OK, this is my second unit, but it is beautiful and everything works right out of the box.
Note: the first unit shipped to me by Amazon had about a 10 inch crack diagonally across the display when I opened it right out of the box and powered it up. I've seen numerous videos of reviewers tossing these LG Grams down a set of concrete stairs, bouncing and tumbling.. and then they pick it up and it turn back on and works. So.. this clearly was some sort of factory defect that escaped LG. NOW.. this is why I love Amazon... because I immediately contacted customer support to request an exchange and they had an new unit allocated to me immediately, which shipped the next morning. No fuss, no muss... just the usual outstanding Amazon customer service. But this only works if the item is sold by Amazon, not 3rd parties.. so I always make sure that when buying expensive electronics on Amazon.... I only by directly from Amazon, NOT 3rd parties.
On to the second unit, which works and is perfect in workmanship and finish. Powered up the unit and it immediately did the now famous Windows 10 configuration dialog and sequences. Took only a few minutes, and then it was up and ready to go. It performed a series of driver updates, and OS updates to bring it current, all without flaw and almost transparent to me, save for the need to log in after it did an after hours reboot to bring the OS updates online.
Let me take a moment to comment on LG packaging of the unit. The package is a very compact, very sleek, yet perfect protection for the unit in shipment. LG has outstanding packaging design teams, and that goes right down to the box they ship product in. Box is double sealed with LG security tape, with a note to refuse to accept the item if the seals are broken.
Unit comes with a USB C power unit, power cord for the unit, and a quick get started booklet of a few pages. Everything else is on the machine itself.
Battery was about 70% charged upon receipt, so I immediately got a chance to see the unit top up the power to full.. and while doing so... it draws a lot of power from the little power unit, so both the underside of the notebook and the power unit will get warm during battery charging. But once the battery is full charge, everything cools down. So just be aware that the power unit will get warm when the battery is charging. There may be some setting adjustments to tone the rate of charge down, but I have not yet delved into the LG specific apps and features for managing the computer.
The keyboard is fantastic in the 2021 LG Gram lineup, as is the new track pad design (though I prefer to use a mouse most of the time), and is quite functional and crisp if you are a trackpad user.
While sound is not typically an LG Gram strong suit, I have to say the sound system in the 2021s is a step up from prior years models.
All in, LG very much appears to be on a consistent path to keep in making LG Grams better and better every year.
It still boggles the mind how a 16 inch notebook can be so light weight, thin, and yet rugged in design. I was a bit skeptical about the new aspect ratio (16:10) of the 16 inch screen (same as Apple does), but I am now sold on it. Plenty of screen in a form factor that is actually a bit smaller than last years LG Gram 15 inch units.
Time will tell how this notebook does longer term, but if LGs reputation for their Gram line is any indicator.. it will have a long and reliable life. There are after all, no moving parts in an LG Gram other than the keyboard and the hinge for the display. Everything else is completely solid state. RAM is soldered to the board (a requirement for the new generation ram that goes with the gen 11 Intel processors), and there is a single 1 tera byte SSD.
Happily LG does not load up their Grams with a lot of bloatware. From my perspective, the only programs that need to be immediately purged from the machine is McAfee LiveSafe 30 day trial (I prefer to use the tandem combo of Windows Security and Malwarebytes Premium), and Office 365 trial (I prefer a licensed copy of Office installed on my machines, not Office 365). Other than that, everything looks tight and clean on the disk image from the factory.
I plan to let the machine stay powered up for the next week to insure that there are no early component issues, and then I will be moving files from my old computer to this one and expect to be completely on the new LG Gram from then on.
| Standing screen display size | 16 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 2560 x 1600 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 2560 x 1600 Pixels |
| Processor | 4.7 GHz apple_ci7 |
| RAM | 1 TB LPDDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 4266 MHz |
| Hard Drive | 1 TB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel Xe Graphics |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 16 GB |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ax |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 1 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 22 Hours |
