LG Gram Style review: all style, little substance

Editor's Note

• Original review date: April 2023
• Launch price: Starts at $1,499.99 / £2,399.98 (around AU$2,270)
• Target price now: Starts at $1,499.99 / £2,399.98 (around AU$2,270)

Update – August 2024: Well, that was short-lived. It looks like LG might have already abandoned the somewhat lackluster Gram Style spin-off, possibly in favor of this year's new LG Gram SuperSlim.

The Gram Style is no longer listed as on sale on LG's website in the US, UK, and Australia, and I struggled to find new units at online retailers. Walmart stocks a single 16-inch configuration, and it's easy enough to find refurbished units on Amazon in the US. Currys and LaptopsDirect still stock a few limited configurations in the UK, but it's still ludicrously expensive on that side of the Atlantic for no clear reason.

The LG Gram Style didn't belong on our list of the best ultrabooks anyway, so I shan't mourn its passing too much - although I do still have to admit that despite its flaws, it was a particularly gorgeous-looking laptop.

Original review follows.

Christian Guyton

LG Gram Style: Two-minute review

LG seems to be targeting a specific audience that loves some of the best ultrabooks on the market, with its sleek, lightweight, and very stylish LG Gram Style. This ultrabook stretches light to its absolute limits, as the laptop weighs less than three pounds despite the 16-inch display size. It’s honestly incredible how little this laptop weighs, and how beautiful it looks. The Gram Style is a lovely white color, but what makes it even more striking is the pearlescent finish that seems to glow and change color depending on how light hits it.

Its display is also quite impressive, as even the base model is an OLED panel with 2.8K resolution while the other versions hit 3K. The screen supports HDR with a refresh rate of 120Hz and a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, making it (theoretically) excellent for creative projects as well. Another highlight is the backlit keyboard, which has this satisfying snappy feedback that along with its well-sized keys makes for a great typing experience. 

I wish I could extend the goodwill to the touchpad, but it honestly gives a bad name to haptic touchpads. The edges are defined by lights instead of an actual groove, which looks pretty but isn’t accessible in the slightest. I also noted a delay after not touching it for a while, in which the pad needs a free click to ‘wake up’ before anything actually happens.

The webcam is also lackluster, featuring the same issues that even many of the best laptops suffer from: a dull, slightly grainy image quality and a middling framerate. Thankfully the sound quality is much better, boasting pretty clear audio that puts out most songs just fine. Just don’t ask it to play anything with bass, or anything too loudly, since the speakers are kind of quiet. There's also some good pre-installed software variety, including programs that control settings like fan speed, display, keyboard shortcuts, security software, and more.

As for performance, it functions well as a productivity and creative machine, thanks to the 13 Gen Intel Core i7-1360P CPU under the hood, which is made for work tasks. However, the GPU is merely integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics, meaning its overall performance is somewhat lacking - disappointing considering the hefty price tag. 

However, unlike some of the best gaming laptops, don't think you'll be running Cyberpunk 2077 or most of the other best PC games on this anytime soon. It's a shame because, had it been much more consistent, it could have easily been one of the best thin and light laptops around.

LG Gram Style: Price & availability

• Starting at $1,499.99 (£2,399.98 / around AU$2,270)
• Available now
• Available in the US and the UK

The LG Gram Style starts at $1,499.99 (£2,399.98 / around AU$2,270) for the basic model, while my review unit is priced at $1,799.99 (£2,499.98 / around AU$2,724). 

This places it at the higher end of ultrabooks, surpassing the HP Dragonfly Pro and the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022) and approaching the starting MSRP of the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra - which, notably, does have a dedicated GPU.

As for availability, you’ll find several models in both the US and UK, but unfortunately, Australia has been shafted with no release at all in the region. The LG Gram Style in the UK is also far more expensive than the US models - there's no 14-inch model on sale in the UK, but that doesn't really explain the massively higher entry price.

• Price score: 3 / 5

LG Gram Style: Specs

The specs for the LG Gram Style review unit sent to me are as follows: Intel Core i7-1360P CPU, Intel Iris Xe GPU, 32GB LPDDR5 of RAM, and 1TB SSD of storage, with a 16-inch display. There's also a slightly cheaper model with a 14-inch display.

In both the US and the UK there are three main configurations, with the baseline one featuring 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. However, unlike the top-of-the-line US model, the UK model has 2TB of storage instead of 1TB.

And while customers can choose between three configurations depending on the region, each model cannot be customized individually, nor can the specs be upgraded by the buyer at a later time. 

• Specs score: 4 / 5

LG Gram Style: Design

• Absolutely gorgeous
• Great keyboard and display
• Terrible touchpad

The LG Gram Style’s design is easily the best part of this laptop. LG certainly put a lot of stock into its looks, with a beautiful iridescent white chassis, a form factor that’s light and thin beyond belief, a gorgeous OLED display with anti-reflection, and a keyboard with feedback so snappy and sharp it makes typing a dream. 

However, in order to get this ultrabook so air-light, concessions clearly had to be made in the build quality. This is not a laptop that can take being dropped, thanks to the chassis being made of a nano-magnesium alloy base instead of aluminum. This is especially true in the hinge, which has a noticeable wobble to it and does not bode well for its overall lifespan. Another issue stemming from its thing frame is that it can get a bit warm after being exerted for a decent amount of time. And even on normal settings, the fans can get a bit loud.

