LG gram 16 2021 | Review
We had the opportunity to try it for a few days, using it to work - even putting a little pressure on him - and to relax at the end of the day, with a TV series or a movie in streaming. The result is that it seems impossible not to fall in love with such a notebook, despite the flaws.
Design and features
The 16-inch LG gram has a chassis made entirely of magnesium alloy , which allows you to stop the weight at only 1190 grams: a feather, considering the diagonal of the screen. The low weight allows you to carry the notebook in a backpack almost without noticing you have it on your shoulders.The use of magnesium alloy, combined with the reduced thickness - of only 16.8 mm - leads to a characteristic a which perhaps most are not used to: at the beginning the notebook could give a feeling of fragility. In fact, by pressing on the keyboard you can see how it tends to flex, as well as the upper part of the touchpad and the part of the display. In reality, LG gram is really robust, the assembly does not cause strange noises when pressed and this model is equipped with MIL-STD-811G military certification. It means it can withstand rain, humidity, drops and extreme temperatures.
Photo Credits: LG In general the notebook is really elegant and compact, incredibly minimal, and the black color of our test model further increases the beauty of LG gram. The only flaw of this matte black finish, which LG calls Obsidian Black, is that it holds fingerprints a lot both on the outer shell and on the part where the wrists rest. The 16 "LG gram is also available in Quartz Silver and Snow White light colors, depending on the configuration chosen.
The frames, really small, house a 0.9MP webcam with a maximum resolution of 720p: the quality is good, even if we would have preferred a more performing solution since the notebook focuses on productivity and therefore, most likely, also on video calls.
On the lower part of LG gram we can find a truly complete set of ports. On the left side we have two Thunderbolt 4 ports that allow Power Delivery and video output via Display Port, a standard HDMI port and the 3.5mm audio jack. On the right side, however, we find two USB-A ports (USB 3.2 Gen 2), a microSD reader and the Kensington slot. If we were to find a fault (even if it is more a "nit in the egg"), we would have placed the USB-C ports on two different sides, so as to be able to connect the power supply from the right or from the left, as needed. .
At the base of the 16 ”LG gram we find a large grille that allows to better dissipate the heat produced by the notebook, as well as two slots for the speakers. Both the sound and the hot air come out easily thanks to five feet, of different sizes, which adequately raise the device when placed on a flat surface. Speaking of audio, perhaps this is the real weakness of LG gram: the 2W speakers each sound discreetly but the bass is practically absent and the overall volume is not so high.
Screen
Before giving you our opinion on the display, let's talk about some technical specifications. The screen is a 16 ”IPS LCD, with a 16:10 form factor to increase the vertical display space, a resolution of 2560 × 1600 pixels and a coverage of the DCI-P3 range of 99%.The indoor display is a feast for the eyes. It has great viewing angles, good colors and is really rewarding to work thanks to the 16 ”diagonal and the 16:10 format. Unfortunately, however, we noticed a lower than average brightness that could cause problems outdoors, especially in direct sunlight, and we would have preferred a better anti-reflective treatment. Given the size and weight, it is not strange to think that a user can work on the move, even outdoors.
Keyboard and touchpad
The notebook is designed primarily for productivity and LG has succeeded in the intent: the keyboard is well built and is really comfortable and ergonomic. The stroke of the keys is 1.65mm and this allows for good, fast and precise typing. The keys are well spaced and of the right size, it is also possible to take advantage of the white backlight to be able to write even in the evening. This is adjustable with the "low" profile, therefore less bright, or the "high" profile.Next to the row of function keys we find the on and off button, which incorporates a fast fingerprint reader and accurate . There is also the numeric keypad, perhaps a bit narrow and uncomfortable compared to the rest of the keyboard, but you get used to it in a short time. You also have to get used to the Enter key under the "ù" key: the first few days you will mistakenly press the accented letter instead of Enter, but then you will adapt without problems.
The 13.2 x touchpad 8.3 cm is wide and precise, it supports the operating system gestures well and we were able to navigate between the various pages without any problem. The click is good, even if - as anticipated - the frame tends to flex so you may prefer the touch touch (the classic “tap”). Our symmetry-loving side has a little twisted nose at the sight of the touchpad placed slightly to the left of the center, but the choice is made to improve ergonomics and not place it too close to the space bar.
Performance and autonomy
The model we tested is Intel EVO certified and equipped with an Intel Core i7-1167G7 processor, with 4 cores and 8 threads, integrated Iris Xe graphics, a maximum frequency of 4.7GHz and a TDP of 28W. It is also equipped with 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM memory and a 512GB NVVMe SSD. There is also a free M.2 SSD slot, while the RAM is soldered. A version with i5 processor and 8GB or 16GB of RAM is also available. As for connectivity, however, LG gram offers Intel Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. Finally, the battery is 80Wh and is recharged via a USB-C power supply.The performance of the notebook reflects its soul: in the field of productivity it has never hesitated. We had the opportunity to use it with the Office suite, for video calls with some of the most used platforms (Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams), for even heavy web browsing, therefore with a high number of open tabs, and with a little editing via Photoshop. LG gram maintains good temperatures, without ever overheating, and is quite silent: the fan starts only when the workload becomes heavier, but turns slowly and allows you to maintain a very low noise level. br>
Autonomy is another of the strong points of this 16-inch LG gram. The 80Wh battery and the energy efficiency of the CPU ensure that the notebook easily reaches 11 hours of productivity, being able to push it even further with less heavy use, finding confirmation in the 16.5 hours declared by LG.
Conclusion
We really liked this 16-inch LG gram, because its light weight goes along with great hardware and excellent battery life, which overall make it a great notebook for working outside. home, as well as a perfect machine to have on a daily basis. Obviously everything is focused on productivity, so forget about gaming or video editing that is too demanding, tasks that require much higher hardware power; in its field, however, the LG gram is truly amazing.So if you are looking for a lightweight high-end notebook that offers you good performance, a great screen and a keyboard on which to type comfortably, this LG gram is for you. Of course, you have to make some compromises, such as the audio quality below expectations (although there would have been space to introduce larger speakers, which however would have increased the weight), or a 720p webcam. But these are all easily negligible flaws. The biggest compromise could be the price, since the 16 ”LG gram starts at a price tag of 1499 euros, with our version reaching 1799 euros (but at the time of writing this review it is on Amazon for 1499 euros). However, we would like to say that the cost is in line with the performance and general characteristics of the product, not being exaggerated.
