Following up on the excellent GeekBook X14 Pro, GEEKOM has kindly sent me the GeekBook M16 to review for r/suggestalaptop as well, free of charge. I had high hopes for this unit, and I was surprised in many different ways. In the end, I will go through everything with you below in as honest and fair a manner as I can manage, so letās get started, shall we?
To begin, the GeekBook M16 is GEEKOMās third laptop released, and one aimed at being a more budget oriented unit versus the X14 Pro and X16 Proās premium design. Despite being a more budget oriented unit, the GeekBook M16 is actually still a thin and light ultrabook with an all-metal chassis, a fairly nice screen, and an attempt to remain quiet under most operations, so I will as before be reviewing it in this capacity. I believe this machine has done an excellent job in the measures theyāve taken to cut costs, and even has some improvements over its big brothers in some ways, and I will do my best to go through every aspect of the unit for you all below!
Snug packagingWhat you get in the box
SPECIFICATIONS AND CHASSIS
My specifications as provided by GEEKOM are as follows:
Intel Core Ultra 185H
16GB of LPDDR5 at 6400MHz
512GB Kingston om8tap4512k1 a00 SSD that is replaceable
a 1920 x 1200 60Hz 100% sRGB colour IPS screen
a 99Whr battery
There is a second SSD slot that is free for further storage upgrades. As for its expansion slots, the laptop has
1 x USB-C port at USB 4 40Gbps speeds
1 x USB-C port at 10Gbps
1 x HDMI port
2 x USB-A gen 3.2 ports
1 x 3.5mm audio jack
By default, it also comes with the same USB-C expansion hub as the X14 Pro and X16 Pro, adding two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, an ethernet port, and a USB-C port replacing the one it takes up, so expansion is not lacking with this device in the slightest.
With the price being $849 USD at the time of this writing (with frequent discount coupons on their website), these specifications are quite excellent, especially in todayās market. Most notable is the screen being 100% sRGB, and the number of ports. The chassis is also STILL full metal unibody, though it is aluminum instead of the magnesium alloy thatās on the X14 Pro and X16 Pro. The difference is that the chassis is ever so slightly more of a stain magnet, such as with fingerprints and whatnot. Itās easy to wipe off, but I still have to point it out. Otherwise, there is little to no difference in the chassis. The screen has almost no wobble, the keyboard has very little flex, closing the unit does not press on the screen, and the chassis feels quite sturdy. Iām honestly surprised theyāve managed this level of quality at this price point. The keyboard is also very excellent. It took me a small amount of time to get used to the spacing (I kept hitting numlock instead of backspace and O instead of I etc) but after a few minutes it felt natural again. As a lover of full keyboards this one is wonderful, and I have very high praise for it. All in all, I have only praise for the unit design. The touchpad is also improved from the X14 Pro. On the X14 Pro the āclickā areas were quarter circle regions at the bottom left and bottom right edges of the trackpad, but the M16ās trackpad has proper rectangular click regions that reach all the way to the bottom middle section. Itās a great improvement that arrived quickly after the last units they made, and Iām glad to see them trying to improve.
Nice and shinyThe not-so-soft underbelly is also shinyLovely full-sized keyboard and nice sized trackpad
PERFORMANCE AND COOLING
Here is the weirdest section. The GeekBook X14 Pro had a 35W power limit to the CPU, with the cores getting 25W and the GPU getting around 10W. This presented decent performance and decent gaming performance for the specifications, and the system handled its cooling fairly well. This GeekBook M16 however was completely different. Firstly, the cooling has been upgraded and power limits have been improved, 55W sustained is possible with a short burst of 67W frequently seen when starting stress tests or benchmarks. This presented a solid uplift of 50% performance over the same Core Ultra 9 185H in the X14 Pro when running Cinebench R23, being able to consistently achieve approximately 15500 points as opposed to the X14 Proās 9000-10000 point range. For Passmarkās CPU benchmark, we achieved 31324 points, up from the X14 Proās 19000 point range. This CPU performance is decidedly excellent out of the box for something so thin and light, and anyone reliant on a decent CPU will be quite happy with it..
