LG’s new Ultra PC lineup has motion tracking and new chips

Models start at $999 for the 16-inch screen

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LG is best known in the laptop space for its acclaimed high-end, ultra-light Gram line. Today, it’s announced two models that are heavier and lower-cost but carry a similar portable big-screen vibe: the Ultra PC 17 and Ultra PC 16. The models are available now for starting prices of $1,599 and $999, respectively.

The models come with Glance by Mirametrix, a software that’s becoming more common to see on higher-end laptops. The program leverages a device’s webcam to track where a user is positioned. It can automatically lock the screen when you step away. It can also blur the screen if it perceives that someone is peering over your shoulder. And, per LG, if you have external displays connected, it can move your cursor and in-use Window automatically to whichever screen you’re looking at.

It’s convenient to use and has worked decently well when I’ve used it on other laptops (and is also very easy to turn off if you’re not interested in it).

Elsewhere, the PCs are significantly heavier than the Gram — the 17-incher weighs 4.37 pounds, while the 16-incher weighs 3.63 pounds. (The Gram 17 and Gram 16 are both under three pounds.) Of course, Grams are some of the lightest laptops on the market, and the Ultra PC models are still not terribly heavy as laptops go. The 17-incher also has an external GPU option (Nvidia’s RTX 3050), which should cut it out for more intense graphic tasks than the 17-inch Gram can accommodate.

Also of note, you have some processor variety to choose from. The 17-incher is powered by a 12th Gen Core i7 chip, while the 16-incher has the Ryzen 5825U (though that model does not have an external GPU option).