The audio quality is good as well, being able to discern between various instruments and singing voices when I tested the speakers. However, the volume is lower than most other laptops I’ve tested, so you might have to hook up speakers or use a headset if that poses an issue.

Another defining feature of this laptop is its invisible haptic feedback touchpad which, if you remember my review of the Dell XPS 13 Plus, I am not personally a fan of. First, it’s very inaccessible, as it’s nearly impossible for a person with vision impairment to discern the start and end of their touchpad.

Second, there are often sensitivity issues involved with these sorts of haptic touchpads. Unfortunately, the LG Gram Style is hit with both of these drawbacks. It’s genuinely a terrible, clunky, and annoying pad to use, to the point where I had to switch to a mouse, hurting its portability.

Image 1 of 5

Port selection isn’t bad considering the thinness of this ultrabook, with two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A port, one mini SD card reader (something of a rarity these days), and one audio jack. The ethernet port and HDMI port are missing, which hurts the connectivity options, but every other port is accounted for at least, which gives users a decent amount of options - though you may want to invest in a Thunderbolt 4 hub if you plan to connect lots of other devices.

There’s also something I believe that factors into the very high pricing, other than the thin and light chassis. There’s a phenomenon called the ‘Pink Tax,’ which sees products that are marketed to women feature a massive increase in price and a decrease in quality versus products for men or that are gender neutral. 

Looking at the marketing for the LG Gram Style, the promotional material prominently features women, the main draw is how beautiful and lightweight the laptop is, and I noticed that even the accent color for the system’s Theme was set to pink rather than the usual blue of other Windows laptops. Compared to the Pro version, which has better hardware for a slightly higher price, or other ultrabooks with better specs and similar pricing, it feels that LG has succumbed to this ‘Pink Tax’ phenomenon.

• Design score: 3.5 / 5

LG Gram Style: Performance

• Functions just fine as a productivity machine
• Specs are mixed
• Doesn’t stand out compared to the competition

When running the benchmarks for the LG Gram Style, I couldn’t help but notice that its overall performance is mediocre. Some of the scores, like the single-core Geekbench, compare to most of its competitors, but others like the multi-core Geekbench, Cinebench, and 3DMark are handily beaten by not only most of its competitors this year but by laptops over a year old on specs just as dated. What’s worse, this laptop weirdly wasn’t capable of running PCMark 10 without crashing, so that data can’t even be compared.

Its specs are a mixed bag, with a solid CPU but the Intel Iris Xe iGPU weighing it down. This was of course the norm for past ultrabooks, but there are laptops this gen at around the same price point releasing with RTX 4000-series GPUs like the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra, and even the LG Gram Pro features an RTX 3050 for a few hundred bucks more. It’s hard to justify the Gram Style’s price point with only integrated graphics on the table.

In terms of everyday use, it works quite well, being able to handle pretty much any productivity task I threw at it. It’s wired for creative works as well, thanks to its excellent color gamut, CPU, and display. But again, the GPU lacking compared to other ultrabooks buries this, as there are simply better choices on the market if you’re going in that direction.

Like many other ultrabooks from 2022 and earlier, it handles gaming just the same. Mainly stick to low and mid-range PC game options that are more CPU intensive. But with this year already opening up with ultrabooks sticking RTX 4000-series boards in, there’s little excuse for not having the same - especially with how expensive this laptop gets.

• Performance score: 3 / 5

LG Gram Style: Battery

• Average battery life
• Charge time not great

After stress-testing, I found the LG Gram Style to have fairly average battery life. When undergoing the movie test, it lasted about seven hours. And when using it normally, I needed to recharge after a little over six hours. While it’s not offensive, for an ultrabook it isn’t great either. The point of ultrabooks is to have excellent, long-lasting battery life and it feels like - for the price of entry - it should last a lot longer.

Not only that, but charging isn’t particularly fast either, and not especially with the cable it comes with. It takes over an hour to get a full charge, and this is using one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports.

• Battery score: 2.5 / 5

Should you buy the LG Gram Style?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

LG Gram Style: Also consider

If the LG Gram Style has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...

Apple MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
Though it's expensive, the MacBook Air refresh is extremely powerful thanks to its new Apple silicon. Able to take on any productivity and creative tasks, as well as being very portable and chic, this is an excellent workhorse.

Check out our full Apple MacBook Air (M2, 2022) review

HP Dragonfly Pro
Another thin and light laptop, it sports an excellent CPU, display, webcam, battery, and sound quality. But some units do suffer from severe overheating issues and it sports a hefty price tag for its audience.

Check out our full HP Dragonfly Pro review

How I tested the LG Gram Style

• I tested the LG Gram Style for about a week
• I tested it using a variety of productivity applications
• I stress-tested the battery using the TechRadar movie test

First, I tested the general weight and portability of the LG Gram Style by carrying it around in a laptop bag. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to thoroughly test out the processor and graphics card. Finally, I used a variety of programs and applications to test out both battery life and general performance during work-like conditions. 

The LG Gram Style is an ultrabook that's meant to be both a portable laptop with a thin and light chassis, as well as an excellent productivity machine. I spent a good amount of testing not only on performance issues but looking for any ventilation issues. I also tested out battery life to see how long it could last off AC power.

I've tested plenty of gaming PCs and laptops, making me more than qualified to understand benchmark test results and how to properly stress test machines to see how well they perform as a work machine.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2023