Impressive Cinebench score for being an ultrabookImpressive passmark score for an ultrabook
On the downside, the GPU performance suffered a fair bit, which was quite disappointing. To get a little technical, the X14 Pro kept its GPU around 2072MHz with a temperature around 94Ā°C (likely at a thermal limit) as recorded by 3DMark during the Steel Nomad benchmark, while the M16 kept its GPU around 2350MHz with an extremely impressive temperature of only 72Ā°C (with fans being quiet, no less). Despite this, the X14 Pro managed to perform roughly 20% faster according to 3DMarkās Steel Nomad benchmark. This is also a little bit of an issue because the X14 Pro performs better when repasted, but the fact that the M16ās GPU was kept that cold means that it likely has little to gain from a repaste, as it already has a lot of thermal headroom out of the box. It is unfortunately one of the very few disappointments Iāve had about this laptop, as Iād hoped the improved cooling and higher system power limits wouldāve translated into better gaming performance despite it being designed as a more budget alternative to their premium line. As for why the GPU performs so much worse, I cannot be certain. One possible reason is that LPDDR5 could have the same reduced performance in 16GB configurations that DDR5 SODIMMs have (which we at SAL are aware of), or it could be possible that the 6400MHz LPDDR5 isnāt fast enough to grant the performance the GPU needs, and the X14 Proās 7467MHz LPDDR5X is just that much better for the GPU. It could even be some other system-level configuration that I am unaware of. I can only guess based on my prior knowledge and experiences. Either way, it will still play lighter games and older games perfectly fine, but it wonāt quite be able to push as far as its older brothers.
A sadly lackluster score, but not terribleExcellent GPU temperature line under stress with near silent fans
As for the cooling system itself, Iāve already mentioned the fact that the GPU runs very cold when under stress, but the CPU is different. To begin with, in my last review for the X14 Pro, I mentioned thatĀ the CPU would spike to a high 90Ā°C range and then immediately drop back to a very cold state, and I initially registered this as a HWiNFO64 error. To be specific, I set HWiNFO64 to update twice a second, and every 30 seconds to a minute itāll spike from ~45Ā°C to over 90Ā°C and indicate thermal throttling is active, then the next time the sensor updates (which is half-second later), it will be all the way back down at 45Ā°C. This behaviour also happens here on the M16, so I must assume it is not an error, but I do not know why it happens. It could be a quirk of Intelās Meteor Lake, since Iāve never dealt with these particular CPUs before the GeekBooks, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Whatever the reason however, it does not seem to be dangerous, so one should not mind it if temperature monitoring software shows that theyāre idling and hitting thermal throttle points randomly. Iāve been using the X14 Pro for almost 7 months and it has not exhibited any untoward issues from this, and I am sure the M16 will be the same, so while I must point this out, please rest assured.
Idle spike being displayed. Note the average CPU temperatures are still low.
Now when under load, thatās a different story. The fans will kick in under higher CPU loads and while still very quiet, the temperatures become very consistent and no longer have such high spikes. I do have a minor issue in that the fans seem to take excessively long to actually spin up, however. It isnāt a particularly big deal, but when you have just started a heavy load (such as a stress test, or rendering a video, etc) the fans remain silent for a few seconds, at which point the CPU can hit temperatures in excess of 100Ā°C briefly, then they will start spinning up. The fans appear to have four stages of speed, and after spinning up once, it apparently checks if temperatures are still too high, then spin up again, then repeat this process until maximum speed. The whole process can take nearly 10 seconds to achieve maximum fanspeed, and it would be nicer if this process could either be faster, or a fan curve option could be implemented in the software or BIOS in the future, or if impossible, in later models. Due to how quiet this laptop is, it would be absolutely no penchant to anyone to say, keep the fans spinning at level 1 or 2 while at idle temperatures, and this could prevent the spike to higher temperatures while idle (if only for safety of mind), or prevent the high spikes when first applying load to the system. Do note that while I mentioned the CPU does cross 100Ā°C when starting a heavy load, it does not remain there long (maybe 5 seconds at most), and it never hits Intelās TJMax rating of 105Ā°C at any point, so the processor will be perfectly safe.
Additionally, the system seems to focus on keeping the CPU at 95Ā°C or lower while the fans are active. Since repasting improves processor benchmark scores even at a set power limit, thermal throttling must be the final issue. If you are buying this unit with the intent to use the processor under heavy loads often, it wonāt actually overheat, but if you are tech savvy or even just comfortable with servicing the laptop, you might wish to consider repasting the unit with something like PTM 7950. It isnāt required for usage of the unit, itās just a potential benefit open to you.
Showing under-load temperatures. The sensor was reset AFTER starting CB run to display higher temps falling into stability.
