LG’s latest attempt to combine ultra-thin design with high-end performance may have solved one of the company’s toughest problems. The Gram 14, announced today at CES, is similar to its predecessor in many ways. There’s a touchscreen option now, but the device is just as thin as the 2015 model and weighs the same at 2.16 pounds. It’s still light enough to hold the weight crown of its size class. The real differentiator of this product, however, is theLG Gram 14’s battery life. LG claims the Gram 14 can last up to 23 hours on a single charge.
It’s a bold claim, especially given the flaws of the original Gram, itself a rather shameless MacBook clone. In an effort to reduce the laptop’s form factor and weight, LG ended up with an overpriced product with minimal LG MacBook battery life. In our review, we found the Gram lasted just over five hours. Whatever LG between then and now has to be a remarkable feat of engineering, as the 23 hours of battery life is more than double what Apple claims for its other PC rivals. Of course, the Gram 14 will still need to be tested when we get our hands on a review unit, and it may not achieve this milestone under heavy use. Still, even 15 to 17 hours would be an amazing feat. In fact, information revealed only in a press release posted on LG’s Korean website suggests that the company is using MobileMark 2007, a 10-year-old battery benchmark, to hit the 23.6-hour milestone.
The latest 2014 MobileMark benchmarking tool puts a more realistic estimate of LG laptop battery life at around 17 hours, which is still an impressive leap over the 2015 model. LG has provided some details on how the battery performance improvements will be achieved while retaining battery performance. Thin frame. The Gram 14 now has an all-metal body, which the company says is made of nanocarbon magnesium alloy. The metal is a first for LG products and may be one of the company’s secrets to extending the life of its devices.
By achieving weight savings in material design, LG may be able to breathe more life into the product. It looks like the new 60Wh LG Gram 14 laptop battery– a 73% increase over the previous generation – proves the Gram 14 has some breathing room. LG says there’s also a new display technology behind the screen bezel that allows the IPS panel to meet its brightness and resolution benchmarks while reducing component weight.
In terms of general specs, the LG Gram 14 and its 13-inch and 15-inch siblings will come with Intel’s new Kaby Lake processors, up to 512GB of solid-state storage, up to 16GB of RAM, and a 1,920 x 1,080- pixel resolution IPS touchscreen. Each new model comes with an Intel HD Graphics 620 chip. There is a microSD card slot, but not a full SD card slot. Of course, these models now come with USB-C charging ports.
However, we’re not sure if the device will live up to the 17 hours ofbattery life claimed by the company. LG has also delayed the pricing and availability of the Gram 14 outside of South Korea. The biggest problem with the original Gram was that it charged Apple a premium for a device that performed better than a much laptop cheaper. So the real test here will be whether this latest Gram finally cracks the right combination of component selection and material design to achieve a long-lasting LG Gram battery – and all at the right price.
Updated 1/4 at 8:40 PM ET: Press release information from LG Korea’s website clarifies that the company is using 10-year battery benchmarks to claim 23 to 24 hours of LG Gram14 battery life for its new Gram 14. We updated the title and made this fact clear in the body of the article.
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