LG deserves a pat on the head for giving the Gram 16 a full suite of ports, with an HDMI 2.1 video output, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 and two Thunderbolt 4 ports (the latter both also support DisplayPort 1.4 and PowerDelivery), as well as a 3.5mm audio jack, microSD card reader and a Kensington lock slot. Indeed, it’s rated MIL-STD 810G-tested against shock, extreme temperature, dust and – rather esoterically – salt fog ingress. There’s also a noticeable amount of flex when you press the middle of the keyboard.ĭespite the flexing, overall there’s nothing to suggest the Gram 16 won’t survive the rough and tumble of everyday use. Of course, while reviewers do things like this, owners generally do not. Grab the sides and apply serious torque and the base will flex and creak while the lid warps alarmingly. That’s great for weight reduction but not so great for resistance to twisting. The body of the Gram 16 is made from magnesium while the lid is plastic. LG Gram 16 review: Design, build quality & features
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The conventional Book2 Pro may only have a 256GB SSD (with space for a second) and a Core i5-1240P chip but at £1,099 it’s considerably cheaper than the new LG. Even the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360, which is the fully convertible version, only weighs 1.4kg in 15.6in form.įor £1,599 you get the same Core i7-1260P CPU processor as the LG Gram 16 but also a very nice Full HD OLED touchscreen complete with a Samsung S Pen stylus. Samsung’s Galaxy Book2 Pro offers some direct competition thanks to an even more impressive all-up weight of just 1.1kg. With prices starting at just £999 it’s very good value for an Apple device. You also get a fanless and, thus, silent laptop with extremely impressive battery life. That display, however, is very high quality as is the rest of the machine. However, the M1 model is 100g heavier than the Gram and the new M2, although lighter, only matches the Gram’s heft, despite it only having a 13.3in display. As we said in our review, why buy anything else? It’s a lovely little machine and a powerful one, too. Think of a super-compact light laptop and most people’s thoughts will drift towards the MacBook Air, and rightly so. The impressive build quality does come at the expense of weight, though at just shy of 2kg it’s almost twice as heavy as the LG, although at £1,299 it’s also £250 cheaper. If you fancy something with rather more heft and power, Huawei’s new MateBook 16s has a lot going for it, including a lovely 3:2 2.5K 16in touchscreen and a Core i7-12700H processor.
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At the time of writing both models come with a free LG 16in ViewPlus portable display, which has a list price of £299. If you want to save a few quid then you can pick up a Gram 16 with a Core i5 processor for £1,349. Price: £1,549Īll the weight reduction has come at a price: £1,549 is quite stiff for what is at the end of the day a basic laptop, albeit one that weighs as little as Nadine Dorries’ brain. READ NEXT: The best laptops you can buy right now LG Gram 16 review: Price and competitionĬonfiguration tested: Intel Core-i7 1260P CPU, Intel Iris Xe GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 16in 2,560 x 1,600 IPS non-touchscreen. Of course, the knack in building a super-light large-screen laptop is making sure it doesn’t have the structural integrity of said sandwich.Īt the risk of stating the obvious, the latest Gram 16 doesn’t feel as solid as the likes of the Huawei MateBook 16s – which has a similar specification display but is almost twice as heavy – or the Apple MacBook Air, but you have to treat it pretty brutally to notice the difference so don’t discount it on the grounds of imagined fragility.ĭespite it being a super-light laptop, LG has still managed to pack the Gram 16 with all the features you’d expect to find on a much heavier full-sized machine, including a numeric keypad, a good selection of ports, decent battery life and enough processing power to get through the vast majority of productivity tasks at a gallop. I’ve bought sandwiches at airports that weigh more than that. That’s why LG has cooked up the Gram 16, a fully fledged 16in laptop that weighs less than 1.2kg. If you spend enough time travelling with a laptop a day will come when, as you stride purposefully along the two-mile concourse to Gate 728 in some identikit modern airport with your backpack straps digging into your shoulder, you’ll think: “Why the hell didn’t I buy a lighter laptop?”īuying lighter usually means buying smaller, but not everyone is happy using a 13.3in notebook to shave a few hundred grams from their luggage.