System76 Galago Pro Review: Great laptop, disappointing longevity

[Rob]

I’ve been running Linux for decades and have used it as my main operating system the entire time.
I’ve owned a System76 Galago Pro (galp7) since June 2023, and overall I really like this laptop.

It’s fast, clean, and feels purpose-built for Linux users. I run Ubuntu 24.04 on it and it’s been solid in terms of performance.

The 13th Gen i7-13700H and Iris Xe graphics handle everything I do on it, from general work to video editing and everyday use. It’s quick, smooth, and never feels like it’s struggling, no matter what I’m doing.

I maxed it out with 64 GB of RAM when I ordered it, and I’ve got zero complaints about performance.
It runs cool enough under normal use, and battery life (before the swelling issue) was fine for a thin laptop. The keyboard and display are both good, nothing flashy, just comfortable and consistent.

.-/+oossssoo+/-.               rob@system76-pc
:+ssssssssssssssssss+:           ---------------
-+ssssssssssssssssssyyssss+-         OS: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS x86_64
.ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso.       Host: Galago Pro galp7
/ssssssssssshdmmNNmmyNMMMMhssssss/      Kernel: 6.12.10-76061203-generic
+ssssssssshmydMMMMMMMNddddyssssssss+     Uptime: 17 hours, 21 mins
/sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhmNMMMNhssssssss/    Packages: 2833 (dpkg), 7 (flatpak), 25 (snap)
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.   Shell: bash 5.2.21
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+   Resolution: 1920x1080
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso   DE: GNOME 46.0
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso   WM: Mutter
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+   WM Theme: Adwaita
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.   Theme: Yaru-dark [GTK2/3]
/sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhdNMMMNhssssssss/    Icons: Yaru [GTK2/3]
+sssssssssdmydMMMMMMMMddddyssssssss+     Terminal: terminator
/ssssssssssshdmNNNNmyNMMMMhssssss/      CPU: 13th Gen Intel i7-13700H (20) @ 4.800GHz
.ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso.       GPU: Intel Raptor Lake-P [Iris Xe Graphics]
-+sssssssssssssssssyyyssss+-         Memory: 10727MiB / 64143MiB
:+ssssssssssssssssss+:
.-/+oossssoo+/-.

Where it starts to fall apart is reliability.

The touchpad failed 13 months in, just past the warranty. I had to pay $60 plus $30 shipping for a replacement.
A year later, that replacement touchpad failed again. System76 waived the shipping fee this time, but I still had to buy the part again.

When I opened the laptop to replace it, I noticed something worse. The lithium battery was puffing up under the back panel. It was enough to be concerning and definitely not something you expect to see after only two years.

I’ve had plenty of laptops over the years, and it’s rare for a quality lithium battery to swell that early unless there’s a defect or power issue.

System76 quoted me $143 for a replacement battery, which feels high given the age and circumstances. When you spend around $1,550 on a laptop built for Linux users, you expect better reliability and longer component life.

To be clear, I still like the Galago Pro.
The design is good, performance is excellent, and I appreciate how open and Linux-friendly the hardware is. I like that firmware updates come through LVFS and everything just works out of the box.

But the repeat touchpad failures and battery swelling leave a bad impression.
For a company that builds its reputation on quality and community support, this feels like something they should take more seriously.

If System76 extended their hardware coverage a bit or offered better post-warranty support, I’d absolutely buy from them again. As it stands, I love how the laptop runs, but I can't recommend it to anyone.

This laptop had become my 'main' laptop, so i'm currently running it no battery and plugged into a UPS.

 

[Brickwizard]

Perhaps next time, stick to Dell [or similar] I had my old Insperon for over 10 years [and that was second hand, and its replacement my latitude [refurb second hand] have up to now never had a major problem I wore the keys out on the old one but $2.50 got me a set of stick on letters,
My main machine is on its last legs [HP Pro-desk 400 SFF] I ordered a slightly newer replacement , it arrived thismornng, but they sent the wrong one a USFF no room to fit all my additional parts they say the advert was for either subject to stock, but lucky the invoice only states SFF, so under UK law [goods must be as described and fit for purpose] I have them by the short and curlies [polite British term]

 

[The Duck]

I know a Linux user who purchased System 76 laptop computers and both of them have had problems.

The keyboards are flimsy and were replaced after one year of use.

The batteries failed after two years and three years.

The keyboards were replaced under warranty although the batteries were not.

Batteries were found brand new from Ebay.


