Hands on with LG's new ultra-light gram laptops

As usual, LG announced a refresh of its gram series of laptops ahead of CES this year. While last year, the company introduced its first 17-inch clamshell and its first convertible, this year's upgrades are a bit more subtle.

The whole range was upgraded this year though, including a 14-, 15-, and 17-inch clamshell, along with the 14-inch convertible. Interestingly, they're all the same weight as they were previously, coming in at 2.2, 2.4, 2.98, and 2.52 pounds, respectively. The 13-inch model has been chopped from the lineup, and I was told that this was because it wasn't necessary, with the 14-inch model fitting into a 13-inch laptop's chassis.

I do wonder if there are other reasons for this. LG's gram has long held the title of being the lightest laptop in its class, but that wouldn't be the case for the 13-inch anymore. Dynabook and NEC both produced 13-inch laptops at CES this year that are under two pounds, while the 13-inch gram was 2.1 pounds.

One thing that's new is that the 15- and 17-inch models have larger batteries, even though they still weigh the same. Those sizes now come with a 80Whr battery instead of 72Whr, which is pretty cool since the battery life was already pretty great. The two 14-inch models still include 72Whr batteries.

Another upgrade is that they now all include Thunderbolt 3, whereas previously, that was exclusive to the gram 17. The smaller models used to have USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C.

You'll notice that the gram 14 in the image above comes in white. Unfortunately, that color is not sold in the United States. It's a shame too, because I thought it looked pretty sharp.

The third upgrade is that they all include Intel's 10th-generation 'Ice Lake' processors, with Iris Plus Graphics. This is a meaningful upgrade. Personally, carrying an Ice Lake PC makes me feel more comfortable with not having a machine with a dedicated GPU.

The rest of the machines are the same, which is mostly a good thing. There's still a fingerprint sensor in the power button, which will scan your fingerprint when you boot up the PC, so you don't have to press the button again. They also still have those weirdly-designed keys on the keyboard, which I'm not thrilled about.

If you want to read more about the gram series, you can check out my review of the gram 17 here and my review of the gram 14 2-in-1 here. Most of the content in the reviews still applies.