SOUND
The speakers on this unit are perfectly fine. No distortions Iāve observed, and sound is certainly loud enough. There is DTS: X available should you require it as well. The microphone is perfectly fine for use in calls and zoom meetings and the like, though at least headphones would be recommended to not pick up othersā speech. I have no complaints here. There are sound effect options you can apply in the GEEKOM software as well, but I donāt think they are necessary. Use them if you wish, as this is much more of a personal taste situation.
SCREEN AND BATTERY
The screen is good. Itās 1920 x 1200 resolution, and only 60Hz, but itās 100% sRGB, making this laptop one of the cheapest available with proper colour space on the market. This means itās an excellent cheap editing machine for those who wish to do such a thing. The brightness is great and itās matte finish so reflections arenāt a bother. Itās usable in well-lit rooms at lower brightness as well. Itās a great choice for a budget device.
As for the BATTERY on this laptopā¦ I am amazed. Itās 99Whr, up from the 72Whr on the X14 Pro, but the battery life itself is astounding. With approximately 30% screen brightness, I was able to achieve a ridiculous 18.5 hours of youtube playback on wifi with sound enabled. I tested more than once to be sure. In fact, the battery life was so good, I even decided to do the ultimate in laptop blasphemy: I tested with screen brightness set to 100%. I still achieved 13.5 hours of youtube playback under those conditions, leaving me nothing short of flabbergasted. I do know know what sorcery GEEKOM performed to achieve this level of battery life on a Meteor Lake processor, but I now need to purchase several hats just so I can take them off and say āhats off to you, GEEKOMā, as it runs circles around many other Lunar Lake and even some Panther Lake processor-equipped laptops which are known to be a marked improvement in battery life from Meteor Lake.
As for charging times, the battery went from 2% all the way up to 55% in just 1 hour, which is almost 10 hours of battery usage at lower brightness levels. I have high praise for that level of charging speed. Hopefully things get even better in the future.
Screen isn't as impressive as an OLED, but is still plenty fine
OUT OF THE BOX EXPERIENCE
Just like with the X14 Pro, the laptop comes with windows installed but not actually set up. As I did with the previous unit, I took this lovely chance to set up my computer with a local account and avoid much of the nonsense that Windows 11 wishes to attempt on its users. As with before, I will FOREVER praise this ability for people, even if the average person wonāt take advantage of it. Itās great to have the option. As before, itās a barebones installation with just the GEEKOM software pre-installed. The software is identical to the X14 Proās version, with BIOS updates and some limited system control options available. You can see it below. Please continue like this, GEEKOM, I vastly appreciate it, and many users will too.
Same software design as before
DOWNSIDES
There arenāt as many as before, which I appreciate. Letās use a list again.
There is still no option I could find to limit battery maximum charge available. I can only hope this shows up in later models.
The FN key function is still weird. I wish GEEKOM would change it so that the FN button simply works while being held down and pressing any of the hotkeys, instead of the odd toggle feature it has.
The laptop once had a very weird situation where certain things, especially installing programs, was oddly extremely slow while on battery. I cannot explain why this was the case, but I also could not find a way to fix or reproduce it. Normal usage was perfectly fine too, which confused me.
The keyboard backlight turns off after 15 seconds without any option to control it otherwise again. I would like the ability to keep it on for usage in dark rooms.
Iād like a FN combination key to disable the trackpad entirely. Even though the palm rejection is excellent, such options are never a bad thing.
As before, I wish we could get a 3D TLC SSD instead, especially when the drive size is on the smaller side. I couldnāt find much information about the drive available this time unlike the X14 Pro, so I canāt say I understand their choice like before.
The 100W charger gets very warm when charging or generally under load, you may wish to allow it to cool off slightly before picking it up if it was just being stressed.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSION
So, thereās a much shorter list of downsides this time. I already discussed everything else in the paragraphs above. Thereās been improvements such as in the trackpad and the battery life and the cooling, and I highly appreciate these things. I genuinely think this is a great unit to buy for more casual users or users who want to do hobbyist work. The price is excellent and the choice of where to cut corners versus the more expensive premium options (screen, chassis materials, RAM speed) do not ever get into the ācheapā territory of notebooks that we see all over the market, with useless 62% sRGB screens that shouldnāt even be made anymore, or poor chassis construction and poor board design and little expansion slots. There are only two things I wish GEEKOM did with this new chassis and cooling system. First, I wish a 32GB RAM option was available. Considering the enhanced CPU performance and lack of danger of overheating, it would make a very excellent budget editing unit with a good screen, and I wouldnāt be able to recommend it highly enough. It might even improve the GPUās performance, which would also make it a solid little gaming device.
