The LG Gram 16 +view is a combo of the 2022 LG Gram and the separate 16” +view portable IPS monitor. Together they expand this ultra-lightweight laptop to desktop use.
We first saw the LG Gram range in March 2021, and its claim to fame was the use of an Intel Evo class CPU in an impossibly small, thin, light Gram chassis. It also took the high road with MIL-STD 810G build quality, 16:10 99% DCI-P3 screens, Thunderbolt ports, larger batteries (14” up to 25.5hrs) and incredible light weights from 999-1350g.
We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed.
You can click on most images for an enlargement.
To be fair, I have just finished reviewing the 2022 ASUS ROG Flow, Strix, and Zephyrus gaming laptops that can give you a hernia just thinking about lifting them😊.
The LG Gram 16 is feather light at 1,199kg, and the 16” screen fits into a tiny 15” body at 354.5 x 242.1 x 16.8mm, courtesy of the narrow screen bezels.
It is mainly made from magnesium alloy, so it is strong, but there is a little flex in the deck and screen. You could call it plain – I think understated is a better word. The 2021 Gram was MIL-ST-810G tested – we assume that is the case for 2022.
The +View is a 2560 x 1600@60Hz, 16:10, SDR IPS panel with a folio cover.
But the real reason to buy is the dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI Out and 2 USB-A ports. It is very expandable.
Frankly, I think the lack of touch on an Intel Evo ultra-book is a mistake, so you may want to skip directly to the 16T90Q-G.AA78A 2-in-1 with almost the same specs but costs $300 more.
It uses an LG Display LP160WQ1-SPB2. In tests, it supports 100% sRGB, 88% Adobe RGB and 99% DCI-P3, meaning creators can use this for colour-accurate work. The maximum brightness is 350 nits (370 tested), and the contrast is 1200:1 (pushed 1290:1). Delta E out of the box is approx. 1.95 (<4 is excellent), and you can calibrate it to about 1.2. You can also change the colour temperature. The matte screen reduces reflections but makes the image look a little softer.
LG Glance by Mirametrix can detect your eyes and switch cursors from the internal screen to +View or lock the PC when you leave (Presence detection). It can also blur the screen when you look away and warn you if someone is looking over your shoulder. (More later)
I love the concept of a separate 16” monitor, especially as it has the same resolution and similar colour gamut – it is very close to the internal screen. I don’t like disparate specs or colours when using dual monitors.
It is a simple panel and a magnetic folio cover that can origami fold to 105 or 120°. The magnets are pretty weak so take care. A better way – a fold-out kickstand would have been appreciated. It has USB-C Ports on each side for left and right use.
You can use it in 16:10, 10:16 (portrait) and 32:10 (dual width) formats.
The review unit has a 10nm i7-1260P, but there is an i5-1240P option. You need to know that these Intel Evo processors are for battery life over raw performance with a TPD of 28W and burst mode at up to 64W.
The i7 is 12 cores – four for performance and 8 for efficiency, with 16-threads and 1.5/4.7Ghz. This new processor has a Thread Director, which maximises Windows use of the two core types. This performs very well, beating AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, AMD Ryzen 9 5900H and Intel i7-12700H. Geekbench 5 single/multi-core scores are 1,684/9,658 (on mains power) and 1,240/7,572 on battery.
The i5-1240P has 1,126/7,229 (mains power) – no slouch either.
But we stress that this is a productivity device – not really for gamers and power users.
It has Iris Xe Graphics at 1.4Ghz and 96 Execution units (1.3Ghz/80EU on i5). It can support up to 4 displays – an internal 4K@50/60Hz panel, an external 7680×4320@50/60Hz panel or 2 x 4K@50/60Hz. It achieves acceptable frame rates at 1080p medium settings.
OpenCL/Vulkan scores are 19,128/12,877 (on mains power). It has similar performance to an NVIDIA MNX350.
It has 16GB of LPDDR5 ram (not upgradeable). That is fine for all but power users.
