Product Listing

LG Gram 15: An unbelievably light 15-inch notebook

By Kenny Yeo - 5 Sep 2016
Launch SRP:

Performance Benchmarking, Battery, and Portability

Performance Benchmarking 

Since the LG Gram 15 is as light as most Ultrabooks, we'll be comparing its performance against some of the 13-inch Ultrabooks that we have recently tested such as the gorgeous HP Spectre and the very excellent Dell XPS 13. You can find the list of benchmarks used and notebooks tested below.

Here’s a list of all the benchmarks used:

  • PCMark 8
  • 3DMark (2013)
  • Tomb Raider
  • Far Cry 2

LG Gram 15 Specifications
  LG Gram 15
  LG Gram 15
Launch SRP
  • From S$
Processor and Chipset
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB cache)
Operating System
  • Windows 10
System Memory
  • 8GB DDR3L-1600MHz
Video & Display
  • Intel Graphics 520
  • 15-inch
  • 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution
Storage
  • 512GB SSD SATA3
Connectivity
  • 802.11ac/b/g/n/a (2x2, 867Mbps)
  • Bluetooth 4.0
Audio
  • Stereo speakers (2 x 1W)
  • Integrated Cirrus Logic DAC
I/O Ports
  • 2 x USB 3.0
  • 1 x USB 2.0
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x USB Type C (USB 3.1 Gen 1)
  • Micro-SD card slot
Battery Type
  • 34.61Wh
Dimensions
  • 357 x 228 x 16.8mm
Weight
  • 980g

Test Notebooks Compared
  HP Spectre (2016) Dell XPS 13 (2016) Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Core i5-6300U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Lenovo Yoga 900 Apple MacBook (2016) Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Early 2015)
  HP Spectre (2016) Dell XPS 13 (2016) Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Core i5-6300U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Lenovo Yoga 900 Apple MacBook (2016) Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Early 2015)
Launch SRP
  • From S$2599
  • From S$2299
  • From S$1999
  • From S$2299
  • From S$1618
Processor and Chipset
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB cache)
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i5-6300U (2.4GHz, 3MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
  • 1.1GHz Intel Core m3 processor
  • Intel Core i5-5250U (1.6GHz, 3MB L3 cache)
Operating System
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan
  • Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite
System Memory
  • 8GB LPDDR3-1866MHz
  • 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
  • 8GB LPDDR3 RAM
  • 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
  • 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory
  • 4GB 1600MHz LPDDR3
Video & Display
  • Intel HD Graphics 520
  • 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800-pixel IPS touchscreen panel
  • Intel HD Graphics 520
  • 12.3-inch PixelSense display
  • 2736 x 1824 pixels resolution
  • 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800-pixel IPS touchscreen panel
  • Intel HD Graphics 520
  • 12-inch Retina display
  • 2304 x 1440 pixels resolution
  • Intel HD Graphics 515
  • 13.3-inch (1440 x 900 pixels)
  • Intel HD Graphics 6000
Storage
  • 512GB PCIe SSD with NVMe support
  • 256GB SSD
  • 256GB SSD
  • MicroSD expansion (Up to 64GB)
  • 256GB SSD
  • 256GB PCIe-based SSD
  • 256GB PCIe SSD
Optical Drive
  • None
  • None
  • None
  • None
Connectivity
  • 802.11ac/b/g/n/a (2x2)
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Intel Wireless Display
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • 802.11 ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • 802.11ac/b/g/n (2x2)
  • Bluetooth 4.0
Audio
  • Bang & Olufsen speakers
  • Stereo speakers professionally tuned with Waves MaxxAudio®
  • Stereo speakers with Dolby Audio-enhanced sound
  • JBL® Stereo Speakers with Dolby® DS 1.0 Home Theater® Certification
  • Built-in speakers
  • Built-in dual microphones
  • Headphones jack
  • Stereo speakers
  • Dual microphones
I/O Ports
  • 1 x USB Type-C (USB 3.1 Gen. 1, 5Gbps)
  • 2 x USB Type C (USB 3.1 Gen. 2, 10Gbps, Thunderbolt 3)
  • 2x USB 3.0
  • 1x USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 port
  • 3-in-1 card reader
  • 1x audio combo jack
  • 1 x USB 3.0
  • 1 x MicroSD
  • 1 x Mini-DisplayPort
  • 1 x Headphones jack
  • 2x USB 3.0
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.0 with video-out
  • 1x DC-in with USB 2.0
  • 4-in-1 card reader
  • 1x audio combo jack
  • 1 x USB Type-C port (support USB 3.1 Gen 1 standards)
  • 2 x USB 3.0 port
  • 1 x Thunderbolt 2.0 port
  • 1 x SDXC card slot
  • 1 x audio jack
Miscellaneous
  • None
  • Includes pen input
Battery Type
  • 45Whr
  • 56Wh
  • Integrated 39wH
  • 66Wh
  • 41.4Whr
  • 54wH lithium-ion battery
Dimensions
  • 325 x 229 x 10.4mm
  • 304 x 200 x 15mm
  • 292 x 201 x 8.45mm
  • 324 x 225 x 14.9mm
  • 28.05 x 19.65 x 0.35-1.31 cm
  • 325 x 227 x 3 ~ 17mm
Weight
  • 1.11kg
  • 1.29kg
  • 786g
  • 1.29kg
  • 920g
  • 1.35kg

