We run the same general productivity benchmarks across all laptops we test. Our primary overall benchmark, UL’s PCMark 10, puts a system through its paces in productivity apps ranging from web browsing to word processing and spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest measures a PC’s storage throughput.
Three more tests are CPU-centric or processor-intensive. Maxon’s Cinebench 2024 uses that company’s Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene; Primate Labs’ Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning; and we see how long it takes the freeware video transcoder HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p resolution. Finally, workstation maker Puget Systems’ PugetBench for Creators rates a PC’s image editing prowess with a variety of automated operations that it performs in Adobe Photoshop 25.
The LG Gram 17 consistently performed well in our benchmark suite, even if it didn’t always lead the pack. In PCMark 10 productivity tests, it dramatically exceeded the 4,000-point baseline for office work. That sets the tone for our entire performance discussion: The LG Gram may not have led the pack, but it performs well in its lane.
The multi-core Cinebench score was lower than expected, with all rivals pulling ahead, and its HandBrake video transcoding time was slower than most, though still decent. Geekbench revealed the Gram 17’s weakest numbers. In PugetBench for Photoshop, the LG Gram placed ahead of the Acer Swift 16 AI but behind the Lenovo ThinkPad X9. But it’s a narrow comparison, since some competing systems had issues with this specific test and didn’t produce a score. Again, the Gram 17 didn’t top any comparison here, but it’s capable of reliable and relatively zippy mainstream productivity.