The next thing I would like to see is GEEKOM starting to use better stock thermal paste. All three of their laptops released so far improve their performance with better paste, up to 25% better in benchmarks according to others, and if they could use phase-change material such as Honeywell PTM 7950, Thermal Grizzly phasesheet PTM, or Thermalright Helios v2 it would be nothing short of sublime. I would even be fine with their own in-house solution, as long as the performance is there.
At the end of the day, this laptop is wonderful. Despite the few shortcomings, itās priced exceptionally well and is very light and sturdy. I doubt many people would complain about it. I canāt wait to see more from GEEKOM and I also canāt wait to see them expand their operations to more countries as well. If they keep it up, they can become a pretty strong power player in the market.
Thank you for reading until the end! I hope you have enjoyed, and I will be glad to answer any questions in the comments below.
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I'm a first year computer engineering student, and I wanna buy a new laptop (my old one was xps13 and it is outdated)
I want something that could handle most of the work (programming, multitasking,some LLM,and more),also some light gaming.
And one of the most important parts which I learned the hard way (with my old laptop) is the cooling system, for the weight I'm comfortable with anything under 3kg the performance probably the highest priority, a decent life battery.
I did some research and I found ThinkPad T14 Gen 6 AMD and Legion 5 Gen 10 but I leaned more towards the legion 5 gen 10 RTX 5060 32gb ram 1tb SSD ( im still not sure which version is the one I should pick of the legion 5 AMD Ryzen 7 260,Intel Core i7-14700HX,Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX. All of them sound pretty good but if the performance difference isn't that big I would like the most battery efficient and if the prices are similar then the best performance).
Anyway I would like to hear your thoughts, and if you have some other suggestions.
no as I have 100 pounds off at Curry's which I would like to use
Screen size
14' would be best but can be a bit smaller or bigger
Weight limit
any weight is fine but preferably on the lighter side if possible
Purpose
for doing uni work and occasional gaming
Form factor
standard/ clamshell
Intended usage
I mainly use a laptop for uni work so things like one note and word but do occasionally play indie games on my laptop. I have a steam deck which I do most of my gaming on though so being good for gaming isn't essential.
Desired battery life
at least six hours as I sometimes have six hours of lectures in a day and unfortunately our lecture theatres don't have charging point
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
battery life, performance, size, weight
Info/Requirements
I would like a fairly durable laptop if possible and I will be buying from curry's due to the discount I have. I would also steer away from any apple laptops as while I have heard good things about them I find them quite difficult to use. thankyou in advance for any recommendations c:
As the title shows, I need a laptop for my office use in Pakistan. I usually work in Ms. Office data analysis through R/ Python and stata, online book reading, etc. Suggest me a good portable with a good battry life. Will I go to refurbished laptops available in the market, or are there any other options. One of my friends purchased a dell second-hand laptop one month ago from Ł¾Ų“Ų§ŁŲ±, and now that laptop has a charging issue. My budget is around 80k. Some people are saying that in the market, imported laptops are available. they are new, but only the box open may be avoiding import tax.
I currently have an HP 14-dq0052dx.
I need a laptop that can handle college coursework and such, has a decent amount of storage, and can handle a decent amount of games... my current one can barely handle Stardew Valley.
HP or Dell would be preferable. I don't know much about this stuff and don't really know what to look for so advice and recommendations would be much appreciated!
Intended usage - Emails, word docs, general search, youtube (very basic lol)
Desired battery life- Mid to long
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life - No priority, see below
**Info/Requirements -*\* The budget is pretty high for the use case I know and the family member will be happy if the end price is lower of course. My main search is based on something with a mid range cpu (dedicated gpu not required). 16GB ram, 1TB SSD, mid range battery. Once them requirements are met its pretty much an open field.
I don't want to get them something that is okay for now but in a few years will be a snail, as for why i'm looking for the mid range cpu / 16gb ram.
Desired battery life
Not sure in numbers, but a decent battery life would be nice.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Noise levels, weight, ,size, battery life.
Info/Requirements
At least 1080p/60 hz. Higher resolution would be preferred over higher refresh rate. But not a requirement. Otherwise, just a basic screen is fine. Doesn't need any fancy features.
