LG, Samsung Announce New Laptop Ahead of CES

It’s almost time for the Consumer Electronics Show, which means a lot of new Windows 10 devices are going to launch in the next few weeks. LG and Samsung aren’t too happy with getting lost in the crowd, so both the companies are revealing two new laptops ahead of CES today.

LG is revealing the 2018 Gram notebook today. The company debuted the Gram line of ultrathin notebooks back in 2014, and the latest iteration of the Gram comes with more power and upgraded batteries. Just like every other laptop coming out in CES next month, the most recent LG Gram comes with Intel’s 8th gen i5/i7 processors, which includes performance and power usage enhancements over the last gen of processors. LG has upgraded the battery of the Gram now comes with a 72Wh battery, up from last year’s 60Wh battery. The upgraded battery will offer 22.5 hours of battery on the 13.3-inch variant, 21.5 hours of battery on the 14-inch option, and 19 hours of the larger 15.6-inch variant of the device. Despite the larger battery size, LG is still able to keep the device lightweight, with the 13.3-inch and 14-inch variants weighing just around 0.9kg (2.12lbs, 2.19lbs), while the 15.6-inch weighs around 1kg.

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Like LG, Samsung’s new upgraded line of Notebook 9 devices focus on battery life, too. The company’s new Notebook 9 and convertible Notebook 9 Pen devices come with Intel’s 8th gen Core i7 processors, 512GB (1TB on the regular Notebook 9), and up to 16GB of RAM. More importantly, the company claims to have packed the “most powerful battery ever” inside a notebook, and users will get “always-on-power” with the new 75Wh Hexacell battery that also supports fast charging. Samsung isn’t saying exactly how long the Notebook 9 will last with the 75Wh Hexacell battery though.

Samsung and LG are both focusing on the battery life this year, just a week after the launch of the first two Windows on ARM devices from HP and Acer that claim to offer up to 20 hours of battery life. Lenovo is also expected to announce its Windows on ARM laptop at CES next month, so the competition amongst laptop makers will hopefully get heated this year.

In case you are interested, the 2018 LG Gram goes on sale next month in the United States, and the updated Notebook 9 line launches in Korea this month, with US availability set to arrive in Q1 2018.

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Conversation 19 comments

  • Stooks

    14 December, 2017 - 2:12 pm

    <p>The LG basically is a MacBook clone.</p>

    • Locust Infested Orchard Inc.

      15 December, 2017 - 6:27 am

      <blockquote><a href="#227717"><em>In reply to Stooks:</em></a></blockquote><p>Incorrect. Actually, the MacBook basically is an LG clone.</p>

    • the_real_entheos

      15 December, 2017 - 3:03 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#227717"><em>In reply to Stooks:</em></a></blockquote><blockquote><br></blockquote><p><em>With a numberpad!?</em></p><p><br></p>

  • Dan

    14 December, 2017 - 3:47 pm

    <p>Kinda removes the battery life claims as a selling point for the Windows on Snapdragon laptops. </p>

    • Jorge Garcia

      14 December, 2017 - 6:21 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#227786"><em>In reply to Dan:</em></a></blockquote><p>There's a lot more to it than the battery life. It's that it will behave exactly as a mobile device does and normal people will love that. Arm processor + DeX (or DeX-like) interface + Android Apps equals the dream laptop for millions of people. (Not me though, I still need full Windows).</p>

      • digiguy

        Premium Member
        14 December, 2017 - 7:11 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#227809"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>A lot more? Really? Mobile devices drain battery when in standby… My samsung notebook drains less when sleeping than my samsung galaxy when in stand-by. And the always connected stuff is of no interest to "normal people" if it means buying an additional subscription when you can tether your phone.</p>

      • skane2600

        14 December, 2017 - 8:32 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#227809"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>"Normal" people think that "arm" is just something attached to their shoulder and have no idea what "DeX" is supposed to be. They do know that Android apps are the mobile programs that run on non-iPhone smartphones but they don't connect them with laptops.</p><p><br></p>

        • Locust Infested Orchard Inc.

          15 December, 2017 - 6:17 am

          <blockquote><a href="#227820"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></blockquote><p>I am in total agreement with you. And it has to be said most "normal" people have seen the Intel Inside advert on TV, along with the associated catchy tune. Also most "normal" people know their Windows® from their windows.</p><p><br></p><p>So the Wintel collusion of the past, regardless of whether one approves of such business tactics or not, has certainly aided in both the Intel and Windows brand recognition.</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft need to build upon this advantage by launching a Surface-to-(iFad)-Air missile (Surface with Snapdragon phone/tablet) upon all its competitors, particularly the iPharce and iFad.</p>