 

PCMark 8

PCMark 8 tests a system’s performance by putting it through different tasks that reflect the workloads typical of various kinds of users, for instance the casual home user or the working creative professional. The LG Gram 15 has almost identical specifications to the other 13-inch Ultrabooks and so it was no surprise to see that it managed very comparable scores on PCMark 8. The only outlier was the Apple MacBook, and that’s because it is equipped with a less powerful Intel Core m3 processor.

 

 

3DMark

The LG Gram 15 has the same Intel HD Graphics 520 integrated GPU as most of the other notebooks here, but its numbers here were a little underwhelming. On Cloud Strike, it managed 4828 points, which was nearly 15% less than the other notebooks with the same integrated GPU. And on the more intensive Fire Strike, it scored 669 points, which was again the lowest of all other comparable notebooks. This could be because of its less efficient cooling system, which wouldn’t be out of the ordinary since it has to use smaller fans to accommodate its smaller dimensions. 

 

Far Cry 2

The LG Gram 15’s underwhelming graphics performance continued on Far Cry 2. Again, despite having the same integrated GPU, the Gram managed frame rates that were about 25% lower than the other notebooks with comparable specifications. It even scored lower than the MacBook Air, which is powered by last year’s Broadwell processor. 

 

Tomb Raider

It wasn’t any better on Tomb Raider, which is a far more intensive game. Even though the frame rates suggest that the performance was pretty close, the LG Gram15  was still consistently slower than its rivals, though the difference in this case was reduced to a much smaller margin of around 10% on average. 

 

Battery Life & Power Consumption

In our battery life test, the LG Gram 15 managed a respectable 183 minutes or just over 3 hours. Though that may not seem much at first, we must remember that the Gram 15 actually has the smallest battery here at just over 34Wh. Its power draw of 11.35W was also one of the lowest - bested only by the Apple MacBook and MacBook Air. That said, our battery test is pretty intensive and consists of intensive graphics workloads and gaming that quickly drains batteries. Users will certainly be able to get more out of the Gram 15 if their intended use is for lighter tasks like web browsing and watching videos.

 

Portability Index

Our portability index attempts to provide an objective measure of how portable the different ultrabooks are relative to each other by taking into account things like size, weight, and battery life. Though the LG Gram 15 managed a ratio of just 2.276, it is actually very impressive for a 15-inch notebook. Most 15-inch notebooks will struggle to get a ratio of even 1, as can be seen in our review of the ASUS ROG G501 here. The ROG G501 is a thin and light gaming notebook and even it managed a ratio of just 0.889. Hence, the Gram 15’s portability ratio is really an impressive achievement.

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8.0
  • Design 8.5
  • Features 8.5
  • Performance 7.5
  • Value 8
  • Mobility 9
The Good
Incredibly light and compact for a 15-inch notebook
Full-sized USB and HDMI ports
Integrated DAC for better audio
Sharp display with vibrant colors
Reasonably priced
The Bad
Some flex in the body
Magnesium panels feels a bit plasticky
Some keyboard keys are too small
Dim display and only Full-HD resolution
Below average graphics performance
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