LG Gram 14Z90P in review: Superior endurance and finally more performance

[Redaktion]

The LG Gram is known as an endurance runner among laptops. The new LG Gram 14Z90P 14-inch model weighs less than a kilogram but once again convinces with extremely long battery life. Our review will reveal other compelling features of the subnotebook.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/LG-Gram-14Z90P-in-review-Superior-endurance-and-finally-more-performance.541046.0.html

[Goom'kah]

Traditionally hideous - chassis and keyboard. Barf.

[DOC_]

I can't overstate how disappointed I was with the cooler on the 2021 Gram 14. A single paltry heatpipe and 15w power limit strangles the 1165g7.

[Muhammad Anhar]

LG

Has display manufacturer, but can't put better display on their own product.

[Josy]

Didn't these used to have upgradeable RAM?

[jesse]

As long as LG keeps putting glossy screens on their Gram laptops, they are losing me as a customer.   Come on LG, at least make one of them with a matte option.   Props to LG for making this one so quiet though.

[duzenko]

Mediocre screen brightness and CPU power
RAM soldered
Price too high for this mediocrity
Really, who chooses notebooks by weight?!

[Dorby]

Really, who chooses notebooks by weight?!

Everyone. For the majority weight is more important than thickness, screen size, and design.
LG Gram series was made for people who prioritize 'light weight, battery life, and keyboard', over performance and hardware. If you want good performance, clear speakers and great display, you know where to go.

LG doesn't advertise any of that because the Gram is supposed to be a barebones laptop like Clevo and Tongfang, only as an Ultrabook.

[extremecarver]

The 16" 16Z90P has 25W PL1 limit. The thermal paste is done horribly. I repasted mine and it even without performance mode (this test forgot to enable performance mode in LG control center - that is why it is so quiet and benchmark numbers so low - it should be 35-38db instead) I get much higher numbers on all CPU or GPU limited benchmarks.

Also get an i5-1135g7 - it runs faster in the LG Gram than the i7. Even single core I get more or less the same numbers as here with the i7 and the i5 is way better on battery! Expect about 10-20% better battery life on the Gram with i5 instead of i7.
And yeah you should repaste the CPU with decent thermal paste in moderation not like LG did with huge amount). Before repasting the thermal cooling ability at 20° room temperature was around 23-24w in performance mode, and 20w in normal mode. After repaste I run into the PL1 limit of 25w after 40-50seconds on performance mode, and it cools around 23w on normal mode. So the repaste lowered temperatures by over 10%. All CPU only. CPU/GPU mixed it can cool more. Still I would really prefer a better heatpipe. In warm climates (think 25-27° air conditioned) if you have the notebook on your lap - every degree counts. Repaste helped a bit - but it is still quite warm. A better heatpipe and 3-4° less would be awesome.

I feel the 16" and 17" (17" seems to now come with factory calibrated screen and has a 400nits screen vs 350 on the 16 and 14) are much better buy. Still small enough and still light enough (my 16" weighs 1150g the 17" actually 1300g).

Just the screen really should have some coating. This is the glossiest screen ever produced more or less. Maybe the 17" has light coating . The 14" and 16" kinda have no anti reflective coating whatsoever.

For me the 16 and 17 are the best compromise on the market now. In some markets they are already heavily reduced. Got my 16" from Spain for 1200€ new (16GB, 512GB NVME, i5). I need big and high resolution screen, long battery life, good keyboard and light weight. The 17" would likely fit my needs even better than the 16" as it has the better display panel. Just not sure I could fit the 17" into every backpack.

[53787]

Really wanted a cheaper i5 model with 16gb ram, since the ram is soldered, and the i5 model only comes with 8, I really don't need an i7. 8gb is really starting to chock in 2021.

[blueblue]

Message to Notebookcheck.

You have dBA on the vertical axis for frequency response of the speaker.

Please consult an acoustic technician. dBA (dB A weighted) is not commonly used for frequency-amplitude response graph of a loudspeaker. A flat curve in dBA means that the loudspeaker has boosted bass and treble.

The A weighting means cutting a lot of bass and some treble to account for how people feel medium to low level noise.

The C weighting means less amount of cutting of bass and treble than the A weighting for higher level (volume) of sound than A weighting. C weighting is often used to for higher level noise or for balancing the volume level of channels of multi-channel home theatre sound.

For frequency response of a speaker, Z weighing (flat in the audio band) is used.

Search the web: "Frequency-Weightings for Sound Level Measurements nti audio"