LG is starting to show off its latest LG Gram light-weight notebooks, and they really do live 14 up to their name. Well, sort of.
The new LG Gram 13 and 14 inch laptops actually weigh a bit less than a kilogram, at 970 grams for the larger model and 940 grams for the smaller (that’s about 2.1 pounds each). The 15.6 inch model is a bit heavier, but still weighs in at just about 2.4 pounds, making it remarkably light-weight for a laptop with a screen that big.
But if there’s a theme that runs through all the laptops in this series, it’s that they all seem smaller and lighter than you’d expect.
All three of the models I saw featured 15 watt Intel Kaby Lake processors and 60 Wh batteries for all-day battery life (but probably not the claimed 24 hours).
LG will also offer lighter models with smaller batteries, but since the battery isn’t user replaceable, I’d advise going for the slightly heavier versions.
Thanks to very slim bezels around the displays, LG managed to fit the 14 inch laptop into a shell the size of a typical 13.3 inch notebook. Meanwhile, the 13.3 inch model is about the size you’d expect for a 12 inch laptop.
The 15.6 inch model doesn’t quite feel as small as a 14 inch laptop. But it’s certainly small for a big-screen notebook. And it’s light enough to comfortably hold in one hand, if that’s the sort of thing you like to do with a laptop.
Each model has a fingerprint sensor built into the touchpad, a full-sized keyboard, USB Type-C, USB 3.0, and HDMI ports, and full HD IPS displays. They all have backlit keyboards, and the largest model has a numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard. Select models also have touchscreen displays.
Like the Dell XPS 13 line of laptops, the latest LG Gram notebooks do make one compromise in order to achieve those slim bezels: the webcam is below the screen instead of above it.
Do these have fans? Fanless design is one of the most important features I look for in a laptop. I’m thinking if they have a 15w processor they’re not fanless.
Nice to see the optional touchscreen.
Thanks Brad- Good review. Have you asked how well this run Ubuntu?
Why would you want to make your device useless and featureless? You are much better off running Ubuntu in a VM.
What are you talking about? you can do everything you need in ubuntu also it has more features than both Windows and Mac as well as freedom not to mention a lot of the desktop inspiration both Apple and Microsoft got from.
I have installed Ubuntu 16 on it. Works fine out of the box. I’m using a dual boot side by side with Windows.
OMG wish I’m there!
Thank you for the video! BTW does the (black color) 15 inch one comes with 16GB ram? On their korean website the black 15Z970 only gets 8GB: (
Getting there. Now they just need to add yoga-type hinge and active pen support. Shave off 100g and there’s no need for surface pro tablets and the likes unless one need the 3:2 format.
There is no need for Surface Pro tablets.