Table of Contents
amazon LG Gram 17 reviews
I’ve had a few weeks of testing the 17-inch LG Gram with enough tasks from browsing the web, editing images, cutting videos, and making light animations with After Effects, and I can conclude: This is a Laptops are great for work.
Of course, the work I want to discuss here is an office, image editing, moderate 2D graphic design, and basic editing. As shared in the previous article, the super lightweight of only 1.3kg and the large screen size up to 17 inches with a ratio of 16:10 are my favorite things on the 17 inch LG Gram. Today I will go to a more detailed assessment of the performance, screen display quality, and many other factors.
Configuration and performance
The commercial version of LG Gram 17 inch 2020 is available at an Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD. However, because my test version is a test version, it is also from the Korean market, with only 256GB SSD, so I will temporarily ignore the hard drive speed. Since it’s Samsung’s PCIe SSD, there’s no need to worry. The other parameters are pretty much the same.
To evaluate the performance of the LG Gram 17 inch 2020, I use some popular benchmarking software such as Cinebench, Geekbench, 3DMark, PCMark 10.
Through the above performance scores, I realized that compared to many devices also equipped with Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor, the score achieved by LG Gram 17 inch 2020 is quite modest.
The software recorded that the CPU had jumped to more than 100 degrees Celsius, “wasted” more than 50W of power during the benchmarking process. However, the included charger does not reach this capacity but only 48W; the heat dissipation system, according to me, is not good. If equipped with a better power supply, a better heat dissipation system, the performance can be even higher. It is also possible that the version I evaluate here is not the official version, so the performance is not optimal.
Practical experience
Although the performance score achieved by the LG Gram 17 inch 2020 is not as expected, the practical experience with all office tasks, image editing, or even video making is without problems. I regularly work, open about 20-25 Chrome tabs, open more Photoshop, and sometimes use a few other software; the machine does not have any lag phenomenon. Largely, of course, 16 GB is quite comfortable multitasking, thanks to the amount of RAM.
Besides, I also tried to use it to edit RAW images taken from Sony A7II with Lightroom. Every action responds almost immediately. Cropping Full HD quality video shot by Sony with S-log2 is also very good. After I added some transitions, text, fast-forward and color correction, a video of 4 minutes long took me nearly 8 minutes to render.
However, if you intend to use LG Gram 17 inch 2020 to play games, it is not good at all. With light eSport games like League of Legends, it still plays well, but with CS: GO, it’s almost impossible. When playing League of Legends, it’s not clear why fps can’t get past 60 despite trying everything. I decided to turn on the max setting to test; the screen left the 2K resolution, the fps was achieved at about 40-60.
As for CS: GO, despite trying to limit the resolution to Full HD, the lowest setting, but the fps cannot exceed 30, a shooting game with such a frame rate is almost impossible to play.
High-precision screen, good brightness
LG Gram 17 inch 2020 is equipped with a 17-inch 16:10 screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels for high definition, displaying a lot of content. It is noteworthy that after measuring with specialized equipment, the result is 98% sRGB. The dE color difference in the center part with a brightness of 100 nits is only about 0.4, at a maximum brightness of 282 nits. Around 0.6 is too much of an ideal level to do graphics. I put it next to a MacBook; the colors are almost indistinguishable from the naked eye.
However, there is a pretty obvious drawback that due to a mirror screen, LG does not make an anti-glare layer like the MacBook, so when used in a bright environment, there are many things that shadow the screen very well annoyed. The brightness of 280 nits is also not enough to solve this problem.
Another small problem is that the hinge often “shakes” if you sit at an unstable table. Because the machine’s hinge is made uncertain, the screen is large, making it easy to shake.
where can you get a LG Gram 17 online
LG Gram 17Z90P Laptop 17″ IPS Ultra-Lightweight, (2560 x 1600), Intel Evo 11th gen Core i7 , 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Upgradeable Windows 10 Home, Alexa Built-in, 2X USB-C, HDMI, USB-A – Black: Buy it now
LG Gram 17Z90P 17″ WQXGA (2560×1600) Ultra-Lightweight Laptop, Intel evo with 11th gen CORE i7 1165G7 CPU , 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Thunderbolt 4, Black, Windows 10 Home – 2021: Buy it now
LG Gram 17Z90N Laptop 17″ IPS Ultra-Lightweight, (2560 x 1600), 10th Gen Intel Core i7 , 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 10 Home, 17 Hour Battery, USB-C, HDMI, Headphone Input – Silver: Buy it now
LG Gram 17-inch WQXGA Ultra-Lightweight Laptop Intel Core i7-1065G7 16GB RAM 512GB SSD: Buy it now
The keyboard is okay but still flex.
