LG recently officially introduced its laptops to the Dutch market. With the Gram laptops, LG focuses strongly on low weight. We tested the LG Gram 16 to find out whether LG really adds anything to the laptop market.
LG GRAM 16 (2021)
price € 1499, –
Processor Intel Core i5-1135G7
RAM 16 GB (test sample 8 GB)
Graphic Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Screen 16 inch IPS (2560 x 1600)
Storage 512 GB ssd (NVMe 3.0 x4) (test sample 256 GB)
OS Windows 10 Home
Dimensions 35.6 x 24.3 x 1.7 cm
Weight 1.19 kilos
Battery 80 Wh
Connections 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB 3.2 (5 Gbit / s), HDMI 2.0, 3.5 mm audio connection, microSD card reader
Extras Fingerprint scanner
Wireless Wifi 6, bluetooth 5.1
Website www.lg.com
8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Excellent battery life
- Light housing
- Enough connections
- Big screen
- Negatives
- Housing just too flexible
- Glossy screen (because no touch screen)
LG has been making laptops for years, with the company focusing strongly on the weight of the laptops that it therefore gives the name Gram. Until now, however, they were not (officially) for sale in the Netherlands. This is about to change, because LG recently launched six models divided into three sizes. LG calls its laptops Gram because of the low weight and after unpacking the laptop, the weight is positive. It also weighs only 1.19 kilograms, which is really very light for its size. The design is functional without any frills. Incidentally, our test sample of the LG Gram 16 white while the variants that you can buy in the Netherlands are silver or black.
The Gram laptops are made from a magnesium alloy which makes them both light and strong, according to LG. They are certainly light, but at the same time LG may have made the laptops just a little too light. Because of course the thinner the material, the less it weighs and the housing is just a bit too thin for my taste. For example, you can press the housing strongly and even with normal typing you can already see the keyboard springs. That is not something that I directly associate with solidity. The screen housing is also just a bit too flexible for my taste.
LG has Windows with a theme in which the same color pink as in the LG logo plays a prominent role. Fortunately, you apply the default Windows theme with three clicks. In terms of bloatware, LG has installed quite a few third-party applications in addition to its own applications, including McAfee, Spotify and various Cyberlink programs. Also notable is smart assistant Alexa who regularly shows a pop-up to please set the program. Alexa even has a sticker on the laptop.
In terms of connections, the Gram 16 offers a very useful package. On the left you get two USB-C with support for Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI connection and a 3.5 mm headphone connection. On the right side, LG has placed two normal usb3.0 ports and a microSD card reader.
Versions
LG markets 14, 16 and 17 inch laptops. I received a test sample of the 16inch model which you can buy in two variants with a Core i5 or Core i7 processor. Unfortunately, the test version with Core i5 is not completely identical to the Core i5 variant that you can actually buy. For example, the housing of the review sample is white while the shop variant is silver. Also in terms of specifications, the review sample is not completely identical to the version that you can actually buy. Because where the review sample is equipped with 8 GB RAM and an SSD of 256 GB, you will find in the variant in the you can buy 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. Typically, a 512 GB SSD performs better than a 256 GB one, so the test sample could be slightly slower than the one you can actually buy. However, it will not matter much.
Extra M.2 slot
Opening it once again shows how thin the material of the case is, I have never seen a bottom of a laptop that is as thin and flexible as with this LG Gram. Opening it is also a relatively difficult job because LG has hidden the eight screws under glued feet and caps. Surprises that the laptop appears to have a free M.2 slot, so the storage is easy to expand. That is the only thing, because the working memory and the WiFi card are soldered to the board.
Big screen
The screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio and, in combination with the resolution of 2560 x 1200 pixels, offers a lot of workspace. Windows is set to 150 percent scaling by default, but you can easily make it 125 percent to get just a little more workspace. The screen has a glossy finish despite the fact that it is not a touch screen. This can be a disadvantage if you work with light sources behind you, but the advantage of a glossy finish is that colors look better. The image quality of the screen is fine.
A webcam has been incorporated into the screen edge. As is often the case, a 720p camera that you can say is sufficient. It is striking in the negative sense that the camera shows a fair amount of noise in the image and cannot handle light contrasts very well.
Keyboard and touchpad
The part where the keyboard is incorporated is completely flat. This is striking, because on most laptops the keyboard is placed in a hole. The keyboard itself has lighting that you can set in two positions. The keys have enough travel and you can type comfortably on the Gram. However, the top of the laptop springs along when you are tapping, a result of the thin material the housing is made of.
The on-off switch features a fingerprint scanner and is located on the far right of the top row. This is often a disadvantage for people who blind tap and want to use the delete key. With the Gram, this disadvantage is less important because the laptop is equipped with a numeric field and the delete key is placed as the last key of the alphanumeric field. A separate numeric field is useful for those who often interact with, for example Excel works. However, the numeric field has narrower keys than the alphanumeric field and therefore feels very cramped. There is a shield on the F4 key. It turns out to switch on the Secure Mode, which switches off the webcam and microphone. They then disappear neatly from device management. In itself useful, but there is no further feedback whether the Secure Mode is on or off. Something from a light would have been handy.
Under the keyboard, LG has placed a remarkably spacious glass touchpad with a size of 13.2 x 8.3 cm. That touchpad is positioned a little more to the left because of the numeric field, but is again not exactly aligned with the center of the alphanumeric field. The touchpad has a pleasant click and works well.
Performance
The Gram is equipped with the Intel Core i5-1135G7, a quad-core processor with a maximum clock speed of 4.2 GHz. The processor performance is fine given the score of 4842 points in PCMark 10. The SSD is an NVME copy of SK Hynix which is not very impressive in terms of write performance. The maximum read speed is 3114.06 MB / s while the maximum write speed is 1114.15 MB / s. In practice, however, that does not make much difference.
What really matters with the Gram 16 is the working time, which is, in a word, excellent. LG has installed a battery with a capacity of no less than 80 Wh. With this, the laptop performs really well. In the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery test, the laptop achieved a score of no less than 17 hours and 43 minutes. And in practice, a working time of about 14 hours for office work is perfectly feasible.
Conclusion
Are you looking for a laptop with a relatively large screen, but a low weight? Then the LG Gram is certainly an interesting laptop. The slightly too flexible housing does, however, detract a bit from the quality experience for me. It’s a compromise you have to make for this low weight. You do get a very useful device in return, because the battery life is really excellent.
.