LG Gram 17 Pro (2023) review: a good idea, poorly executed

The 2023 LG Gram 17 Pro comes in two configurations. Both utilize the Intel Core i7-1360P CPU and sport the same 17.0-inch 16:10 IPS display. With 32GB of RAM and 2TB of total SSD storage (created by two 1TB drives), the machine costs $2,300. With 16GB of RAM and a single 1TB SSD, it’s $2,000. Either way, it’s a premium laptop and will make a dent in your budget.

LG’s Gram lineup aims to be as thin and light as possible given the display size. For a 17-inch laptop, the Gram 17 Pro certainly meets that goal. It has reasonably sized display bezels, and so its width and depth are fine, and it’s thin at 0.70 inches and very light at 3.2 pounds. That makes for a large laptop that’s surprisingly easy to carry around.

The Gram 17 Pro is a thin and light laptop, even given its large display, and so it’s equipped with a 28-watt Intel 13th-gen Core i7-1360P with 12 cores (four Performance and eight Efficient) and 16 threads, running at a max Turbo Frequency of 5.0GHz. It is also equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, the previous generation entry-level Nvidia discrete GPU. As such, unlike some other 17-inch laptops, like the Dell XPS 17, that use faster 45-watt CPUs and more powerful GPUs, the Gram 17 Pro is aimed more at productivity tasks and very light gaming.

In this respect, it does well. It wouldn’t run Geekbench 5, but in our other CPU-intensive benchmarks, it competed well against other recent laptops with the same CPU. It beat out most earlier-generation Core i7-1260P chips with the same wattage, cores, and threads, but a slower Max Turbo frequency, However, it couldn’t keep up with AMD’s Ryzen 7 7736U, except in the PCMark 10 Complete benchmark, where it led the pack.

Overall, the Gram 17 Pro will allow demanding productivity users to take advantage of that large display for getting work done. It won’t be great for creators, though, who often use apps that can leverage a fast GPU. Its RTX 3050 was slower than others we’ve tested, hitting just 2,929 in the 3DMark Time Spy test (3,571 in performance mode), where other laptops with the same chip scored over 4,000. That makes the Gram 17 Pro only a little faster at gaming than laptops with integrated graphics, something I’d normally test with Fortnite. Unfortunately, the game wouldn’t run without causing a bluescreen.

Somehow, LG crammed a large, 90 watt-hour battery into the Gram 17 Pro’s very light chassis. The Gram series is known for its excellent battery life, and the Gram 17 Pro is no exception.

It managed 13.75 hours in our web-browsing test, which is a solid score that tends to imply all-day battery life for typical productivity tasks. The laptop could not complete the PCMark 10 Applications battery test, which is a shame because that benchmark is the best indication of productivity longevity. It did well in our video-looping test, though, at almost 20 hours, which is very long and vies with Apple’s highly efficient M2 MacBook line.

Overall, the Gram 17 Pro has great battery life. If you push it very hard, you may not make it through an entire day, but most users will find that they won’t have to carry the diminutive charger around with them.

We sometimes experience technical glitches with review laptops, but most often, they’re easy enough to resolve. Maybe we can’t run a benchmark or two, or our colorimeter won’t fully cooperate. We note these minor issues most of the time, but they don’t tend to affect a laptop’s overall review or rating.

The LG Gram 17 Pro is a different story. I experienced numerous Windows bluescreens with the first unit LG sent me — so many that I couldn’t complete the bulk of my testing. LG sent me another unit, and it did the same thing. We never did figure out what was going on, but LG configured the third unit itself and sent it to me. This time, I was able to complete all but one benchmark, Geekbench 5.

However, it’s something to keep in mind as you consider this laptop. I’m sure that LG is working furiously to determine what was causing so many issues, but this is the least reliable review unit I’ve handled in my many, many years of laptop reviewing.

For those creators who don’t need extreme speed to get their work done, the Gram 17 Pro offers an attractive display. It’s large at 17 inches, with a productivity-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio, and it’s just sharp enough at 2,560 x 1,600. It offers variable refresh rate (VRR) technology that lets it switch from 31Hz up to 144Hz as needed, giving it the potential to deliver a smoother Windows 11 experience.

According to my colorimeter, it was better than the usual premium IPS display. It was bright at 476 nits, and its colors were wider than usual at 91% of AdobeRGB, with a good accuracy of Delta-E of 1.34 (1.0 or less is considered excellent). It also offered superb contrast for an IPS display at 1,490:1, which, of course, can’t compete with the inky blacks of OLED panels.

Productivity users will enjoy the display for its size and brightness, while creators will like the colors and contrast. It’s one of the Gram 17 Pro’s stronger attributes.

It’s hard to recommend a laptop with so many technical glitches. I trust that LG will get them fixed, but in the meantime, I’d be a bit wary.

Regarding its performance, battery life, and display, the Gram 17 Pro is a solid laptop. It would be a great choice for multitaskers and light creators. Its keyboard is uncomfortable, though, and its touchpad is too small. And its chassis doesn’t have the same dense rigidity that I’ve come to expect from the best laptops. Given its premium price and its unreliable performance, this is one 17-inch laptop that you probably want to pass up for now.

Editors’ Recommendations