Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, is an annual tech exhibition hosted by Consumer Technology Association (CTA). It is held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Centre in Las Vegas, USA. With an average attendance of over 180,000, it’s one of biggest technology events to occur annually. Every year, numerous new products and technologies belonging to the consumer electronics industry are showcased here.
Now that you know a little about CES, you’d know that its latest iteration just took place this month. It went from 8th to 11th January and over 4.4k companies showcased their latest and greatest products. As expected, there were tons of innovative devices that deserved appreciation.
However, going through all of them is nearly impossible owing to the sheer number of impressive tech. For that, we have made some categories and will name the best product from each category. The products we have chosen are futuristic as much as they are impressive. Let’s have a look.
1. Best Food Tech: Impossible Burger 2.0
Good news for vegans! A company with the name of Impossible Foods came out with the revolutionary Impossible Burger in 2016. The burger patty looked, smelled and even tasted like beef but was completely plant-based. Just now, they’ve come up with a new and improved version of their original product called the Impossible Burger 2.0.
It is free from gluten, animal hormones and antibiotics which make it healthy all the while being environmentally friendly. The Impossible Burger 2.0 will be available at over 5000 restaurants within several weeks.
2. Best TV: Samsung Wall TV
We all love big TVs in our living rooms and Samsung knows about it. Enter the Samsung Wall TV. It features a modular design with a self-emitting 146″ MicroLED display. Yes, you heard that right. That’s a Hundred and Forty-Six inches of TV for your living room! However, in case you’re wondering how on earth it will be transported, just a reminder it is modular.
It is available in smaller bezel-less pieces that can be arranged together to make a bigger screen. So not only is it easy to transport and set up but also customizable into different shapes and sizes. The resolution will be 4K.
3. Best Gaming Tech: Razer HyperSense
Gaming has come a long way. Manufacturers and game developers are working hard to make the experience as immersive as possible. You may have noticed that with every generation, the resolution, details and even the audio is getting better. However, Razer has been focusing on something else. Haptic feedback. It refers to the tiny vibrations you may feel in your PlayStation or Xbox controller during a significant moment in the game you’re playing.
Haptic feedback makes the gaming experience a whole lot better and Razer has nailed it with their HyperSense. Integrated into their new gaming chair, keyboard, headset, and mouse, it will ensure you have the best possible gaming experience.
4. Best Health Tech: Omron HeartGuide
If there’s anything that’s gaining popularity by the day, it’s wearable health Health Monitoring products. However, the one that stands out is HeartGuide. Made by a small Japanese electronics company called Omron, the HeartGuide is the world’s first wearable blood pressure monitor. That’s right folks, we live in a brave new world where you can measure your blood pressure on the go. The readings are claimed to be “clinically accurate” and it’s easy to use.
Other than that, it can also measure your daily physical activity and monitor your sleep patterns like any other health tech. There is an app available for your smartphone which can connect to the HeartGuide and create a log of your data. For more details and specs of the HeartHuide check out Omron’s official website.
5. Best Smart Home: Kohler Numi 2.0
Another segment that’s gaining popularity by the day is Smart Home. While you’re familiar with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, you probably haven’t heard of smart toilets. Yes, you heard that right. Smart toilets have been a thing for a while and no one does it better than Kohler’s Numi 2.0. This intelligent toilet can change the mood lighting in your restroom, play music and even set the temperature of the seat on your command.
It also provides a hands-free cleansing feature that’s both convenient and water-efficient. For more details on this exceptional toilet, check out Kohler’s website.
6. Best Audio: Sennheiser Ambeo 3D Soundbar
Back to the living room. Other than a good TV, the next thing you need to get right is the audio. While a home theatre is the most obvious choice, soundbars are gaining popularity for their minimalistic design. However, they weren’t on the same par with home theatres, not until Sennheiser showed up with it Ambeo 3D Soundbar. As the name suggests, this creates a 3D with its 5.1.4 surround sound. With just a single front-firing unit!
The Ambeo isn’t on sale yet. It will available from May 2019. Then can we only put it through its paces to see if it lives up to the claims. For more details on this, click here.
7. Best VR: Oculus Quest
They say that Virtual Reality is the future. And Oculus has made quite a name for itself in the world of VR. Its latest product is called the Quest and it checks all the boxes and then some. The most notable feature of the Quest is its ability to play games without the need of a PC. You heard that right. Now you can play games with just a VR headset and some controllers that come with it. The controllers are designed to recreate your hands in the game you’re playing for a more immersive experience. Read more about it on the official website here.
8. Best PC and Laptop: Alienware Area-51m
Named after the classified United States Airforce Base for some odd reason, Dell’s Alienware Area-51m definitely took this one. It is a beast of a machine, as you shall see when I tell you its specs. Powering it is an Intel 9th Gen Core i9 CPU. Handling the graphics is an 8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080. Displaying everything is a massive 144 Hz 17.3-inch IPS display with NVIDIA G-Sync and eye-tracking. If that doesn’t impress you, I don’t know what will. However, it is to note that similarly specced machines will soon start appearing but right now, this is the King of laptops.
The Area-51m starts from a tad over $2500, which seems to be a fitting price for a machine like this. You can check out different configurations at Dell’s website.
9. Best Smartphone: Nubia X
This was a tough one as this was probably the most competitive category. There were many remarkable smartphones with innovative and even revolutionary design and features. However, the Nubia X stood out. It has a 6.26-inch screen that takes up the front with zero bezels and no notch. Wait a minute. Now you may be wondering where is the front camera? Well, there’s no front camera. Instead, you only get a rear camera and a secondary screen. Yes. A secondary screen just to take selfies. As much as it seems to be a complicated solution to a basic problem, it does set the Nubia X apart.
The rest of the specs are impressive as well. A 6/8 GB RAM option. A 3800 mAh battery. It is powered by a Snapdragon 845. The operating system will, however, be Android 8.1 (Oreo), which isn’t the latest.
10. Best Robot: Ubtech Walker
Probably my favourite category, which is why I saved it for last. Robots are impressive because they’re not easy to make and program. Especially humanoid robots. However, Ubtech has done it, and boy has it done it well. It’s called the Walker and it’s 4.7-foot fully-automated home butler. It can patrol your home, remind you of your appointments, and even play a slow game of soccer. It features a bipedal design and can balance itself surprisingly well. The Walker has 36 actuators to control the movements of its arms and legs.