Framework Laptop 12 (Wildcat Lake) review: Growing up amid an unprecedented shortage
The Framework Laptop 12 gets an infusion of 18A with Intel’s Wildcat Lake, but the poor display performance is a tough sell when prices often reach above $1,000.
The Framework Laptop 12, also known as Wildcat Lake, is a budget-friendly, repairable laptop designed primarily for students. This device, priced at $699 starting, offers a convertible 2-in-1 design, touchscreen, optional stylus, and slim frame. Although it competes with big brand laptops like the Apple MacBook Neo and Dell XPS 13, it is priced higher with less premium features.
The 1080p, 60Hz display on the laptop indicates its budget nature, and while it costs around $549 without memory or storage, it ends up being $200 to $300 more expensive than competitors when fully configured.
The Laptop 12 comes in five colors: Black, Gray, Lavender, Bubblegum, and Sage. The review unit is Lavender, and you can choose your color with the DIY version; however, the prebuilt version is only available in Sage color at the moment. The laptop features a 12.2-inch, 1920x1200 touch display with 60Hz refresh rate. USB-A and USB-C modules are available in various colors, while other expansion modules remain in a standard silver color. An optional stylus, matching the color options, is available for $59.
The laptop is portable, measuring 0.72 inches thick and weighing 2.8 pounds. Although it is thinner and lighter than some competitors, it is not as slim or light as the MacBook Neo or Dell XPS 13. The Framework Laptop 12 has a metal structure with a thermoplastic polyurethane coating to absorb impacts, giving it a plastic feel externally. The keyboard is standard with a 3.5mm headphone jack, and it supports up to four user-selectable expansion cards.
In terms of performance, the Core 7 350 CPU in the Framework Laptop 12 lags behind Intel's Xeon A18 in the MacBook Neo and the 6-core Core 5 320 in the XPS 13 in single- and multi-core Geekbench 6 scores. However, it performs better than full-fat Panther Lake in the Framework 13 Pro. Despite these performance differences, the Laptop 12 remains a competitive option despite its higher price and less premium features.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Hardware's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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