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So you love a big-screen, 17-inch laptop, but you want to carry it without hurting your back? You got me. lg gram 17 Living up to its name as the lightest, thinnest 17-inch laptop you’re likely to lay eyes on.

We’ve used several models from LG’s Gram series over the years, such as 2024’s Gram Pro 17 and the Gram Pro 16 2-in-1. Luckily, the new Gram 17 has some improvements over last year’s model, and honestly the difference between the base model and the Pro isn’t as major as you might expect.

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The Gram 17 is an extremely light laptop for its size, measuring just 0.74 inches thin and weighing 3.2 pounds. For context, that’s lighter than many 16, 14, or even some 13-inch laptops, and it doesn’t sacrifice hardware to get there.

The Gram 17 is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 “Lunar Lake” processor, 32GB of RAM, and one terabyte of storage, putting it in line with other competing mid-to-upper tier laptops in the same price range.

However, where it stands out from the crowd is its looks. The record-holding lightness results in a laptop that’s easy to carry, especially if you’re a hybrid employee who commutes to and from the office. I carried this laptop with me everywhere for over a week and barely noticed it in my bag.

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Beyond that, the 17-inch touchscreen display is everything you’d expect from a WQXGA (2560×1600) IPS: it’s bright, crisp and cuts glare very well. I’m not a huge touchscreen person (I almost always prefer a mouse), but the sheer size of the screen on this laptop invites the user to interact with it in a way that’s a little different than other laptops, and I found myself using it more often than expected.

That said, the very thin screen wiggles and bends back and forth with each press, which will bother some users.

The other physical components of the laptop are sleek and well-designed. The full-size keyboard is standard with comparatively flat keys, which aren’t as premium as some other laptops I’ve recently tested, like HP’s EliteBook X G1a, but it’s functional.

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Likewise, the touchpad is large and responsive, though I have to say I wish there was a haptic option. Additionally, the wrist rest area is quite wide as a result of the overall size of the laptop. Typing on the Gram 17 means your entire hand, and – depending on the size of your arms – mid forearm, will be resting on the laptop. You will also need appropriate desk space, with the bottom half of the clamshell measuring 15 inches in length and 10 inches in depth.

LG continues to produce its Gram series with a black matte finish, which is, unfortunately, a fingerprint magnet. Depending on what kind of lighting you’re in, smudges and prints may be visible on the laptop’s surface, and if you care about that sort of thing, it can be a bit distracting.

As far as other hardware on board goes, I/O is strong, with an HDMI port, two USB-Cs (both with Power Delivery and support for Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort), two USB-As, a headphone jack, and a Kensington lock slot. The speakers aren’t particularly good, sounding on the shallow side (affected by the ultrathin form of the device, no doubt) but what you’d expect from a mid-tier laptop.

However, the real power behind this laptop is internal. The inclusion of the Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 2) “Lunar Lake” processor upgrades it to a truly competitive device rather than just an engineering showboat.

Like other laptops with Intel’s “Lunar Lake” series of processors, such as the Asus ZenBook S14, the battery drain is slow when idle, allowing for days of use without having to worry about a charger.

However, concentrated, sustained use results in the kind of battery you’d expect, resulting in about a full eight hours of work on a single charge, which reduces in the long run – up to 10 hours, depending on how hard you push it. That said, its battery life is pretty good, especially considering it has a 17-inch display.

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So, how is the Gram different from the 17 Pro? First, the Pro has more horsepower, with a 16-core Intel Core Ultra 7, as opposed to the same chip but with eight cores on the base model. The Pro also has a larger 90Wh battery compared to the base model’s 77Wh, meaning it can stay unplugged for longer periods.

Despite the power, the Gram Pro 17 is also a bit thinner and lighter, as you’re paying for a more premium design. But when seen side by side, both the laptops look almost identical.

Neither 17-inch version comes with an OLED display (you’ll have to move up to the Gram Pro 16 for that), but the Pro has a 144Hz refresh rate, unlike the base model, which is capped at 60Hz.

Furthermore, despite the $380 price increase for the Pro version with 16GB of RAM, with the same I/O selection, color and design scheme, the difference here is relatively subtle. In contrast, the Gram 17 base model with 32GB of RAM is cheaper, starting at $1,699.

For this reason, I’d recommend the LG Gram 17 over the Pro version unless you absolutely intend to push the form factor in terms of battery life and power.

Talking about battery life, I did some gaming on this laptop and after a few updates it performed well, but the battery life was affected. I also encountered some graphical glitches (tearing, polygons) during my testing, but the Intel Arc GPU holds its own, especially for titles that aren’t particularly demanding.

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The “Lunar Lake” Intel chip results in a smooth running laptop. Even with the fan creaking, it never heats up to an uncomfortable temperature, especially considering how I remember last year’s Gram Pro 16 getting so hot.

Finally, I’ll mention Gram’s on-device AI, “Gram Chat”, which is LG’s proprietary AI-powered assistant that helps the user locate files or find solutions to common issues like troubleshooting. I would say that for very basic requests, it works, but it doesn’t understand conversational signals, much less ambiguous signals.

On-device AI is something that various manufacturers are trying out, but as most users will admit, the results are mixed, at least for now. LG’s Gram Chat may be useful for some people, but I found myself reluctant to go back after my first few attempts yielded disappointing results.

ZDNET’s shopping advice

lg gram 17 is an incredibly thin and light laptop, and the addition of an Intel Core Ultra 7 “Lunar Lake” processor completes the picture with demonstrable improvements in ways consumers will care about.

The regular price of $1,700 is on the high end, but right now it’s on sale for $1,199 – a whole $500 off. Not bad for what is essentially an engineering statement.