only offer USB 3.2 speeds, and DisplayPort modules will only offer DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3. The same modules in the rear slots would offer USB4 and DisplayPort 2.0 UBR20, respectively. Framework has also noted that using USB-A modules in the rear slots will come with higher power consumption. 

Framework’s I/O options are good for a laptop this size, and the flexibility may be worthwhile for some. There are certainly laptops in this class that offer worse and more limited I/O. That said, you can find models that have more. Generally you won’t find full-size DisplayPort, but other than that, you can find models with multiple USB-A and USB-C ports, microSD or full-size SD, and an HDMI port. 

Framework rounds out its wired connectivity with strong wireless connections. It includes an AMD RZ717 Wi-Fi card with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Performance

The key update to the 2025 Framework Laptop 13 is the under-the-hood upgrade to the latest mobile AMD Ryzen processors. Our test unit gets the mid-level Ryzen AI 7 350, though there are more and less powerful alternatives available. With this, it’s ready to challenge some of the latest and greatest ultrabooks on the market, like the $1,689 HP OmniBook Ultra 14, $1,754 Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, $1,899 Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 Gen 10, and $1,599 MSI Sumit 13 AI+ Evo.

The new Framework Laptop 13 puts on a good show, but not the absolute best. It’s a step up over its earlier configuration, which ran on an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. In the holistic PCMark 10 test, the Framework Laptop 13 keeps up with its competition for the most part. But it doesn’t have enough horsepower to pull away from the back by any wide margins. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 and Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 (Gen 10) put it in a tough spot, as both cost less but run faster overall. 

In raw CPU performance, the Framework Laptop 13 gets more of a leg up. The CPU is a potent one for encoding, which can hit CPUs hard. It thoroughly outperforms the MSI laptop here, highlighting the Framework’s effective cooling, which always helps to keep the encode times from stretching on. The potency of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 even lets the Framework outpace the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 (Gen 10), albeit by a narrow margin. But again, the value goes to the HP OmniBook Ultra 14, which benefits from AMD’s new architecture as well but brings an even more powerful chip at the same time. 

Cinebench R24 only further confirms the standings. The Framework Laptop 13 is indeed potent among its competition, with much faster CPU performance than the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V-powered rivals in multi-core workloads and keeping a healthy lead over the Snapdragon-powered ThinkPad. It steps up considerably from the earlier Intel chip on offer from Framework. Single-core performance actually lags a little bit behind, though, but is still enough to keep the system feeling snappy. But again, the HP OmniBook keeps its lead thanks to the four extra cores it brings along. 

While the Framework Laptop 13 has a powerful CPU, Intel still shows its might in the graphics department. Even the older Framework Laptop 13 baseboard had faster graphics performance in 3DMark. The newer Intel chips in the MSI and Lenovo Yoga laptops only further widen that gap. In day-to-day operation, the Framework Laptop 13 held up well enough, and it offers more than the Snapdragon X Elite in the ThinkPad, but it won’t do much beyond light gaming. And again, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 touts more value thanks to the doubling of GPU cores it gets, allowing it to better keep pace with the Intel Arc graphics in these other machines, even if it’s still not matching the Yoga Slim 9i 14 (Gen 10) in this department. 

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Battery life

The Framework Laptop 13’s 62.3Wh battery is one of the smallest in this group, but it’s not far off. Only the ThinkPad’s 58Wh battery is smaller. It stands to reason that the Framework might suffer a slightly shorter battery life as a result, but it fared considerably worse than expected.

In our 4K video playback test, the Framework Laptop 13 ran for just over 11 hours. The next closest machine was the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14, which beat it by more than 2 hours despite its demanding OLED display, and even that was a disappointing result in our testing. The rest all topped 16 hours, which is more in line with what we want from ultrabooks trying to contend with recent MacBooks. The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo took it even farther with over 21 hours of runtime. And for all its shortcomings in performance, the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 remains a standout for its mind-blowing 23.5-hour battery life. 

On the bright side, the Framework Laptop 13 is relatively long-lasting for everyday use. It doesn’t quite match its video playback performance, but I was able to stretch the battery for 8-hour workdays quite consistently, albeit with the brightness somewhat lower at 50 percent.

Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Conclusion

The Framework Laptop 13 is a good laptop all around, but without factoring in its key differentiating feature, it fails to ascend to greatness. At any given moment, when you have the choice between buying this Framework model and all its constituent components or going with something else from competing laptop makers, you can get a more competent machine for your money by going with the latter. It’s a challenge of up-front cost that will likely always hinder the Framework Laptop 13. 

But what’s important here is that you’re still getting a good laptop if you make that up-front investment. Once you have, you could end up benefiting from upgrade pathways from Framework that would make it far more competitive against its rivals. For instance, if you want to upgrade from an old laptop to the HP OmniBook Ultra 14, you’ll pay $1,689. By contrast, if you already have a Framework Laptop 13 and want to upgrade to this one, you don’t need to pay the $1,946 this complete unit costs — you can just buy the $699 baseboard instead, or even the $999 Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 baseboard to come even closer to the OmniBook Ultra 14’s specs. By upgrading only the parts you need to upgrade, you save money on things like the display, keyboard, speakers, battery, and chassis that you don’t upgrade. 

This ultimately may leave some elements of the Framework Laptop 13 lagging behind, but since it’s generally decent all around, you at least won’t get stuck with bad parts. There are still plenty of variables you’ll want to consider, like whether you tend to sell or give away your old laptops as hand-me-downs — options the Framework Laptop 13 precludes. But if you tend to upgrade your laptop every couple of years to keep its performance up-to-speed, the Framework Laptop 13 gives you a good piece of hardware and the potential of increasing value the longer you keep it in service with upgrades through the years.