LG is renewing its LG Gram range at the end of the year. Thin and light laptops whose upgrade mainly revolves around 11th Gen Intel Core processors. However, the manufacturer is introducing a new offer with its LG Gram 16, a concrete alternative between the 14" and 17" inch models that some may consider too compact or, conversely, too large.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

With the Intel Evo platform, laptop manufacturers can push the concept of ultraportability a little further, by designing ever thinner and lighter laptops without having to sacrifice (too much) performance. This is the case of the LG Gram series, whose advantages do not stop there since LG announces a long autonomy, a screen rich in colors, and above all a unique offer at the present time since the LG Gram 16 is the first 16-inch laptop to carry a 16:10 screen with a good definition (2560 x 1600 pixels).

LG Gram 16LG Gram 16Z90P Spec Sheet

The PC was lent by LG for this test.

LG Gram 16A thin, light, but austere laptop

By discovering this laptop, one can only be surprised by the format and the weight of the machine. We quickly notice that this format is generous and offers a good space for the screen and the chassis, and yet the weight is limited to 1.19 kg for a thickness of 16.8 mm. In other words, some 14-inch ultraportables weigh more than this Gram 16 and we clearly expect to lift a heavier object when we take this PC out of its box.

On the other hand, the search for lightness engages clear and distinct compromises, visible from the first moments. Although the chassis is made of a magnesium alloy, which reassures about its durability and its resistance to shocks, it is incredibly flexible. We only notice it by typing on the keyboard: the chassis sags slightly under the pressure of our fingers. Ditto when using the touchpad, we cannot miss this feeling of fragility that the Gram 16 sends back to us during daily use. The flexibility of the materials is even more significant at the level of the screen, so that one fears an involuntary shock or a fall.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

The other moot point obviously concerns the overall design and aesthetics of the PC. It is classic and minimalist as possible, not to say austere. This will undoubtedly be a positive point for some, but not for others, because the Gram 16 only stands out for its sobriety, its format which frees up space and its featherweight. Notice, that's already a lot.

It is clear that by ignoring this aesthetic for the less consensual, there are several points that we strongly appreciate. The wide wrist rests for example, the generous touchpad and the presence of a numeric keypad, and of course the integration of the screen which has thin borders even on its lower and upper parts.

The slab does not dilute any reflection – The rough coating of the laptop attracts and retains dust // Source: Matthieu Legouge

Despite the sagging of the frame and the flexibility of the screen, it must still be noted that the finishes and the assembly of this laptop seem to us to be beyond reproach. There's nothing to suggest LG has compromised here and overall the Gram 16 cuts a fine figure. The flexibility of the materials is undoubtedly an essential element to reduce the weight as much as possible.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

Finally, there are also small things that give satisfaction. We think of the good stability of the laptop on the desk, thanks to its four non-slip feet which raise it slightly, the opening with one hand which poses no problem, or even a coating which retains little fingerprints. Note however that this coating around the keyboard and touchpad is rough and is not the most pleasant to the touch.

Keyboard and touchpad

The Gram 16's keyboard takes up a lot of space and even allows you to integrate a numeric keypad. However, some keys have a reduced size, or are shared between several functions.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

The typing experience isn't bad, but we've seen better. The key travel is very short and responsive. The activation is well marked, both felt under the finger and by ear. The Gram 16's keyboard is indeed quite audible compared to others, which can possibly be disturbing on a daily basis. Of course, the nuisances emitted have nothing to do with a mechanical keyboard, but they are noticeable enough to be underlined here. Finally, the backlight is bright enough and adjustable to 2 levels of intensity, in addition to its deactivation.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

The touchpad has generous dimensions (131.5 x 82.6mm) while leaving plenty of space for the wrists. Not much to say about its precision or the gliding experience which are excellent. On the other hand, the sound emitted by the clicks is once again quite distinct and clearly audible. Finally, the noises that we notice during use complete our remarks about the flexibility of the chassis and the screen: they convey the feeling of a "cheap" laptop even though the manufacturing quality seems the appointment.

The connection

The LG Gram 16 is not stingy in connectivity, something that is becoming increasingly rare on models that are distinguished by their finesse. On the right side, there are two USB 3.2 ports, a microSD card reader, and a Kensington security slot.

In addition, on the left edge, two USB-C ports compatible Thunderbolt 4 and Power Delivery, a combo jack output, and finally an HDMI port.

webcam and audio

There is, alas, nothing positive to report regarding the audio section and the webcam of the Gram 16. These are often the two poor relatives of laptops, something all the more true in the segment of the ultraportable. The audio is mediocre and not very powerful, while the camera is in our opinion quite insufficient for everyday and professional use, especially for teleworking. It will do, for want of anything better.

The absence of infrared, however, allows successful integration of the webcam, with an upper edge that remains thin despite its presence. The LG Gram 16, however, offers biometrics, with a fingerprint sensor placed on the power button.

LG Gram 16A pleasant screen for everyday life

On paper the screen is the great asset of the LG Gram. Our test copy sports a 16-inch panel, in 16:10 format, with a definition of 2560 x 1600 pixels. When starting the PC for the first time, I was almost fooled by this screen, thinking that it was a touch screen.

