A new upgradable laptop with a discrete GPU has just been announced at a good price, but there are two big reasons not to order one yet
I kinda love modular laptops. The ability to swap parts in and out like a regular desktop, yet also pop it in your backpack is an incredibly attractive idea, and a brand called Firebat has just shown off a great little machine to rival Framework, the top dog of modular machines. However, the thing that sets this apart may also be what makes it a bit of a risky sell.
As spotted by Wccftech, Firebat has announced the Huan 16 Air, which is a laptop with an upgradable GPU. The graphics card is discrete, which means that, unlike some laptops and the best handheld gaming PCs, it doesn't use an integrated GPU alongside the CPU.
This isn't uncommon for gaming laptops of course, but what makes this specific model stand out is that you can essentially buy a new, specifically made graphics card and slot it in for better performance.
At just $780 (before tax) for the RTX 4060 model, this is a bargain price, especially when you consider you would be partially purchasing it as an investment piece. Whereas other laptops only degrade with age, this one's upgradable GPU means that its shelf life is a little better. However, as of right now, it seems it will only launch in China. This means you will pay a lot more to import it or have to hope a bigger store starts stocking Firebat models.
Comparing it to the Framework, which we previously gave a positive review, the Huan 16 Air isn't quite as customizable. Firebat has only announced you can swap out the GPU and not the rest of the laptop, like Framework. As is the case with many laptops, the SSD may be upgradeable too but we'd have to actually open it up and take a look to find out.
However, it being less upgradable than the Framework isn't the biggest downside to the future of this model. Instead, you need to look at previous upgradable designs to get the bigger picture.
The Alienware Area-51M launched back in 2019 and was pitched as an upgradable gaming laptop. Just two years after that, Alienware found itself in the middle of
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