        • Jorge Garcia

          15 December, 2017 - 5:06 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#227820"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></blockquote><p>Normal people are too undisciplined to turn off devices properly after use so that's why computers never went mainstream (in the joe consumer sense) until smartphones came along which can be thrown onto a couch and remain in standby for really long periods until you need them again. That's where consumers will appreciate ARM, even if they never understand what technology is actually behind the marked change.</p>

        • Jorge Garcia

          15 December, 2017 - 5:14 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#227820"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></blockquote><p>The reason Apple took off is because normal people don't know what they want, but Steve Jobs knew and was willing to package that desire into ridiculously dumbed-down products that your grandma could use. If someone were to make a decent laptop that ran a slightly more laptop-friendly version of android (which as of today DeX seems to be the highest-profile reference design for this) then IMO the average media consuming consumer would gravitate right to it, even if they didn't know WHY they are attracted to it or what actually makes it tick. Although to make it the most appealing, it would have to be under the Google name itself IMO. Instead, Google is forcing people to learn ChromeOS if they want a laptop experience, which although ChromeOS is not rocket science, I am 100% sure that certain people are just averse to learning a distinctly different system than that which they have on their phone, and won't pull the trigger on a Chromebook for that reason alone.</p>

      • Dan

        15 December, 2017 - 8:20 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#227809"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>Minus battery life all that is left is the cellular connection. Intel CPU's already have connected standby. Everything else that you mentioned is specific to Samsung devices. Microsoft has no mobile apps, no one uses the Windows store or is there a Dex like interface as they do not have phones.</p>

  • digiguy

    Premium Member
    14 December, 2017 - 7:07 pm

    <p>The notebook 9 was already one of the very best laptops around, but these improvements make it a no brainer…. (well it depends on the price). I bought the 13.3" one on sale for $999 and it already had the following strenghts:</p><ol><li>lightest notebook in the world (less than 1.8 pounds / 788gr)</li><li>charging via usb-c with any charger and powerbank (one of the rare, maybe the only one to support 5v charging, QC. 3.0 and Power Delivery). And to be honest Q.C. is great as you can find small and light power banks (PD battery banks are rare and bulky) that have enough watts to keep it charged (contrary to 5v charging)</li><li>Great keyboard and touchpad</li><li>One of the best screen around, it even beats my surface pro 3 screen, with up to 500 nits of brightness (LG Gram screens are less than 300)</li><li>Super fast fingerprint reader</li><li>Ports including 2 USB A, full HDMI, USB C, so no dongles (except for full SD cards, it only has microsd)</li><li>16 GB RAM</li><li>Not draining battery while sleeping, this thing sleeps like an ipad, and does not restart while sleeping like my surface pro 3 sometimes does</li></ol><p>The only real downside was the smallish battery (around 5 hours) but given I could charge it with a galaxy s7/8 charger or any powerbank it has never bothered me.</p><p>Now the new one comes with 2.5x bigger battery (probably 20 hours of video watching and 12-13 hours normal use), quad core, and PCIe SSD (2017 one only had SATA) for just 200 grams more (2.2 pounds, 995 grams). If the price is under $1500 this laptop is the new king to beat.</p>

  • Jorge Garcia

    14 December, 2017 - 7:07 pm

    <p>Ok Samsung, now make this thing run the DeX (butter knife) interface instead of Windows (Chainsaw) OS and people like my dear mother can finally have a decent laptop that they won't need constant help with. (I know I'm obnoxious and sound like a Samsung shill, but hey I'm just stating the reality of the situation).</p>

  • KellimWorthington

    15 December, 2017 - 2:32 am

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It looks so pretty. </span><a href="https://www.assignmentmaster.co.uk/&quot; target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Assignment Assistance at Assignment Master</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> I always used Samsung products, mobiles and tablets, and i like Samsung's products. And now its time to take higher jump, yeah.. i want to buy this laptop because it seems so lovely..</span></p>

  • Locust Infested Orchard Inc.

    15 December, 2017 - 5:44 am

    <p>Battery on the verge of dying on my Intel Broadwell Atom super-duper Lenovo ThinkPad 8 tablet after only a lousy 4½ hours, so all I can say for now is, Windows on ARM with a whole day of battery power ― bring it on, boy could I use it right now.</p>

    • Dan

      15 December, 2017 - 8:22 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#227846"><em>In reply to Locust Infested Orchard Inc.:</em></a></blockquote><p>That's a 4+ year old tablet. Not much of a comparison.</p>

  • jchampeau

    Premium Member
    15 December, 2017 - 8:04 am

    <p>The headline indicates LG and Samsung combined forces and jointly released a laptop. But the article describes two different laptops. Did you mean for laptops to be plural in the headline?</p>

  • asleypatricia

    28 September, 2021 - 6:50 am

    <p>Interested topic.</p>

  • casey

    11 November, 2021 - 7:15 am

    <p>Nice product</p>

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