I'm not a laptop computer person and imo are disposable products after a few years of use.

My family has laptops that are replaced every three to four years.

The keyboards become flaky and the batteries fail.

I have a shelf full of nice two to three year old laptops that have been given me due to there failure.

IMO when you pay $700.00 to $1500.00 for anything it should last at least ten years without any failure.

Electronic today are unfortunately made using the cheapest components and designed with planned obsolescence.

These days I buy the cheapest of everything because I know it will most likely fail in a couple of years.

Service plans are also a big joke and waste of money.

I have no faith in manufacturing nowadays as no one seems to have any pride in the products they design and produce.

 

[Rob]

Perhaps next time, stick to Dell [or similar]

I'm looking at Framework right now. They seem to have really good reviews, but it a new laptop isn't currently planned in my budget.

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

I have purchased many refurbished Dell desktops and a few laptops. Only one Dell laptop has failed me otherwise all work great. Good brand.

 

[The Duck]

I've had excellent results using Dell Optiplex desktops.

The ones nowadays aren't the tank quality they used to be although they still seem to be quality made.

I've also have excellent results using HP desktops which seem to be pretty good quality made.

I never buy computers new I find them in local thrift stores where I live for next to nothing.

When I find them I buy them all and create a couple of killer builds from them.

Linux works fine on all of them.

 

[Trml]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

The last couple GNOME releases got a feature to limit battery loading to 80%, but you have to enable it in power settings https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/power-batteryoptimal.html.en

Great news to help batteries last longer, particularly since most of the time you won't need full capacity. I still have it on the to-do to look how to limit it with other DE which did not gain the feature yet.

 

[kc1di]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

The last couple GNOME releases got a feature to limit battery loading to 80%, but you have to enable it in power settings https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/power-batteryoptimal.html.en

Great news to help batteries last longer, particularly since most of the time you won't need full capacity. I still have it on the to-do to look how to limit it with other DE which did not gain the feature yet.

I use KDE 6 and it has battery charge limiting under power setting > Advanced settings. my is limited to 90% but can be changed to 80% or any other limit you choose.
Also @Rob I have had very good luck with refurbished Lenovo thinkpads but stay away from their cheaper models.

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

I use KDE 6 and it has battery charge limiting under power setting > Advanced settings. my is limited to 90% but can be changed to 80% or any other limit you choose.
Also @Rob I have had very good luck with refurbished Lenovo thinkpads but stay away from their cheaper models.

I have one Thinkpad laptop. The keyboard is the best for fast and accurate typing but then again I have somewhat large hands so it may not be a one size fits all kind of thing. Dell Latitude is not too far behind in the keyboard department.

 

[theLegionWithin]

I’ve owned a System76 Galago Pro (galp7) since June 2023, and overall I really like this laptop.

Where it starts to fall apart is reliability.

I wonder where they're sourcing their components from... I've seen similar failures in the last few years from HP's business class of laptops (at work, we've got about 90,000 of them, and then a few thousand desktops) - so we see quite a lot of failures in any given week... it's odd too as I've got an hp 9480m (that I got about 10 years ago) and have only replaced the battery once and the keyboard once. it runs perfectly well (on Arch), though it's mostly been relegated to my media player at my office. something must have changed in the last few years.

no experience with dell - you folks who use dell laptops, have you seen a similar drop in build quality in recent years?

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

no experience with dell - you folks who use dell laptops, have you seen a similar drop in build quality in recent years?

I buy refurbished so my latest machines are about 2018 ish but from my observation the builds have been excellent. My Dell laptop (from about 2018) is excellent quality although I haven't opened it up yet though.

My Thinkpad laptop (from about 2022) on the other hand while it is excellent for usage it has cheap components. For example, I've opened it up a few times and one of the screws broke off (it has one of those in place screws you can't fully remove) and the front of the lid cracked just from opening it.

I have a ThinkCentre desktop which I bought refurbished about seven years ago. That one is rock solid. No issues whatsoever and the build is solid.

 

[Brickwizard]

have you seen a similar drop in build quality in recent years?

I have not noticed any problems with the major components, Modern backlit keyboards [as useful as they are] do not seem anywhere as sensitive as the old standard ones, the battery life has increased dramatically BUT here it comes, like all manufacturers in order to cut cost and reduce weight [it seems poor little millennials don't have the strength to carry anything heavier than a phone] they have moved away from the rock solid alloy shell to plastic which doesn't give the same sense of protection to the components and is easily damaged,