LG Gram SuperSlim Review
A supremely thin laptop with a high price to pay
Verdict
The LG Gram SuperSlim is a laptop made for those willing to pay extra for an exciting design, specifically, an extremely thin and light build. The performance is up to snuff and it’s got a decent keyboard too. You may also be drawn in by the unique OLED and matte display combination. But, you have to pay a pretty penny for the privilege.
Pros
- Great productivity performer
- Accurate display that’s great outside
- Stunningly thin and light
- Strong battery life
Cons
- OLED and matte display combination won’t suit everyone
- Disappointing 1080p and 16:9 combo
- Oddly cheap-feeling chassis
Availability
- UKRRP: £1799.98
- USARRP: $1699.99
Key Features
- OLED and matte display combinationA rare combination of a 1080p OLED panel and a matte coating.
- 13th Gen Intel CoreFeaturing an Intel Core i7-1360p processor.
- Extremely thin and lightMeasuring at 990g in weight and 10.99-12.55mm thin.
Introduction
The LG Gram range has always been a wondrous one, focused on its stunningly lightweight design even with its large 17-inch models. Now, it’s mixing a supremely thin build into its low-weight formula – enter the LG Gram SuperSlim.
The same LG Gram formula of super-light machines has been around for some time now and LG clearly thought it was time for some change. With the new LG Gram SuperSlim, it trims down the 15-inch version of its light laptops. Then, there’s the LG Gram Style which, like the Dell XPS 13 Plus, looks to reinvent the laptop formula with a fresh look and a haptic trackpad.
I’m here for the LG Gram SuperSlim though and, aside from its obvious thin and light coup, it sports an interesting set of specifications – for the better and for the worse – alongside a high starting price of over £1500/$1699.99. This is my full review of LG’s latest laptop.
Design and Keyboard
- Pleasant keypress
- Lack of ports
- Extremely thin, if cheap-feeling
There are two reasons to buy the LG Gram SuperSlim over rival devices and one of them is the peerless thin-and-light design, measuring 990g and 10.99mm (at its thinnest point, and 12.55mm at its thickest). No other laptop feels quite like the LG Gram SuperSlim – and that’s not completely positive.
Devices like the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED come closest but that laptop’s compact and metal-centric design still has a tangible mass that you don’t find with this LG. The LG Gram SuperSlim feels more like wielding a sheet of paper than any other laptop. Of course, that’s an exaggeration but the way you can lift and move this device with little thought for the demand, or lack thereof, its putting on your grip is wondrous.
However, some of this feeling is down to a build that, despite this laptop’s high price, feels cheap. This has always been the case for the LG Gram range, with its lightweight often seeming like it’s owed to a remarkably lightweight material that offers far from a luxury feel. Despite this feel, it is made of metal, courtesy of an aluminium and magnesium chassis. As such, the plasticky feeling is just that… a feeling, as it does feel like a sturdy and durable machine.
My personal bias is about to show, in that I’m never a fan of productivity laptops that choose to sport a number pad and, consequently, shift the other keys and the trackpad to the left. It’s just awkward and unnecessarily hinders far more people than it benefits.
Nevertheless, the typing experience itself is remarkably comfortable for such a slimline machine. It won’t blow your socks off if you’re used to higher travel keys on the likes of gaming laptops or keyboards, but there’s a smidgen of satisfying feedback and a decent amount of travel. And, that all adds up to a pleasant keypress for those looking to write essays and the like for hours on end.
The LG Gram SuperSlim is not a laptop for you if you care about having plenty of ports. There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports and one USB-C 3.2 port alongside a headphone jack. Get your dongle at the ready if you are someone who requires more I/O than this.
Display and Sound
- Interesting matte and OLED combination
- Display is crisp and great for outdoor use
- Accurate sound but lacks bass
Onto the second reason to choose the LG Gram SuperSlim among strong competition: the rather unique combination of an OLED panel and a matte coating. I was baffled by this screen when I first laid my eyes on it.
Initially, it really didn’t look like an OLED, with detail and a vibrant look hindered by the matte coating. Given the high price and only 1080p resolution, the benefits of having an expensive OLED in this device being negated were a big concern of mine. But, I discovered it was a software setting affecting things more than they should.
I headed into the display settings to test the HDR capabilities of this laptop and realised there was a custom “LG OLED” colour profile applied. When I enabled HDR, the profile returned to a Windows default and there was life in this OLED once again. Something to bear in mind if you’re considering this laptop and have been concerned by the initial look of the screen. The change in setting doesn’t completely return this panel to the bouncing colour capabilities of other glossy OLED laptops though, with the matte coating still reigning that in a tad.
However, the signature OLED colour accuracy and contrast capabilities are here. Our display benchmarking saw this laptop score 100% sRGB, 98% Adobe RGB and 100% DCI-P3.
