Naming a product after a resolute, quantifyable measurement is a ballsy move.
That’s just what South Korean company LG has done with the LG gram. As the name implies, this laptop is all about being lightweight.
The 16-inch 16Z90Q review sample LG loaned me comes in at 1.2kg. Which is, admittedly, more than a gram – but still pretty damn light for a 16-inch laptop.
For comparison, the top-spec 16-inch MacBook Pro tips the scales at 2.2kg.
Despite how thin (16.8mm) and light the LG gram is, it still manages to pack in all the necesary connectivity on the side. There’s an HDMI port, two USB-C ports (with Thunderbolt 4 meaning transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps), two USB A slots, a microSD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
If you’re sick of carting dongles around with you, the sight of all those ports is very much a welcome one.
What’s more, the keyboard has plenty of travel and the keys feel very ‘clicky’ and satisfying to hit while typing. There’s also the necessary backlight for typing in the dark that can be toggled with the required function key.
The LG gram adds a numeric keypad to the right of the main keyboard which divide people. I personally found the addition cramped the main keyboard a little more than was comfortable and I needed a couple of days to adjust my typing position.
Others may be willing to sacrifice the space for the helpfulness of having the numbers there.
The trackpad, meanwhile, is spacious and feels very comfortable to use.
Since LG has opted for a 16:10 ratio on the screen, you get an 11 per cent taller display than if you were using a 16:9 computer. So there’s more you can fit onto the 14-inch screen when it comes to websites, spreadsheets or photos.
There’s an HD webcam added to the top bezel, which works well for Zoom or other video conferencing apps and also means you can log into the laptop with the Windows Hello facial recognition.
One neat feature that LG has added is called LG Glance, which utilises the webcam for a few privacy-related features. For example, when it detects you’re looking away it’ll blur the screen to prevent anyone else being able to see what you’re doing. Similarly, if it picks up someone trying to read your screen over your shoulder, it’ll alert you.
The 2,560 x 1,600 resolution means that graphics and animations look crisp and detailed. But LG has opted for an anti-glare IPS panel, so you get that kind of matte finish rather than a reflective glossy one. In my mind, that singles this laptop out more as a work tool than one for consuming media.
It also means you don’t get irritating reflections on the screen, and improved brightness. The gram goes up to 350nit, and I found I could comfortably use it outside. If you’re a digital nomad, this may well appeal to you. The one thing to bear in mind is that it isn’t a touch screen. So if you’ve become used to a 2-in-1 (LG does make a hybrid version of the gram) and are frequently jabbing at the screen as part of your interactions with the computer, you’ll have to un-learn that with this device.
Speaking of digital nomadism, the battery life on the gram is rather impressive as well. It charges quickly via the bundled USB-C 65W charger and LG says you’ll get around 13 hours of life from it based on its own benchmarking tests. I used the machine during a typical work day, mostly for writing, web browsing, emails, playing music and/or videos and doing a bit of gaming once the day was done. All of this was with the screen brightness set at maximum. All told, it got me through around eight-and-a-half hours before dying.
Under the hood is the latest 12th genaration Intel Core i7 processor clocked at 2.10GHz and backed by 16GB of RAM. There’s a generous 1TB of storage space inside as well. The LG gram arrives running Windows 11 Home and graphics are handled by the integrated Intel Iris Xe.
Although, if you wish, you can configure the laptop with an Nvidia RTX 2050 external GPU for more demanding tasks. However, this does result in a small weight gain.
Performance is second-to-none in terms of general day-to-day usage and even when I loaded up some demanding games with Steam, there still wasn’t a stutter from the gram. In fact, my only niggle with using the machine arrived in the form of prompts from bundled software like Amazon’s Alexa and McAfee antivirus to sign up and use them.
The LG gram is mostly free of bloatware but these two appear to have slipped through the net. It’s swiftly remedied by uninstalling them, although despite this I still got a popup for McAfee during start up.
Overall, the ultra light weight and impressive businesslike screen is what’ll sway you towards the LG gram over something like a MacBook Air or a Samsung Galaxy Book.
Being able to carry this laptop around in a bag without really feeling its presence is a major plus.
At £1,549 it isn’t what you’d call a cheap laptop, but if having a high-powered thin and light laptop is what you’re looking for then this will be worth the extra cash.
LG gram: the details
Name: LG gram 16Z90Q
Price: £1,549
What’s good:
- Ultra lightweight
- Anti-glare screen with privacy features
- Plenty of connection ports
What’s bad:
- Not cheap
- McAfee bloatware preinstalled
Where can I buy one? You can get it at Currys by clicking this link.
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