For a balance of performance and portability with a larger screen, the LG Gram 17 is a strong choice, offering a spacious 17-inch display, excellent battery life, and a lightweight design, making it suitable for on-the-go professionals who need a larger workspace. However, it falls short in gaming and intensive graphics tasks due to its integrated GPU.
On the other hand, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is more compact and offers a touchscreen with pen support, making it ideal for note-taking and creative work. It also has a more powerful processor and dedicated GPU, which enhances its capabilities in gaming and machine learning tasks, despite its shorter battery life and less expansive screen real estate. If you prioritize a more portable device with stronger performance in graphics-intensive applications, the Surface Laptop 6 would be the better option. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the LG Gram 17
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good battery life
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
Very good portability
Very good speakers
Key differences
General Use
8.5/10
7.7/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
353.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
11.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
7.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
8.6/10
The LG Gram 17 is very good for general use, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
8.4/10
7.7/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The LG Gram 17 is very good for content creation, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Screen Quality
7.4/10
7.8/10
17.0in
SIZE
13.5in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
353.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The LG Gram 17 has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" for software development, and content creation, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has a better screen for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
11.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The LG Gram 17 has 11 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has 9 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Very Good
17.0in
SIZE
13.5in
2.9 lbs
WEIGHT
3.0 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" has very good portability, while the LG Gram 17 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,699
$1,200
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The LG Gram 17 has a price of $1,699 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" costs $1,200.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" and LG Gram 17 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
8.0/10
7.7/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers LG Gram 17 to be very good for engineering and design, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Software Development
8.2/10
7.7/10
7.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2256 x 1504
7.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers LG Gram 17 to be very good for software development, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" is good.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Build Quality
7.0/10
7.4/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" and LG Gram 17 both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the LG Gram 17 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5" compare to other laptops
"The LG Gram 17 is a light office laptop with a large display and great battery life. The newest incarnation of the Gram 17 can be classified as a model update. LG uses the predecessor's compact, light magnesium case along with an identical port configuration (including 2x Thunderbolt 4) and keyboard. Changes can be found in the hardware. With the Gram 17 (2022), LG offers a light (approx. 1,350 g), mobile work device - and finally with a matte display."
Get a great deal on the LG Gram 17 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6 13.5"
About LG
LG is a South Korean conglomerate company. While LG is mainly known for various products outside of technology, LG also develops laptops. Within the laptop industry, they are known for their thin-and-light Gram series, as well as their value-oriented Ultra series. LG laptops offer very thin and light laptops with phenomenal battery life, and are often on sale.
About Microsoft
Microsoft is an American technology corporation. Microsoft is best known for their Windows operating system and Surface laptop series. The Surface Laptop is their standard notebook offering, while their Surface Go, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio are their 2-in-1/tablet offerings in order of increasing capability. Although Microsoft charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a well integrated and packaged device since Microsoft develops the Windows operating system.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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