Star Labs Systems Reviews 48

Ordered Starfighter from the Starlabs website, which stated 2-4 business days. On the fourth day received the shipment notification, with the laptop being delivered shortly afterwards.
Have used it for a short while, and am very pleased so far. Keyboard and trackpad work well. Have also tried the recent Ubuntu 26.04 LTS version. Starlabs have just released a firmware update. The provided instructions were clear to follow. Note the firmware update changed the battery charge level limit back to maximum - just needed to set it back to 60% capacity, so that it doesn't charge the battery to 100% all the time when docked

My StarFighter stopped being able to shut down within 24 hours of use - it would just restart instead of shutting down properly. I didn't get a satisfactory response from support and I was forced to return it for a full refund.

Star Labs said it was a firmware bug. However, I was worried that it could have gone on to affect the hardware, especially because it was accompanied by graphics glitches that were not present before the fault. Star Labs tried to say this was software related but the software had not changed before or after. (I was running up-to-date Fedora Workstation)

It's a shame because I waited 6 months for the pre-order - I would have happily waited another couple of weeks for Star Labs to iron out any problems with the firmware before sending it out.

This, along with previous curt answers to my questions, such as "no" in response to a technical question about hardware/EC operation broke my trust. This was made worse because they could not ease my concern that a replacement StarFighter would not be brand new - i.e. would not be a unit that had been returned by another customer.

It's also worth mentioning that responses to questions were sometimes slow, sometimes taking multiple days, and some messages were missed completely by Star Labs. This was blamed on changing to a new system - a strange thing to do when shipping their flagship laptop.

I'd love to be able to trust and support a UK company making great laptops but for now, for me, unfortunately, that's not Star Labs.

The StarFighter Ultra laptop has excellent build quality, great performance, great battery life, great 4k screen, all the ports, and excellent Linux support. I was fully expecting to run into driver issues or be required to install a custom Linux distro or patched kernel to get everything working as intended, but all features of the laptop work perfectly with Void Linux, which is my daily driver. If you are an open-source enthusiast and looking for a premium machine, buy this laptop.

Recently bought a Starlite MK V.
Although I faced multiple issues and there is room for improvement in some of the hardware aspects, I can not give Star Labs anything less than five stars. Their support has been phenomenal. Now that the issues are fixed, I can confidently say that this is the first time in my life that I have actually been attached to a piece of hardware. I am very happy with my purchase and I now consider Star Labs my main vendor going forward. Thank you, Star Labs

I have, for almost two years, a Starlabs StarLite MkV, and recently, a StarBook Horizon, and I have been happy with both.

Design and build quality is good, the tablet even came with a plastic thingie to open it if needed. Nothing is glued, everything serviceable.

Better than the hardware is the technical support. A problem with suspend on the tablet, an email to support, and after a while a firmware update to fix it. Likewise, the Horizon had an eager keyboard, which sometimes double tapped. Reported, firmware update, fixed.

I have never seen that level of customer support from any hardware supplier.

UPDATE 3/20/2026: I was able to get in contact with the team at Star Labs, and they're taking a look at my laptop themselves. They've been very kind and have been great about updating me promptly. Customer service has been 5/5!
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I got a Starbook Mk VII last March, and at first it worked great. A few months ago, it started having some hiccups that I was able to work around; but then at the end of last month, the APU got completely fried and the laptop bit the dust. Unfortunately, the part that needs replacing isn't sold here in the US, and all attempts my repair guy has made to reach out to Star Labs to buy a replacement part directly from them have been met with silence. For how expensive the laptop was, I expected it to last for several years at least. Very disappointing.

Starfighter absolutely nailed it.

From the first contact, the team was fast, friendly, and genuinely helpful, support replied quickly and treated me like a human, not a ticket number. The laptop itself is a beast: excellent build quality, premium feel, and shockingly quiet even when I’m pushing heavy workloads. No annoying fan screaming, no cheap vibes — just solid engineering.

And the details matter: the docking station works flawlessly, even with my old “please just survive” laptop. That kind of compatibility is rare and shows they actually care about real-world setups.

The cherry on top: they’re even willing to provide the 3D model so I can design and print my own custom shell/case. That level of openness and customer respect is next-level.

A truly wonderful company. I seriously want more computer manufacturers to operate like this. Highly recommended.

Bought 3 x Byte mini-PCs for a small homelab Proxmox VE cluster and am loving the combination of low idle power consumption and fast storage.

Owner of a Starbook and Starlite. Ordered Starfighter.

I really like their products. Help from the support team is also great and I really do not recognize some of the other reviews talking about the support team. I experienced their responses as rapidly and helpful.

Products do what they have to do, for me the one and only supplier for Linux hardware.

Disadvantage to take into account: estimated delivery time in the shop is not accurate and too optimistic. However if you know that upfront, than you can take this into account. If an item is not in stock and you need it asap, I would not recommend the company. If that is not the case, I would definitely wait bit longer for a terrific product. During the waiting process you will receive frequent updates regarding the progress.

