ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The LG Gram 17 (2025) is on sale now for $1,199.
- You will not discover a thinner, lighter 17-inch laptop computer on the market, and Intel’s Lunar Lake CPU is an enormous improve from final yr’s.
- The touchscreen is wobbly, the black matte end attracts fingerprints, and I want it had a haptic trackpad.
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So that you like an enormous display screen, 17-inch laptop computer, however you need to carry it round with out breaking your again? I bought you. LG’s Gram 17 lives as much as its title because the lightest, thinnest 17-inch laptop computer you’ve got seemingly laid your eyes on.
We have gone hands-on with a number of fashions from LG’s Gram collection over the previous few years, corresponding to 2024’s Gram Professional 17 and the Gram Professional 16 2-in-1. Fortunately, the brand new Gram 17 has some enhancements over final yr’s mannequin, and truthfully, the variations between the bottom mannequin and the Professional aren’t as distinguished as you would possibly anticipate.
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The Gram 17 is an exceedingly mild laptop computer for its measurement, measuring simply 0.74 inches skinny and weighing 3.2 kilos. For reference, that is lighter than many 16, 14, and even some 13-inch laptops, and it would not sacrifice {hardware} to get there.
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The Gram 17 is supplied with an Intel Core Extremely 7 “Lunar Lake” processor, 32GB of RAM, and a terabyte of storage, placing it consistent with different aggressive mid-to-upper-tier laptops in the identical worth vary.
The place it stands out from the group, nevertheless, is its kind. The record-holding lightness leads to a laptop computer that is simple to hold round, particularly if you’re a hybrid employee who commutes to the workplace. I took this laptop computer with me in every single place for over every week and barely seen it in my bag.
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Additional, the 17-inch touchscreen show is every part you’d anticipate from a WQXGA (2560×1600) IPS: it is vivid, crisp, and mitigates glare very nicely. I am not an enormous touchscreen individual (I virtually at all times choose a mouse), however the sheer measurement of the display screen on this laptop computer invitations the person to work together with it in a method that is barely completely different than different laptops, and I discovered myself utilizing it extra typically than anticipated.
That stated, the very skinny display screen is fairly wobbly and flexes forwards and backwards with every press, which is able to peeve some customers.
The opposite bodily elements of the laptop computer are modern and well-designed. The total-size keyboard is fairly normal, with comparatively flat keys that are not fairly as premium as a few of the different laptops I’ve examined just lately, like HP’s Elitebook X G1a, but it surely’s purposeful.
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Equally, the touchpad is massive and responsive, though I’ve to say that I want there have been a haptic choice. Additionally, the laptop computer’s general measurement leads to a wrist relaxation space that’s fairly expansive. Typing on the Gram 17 means your total hand, and — relying on the scale of your arms — mid forearms can be resting on the laptop computer. Additionally, you will want correct desk area, with the underside half of the clamshell measuring 15 inches in size and 10 inches deep.
LG continues to provide its Gram collection with a black matte end that’s, sadly, a little bit of a fingerprint magnet. Relying on what sort of lighting you are in, the laptop computer’s floor can present smudges and prints, and when you care about that kind of factor, it is perhaps a bit distracting.
So far as different {hardware} on board goes, I/O is powerful, with an HDMI port, two USB-Cs (each with energy supply and assist for Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort), two USB-As, a headphone jack, and a Kensington lock slot. The audio system aren’t notably good, sounding on the shallow facet (influenced by the system’s ultrathin kind, little question) however about what you’d anticipate from a mid-tier laptop computer.
The actual energy behind this laptop computer is inside, nevertheless. The addition of the Intel Core Extremely 7 (Collection 2) “Lunar Lake” processor upgrades it to a very aggressive system fairly than simply an engineering showboat.
As with different laptops with Intel’s “Lunar Lake” collection of processors, such because the Asus Zenbook S14, battery drain slows to a trickle when it is idle, permitting for multi-day use with out worrying concerning the charger.
Centered, sustained use, nevertheless, leads to the sort of battery drain you’d anticipate, with a few full eight-hour day’s price of labor on one cost, skewing on the longer finish — as much as 10 hours, relying on how exhausting you push it. That is to say, the battery life on this is excellent, particularly contemplating it is powering a 17-inch show.
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So, how does the Gram 17 differ from the Professional? First, the Professional has extra horsepower, with a 16-core Intel Core Extremely 7, versus the identical chip however with eight cores on the bottom mannequin. The Professional additionally has a much bigger 90Wh battery in comparison with the bottom mannequin’s 77Wh, which means it could possibly keep unplugged longer.
Regardless of the ability, the Gram Professional 17 can be barely thinner and lighter, as you are paying for a extra premium design. However facet by facet, the 2 laptops look almost equivalent.
Neither 17-inch model comes with an OLED show (you will must go right down to the Gram Professional 16 for that), however the Professional does have a 144Hz refresh price, not like the bottom mannequin, which caps out at 60Hz.
Aside from that, with the identical I/O choice, colour, and design scheme, the distinction right here is comparatively delicate, regardless of a $380 worth leap to the Professional model with 16GB of RAM. Conversely, the Gram 17 base mannequin with 32GB of RAM is cheaper, beginning at $1,699.
For that cause, I like to recommend the LG Gram 17 over the Professional model until you are completely intent on pushing the shape issue so far as it could possibly go when it comes to battery life and energy.
Talking of battery life, I did a little bit of gaming on this laptop computer, and after a handful of updates, it carried out nicely, however the battery life does take a success. I additionally bought a number of graphical glitches (tearing, polygons) over the course of testing it, however the Intel Arc GPU holds its personal, particularly for titles that are not notably demanding.
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The “Lunar Lake” Intel chip leads to a cool-running laptop computer. Even with the followers cranking, it by no means actually heats as much as uncomfortable temperatures, particularly contemplating how scorching I keep in mind final yr’s Gram Professional 16 getting.
Lastly, I will point out the Gram’s on-device AI, “Gram Chat”, which is LG’s proprietary AI-driven assistant that’s supposed to assist the person discover options to widespread points like finding recordsdata or troubleshooting. I’ll say that for very fundamental requests, it really works, but it surely would not perceive conversational prompts, a lot much less extra obscure ones.
On-device AI is one thing that completely different producers try, however as most customers will admit, outcomes are combined, at the least for now. LG’s Gram Chat could also be helpful for some, however I did not discover myself going again after my first few makes an attempt yielded uninspiring outcomes.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
LG’s Gram 17 is an extremely skinny and lightweight laptop computer, and the addition of the Intel Core Extremely 7 “Lunar Lake” processor completes the image with a direct enchancment in methods customers will care about.
The common worth of $1,700 is on the excessive finish, however proper now it is on sale for $1,199 — an entire $500. Not dangerous for what is basically a press release of engineering.
