The LG gram 16 (2024) is a Windows ultraportable laptop. It's available with an Intel Core Ultra 5 or Ultra 7 CPU paired with Intel integrated graphics, or Intel Arc integrated graphics, depending on the memory configuration. Memory and storage max out at 32GB and 2TB, respectively. There are three QHD+ IPS panel options: a 60Hz non-touch display, a 60Hz touchscreen display, and a 144Hz non-touch display. All three offer full DCI-P3 coverage, and the 144Hz option supports LG's Various Refresh Rate to prolong battery life. It has Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a 1080p webcam, and a facial recognition IR camera. Ports include two USB-As, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, an HDMI, a MicroSD slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
See our unit's specifications and the available configuration options in the Differences Between Variants section.
Our Verdict
The LG gram 16 is great for general productivity. It's incredibly thin and light for a 16-inch laptop, and its battery lasts over 15 hours of light use, making it a fantastic option for on-the-go use. It has a large display for split-screen multitasking, a spacious (albeit slightly tiring) full-size keyboard, a responsive touchpad, and a great 1080p webcam. Its Intel Meteor Lake CPU is more than adequate for productivity tasks like text processing, as well as photo and video editing. The major concern is the build quality. Our unit came with a warped screen and gaping between the webcam and the display; this doesn't inspire much confidence as to the durability of a device made for on-the-go use.
All displays offer DCI-P3 coverage, making them suitable for color critical work.
Outstanding battery life for general productivity use and media consumption.
Spacious keyboard and touchpad.
Light weight makes it easy carry around.
Outstanding port selection, including Thunderbolt 4 ports.
Build quality issues on our unit, including a warped display.
Microphone exhibits static, diminishing voice clarity.
Laptop is difficult to open for service due to use of adhesive for feet assembly.
The LG gram 16 is impressive for multimedia use, mainly thanks to its incredible 12-hour battery life. Its display gets bright enough for use in all indoor environments, but it will struggle outside in direct sunlight; there's a 144Hz option that gets brighter. Its speakers aren't the loudest or clearest, though, and like most laptops, they lack the necessary bass to provide a full sound.
All displays offer DCI-P3 coverage, making them suitable for color critical work.
Outstanding battery life for general productivity use and media consumption.
Light weight makes it easy carry around.
Speakers are underwhelming and lack bass.
The LG gram 16 isn't designed for gaming, and it's bad at it overall. While its Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU is quite competent, its iGPU can't handle intensive workloads like gaming. You can likely play some older titles on low settings and 720p, or light puzzle games. As for the display, there's a 144Hz IPS panel, but it doesn't support variable refresh rate to reduce screen tearing. On the upside, it doesn't get hot or loud under load, and there's only minimal performance loss from thermal throttling.
User-replaceable storage.
Laptop is cool and quiet under load.
No discrete GPU options.
Displays have slow response time and don't feature variable refresh rate technologies.
The LG gram 16 is mediocre for workstation use. The Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU is fast enough to handle some demanding tasks like video editing and 3D graphics, but like many ultrabooks, this laptop's thermal constraints don't make it the best choice for sustained workloads. Also, you can only get up to 32GB of soldered RAM, which might not be enough for some people. You can do some color-correction work, though, as the available displays have full DCI-P3 coverage. The SSD is user-replaceable, and there are tons of ports for peripherals and external displays, including two Thunderbolt 4s and an HDMI.
All displays offer DCI-P3 coverage, making them suitable for color critical work.
User-replaceable storage.
Outstanding port selection, including Thunderbolt 4 ports.
Laptop is cool and quiet under load.
RAM limited to 32GB.
No discrete GPU options.
Laptop is difficult to open for service due to use of adhesive for feet assembly.
Changelog
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Updated Oct 30, 2025:
We've updated text throughout the review after converting to Test Bench 0.9.
- Updated Oct 30, 2025: We've updated the review to Test Bench 0.9, which adds several test boxes in the performance section, including CPU/RAM Performance, Low Tier Graphics, High Tier Graphics, Professional 3D (GPU accelerated), CPU-Intensive Game Performance, GPU-Intensive Game Performance, and Ray Tracing Performance. See the 0.9 changelog here.
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Updated May 27, 2025:
Added the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition 15 (2024) as an alternative with better build quality in the Build Quality section.
