Pros & Cons
-
- Very light weight for a 15-inch laptop.
- Sharp, clear display with thin bezel.
- Good performance.
-
- Flimsy build.
- Keys are flat, with shallow travel and no backlighting.
LG gram 15 (Core i5) Specs
| Graphics Memory | 8192 |
| Graphics Processor | Intel HD Graphics 520 |
| Native Display Resolution | 1920 by 1080 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Optical Drive | external |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-6200U |
| Processor Speed | 2.3 |
| RAM (as Tested) | 8 |
| Screen Size | 15.6 |
| Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes) | 7:55 |
| Weight | 2.06 |
| Wireless Networking | 802.11ac (2.4+5.0 GHz Dual-band) |
The LG gram-15Z960-A.AA52U1 ($1,099.99 as tested) is a midrange ultraportable notable for its record-setting light weight. Despite the 15-inch display, it weighs just over two pounds, lighter than many smaller laptops, without compromising the large screen or performance. There's a wide variety of connectivity options and battery life is good, but aspects of the design do suffer given the tight build. The overall construction is a bit flimsy, an issue we experienced with the smaller version of this laptop, the LG gram 14. The 15-inch version has more positives than the gram 14, and a better price, but the lackluster chassis and keyboard quality still hold the system back. The Razer Blade Stealth (QHD) remains our Editors' Choice for midrange ultraportables thanks to its premium build, strong feature set, and higher-quality screen for just $100 more.
Design and Features
The LG gram line's calling card is its feather-light build, and the 15-inch version delivers on that front, just as the LG gram 14 does. The system measures 8.99 by 14.08 by 0.66 inches and weighs just 2.06 pounds. This is really impressive considering the 14-inch frame, and it feels more like you're holding a cardboard mock-up than a full-size Windows 10 PC. The chassis is made of magnesium alloy that feels more high-end than plastic, but allows for the lighter design. The metallic gold color looks good, and is complemented well by a silver LG logo adorning the lid.
View All To compare, the Razer Blade Stealth, with its 12.5-inch screen, weighs 2.8 pounds, and even the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air weighs 2.96 pounds. Other 15-inch laptops like the HP Spectre x360 15t, the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Pro, and the Dell XPS 15 Touch (9550) all weigh more than 4 pounds. All of that said, the featherweight design does come with some drawbacks. There's a good amount of flex on the keyboard deck, lid, and bottom, which makes the laptop feel a bit cheap. Still, that's necessary to get the weight so low, and may bother some users more than others.
