LG Gram 15Z980 (i7-8550U, Full-HD) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

While many manufacturers compete as to who can create the smallest and thinnest laptop, the LG Gram series vows to be the lightest. The new LG Gram 15 weighs just over a kilogram, which is one of the lightest 15-inch notebooks currently on the market. Find out in this review what else the LG Gram 15 offers besides its weight and what limitations there are with a 15-inch device that is this light.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/LG-Gram-15Z980-i7-8550U-Full-HD-Laptop-Review.321228.0.html

[Toruss]

I have an i5 14" touch model and bought it specifically because it has an open RAM socket in addition to onboard 8GB DDR4. This trivia is significant since the memory can be upgraded up to 40GB in the future when 32GB sticks finally arrive at the market.
In addition, after testing with a 960 EVO, seems like both M.2 slots are NVMe capable at full PCIe x4 speeds. However the chassis especially the bottom gets unbearably hot after a few minutes of sequential load operations.

On one hand, the Gram's hardware isn't spectacular and its webcam and speakers are downright unusable.
Bright side is its long 9 hour battery life although it could be better with optimization (average discharge of 9-10 watts is very high). And probably one of the most durable laptops I've had the pleasure of using which include many Thinkpads and Latitudes.

[NikoB]

Good laptop, but...:

1. Why LG was necessary to corrupt the keyboard for the digital block?! There's plenty of room if it's shifted to the left by 0,8-1cm and then just enough for a full 15.6 (-,+, enter)!

2. Why LG make with a glossy panel? This gives glare at the light sources in the back.

3. i7 8550u here is completely meaningless, because it even loses vs. Ryzen 2500, not to mention the i5 8250U with normal cooling system. I understand why they did this (it's model very quiet under load), but there's no reason to buy a configuration with i7 - a waste of money. Best choice for all config with i5 8250U.

4. A second audio connector is required on the left (as a backup and for convenience). On the planet, 90% of right-handers and 10% of left-handers, why do they make it inconvenient for right-handers? Or make a universal solution on both sides (that for the money in R&D for LG is a  plus few cents) or do as the majority of the population is comfortable, i.e. right-handed ...

5. Plus, it is desirable in one of the audio connectors optical output for galvanic isolation with laptop power circuits, when transmitting sound to an external DAC. Old laptops of a decade ago had such a thing, but do not have the latest ones?

That's correcting these shortcomings with the new series at 10-nm from Intel, this will be a serious bid for success and big sales ...

[NikoB]

after testing with a 960 EVO, seems like both M.2 slots are NVMe capable at full PCIe x4 speeds.

It impossible. U series PCH connected to cpu by QPI (max 8 Gbyte/s) for all devices, include discrete video chip. No bandwidth for two x4 pci-e 3.0 and no slot for second x4 in Premium PCH for KabyLake-R...

[NikoB]

and speakers are downright unusable.

In laptops, the most important thing is the quality of the output to the headphones, and it should be measured in RMAA, but the redaction/testers do not persist in this, although all smartphones are checked exclusively for it feature. What's the point of checking the poor speakers in any laptop? if the normal owner will listen of music and watch video only in headphones, and at best version through an external DAC with an amplifier for headphones. And here it becomes important to galvanic isolation or the presence of an optical SPDIF output, which 99% of manufacturers do not put in their models for absolutely stupid reasons, because the cost is almost not increased.

[Jankosan]

after testing with a 960 EVO, seems like both M.2 slots are NVMe capable at full PCIe x4 speeds.

It impossible. U series PCH connected to cpu by QPI (max 8 Gbyte/s) for all devices, include discrete video chip. No bandwidth for two x4 pci-e 3.0 and no slot for second x4 in Premium PCH for KabyLake-R...

I can confirm that 15Z980 works with Samsung 960 EVO just fine. CrystamDiskMark3 speed benchmark is comparable to Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2018-20KGS03900.

[Pedro]

Hello.
I like this laptop, but is there another one with matte screen? What alternatives are there?
Why the LG Gram 15z980 with i5 has worst screen brightness?

Thanks a lot

[Browny]

@Pedro:

I have the 14" touchscreen model and use a matte anti-glare screen protector. Zero glare and improved touch experience thanks to smooth matte coating. Screen brightness ranges from 300-350 nits across all 2018 models so 330 on the review unit is right on average.

[Pedro]

Thanks a lot Heute,

I will follow your recomendations and I will buy the 13,3" model that is cheapest.

Cheers!

[Lynton]

thank you as always for the excellent technical level of detail provided in these reviews, really helpful