It’s a display that looks crisp but can’t quite offer the detail of rival machines that sports a higher resolution. For the price, a 1080p resolution and an out-of-date 16:9 aspect ratio is a bit of a letdown. The matte coating and solid 415 nits of peak brightness of the LG Gram SuperSlim do go some way to redeem this panel though, with those features making this the best laptop we’ve tested for outdoor use.
The LG Gram SuperSlim outdoes itself when it comes to sound, offering audio that you wouldn’t and shouldn’t typically expect from such a thin machine. It isn’t going to touch the likes of the MacBook Air M2, with an absence of bass being this laptop’s main sonic flaw, but it offers a fairly full sound even at high volumes. These speakers will serve you well for movie-watching, podcast-listening, Zoom calls and more.
Performance
- Powerful productivity performance
- Fans rarely get very loud
The LG Gram SuperSlim positively nails its brief as a productivity laptop when it comes to performance, so you won’t be disappointed there, but it’s a minimum requirement given the high cost.
Nevertheless, the Intel Core i7-1360P, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD combination I tested is, thankfully, the base £1799.98 spec – as lower specifications at that price could’ve been the death knell for this machine. In the USA, it’s available for $1,699.99, albeit with a 512GB SSD instead of 1TB.
My review model offered a speedy productivity performance, unencumbered by annoying heat or fan noise. You’ll have no trouble opening upwards of 20 browser tabs and sprinkling in some multi-tasking across productivity and multimedia apps.
The benchmark results are no surprise, keeping pace with key rivals and, the laptop that also sports the same processor, the MSI Prestige 13 Evo. Intel does tout the P-series as offering some creative capabilities but they are minimal given the lack of graphical heft. You should look to an AMD-powered laptop like the Asus Zenbook 15 OLED if you do want to dabble in low-demand editing and gaming. But, there are some strong multi-core capabilities so tasks like database work, audio engineering and complex programming are within this machine’s reach.
SSD speeds are up to standard too, coming in at a respectable 7102MB/s read and 6439MB/s write. It lines up with many top-tier productivity laptops and means your file transfers will be unhindered along with speedy load times.
Battery Life
- Great battery life for an OLED laptop
- Speedy recharging
If a laptop features an OLED display then it will typically offer poor or, at least, reduced battery life when compared to rivals that don’t. However, the LG Gram SuperSlim shows no sign of this.
LG’s laptop manages an impressive 13 hours and 20 minutes in our test. This lets you get well into a second day of work before needing to top up. Some of this has to be put down to the mediocre Full HD resolution but, given this display looks great regardless, it’s hard to hit it too hard on this point.
The included 60Wh charger means you can speedily get this laptop back up to 100% in under an hour and a half, making this laptop a strong pick for those who crave a ton of battery and swift charging.
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Should you buy it?
You want a peerless thin-and-light design: If you’re willing to pay a high price for a supremely thin and light design, you won’t be disappointed with this productivity laptop.
You don’t want to spend over the odds for design: If you want bang for your buck, the LG Gram SuperSlim isn’t the laptop for you. You are paying a premium for a thin chassis and a light weight. Check out the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED as a more affordable alternative.
Verdict
The LG Gram SuperSlim is an exciting and functional productivity laptop that is just too darn expensive. It nails most of what you’d want from a high-end productivity laptop but it’s asking you to pay a luxury price without providing all that much luxury. The display won’t be for everyone and the quality of build, while impressively thin and light, doesn’t scream £1800/$1700-worth of tech.
Nevertheless, if this unique thin-and-light design and OLED matte display combination is something that you’re willing to pay more for then I don’t think you will be disappointed. Those who want a more all-around thin-and-light experience should look to the likes of the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED and MacBook Air 15-inch. Or, for a 15-inch Windows laptop that can stretch beyond productivity, the Asus Zenbook 15 OLED is a strong option too.
If this review has made you realise you do value luxurious materials, but you don’t want to fork out over £1500/$1500 on a laptop, then the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 360 is an ideal 15-inch productivity pick. For a wider selection, check out our best laptop guide.
How we test
Every laptop we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key things including build quality, performance, screen quality and battery life.
These include formal synthetic benchmarks and scripted tests, plus a series of real world checks.
We used as our main laptop for at least a week.
Tested the performance via both benchmark tests and real-world use.
We tested the screen with a colorimeter and real-world use.
We tested the battery with a benchmark test and real-world use.
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FAQs
The LG Gram SuperSlim is a device primarily comprised of a metal chassis, though, it actually feels like plastic to the touch. As such, the build offers some flex but it can definitely take the odd knock without any issue.
No, the LG Gram SuperSlim does not have a touch screen. The LG Gram range does offer 2-in-1 models if you do want a touch screen.
The Intel Core i7 P-series chip inside the LG Gram SuperSlim does make it capable of programming workloads, with strong single and multi-core performance. It does lack powerful graphics, so programming with a complex visual element wouldn’t be a good fit here.
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