- Updated May 07, 2025: We've updated this review to Test Bench 0.8.3, which removes the viewing angle tests and adds a GPU Total Graphics Power comparison in the GPU section. The Pen Input test in the Extra Features section has also changed, as it now shows whether the laptop supports pen input rather than the inclusion of a stylus in the box. See the changelog for more details.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the LG gram 16 (model 16Z90S-G.AA78A9) configured with a QHD+ IPS display, Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, integrated Intel Arc graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. The display, CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and color are user-configurable, although the iGPU cannot be configured separately from the CPU; see below for all configuration options:
SCREEN
- 16" IPS 2560 x 1600 60Hz (matte, 350 cd/m², 99% DCI-P3)
- 16" IPS 2560 x 1600 60Hz (touch, matte, 320 cd/m², 99% DCI-P3)
- 16" IPS 2560 x 1600 144Hz (matte, 400 cd/m², 99% DCI-P3)
CPU
- Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (14 cores, 18 Threads, up to 4.5 GHz, 18MB Cache)
- Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (16 cores, 22 Threads, up to 4.8 GHz, 24MB Cache)
GPU
- Integrated Intel graphics (on models with 8GB of RAM)
- Integrated Intel Arc graphics
MEMORY
- 8GB LP-DDR5x 7467MHz
- 16GB LP-DDR5x 7467MHz
- 32GB LP-DDR5x 7467MHz
STORAGE
- 256GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
- 512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
- 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
- 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
COLOR
- Snow White
- Charcoal Gray
- Obsidian Black
See our unit's label here.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The LG gram 16 laptop is a mixed bag. Its build quality is hit and miss, for it feels well-balanced overall, but our unit has two defects: the display is visibly warped, and there are gaping issues on the display assembly around the webcam. Performance is also a bit underwhelming, as this laptop prioritizes thermals over performance. On the bright side (literally), the display is fairly bright and colorful and offers full coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, making it a decent choice for color-critical work. Overall, this laptop feels lacking, particularly for the price point; for example, the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024) and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) provide a more premium user experience and better performance.
See our recommendations for the best business laptops, the best Windows laptops, and the best lightweight laptops.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) and LG gram 16 (2024) are both premium Windows ultraportables. However, the Microsoft device is much better overall. It offers a much more premium user experience. Its all-aluminum chassis is much more rigid, its keyboard and haptic touchpad are easier to use, and its display is sharper, brighter, and more responsive. The Microsoft laptop also has better battery life, but the LG is no slouch here either. The one caveat is the Microsoft device uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. This Arm-based SoC is more limited in its use at the moment, as a lot of productivity-based applications need to run through a translation layer for compatibility; in practice, this means they don't perform as well or, in some cases, can't run at all. Check out if your applications are compatible before picking one up.
The LG gram Pro 16 (2024) and the LG gram 16 (2024) represent two tiers from LG's ultraportable product stack. The Pro model is better overall. The Pro model offers much better build quality; despite both models sharing the same design language and using the same magnesium alloy, it's more rigid, feels more durable, and picks up far fewer fingerprints during use. Our non-Pro unit came with a warped display assembly and had issues with gaping around the webcam module. The Pro model also has some options to help with the user experience, like a 2.8k OLED display. In terms of performance, the Pro model performs better despite sharing the same hardware. That said, if you need the longest battery life possible, the non-Pro gram offers vastly superior battery life than the Pro model, coming in at just over 15 hours for light use.
The LG gram 16 (2024) is the newer and larger sibling to the LG gram 14 (2023). Depending on your use, each laptop has its strengths and weaknesses. Get the gram 14 for on-the-go use. It offers superior build quality, as its chassis is more rigid and durable, and it's more portable since it's a smaller device. While the gram 16 isn't hard to carry around either, as it's incredibly thin and light for a 16-inch model, our model came with a couple of build defects, including a warped display assembly that doesn't inspire too much confidence as to its longevity for on the go use. The larger 16-inch model is better if you need to multitask a lot for your workflow, as the larger display offers much more real-estate for placing windows next to each other. Its battery life is also much better for light use.
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (M3, 2024) is a much better ultraportable laptop for most people than the LG gram 16 (2024). The Apple offers a premium user experience; its all-aluminum chassis is much better built and rigid, its display is sharper and brighter, and the haptic touchpad is significantly larger despite having less real estate to work with on the smaller deck. Performance-wise, the two laptops trade blows depending on the application. If you need many ports for peripherals and are willing to trade build quality for this convenience, then the LG is the better pick. Its IO layout is much better, including two USB-A, a full HDMI port, as well as support for Thunderbolt 4 on both USB-C ports.
Test Results
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