I think just a standard intel/AMD would be preferred. I've seen a good deal in a Snapdragon, but I don't want to run into any compatability issues or have to do any work arounds to get older programs to work.
I am a class 12 student who is going to college next year and I am thinking of buying a laptop but due to the RAM shortest all of the laptops are expensive suggest me a laptop consider I have a commerce background and many of accounting software doesn't work in macbook so please don't suggest my book anyone I also want to use in but I couldn't
Budget is $1500 USD, but willing to push to $2000 if it is a significant improvement over the next option
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
No
Screen size
15"-16"
Weight limit
Looking for a lightweight model, I know that's not exactly compatible with the screen size but something in the 3-4lb range ideally
Purpose
Primarily for entertainment. Browsing, videos. Occasional light work (think Microsoft Office, not video editing)
Form factor
Most likely clamshell. Vaguely interested in 2-1 options but most I've seen just look kind of awkward to use in tablet mode so it's not a huge priority for me.
Intended usage
See purpose. Not really intending to do much if any gaming (though if it can support streaming from another PC on the network, that's a plus)
Desired battery life
Good battery life is desirable but not going to put a hard limit here. I've seen some laptops advertising like 15-20 hours which seems crazy coming off my old laptop. I'm used to operating on 4-6 hours if it matches or beats that I am happy
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Primary priorities are screen quality and low weight.
Info/Requirements
OLED screen, as mentioned earlier higher quality is better. I want Windows, so no macbook or chomebook options.
I'm trying to find a budget laptop and I'm wondering if I should just get an inexpensive chromebook for great battery life or if there is a good deal for a windows laptop that also has good battery life but can handle occasional video editing and light gaming. I'm considering the Dell Latitude 5420 (amazon renewed) for performance as I read a review that says it can handle DaVinci Resolve slowly which I'm fine with, but from what I can tell it would have poor battery life compared to a chromebook. I found a refurbished 63 Wh battery for it but that puts me above the budget I'm aiming for. I can't tell if the amazon refurbs have the Iris Xe GPU, it just says integrated graphics so I'm assuming not. I'm also considering the Lenovo T14 and C14 and T4xx series but there are so many models and I don't have time to do as much research as I'd like. I was looking into these options but then I read about how good chromebook battery life is and that opened up a whole category of research I don't have time for. I appreciate any suggestions or input about the models I mentioned.
Country
U.S.
Budget
Less than $300
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
Yes, but I wish I could get refurb prices with 1 year+ warranty...
Screen size
13-15"
Weight limit
Any
Purpose
Web browsing (research, able to handle 10+ tabs), writing, video playing, ideally occasional video editing even if slowly but not sure if this puts me in a much higher performance bracket that sacrifices battery life
Form factor
Standard
Intended usage
Generally Firefox, word processor, and video player, but ideally can handle DaVinci Resolve slowly (not planning to use it often), and older/lighter games at 60 fps on low/medium settings (for this device I would be fine with medium settings at 720p resolution, Iris Xe GPU would be plenty)
Desired battery life
8-10 hrs for web browsing/light usage, 6 hours for video playing would be good. I'm concerned that if I get a laptop powerful enough to handle video editing I'll only be getting maybe 6 hours light usage and 3 hours video playing.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Battery life, performance, weight and bulkiness don't matter
Info/Requirements
A priority is reliability especially since I'm planning to buy a refurbished laptop that already has wear. I read some people saying that Lenovo quality isn't what it used to be, some say Dell is solid others say they hate it. I have read that Intel CPU's have higher power draw so maybe I should be looking for an AMD CPU depending on what models are available refurbished. I could
Approximately AED 6,200ā6,600 (US$1,690ā$1,800).
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
No
Screen size
Preferably 15ā16", but Iām also considering the 18" ROG Strix G18.
Weight limit
No specific limit. Iāll mostly use it at a desk, with occasional travel.
Purpose
Software development, multitasking, gaming, and general use.
Form factor
Standard/clamshell laptop.
Intended usage
Web development using tools like VS Code, Laravel, Vue/Nuxt, and Node.js, Design and video editing using photoshop, illustrtor, character animator, and remotion, alongside multiple browser tabs and applications. I also game, so I want a capable dedicated GPU, although gaming isnāt my main priority.
Desired battery life
No specific hourly target. Iāll mostly use it plugged in.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance > Size > Weight > Battery life.