The disk is a Samsung MZVL2512 M2.2280 PCIe Gen4 x4, and there are 2 x M2.2880 PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD slots. In theory, it is capable of 6.9/5GBps sequential read/write.
These figures are within tolerance and mean it should be fast enough for video rendering.
Back to ‘use’. On battery, it is throttled. On power, it is not. The CPU gets warm, and it is not something you want to balance on your lap.
We now have the latest Netgear Wi-Fi 6E RAXE500 AX11000 router to test Wi-Fi 6E devices. Even though this has a Wi-Fi 6E AX Intel AX211 2 x 2 card, it will only find the 2.4 and 5GHz bands (not 6GHz). We updated Intel drivers and checked settings but to no avail. We know other Wi-Fi 6E devices work as they find the 6GHz network. It is no big issue as it connects to the 5Ghz band at 2400Mbps full-duplex, and the 6Ghz band would be no faster.
The card also supports BT 5.3.
It is easy to use with large, well-spaced keys with a terrific 1.65mm travel but a low 30g actuation. I like that reassuring click. It has a 2-level backlight.
The trackpad is ample at 132 x 83mm, with a tactile surface and positive click-action. You can go top right to bottom left in one swipe. It is one of the best touchpads I have seen in quite some time.
It is a 2.1MP, 1920 x 1080, Windows Hello IR camera and dual array mics to help reduce background noise.
It is great that LG has updated from the horrible 720p camera and Windows Hello facial recognition is excellent.
The key to this device is its inherent expandability without a Thunderbolt 4 dock. It is backwards compatible with USB-C 4.0 and 3.2. We tested with a Plugable Thunderbolt 3 dock, and it was able to support 2 x 4K@60Hz monitors. You can buy a lower-rated dock because it only needs 65W upstream power.
Two x 1.5W down-firing stereo speakers under the keyboard deck that can reach 83.4dB. It has a DTS:X Ultra technology (App) which is more about bragging rights. It has a full +/- 10dB EQ, three EQ pre-sets, and pre-sets covering
These pre-sets cannot increase the natural sound signature but can recess parts from the maximum levels.
We ran the test on most pre-sets. The best result was the Automatic setting which helped clean otherwise pretty choppy sound.
No deep-or-mid-bass means there is no bass definition. It is muddy rather than precise – a whump instead of a Thump. The barest hint of upper-bass is not enough to give any ‘oomph’.
Low-mid-high-mid is fine covering the human voice (1-4khz), where our ears are most sensitive even as we age. This is the critical area for clear dialogue. But it also shows considerable compression as the speakers cannot handle the sound and clip (compress).
Low-mid-treble is decent and gives string instruments and voice that crispness, but again it shows compression – the tiny speakers cannot handle being pushed.
High-treble gives some directionality to music resulting in reasonable left/right separation. The sound stage from the down-firing speakers is about the keyboard’s width. When played with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content, there is no 3D spatial height.
Our advice – use 3.5mm cabled or BT headphones.
80Wh and 5V/3A/15W, 9V/3A/27W, 15V/3A/45W and 20V/3.25A/65W PD Capable USB-C charger. A full charge (65W) is 1 hour and 45 minutes with fast charge capability. If you use a third-party USB-C PD charger
As with any Windows laptop, you can select performance, balanced, or battery life modes and screen brightness. So, battery life really depends on the mode and the App’s demands for CPU use and memory.
At best, you will get
You will be fine if you count on 8 hours of typical use.
It is pretty innovative and surprisingly well done. You can read more at Mirametrix.
This is loaded with it, and you should spend time getting rid of them.
Light, reliable, well-made, and good pedigree. Two Thunderbolt 4 ports, as well as HDMI and USB-A, make this a winner. But I repeat, spend the extra for the touch model with the Wacom Active 2.0 stylus but alas, no HDMI Port.
The LG Gram 16 meets or exceeds every test parameter and gets our unreserved buy recommendation.
The +View is also an excellent companion with a similar colour gamut and brightness as the internal screen. It is marred only by the ‘flakey’ magnetic folio cover, which often came adrift.
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