For years, LG has pushed its ultra-light Gram laptops as a strategy to stand out from the PC crowd, for higher or worse. I used to be’t an enormous fan of the flex-prone case within the 2017 Gram, and we had related issues with the primary 17-inch Gram in 2019. However in equity, it has been some time since we have reviewed one, and we discovered loads to love in our preview of final 12 months’s AI-equipped mannequin. Now LG is again with a significant Gram Professional redesign at CES 2026, which contains a new aluminum/magnesium alloy it is dubbed “Aerominum.” And eventually, it appears LG has discovered a stability between constructing a super-light pocket book (the 16-inch Gram Professional weighs simply 2.6 kilos), and crafting one thing that truly feels sturdy.
Admittedly, the Gram Professional does not look significantly spectacular at first look. It has a big 16-inch 2.8K OLED display, which actually appears to be like good, however does not actually stand out from the glut of different OLED laptops on market. It is also powered by Intel’s new Panther Lake chips, and it helps twin NVMe SSDs. The magic occurs if you decide it up: My mind had a tough time computing how such a big laptop felt so mild in my arms. And better of all, it did not flex a lot once I tried to squeeze the case.
LG Gram Professional 16 facet ports. (Devindra Hardawar for Engadget)
There’s nonetheless a little bit of give, to be clear, however it did not really feel as precariously flexible as earlier fashions. I would not stress an excessive amount of about throwing it right into a messenger bag with out extra safety. The extra I dealt with the Gram Professional, the extra I needed different PC makers strived for related weight discount. The Gram Professional weighs about as a lot because the 13-inch MacBook Air! That is actually a formidable feat.
The LG Gram Professional 16’s disappointing keyboard. (Devindra Hardawar for Engadget)
I simply want LG spent as a lot time refining the Gram Professional’s keyboard as its case design. There’s barely any key journey, which made for an unresponsive and unsatisfying typing expertise. I get it, LG most likely does not have the accessible vertical top for a lot key motion, however there are different methods to make typing really feel extra dynamic. The Gram Professional’s trackpad, in the meantime, is serviceable, however it additionally did not really feel as easy and responsive as what we see from Apple’s notebooks or Microsoft’s Floor Laptop computer.
LG Gram Professional 17 (LG)
Along with the 16-inch Gram Professional, LG additionally debuted a 17-inch mannequin with an Aerominum case, which is notable for being the lightest pocket book at that dimension with an NVIDIA RTX GPU. Particularly, it is toting the RTX 5050, which needs to be sufficient to play most video games on the laptop computer’s native 2,880 by 1,800 decision (or 1440p blown up a bit). Given the extra highly effective {hardware}, the Gram Professional 17 is heavier than the 16-inch mannequin, however it nonetheless comes at a comparatively mild 3.8 kilos. I did not get an opportunity to play any video games on the laptop computer, sadly, however total it appears to be like like an honest choice for somebody who desires a big display with a little bit of horsepower.