For once, a product that lives up to its name. The LG gram Style is definitely as light, and as cool-looking as its moniker suggests. It also has a lovely OLED screen, and the latest Intel Core processor. In short, a premium, and capable big-screen ultrabook.
Quick specs
- 16-inch 3,200 x 2,000-pixel OLED screen (120Hz refresh rate)
- Intel Core i7-1360P processor with 16GB system memory and 512GB SSD
- 1.2kg
- 80 watt-hour battery
Remember when smartphones — especially those from Chinese brands — had shiny bodies that changed its hue depending on the angle of the light? Well, LG has done exactly this for the gram Style 16, which has a colour-shifting lid and palmrest, under a layer of Corning Gorilla glass. They contrast nicely from the matte finish on the rest of the notebook. Complementing this eye-catching design, the gram Style has a haptic touchpad like the one on the Dell XPS 13 Plus. LG has also placed two LED strips to delineate the touchpad. But this feature doesn't actually help you locate the touchpad as the LEDs only light up when your finger(s) are in contact with the touchpad. It looks cool, though. I also would have liked stronger haptic feedback from the touchpad. It feels inadequate even after maxing out the intensity of the touchpad vibrations in the settings.
As expected from LG's gram notebooks, the gram Style 16 is very portable. It weighs around 1.2kg, and is ultra-thin. Despite the sleek form factor, LG has managed to fit two Thunderbolt 4 ports (for display output and charging), as well as a pull-down USB-A port, a microSD card reader and an audio jack. The gram Style's 16:10 OLED screen is an upgrade from the IPS display on the older models. It's vibrant, and bright with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. And you get to enjoy true blacks, of course. It's a pity this display isn't touch-capable because I unconsciously tried to touch it a couple of times. The gram Style has an infrared 1080p webcam that supports Windows Hello facial recognition. This webcam is also used for LG Glance, which can lock the laptop, control media playback, and other features that you can read about here.
Given the laptop's sleek form, the keyboard is not as shallow as I had expected, and feels tactile, too. There are also some handy keyboard shortcuts involving the Fn key, such as Fn + A for screen capture and Fn + Q for fan speed mode. The gram Style uses the latest 13th-gen Intel Core processor. It's a fairly standard configuration — 16GB memory and a 512GB solid-state drive. Considering its premium positioning, I feel LG should have included a 1TB SSD at least. Performance-wise, the gram Style is intended for everyday computing. It will do fine for emails, video calls, and office documents, as well as light content creation, and casual games. It managed 5,321 in the PCMark 10 system benchmark compared with 6,157 for the sleek, AMD-powered 16-inch Acer Swift Edge. The gram Style's laptop base also gets warm at times, though it was comfortable enough during a Netflix binge.
The LG gram Style lasted 7hr 44min in a video playback test at maximum brightness. That's slightly longer than the Acer Swift Edge (7 hours). But last year's gram 16 managed over 10 hours, though it had a screen with a lower resolution and refresh rate. However, the gram Style makes up for it with a unique, eye-catching design, and vibrant display, while maintaining a sleek lightweight build. I do have reservations about the durability of the glass-coated lid compared with the usual metal or plastic version. This premium ultrabook is also expensive. My Core i7 review set is priced at S$3,099. LG also sells a Core i5 version for S$2,899, and there's a 14-inch model, too. Get it now from Lazada, Shopee, and Amazon SG.
Note: Review unit provided by LG.
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