LG Gram 15 (2022) laptop review: Focused on portability

Competitors of the LG Gram 15 include other 15-inch office laptops with the 80-EU version of the Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 such as the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen2 ITL, Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-511A and the Honor MagicBook 15. Aside from the aforementioned laptops, we also included the older Gram 15 in our comparison tables.

The chassis, which consists of a magnesium alloy according to LG, is very reminiscent of last year's model, although a few differences become apparent upon closer inspection (such as the webcam's form & the keyboard font).

Like with the previous Gram 15, we have mixed feelings about the chassis. While the system is extremely lightweight at just 1.1 kg and highly portable thanks to its modest dimensions (only 17.4 mm thick), the device's rigidity leaves something to be desired due to its very thin surfaces (with haptics that are more similar to plastic than metal), particularly when applying pressure.

In a few areas, the case yields noticeably. The wobbly display lid is highly susceptible to twisting from the corners. Here, LG may have gone too far down the thin and light rabbit hole. Similarly, there is room for improvement when it comes to the hinges. The display tends to teeter when the laptop is subjected to tremors. Aesthetically, the chassis looks very sleek and attractive. The build quality also warrants no criticism.

Interfaces

The port selection is identical to last year's model. Aside from the Ethernet port (an appropriate USB-LAN cable is included in the box), most of the important ports are available. While there are two traditional USB type-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports located on the right, two modern USB4 type-C ports that support Thunderbolt 4 in addition to DisplayPort and Power Delivery occupy the left edge. The included 65-watt charger also uses the type-C form factor. An HDMI output, audio jack, microSD card reader, and a Kensington lock port complete the list of ports.

Since all ports are located in the rear half of the sides, there is sufficient room for mouse movements available for users who choose to connect an external pointing device.

Combined with our reference card, the performance of the aforementioned microSD card reader is only average. That being said, it is comparable to the solutions of its competitors, if applicable, with sequential read speeds of 90 MB/s and around 70 MB/s when transferring pictures.

Since the Wi-Fi values are not directly comparable with the other devices in our comparison due to our modernized test setup, their values are missing. In conjunction with our new reference router Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, the integrated Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 reaches excellent speeds of 1514 Mb/s and 1640 Mb/s while sending and receiving data, respectively.

Users should not expect too much from the integrated webcam. As per usual, the color accuracy is an obvious weakness of the solution (the image looks relatively pale). Thanks to the 1080p resolution, the sharpness is decent.

Since the screws on the bottom of the laptop are hidden beneath (glued-on) rubber feet or covers and our model comes from a shop, we decided against opening the case.

LG offers an international 24-month warranty.

The LG's touchpad is comfortable to use. Despite the low rigidity of the chassis, the buttons near the bottom edge of the pad offer a surprisingly distinct actuation point and allow for precise inputs. The relatively smooth surface offers good gliding properties. Similarly, gestures are well supported. With a size of ~11 x 7 cm, the touchpad is sufficiently large.

Unlike its predecessors, the current-generation Gram features a matte display, which is not just easier on the eyes, but also significantly better for outdoor visibility.

As configured, the LG Gram 15 is a mid-range office laptop. While the CPU performance is sufficient for many use cases, the iGPU quickly reaches its limits in 3D applications.

LG uses a Core i5-1240P processor. The Alder Lake model is based on the 10-nm process and offers four performance cores with Hyper-threading and eight efficiency cores without HT for a total of 16 threads.

The LG Gram 15 limits the performance of the CPU. Although the results from a cold system look quite good, the performance decreases massively over time and - to make matters worse - then fluctuates so heavily that it occasionally descends to the level of the Core i5-1135G7, as our Cinebench loop shows. In our review of last year's Gram 15, the Core i7-1165G7 also did not live up to its full potential.

Update: We ran a second Cinebench loop with the cooling profile High. In this scenario, the performance dropoff is much less drastic and the fluctuations less severe.

The CPU performance fluctuations barely affect the system performance benchmarks. With 4992 points in PCMark 10, our test device places first in our comparison. The fast DDR5-RAM of the LG Gram is likely a major contributing factor. Subjectively, the Gram 15 is slightly less responsive than similarly equipped laptops.

The storage solutions suffers the same fate as the CPU. While the initial performance matches our expectations with good speeds, the performance decreases substantially after a short time and begins to fluctuate heavily in a way not dissimilar to the processor. We have already observed similar behavior on many laptops with the latest PCIe4 SSDs (LG uses the 1-TB Samsung PM9A1).