LG Gram 16 2-in-1 (2022) Review: Light, Long Battery Life and a Big Display

7.8/ 10
SCORE

LG Gram 16 2-in-1 (2022)

$1,185 at Amazon

Pros

• Incredibly lightweight for its size
• Long battery life
• Excellent 16-inch display
• Active pen included

Cons

• Noticeable flex in body and display
• Body is a fingerprint magnet
• No pen storage

The LG Gram 16 2-in-1 is an excellent pick for the same reasons as past Gram laptops and two-in-ones: It's lightweight, it has long battery life and it has an excellent display. For the Gram 16 2-in-1, you'll get a 16-inch 2,560x1,600-resolution, pen-enabled touch display with 300-nit brightness and approximately 99% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. Battery life reached nearly 13 hours, outlasting competitors in its class. And despite its size, it is compact, slim and weighs about 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilograms). 

Updated with a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, the 2022 model has respectable productivity performance too. If you're looking to tackle typical home, office or school tasks on a bigger screen without sacrificing mobility or battery life, the LG Gram 16 2-in-1 has you covered. However, it does have a handful of shortcomings, not least of which is the price. 

The Gram 16 2-in-1 starts at $1,500 with a 12th-gen Core i7 processor, integrated graphics, 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD for storage. This is the model I tested and it's currently only available from Costco. LG offers configurations with 1TB or 2TB of storage. The 2TB version is $2,100, which is a lot to pay for a storage bump. It does include a $300 portable 16-inch USB-C monitor, which is great if you want to double your display space even when you travel. The 1TB configuration is available in the UK for £1,733. The 2-in-1 is currently not available in Australia, but the UK price converts to AU$3,045.

At $1,500, the Gram 16 isn't exactly overpriced for what you're getting, but it's no bargain either. However, Costco at the moment has it discounted to $1,200, which actually is a good buy and worth jumping on if this model lines up with your needs. And if you're reading this and it's not currently available, it's worth waiting for a price drop. 

Also, despite the premium price, there is some bloatware you might want to remove. It's not a lot and a couple of preloaded programs, like Wacom's notepad app Bamboo Paper and LG Glance (which uses presence detection for privacy and security features), are useful. But I could do without stuff like Alexa for PC and McAfee Live Safe on a $1,500 laptop.

The LG Gram 16 2-in-1 does have the look and feel of a premium laptop. Well, as long as you don't touch it with your bare hands. The matte black finish manages to pick up every last fingerprint and it takes a serious wipe down to get rid of them all. 

The chassis is made from magnesium alloy. That keeps it lightweight but doesn't give it the solid feel or stiffness of an aluminum laptop. There is noticeable flex in the keyboard deck and lid (you definitely want to avoid picking this up one-handed by the display). Still, as with other Grams, it is strong enough to pass seven military-grade durability tests including shock and vibration, so it's built for a commute or travel. 

In general, 15- and 16-inch two-in-ones are too big and heavy to use handheld in tablet mode. This LG is at least tolerable due to its weight and the screen's 16:10 aspect ratio, which makes it less awkward to hold vertically than a 16:9 display. 

The Gram 16 2-in-1 is still best suited for use on a desk or lap in tablet mode, and LG includes an active pen if you want to write or draw on the screen. Unfortunately, the pen doesn't store in the body or even magnetically attach like models from Samsung and HP. 

The screen also flexes when you put pressure on it with the pen, making it a little less enjoyable to use. If you use it in tent or stand mode, though, this is not an issue. Plus, the size makes it excellent for presentations and as a digital whiteboard.

This Gram is great as just a straight-up laptop, too. (You might not want to use it on your lap, though. It gets uncomfortably warm, and there's even a note on the bottom of the Gram to use it on a flat and hard surface.) The backlit keyboard has a comfortable firmness to the keys and a fair amount of travel. The function keys are also mapped for shortcuts: For example, pressing the F4 key lets you kill the mic and webcam. The webcam itself is good with a 1080p resolution, giving video chats some added clarity and detail.

The touchpad is 16:10 to match the display, but its increased size and position puts much of it under your right palm. This can lead to accidental brushes or clicks if you tend to drag your right palm while typing. The precision touchpad is otherwise nice to use. 

LG skimps some on ports compared to the clamshell version of the Gram 16. It does have two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, but they're both on the left side, which means you lose flexibility when it comes to charging and connecting a monitor. There's no HDMI out and only one USB-A port; the LG Gram 16 laptop has an HDMI 2.0 and two USB-A ports.

Performance from the LG Gram 16 2-in-1 was right where it should be for its components. (You can see how it stacks up compared to similarly configured systems in the performance charts below.) With its 12th-gen i7 processor and 16GB of high-speed memory, it's plenty for productivity tasks, light photo and video editing and entertainment. 

However, it is a champ when it comes to battery life. It reached 12 hours, 47 minutes on our streaming video battery drain test with brightness and audio set to 50%. With some power management, getting through a workday is possible, and the Gram charges quickly too.

Again, if your main needs are good battery life, a big display and mobility with strong processing performance for productivity, the LG Gram 16 2-in-1 has you covered. But I'd wait for a sale.