Info/Requirements
Windows preferred, RTX 5060 8GB, and at least a 1TB SSD. Iād prefer 32GB RAM, although two of my shortlisted options come with 16GB.
The Acer looks tempting with its screen and CPU, while the TUF already comes with 32GB RAM. Iām particularly interested in build quality, cooling, screen quality, and long-term reliability.
If youāve owned or used any of these, how has your experience been? Which would you pick at these prices, and why?
I play a lot of red dead redemption 2 modded, heavily modded Minecraft which my old laptop would rubber band sometimes maybe it was the 16gb ram? Monster hunter wilds, other than that its mostly indie games, and maybe the odd mmo.
Ā
* **Desired battery life**
Ā
4-8 hours Atleast enough to get through half a day of classes, I can charge when needed
Ā
* **Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life**
Ā
Performance, noise, cooling, battery, size and weight donāt matter
Ā
* **Info/Requirements**
I had a asus tuf a15 or a16 as my last laptop i think the 2023 model and the bottom and top of keyboard case snapped right off after around a year and a half, the heating was horrible and would burn me. I also had a very embarrassing moment in class where my laptop decided to turn into a jet engine just from having like 5 tabs open, absolutely mortifying, so I need something with a āquiet modeā I am not studying to be a fighter pilot.
I would like something with 32 gb of ram or at-least easily upgradable
Would it be better to get a simple laptop/ipad for school and then just save extra for a desktop?
To simplify I need a durable case that wonāt snap on me because I open it, no molten lava heating problems, and especially no in class take offs, and I would like to be able to convert it to a ādesktopā as needed.
General multi-tasking (browsing, streaming videos, light games, run MS office etc)
Form factor
Standard
Intended usage
Able to run tax software, play light games, run Handbrake (for converting videos)
Desired battery life
at least 8 hours if not watching videos
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
size > battery life
Info/Requirements
I am currently using a Dell xps 13 9343 (really old) so I'm not sure what tier processor I need for my use. Priority is build quality, something that will last. Need at least one usb A input.
For context, I am a high school teacher, and we are given laptops by the district. The one I have is a Lenovo ThinkPad bla bla bla. It is old, heavy, slow, and has no battery life, but you can't get around using it because it is so intertwined with the network, printers, and everything you do (really annoying!).
What I usually do is bring my Galaxy Book5 with me on a daily basis, use it, and then use the school laptop for printing and the things that are locked even when using a VPN.
My Galaxy Book5 was perfect for what I needed it for, with no real flaws. I couldn't game or do 3D modeling on it well, but that was okay; it wasn't its job.
Now, after getting the LG gram Pro, my Galaxy Book just feels like how the ThinkPad felt. The battery life feels awful, it feels a step slower, and its awesome display does not seem clean and crisp anymore. The LG gram blows it out of the water.
I have never used a 17-inch laptop before, as they just seemed too big and inconvenient to carry around on a daily basis. But nooo, it's not heavy, and it's not a bother! The LG gram Pro is so lightweight for a 17-inch laptop that it is genuinely shocking.
Since getting it, I have taken it to work every day. Other than needing a new bag because my old one was designed for a 15-inch laptop and the 17-inch gram fits a bit too snugly, I barely notice the difference in portability. Once I have it in my bag, the size is much less of an issue than I expected.
As a teacher, I'm constantly moving between tasks, working on lessons, preparing materials, managing assignments, and using my laptop throughout the school day. Having a large screen without having to lug around a heavy laptop makes a real difference. I can carry it around comfortably and still have the screen space I want when I sit down to work.
Power-wise, I don't know what to say. There is nothing I have thrown at it so far that hasn't worked smoothly. I can now play Cities: Skylines II without it crashing (if you haven't played it, give it a try!). My 3D prints slice much faster, and just designing feels smoother.
The laptop has handled my everyday work and more demanding tasks well. Performance has been good, including during stress tests, and I haven't experienced any issues that have made me question whether it can handle what I need it to do.
Windows Hello is responsive, and the front camera looks great. These might seem like small things, but when you're using a laptop every day, the little things matter too.
The battery life, OMG!
I haven't done an official on-screen YouTube battery test, so I can't give you an exact number of hours, but based on my actual use, this thing is a beast.
I take it to work, and it's on from around 8:45 AM to 4:20 PM. I'm a teacher, so I'm constantly using it throughout the day. After a full charge, I got to use it for three days without charging it! I also use it at home for maybe two hours, mostly watching Charmed on Peacock (the old, good one, not the new garbage one).
