- System76’s Pangolin is powered by an AMD Ryzen 8945HS
- It supports up to 16TB of storage, but adding 2x8TB SSDs more than triples the price
- It has a battery life of only six hours and no numeric keypad, which is a shame for a 16-inch notebook
System76, a company best known for its Linux-based computers, has released the latest version of its Pangolin laptop.
Designed to offer good performance and features at a reasonable starting price, the 16-inch Pangolin aims to appeal to Linux enthusiasts looking for a laptop with a large screen.
Be warned, though: Buying the system you really want can cause costs to skyrocket.
Some compromises have been made
Powered by an AMD Ryzen 8945HS processor, the Pangolin supports up to 96 GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 16 TB of SSD storage across two M.2 slots. It features a 2K 16-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate and 100% sRGB color accuracy. The integrated Radeon 780M graphics card makes it well suited for tasks such as content creation and professional workflows.
The base price of the Pangolin starts at $1299, which seems reasonable, but adding upgrades can quickly increase the cost. In terms of memory, the laptop comes with 16GB of DDR5, but 32GB costs an additional $69, 64GB adds $199, and the maximum 96GB costs $279.
While the base model includes a 500GB SSD, upgrades range from $49 for 1TB to $1,745 for 8TB, significantly more than the laptop itself. Adding a second SSD for extra storage starts at $129 for 1TB and goes up to $1,825 for an 8TB drive. A full upgrade to 16TB of storage with two 8TB SSDs more than triples the base price of the device.
Operating system choices include System76’s excellent Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, or Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Pop!_OS comes pre-installed and offers encryption upon installation, providing additional security for users.
While the Pangolin looks good with its aluminum chassis and premium build quality, there are some compromises. It’s missing a number pad, which can be tricky for a 16-inch laptop, and battery life is limited to six hours, which might not be enough for all-day use.
The Pangolin is now available via System76’s websitewith configurable performance and storage options.
For those looking for a Linux laptop with good graphics performance and a large screen, the Pangolin is certainly a strong contender, but keep an eye on the overall price when configuring it.