I waited more than 5 months in 2023 to receive a unit of their Starbook MK VI(six) with the AMD Ryzen CPU(5800U) and it's been a horrendous experience. There had been some chip shortage around the time and I wanted so much a linux oriented machine with AMD silicon that I decided to take a shot. This isn't their design in no way(as they market it), but a copy of Chinese brand Machenike(models Machcreator A, Machcreator 14, etc..), which I found by searching for a better fan and matched the part numbers.
First the hardware issues: the cooling solution(having only one tiny pipe and a single fan) proved to be highly inadequate and was constantly failing to cool the CPU+GPU combo(even under medium load). It had been reaching 90 degrees with some basic load tests(basemark's web 3.0) not to mention running some phoronix's suites which made the top-right corner scorching to the touch. There's quite unpleasant coil whine(I couldn't determine where it had been coming from but it definitely bursted into my ears right in the middle of the keyboard). I ended up disabling PBO in order to tone down the swirling noise of the fan. In addition, their power adapter(I went the usb-c route) had an issue, which I tried addressing to the support. The brick has some inner grounding issues and makes quite scary spark when plugging into a socket. On top of that, although very rarely, it sometimes stops charging. The support responded fast, but I was unable to capture the spark on camera and had plenty enough usb-c chargers to replace it. I believed the coil whine was caused by the charger, but boy how naive I'd been. The only star I'd give here is the screen, which is bright enough and has good colors.
On the software side: the coreboot saga makes those guys so ridiculous that only one word comes to my mind: you swindlers!
But here's my advice to starlabs: if I were you, I'd test quite extensively all models offered by those Chinese before start shipping them trough the mail to customers. I feel like a moron beta tester now of the crappiest laptop meant for mass-production and mass re-brading the Chinese could make up.
But my pains are over - yesterday the thing just died. I carried it 200km in a backpack on a drive and when tried starting it, nothing happened - no screen, no fan, only the keyboard lightning and the side one. I am lucky that's not my single machine and have just received a successor from a reputable brand. I'm leaving, because I have a setup to execute. So, here's a recap: don't buy Starlab AMD(and don't buy Intel for sure)!

I purchased a StarLite tablet in September. It was delivered promptly. However, as the tablet did not meet my expectations, I returned it, which is of course possible. Within two weeks, I received a refund for the purchase price minus import duties/VAT. I then contacted Starlabs, but they said I should contact DHL. Their terms and conditions also state that they do not refund import duties. I then contacted DHL, who said that Starlabs is responsible because they collect import duties on behalf of the customer. That's why I advise everyone in the EU to think about this before ordering here. In my case, it amounts to around EUR 132.24.

I inherited an as-new StarLite Mk V tablet from a friend over the summer, and I've been very impressed with it. Excellent build quality, runs Fedora wonderfully. Great to find a company building for Linux and delivering quality hardware. Very happy with Star Labs!

I have owned a Starlabs Starlite MK II since April 2020 and this laptop has been superb and after 5 years, is still running perfectly. It's build quality is excellent.

I have had to have a new battery, simply down to its age, and the customer service and guides to help me remove the original and install the new one were fabulous.

Starlabs has made far and away the best tablet I have ever had. Their customer service was responsive to any issues I brought up, 100% one of the best hardware companies anywhere.

Having just recently purchased a Star Labs Byte I can say I'm very impressed. Running it with the new Zorin OS 18. You don't see fast boot times normally but you do with Star Labs. I have it mounted on the back of a 24" monitor, so almost forget it's there. A Star Labs laptop will be next.

Pre ordered Starlite 1.0GHz quad-core Intel® N200 processor. Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz, 16GB Ram, 1TB Storage in August 2024. (Now superseded by a later model) Took slightly longer to ship than originally quoted, however I did receive email updates throughout the production phase. It arrived in December 2024 with LinuxMint preinstalled as requested with no custom options. I then re-imaged LinuxMint with non standard partitions (I'm sure the technicians would have done a custom install to my spec if I had requested it, I just preferred to do it myself). The tablet works perfectly. Since the purchase I've received two firmware update requests from Starlabs, and the updates were simple to implement and went without incident. I would recommend also purchasing the keyboard and the pen pointing device. My tablet works better with the pen pointing device than my finger, and the keyboard makes life much easier when using the tablet on a table. Would I recommend and use StarLabs again? Absolutely! Yes I would.

I bougth a starlite MKIV and I've been very happy with it.
The battery died (things that happen) and starlabs repaired it under warranty without giving me any problem.
I had some troubles with the DHL when reimporting the starlite and the people from starlabs were extremely helpful.

I have been running Ubuntu on a StarLabs StarLite since 2023 as my mobile solution, and it's been rock solid in reliability and performance. Needing to upgrade my main machine, I decided to replace it with a StarLabs Byte running Linux Mint, and that is proving to be just as good. They come ready loaded, with absolutely no issues out of the box, and firing it up and setting it up the way I like it was easy. Linux has come on a lot over the decades I have been using it, but if you really want to get the best out of the OS, using a machine that has been designed from the ground up to run Linux from StarLabs brings it to a whole new level. Totally reliable, excellent build quality and truly superb customer service and support.

I have been purchasing "online" almost from the Beginning of being able to do that,

STARLABS Answered my every question, fullfilled Every need, and of all the COMPANIES I have bought from in almost THIRTY Years, is The Finest I have had the pleasure to work with.

And that from "accross the Ocean" is even more unique!

Thank you STARLABS for your Dedication to making Customers DREAMS come true

Outstanding customer support on several occasions during the life of a laptop.
For me, this is a very important consideration in choosing a company to buy a laptop from.