LG claims its new Gram laptops have ‘full day’ battery life

LG is announcing its refreshed range of its thin and light Gram laptops today, ahead of CES next month. LG is introducing three refreshed versions of the Gram, in 13.3-, 14-, and 15-inch models. The 2018 Gram laptops include Intel’s 8th-generation Core i5 and i7 processors, SSD storage, and an option for a second SSD drive. LG’s Gram laptops have always been very thin and light, and this year’s models maintain just over two pounds for the 13.3- and 14-inch models, and 2.4 pounds for the larger 15-inch version.

While LG claimed its Gram 14 laptop had 23 hours of battery life earlier this year, the test was based on a decade-old benchmark. LG is making bold battery life promises again for the 2018 models, but this time the company is using the 2014 version of MobileMark for its battery estimates. LG is claiming that the 13.3-inch model will last up to 22.5 hours, with the 14-inch at 21.5 hours, and the 15-inch version at 19 hours. The batteries have also been increased to 72Wh, up from the 60Wh in the 2017 models.

With Qualcomm helping PC makers create ARM-based Windows 10 laptops, there appears to be a renewed focus on battery life for Intel-based machines ahead of CES next month. Samsung just announced its Notebook 9 lineup for 2018 with bigger batteries, and now LG is promising “full day” battery life on a single charge.

If any of these Intel-based machines can come close to matching the battery life we’re expecting from ARM-based devices then we could see an interesting battery life battle next year. Either way, we’ve seen various claims over the years of “all day” battery life, so we’ll be testing these devices out to see if any actually deliver. We’ll get a closer look at LG’s new Gram laptops at CES next month.