The Ryzen AI 7 350 is comparable to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus or Intel Core Ultra 7 256V. As measured by Cinebench R24, it lags slightly in single-core performance and goes halfway in multi-core. These processors are not known for their powerful functions. Instead, the focus is efficiency. This is where the AMD chips are solid in the last place. Battery life on the frame laptop 13 can be improved from previous models, but it is not as much as the time you get with a Snapdragon X or Core Ultra Series 2 PC.
My light battery test on my laptop 13 lasted about 11 hours, looping local videos on Max Display brightness. Eight to 10 hours away from the game, showing how much Intel, Qualcomm and Apple have raised the bar in the past year. For my typical workload, real-time battery life dropped to about 7 and a half hours. This is the same as the original frame laptop 13 I tested in 2021. If battery life is your main problem, it may be worth waiting to see if the framework introduces the Intel Core Ultra Seriper 2 Mainboard.
Peripheral trouble
There are certain aspects of your laptop that you will always be in trouble, namely the chassis. Laptop designs that make the most of more efficient chips in the future should result in thinner laptops without losing performance. We’ve seen the reality of using thinner gaming laptops than ever before.
Photo: Luke Larsen
However, it is also worth noting that some other components are now outdated. A webcam is a great example. In 2021, when the laptop was first designed, the 2-MP webcam at 1080p was a great resolution. Many PCs are moving to 1440p or later, such as the recent M4 MacBook Air. Apple has upgraded its webcam from 720p in 2020 to 1080p in 2022, and now it’s upgraded to 12-MP in 2025. Today’s MacBook Air is priced the same as the 2020 MacBook Air.
The low-resolution screen in the starting configuration is also outdated compared to the competition. My device has a higher resolution 2,880 x 1,920 IPS panel with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which is more than just sharp, fast and color-compliant. The matte effect is perfect for deflecting glare. But it’s a configuration, and it costs over $1,500. For this price, many laptops offer sharper OLED panels with significantly higher contrast, even touch screens.
The good news is that there is a great opportunity for the framework to provide updated components to reflect current standards. The company sells webcam modules, speaker upgrades and kits that display older machines, and there is no reason to expect there won’t be a new version anytime soon. But these upgrades will cost extra money and you are confident that the framework will be delivered again.
Fortunately, the Frame Laptop 13 is still a great starting point and it will take years to really get out of date. Today, this is not just a practical answer to the e-waste problem. This is a truly unique laptop.