So, while I can't give you an official battery test result, I can tell you that the battery life has been phenomenal. I'm getting more than a full day's use out of it, and I don't have to worry about carrying a charger everywhere I go.
For someone who uses a laptop throughout the school day and then continues using it at home, not having to charge it constantly is a big deal.
The screen is big, bright, and has great color accuracy. I haven't done an official color test, but I don't need to. It looks great to my eyes.
I have a monitor on my desk that I use as a second screen, but with this laptop, I really don't NEED it anymore. I still use it, but it's no longer a necessity.
The 17-inch screen gives me enough room to work comfortably without feeling like I have to connect another display just to get things done. When I'm preparing lessons, working with documents, or juggling multiple windows, having that extra screen space is genuinely useful.
I expected the larger screen to come with a portability trade-off, but the lightweight design makes the combination work surprisingly well.
One of the things that surprised me about the LG gram Pro 17Z90UR is how lightweight it is while still feeling sturdy. LG introduced Aerominumā¢ in 2026, and the material helps explain how this 17-inch laptop manages to be so easy to carry around without feeling flimsy.
When I first opened the laptop, I noticed a slight squeak. It caught my attention because I wasn't expecting that from a laptop at this price point. It sounded a little like two surfaces rubbing against each other, but after opening and closing it a few times, the squeak went away.
The metallic finish is nice, keeps clean, and feels strong. The chassis gives me confidence that the laptop is well-built enough to handle being carried around every day. It feels like it could survive the occasional accidental knock, although I will NOT be testing whether it can survive a drop, lol!
Since getting it, I've taken it to work every day, and its weight has been a pleasant surprise. I did have to consider getting a new bag because my old one was designed for a 15-inch laptop, and the 17-inch gram fits a bit too snugly. However, once I have it in my bag, I barely notice the difference in portability.
For me, that's what makes the design work. You get a large 17-inch screen in a laptop that is light enough to carry to work every day without it becoming a burden. As a teacher, that's important because I need something I can move around with throughout the school day while still having the screen space and performance I want when I sit down to work.
The Aerominumā¢ construction and metallic finish give the laptop a premium feel while keeping portability at the forefront. It feels solid, it looks good, and so far, it has held up well to my everyday use.
The LG gram Pro includes Copilot, and it works well. The responses are quick, and having it integrated into the laptop is convenient.
There are also several built-in features that LG highlights, many of which operate in the background. That makes some of them difficult to test individually because you don't always know when they're working or how much of a difference they're making.
One thing I have noticed is that the fans seem to come on when they should. The laptop handles demanding tasks well, and I haven't had any major performance issues during my use or stress testing. If the built-in AI and system optimization features are helping manage performance, cooling, and efficiency behind the scenes, then they seem to be doing their job.
I can't say that I've independently tested every AI feature or prove which specific feature is responsible for what I've noticed. However, from my everyday experience, the laptop has been responsive, performs well, and manages demanding tasks without giving me much to complain about.
For me, the most important thing isn't having a long list of AI features to look at on a specification sheet. It's whether the laptop works well when I need it. So far, the experience has been good.
Honestly, other than the price, I can't think of any major downsides right now.
I do need a newer bag, though, because my old one was designed for a 15-inch laptop, and the 17-inch gram fits a bit too snugly. That's more of a problem with my bag than with the laptop itself!
I wish it were cheaper so more people could have a laptop like this, but with the AI boom and RAM prices skyrocketing, this is the market price.
I'll update this review if anything changes.
Here are some photos you can use to see how thin it is compared to a calculator and a book we use in class.
No specific budget, but trying to spend under $1000
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
Depends
Screen size
Any
Weight limit
Any
Purpose
Video editing
Form factor
Any
Intended usage
To be my laptop at work for basic computing needs, and then to edit video on the side/while traveling (sometimes 4K video, but no motion graphics or intense editing software, I mostly edit in Sony Vegas and DaVinci Resolve)
Desired battery life
Doesn't really matter, will be mostly be used plugged in
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance, weight/size (for travel, but a screen big enough to edit), Battery life
Info/Requirements
None
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I'm looking to get a laptop for my editing needs, but I do not like Mac OS and I've been a PC guy all my life. I know Macs are the standard recommendation, but is there anything else I should look into?
