We review a lot of different laptops here at EFTM and there’s a reason for that – there are a lot of laptops on the market, every single year. One category of laptops that has been a favourite is the ultralight category.
LG has firmly established their Gram laptops in this ultralight product category, and now they are back with a new addition, the 2025 AI Gram laptop. They sent us the 16-inch LG gram (16Z90TL-G), and after using it for the last couple of weeks, we have some strong feelings about it. Read on.
The LG gram (16Z90TL-G) we were sent has some impressive specs:
The chipset is powerful and supports AI processing onboard, there is plenty of RAM and room for two NVMe SSDs, but the most impressive specs are the size and weight.
With a display and thus overall size that is bigger than the MacBook Air 15, the LG Gram is still lighter, by nearly 300 grams! It is 4mm thicker than the MacBook Air 15 but the fact that it is that much lighter is incredible.
.Portability is the big thing here. Sure, it is incredibly powerful and can do most things that you throw at it, but its light weight and small size make it perfect for professionals (or anyone) on the go.
Trevor said of the LG Gram two years ago: “The LG gram SuperSlim is the new class leader when it comes to ultra-thin and ultra-light design.” While the name is no longer the SuperSlim, the rest of it holds. They are still near the top when it comes to portability in the ultralight laptop category.
The design is incredibly bland. It’s a black rectangle with the gram logo/writing on the lid. The display fills most of the lid with bezels that are barely noticeable.
The bottom has a relatively large palm rest area with a large touchpad. The touchpad does not have the premium feel of the MacBook Air touchpad, nor is it as large. The click and feedback of LG gram laptop is a bit more plasticky and louder than that on the MacBook Air but it still works great.
The keyboard includes a numpad on the right-hand side – I am not a massive fan of this, and I kept hitting the ‘-’ button directly to the right of the backspace key because of the cramped nature of this. I would have preferred that LG had chosen a wider keyboard with bigger keys, such as the MacBook Air, but it was still acceptable.
Typing on the keyboard was still super easy and comfortable, but could have been better – remember this is comparing the LG keyboard to what is possibly the best feeling keyboard on the market in the MacBook Air 15.
The keyboard is backlit with the ability to turn it off, on low or on high. I preferred the high because I was never far from a power socket but you may want to turn that down a bit if you want to eek more hours out of the battery.
The display is a 16-inch WQXGA, which makes it acceptable but not mind-blowing. It is not an OLED display and it is not 4K. This is a lightweight laptop designed for professionals on the go, although it is less suitable for creators (and others who prefer the 4K OLED displays).
The display is still bright enough to work in any space without straining your eyes and sharp enough to use for long periods. I’ve been using it exclusively for the past couple of weeks without any issues at all.
For the average user, the 16-inch display in the LG gram will suffice comfortably.
The performance was really good. It’s not a gaming behemoth by any means but it was able to run multiple programs at once, including video editing software, all while running a 40-inch Thunderbolt 4 monitor (review coming soon).
The chipset and hardware are also capable of performing some AI tasks and computations onboard, and as such, we ran it through a few AI benchmark tests. It passed the tests, although they were not at the top of any lists, they were certainly acceptable for the occasional AI task you want ot throw at it.
The lineup boasts its hybrid AI capabilities, which combine gram chat On-Device for secure, offline data processing with gram chat Cloud, a subscription-based service powered by GPT-40. This dual approach means you can securely access and process information directly on your laptop even without an internet connection. When connected, gram chat Cloud leverages GPT-40 for more complex tasks like brainstorming presentation ideas or conducting research, all within a familiar chat interface.
A quick note here about the bloatware that LG has included on the gram 16 – McAfee: McAfee is notorious for slowing PCs down and is more trouble than it is worth. For many, the built-in virus software from Microsoft is enough. If you need more, we suggest looking for something more lightweight than McAfee, such as Trend Micro, which offers a lot more than just an anti-virus and won’t negatively affect your system.
LG are not the only manufacturer to install McAfee on their laptops but before signing up to any subscription (after the included free trial) we recommend you do your research into alternatives.
The battery life on the LG gram 16 is impressive. I was able to use it extensively for everyday work situations without fear of it running out the entire day. I ran a battery test on it using Trevor’s technique of a continuous YouTube stream. I ran the stream with a 50% brightness, which was easily bright enough to view the video comfortably, for 1 hour and 20 minutes and the battery only dropped 8 percent!
This equates to a battery life of over 16.5 hours of continuous YouTube streaming — an impressive feat for sure.
Nearly every single laptop on the market offers some form of onboard AI ability. The LG gram 16 is no different with the Intel Core Ultra 7 chipset allowing for some AI functionality. For most folks though AI is just a solution waiting for a problem — when it comes to laptops.
Luckily though, the LG gram 16 is a great laptop — AI or no AI. The display is really good — without being great — with a brightness that you will rarely need to put at full brightness. The keyboard is also good without being great — I was able to comfortably type on it exclusively for a couple of weeks. The only issue I had with it was the numpad being a bit close to the backspace and other keys resulting in quite a few mistypes in those areas.
The touchpad is also good ithout being overly large or super premium. It certainly did the trick. The icing on the cake is the battery life with over 16 hours of YouTube video streaming possible on a single charge.
The LG gram 16 (16Z90TL-G) is priced competitivley with the review configuration starting at $2,799 — not too shabby for the Intel Core Ultra 7, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD combo. Drop the RAM back to 16GB and the SSD to 512GB and you can drop the price to $2,199. If you want a lightweight, portable laptop then add this one to the purchasing considerations.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
I travel a lot, people know that, and while some think it's all sight seeing…
LG have won a staggering 17 awards at the inaugural Innovation Awards at IFA 2025…
There’s camping, there’s glamping but EcoFlow takes the great outdoors to a whole new level…
I've touched down in San Francisco after a flight from Berlin for the biggest event…
Lenovo has unveiled their latest suite of AI-Powered Devices and Experiences at IFA, with new…
It’s not just home appliances being announced at Europe’s largest consumer electronics show, with ACER…