LG has indeed opted for a glossy panel, and not matte, probably to boost the brightness of the screen. A glossy but non-touch screen, therefore. However, the maximum brightness isn't really much higher than others, with a peak measured at 365 cd/m². It is sufficient, but certainly not in all situations, with disturbing reflections in a well-exposed room or outdoors. The black point is measured at 0.277 cd/m², which results in a contrast ratio of 1,319:1, a fairly good value for an IPS panel.

The color temperature is a little too cold with an average value of 7135 K and overall the LG Gram 16's screen lacks accuracy. It can be seen on the RGB curve, the gamma and the gray scale, but also with an average Delta E of 4.9 and a maximum Delta E of 7.21.

On the other hand, this screen displays quite rich color palettes. sRGB coverage is 100%, while AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 are represented at 84.3% and 95.4% respectively.

Overall, we're not dealing with a bad screen. Its daily use is very pleasant with a good pixel density and a 16:10 format which makes the difference for productivity. The most demanding will however need to calibrate this screen.

LG Gram 16Software

The LG Gram 16 is the first laptop we tested to come with Windows 11, in its Home version here. It also comes with a panoply of preinstalled software, starting with the indestructible McAfee antivirus which is a source of constant nuisance that we would do well without.

There is also the Cyberlink software suite (AudioDirector, PhotoDirector, etc.), and several LG software. Among them LG offers us the services of Virtoo, to associate smartphone and laptop, LG Update Center, LG Easy Guide, but especially LG Control Center. The latter is not essential, but allows you to have two or three useful things at hand: power management, Windows security, cooling mode, or even the color temperature of the screen.

LG Gram 16Performance

The LG Gram 16 draws its performance from the Tiger Lake platform with a Core ^i7-1165G7 processor, the 11th generation of Intel mobile processors that already equip many laptops. With its 4 cores and 8 threads, it operates at a base frequency of 2.8 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.7 GHz in single-core. Its maximum TDP is 28 W, in reality the LG Gram lowers its consumption to around 22 W during heavy loads when we select the “performance” profile via the LG Control Center software. In "optimal" mode, consumption is more between 18 and 20 W.

This low-power strategy slightly hits performance, as we can see with Cinebench R23. Our LG Gram 16 obtains 1,372 points in single-core and 4,655 points in multi-core. These results (in multi-core) are between 10 and 20% below other laptops equipped with this same chip and which we have been able to examine recently. For example, the Honor MagicBook 14 had a score of 5,702 points during its test.

The difference is less marked with the Modern Office benchmark of PCMark 10. Our copy obtains a score of 5,058 points, slightly lower than other similar configurations. It is largely cut out for classic and daily tasks, and can even handle slightly larger loads up to a certain threshold.

Our evaluation continued with an encoding test under HandBrake. Our twelve-minute video file (in 4K) was converted to a 1080p MP4 file in 15 minutes and 16 seconds with an average of 19.3 fps.

Our test model only embeds a 512 GB SK Hynix SSD, for an effective storage space of 456 GB. Its performance is quite good with 3.5 GB/s in sequential reading and almost 3 GB/s in sequential writing.

3D Mark

Iris Xe's graphics performance is far from bad for a low-power chip like this, and the gain is palpable over the previous generation. Our configuration shows an overall score of 15,773 points under Night Raid, with 20,060 points for the graphics part and 7,135 points for the CPU. Below are the other results of the various benchmarks we ran with 3D Mark.

• Time Spy (Graphics score): 1,639 points • Time Spy Extreme (Graphics score): 773 points • Time Spy Stress Test: 96.2% (frame rate stability)

Heat dissipation and noise

The LG Gram is a silent laptop almost in all circumstances. Even during heavy loads, on the "performance" profile, the ventilation remains very discreet, so that it never bothers us.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

On the other hand, temperatures rise rapidly, up to a threshold of 91°C. From this moment, the processor adapts its speed and no longer exceeds 3.8 GHz. We feel the heat in the center of the keyboard, it is clear that heat dissipation is not the strong point of the LG Gram with frequent throttling during our stress test.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

LG Gram 16Autonomy

Where the LG Gram is extremely convincing is in terms of its autonomy. This laptop is indeed equipped with an 80 Wh battery, whereas ultrabooks generally rarely go beyond 60 Wh. Result: autonomy evaluated at 12 hours and 42 minutes with our usual protocol under PCMark 10, which goes with the best performance index that we have noted for the moment, 7,885 points. Our evaluation is far from those carried out by LG itself, which announces up to 22 hours of autonomy, the manufacturer indicates having used MobileMark 2014 to highlight this figure.

Source: Matthieu Legouge

On the other hand, recharging takes a little longer than average with the 65 W USB-C charger. Allow just over 2 hours and 30 minutes for a full charge.

LG Gram 16LG Gram 16 price and availability

At the time of writing these lines, the LG Gram 16 is available on the official LG website, in its version with 1 TB of storage. This is sold for €1,799, a price that does not really make this laptop competitive with the competition. This laptop is however shown at a much better price in its 512 GB version on Amazon, below 1,500 €.