As in my previous experience, the keyboard of the LG Gram 17 inch 2020 has good quality, comfortable and accurate typing feeling. Backlight supports two levels of white brightness. However, I wouldn’t say I like two LG Gram’s keyboard points. One is the Numpad part, which I don’t need, so I feel a bit uncomfortable. I still like it like MacBook or XPS; no matter how big or small, the keyboard is still balanced, the typing feeling is more confident and accurate. Of course, this is a habit and need of each person.
The second point I do not like is that the key part is still flexed when typing strongly, i.e., slightly concave but not sure. This problem has been around since 2018; this year has improved a lot but has not been completely fixed.
In my opinion, LG can completely make the frame a bit thicker, increase the size of the cooling system and increase the weight by about 100-200g, which is more reasonable. About 1.5 kg is still very lightweight for a 17-inch machine.
Touchpad
Regarding the trackpad, if only in terms of smoothness, the accuracy can completely reach 9/10 compared to the MacBook. The trackpad part of the LG Gram 17 inch 2020 is covered with a layer of frosted glass, does not stick to fingerprints, feels smooth and stable; the pressure is moderate, the left and right mouse splits are generally quite good. Multi-point operations such as swiping three/four fingers up to open multitasking, swiping down shows the main screen, swiping back and forth to switch virtual desktops is very smooth.
Sometimes I don’t use a separate mouse to work; if I need to quickly edit a few photos to post the exam using the touchpad is also fine; the operation is accurate and quite fast.
The connection port is quite complete.
The LG Gram 17-inch 2020 is equipped with many connections, including three familiar USB-A ports, 1 USB-C port that supports Thunderbolt 3, an HDMI port, a power supply port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Comfortable to use, not constrained like some current thin and light laptop models. It is a pity that the device only has a MicroSD slot, not an SD, which will make it a bit difficult for those of you who want to take photos from the camera.
Keeping up with the trend, LG also equipped the device with a fingerprint sensor, located right on the power button to easily log in, saving time entering passwords or pin codes. The response speed of the fingerprint sensor is very fast; like high-end smartphones, just a light touch is a successful login.
The speaker is okay
LG Gram 17 inch 2020 is equipped with two speakers on the bottom edge. The sound quality is at a good level, just enough to use, not too good. The volume is also not great; in general, if you sit in a room with about 15 m2, it is enough to listen to music and watch movies, but it is better to have external speakers or headphones to get a better experience.
Battery life and temperature
In the actual use test with about 20 Chrome tabs open continuously, of course, Wi-Fi connection, opening more Photoshop to edit images on the post, LG Gram 17 inch 2020 easily passed 6 hours of use with about 60-70% brightness thanks to 80Wh battery capacity.
I find it confusing because LG is equipped with a 48W charger; if the battery runs out and both use and charge, it takes more than 3 hours to charge the device fully. If during that time, continuous heavy usage is even longer. I see most other manufacturers often equip chargers over 60W; the most common is 65W. With such a power level, the CPU can pull at full capacity and still have enough for other components such as the screen, RAM, SSD, etc., to operate, and the battery charging time is also faster.
The keyboard and palm rest are no problem; rendering or stress testing is still quite cool, not annoying. The F9 and F10 keys charge heat because the CPU is located. After 30 minutes of benchmarking, this part heats up to more than 40 degrees, and the base below is about 45 degrees. Not too hot, but as I said above, the cooling fan is not good, making it difficult to maximize CPU performance.
Ending
In general, the screen area is up to 25% larger than the 15.6-inch models with a 16:10 ratio, and lightweight is still the biggest advantage of the 17-inch LG Gram 2020. As for performance, keyboard experience, screen, and other factors, at the price range of $1900, there are still many better options like Dell XPS 15.
That will be a suitable device for those who need a highly portable laptop but still want a large screen for work and long battery life to handle work anytime, anywhere. Suitable even for those of you who need a machine to make 2D graphics that are not too heavy.