Latest LG gram laptops bulk up on battery life but remain ultra-light

LG has announced the availability of a trio of new featherweight LG gram laptops. Each size comes in two different variations, all of which promise much improved battery life despite their thin-and-light nature.

The most compact notebook is the refreshed LG gram 13Z970, a 13.3-inch laptop which weighs just 2.07 pounds (a smidge under 940g).

The hardware consists of an Intel Core i5 processor ( Kaby Lake ) backed with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, with two variants: one model has a non-touch IPS Full HD display, while the other has a touchscreen and fingerprint sensor. 

(All of these machines have a Full HD resolution and Kaby Lake CPUs, by the way.)

Battery life is 17.5 hours on the former and 15 hours for the touchscreen version, with pricing set at $999 (around £800, AU$1,300) and $1,099 (around £880, AU$1,430) respectively.

Moving on up, the LG gram 14Z970 is a 14-inch machine which again has two different models. One sports an Intel Core i5 CPU and the other ups the ante to a Core i7, and that’s the only difference.

Both models have 8GB of system RAM and 256GB of storage along with a touchscreen. They offer 14.5 hours of juice and weigh in at 2.14 pounds (970g). The Core i5 machine retails at $1,199 (around £960, AU$1,560), with the beefier i7 version pitched at $1,499 (around £1,200, AU$1,950).

The 13-inch and 14-inch gram laptops look a bit different from the largest one

More memory, more storage, more screen

Finally, we have the 15.6-inch LG gram 15Z970, which has a weight of 2.4 pounds (1.09kg).

The base version of this laptop has an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, with a non-touch display. Or you can opt for the Core i7 model, which doubles up the memory and storage (16GB/512GB) – plus it adds a touchscreen.

Battery life is 15.2 hours for the former and 12.5 hours for the beefier model, and pricing is $1,199 (around £960, AU$1,560) and $1,699 (around £1,360, AU$2,210) respectively.

Other noteworthy points across all models include the presence of a USB-C port, a backlit keyboard, and a "daylight mode" to make the screen brighter and more easily visible outside – though, the latter isn’t present on the largest model.

You can purchase these notebooks at retailers across the US right now, including the likes of Amazon, Fry’s, B&H, Microcenter and Costco. However, we're awaiting information on availability in the UK and Australia, and will update this story once we hear back.

• Will the new LG gram make it onto our 15 best laptops list?

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