Windows Central’s Best of CES 2023 Awards: The best of future tech
CES 2023 is a wrap, and we were on-deck at the big Las Vegas show to catch a glimpse at the future of tech.
To that end, we’ve rounded up some of the absolute best upcoming Windows PCs, accessories, and other magical tech curios to make up our Best of CES 2023 Awards list. Rest assured that we’ll be covering all of these products in-depth in the coming months, but these are the ones that created the biggest impression on us during the festivities.
Lenovo Yoga Book 9i: Surfacing the Neo
What else is to say about this besides being the most incredible announcement at CES for PCs? The new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i a dual-screen laptop with a soundbar hinge, on-screen keyboard, physical Bluetooth keyboard, and origami-style stand to prop it up (if you want). It can act as a normal laptop, a next-gen laptop (no physical keyboard), or you can stand it to make a portable dual-screen desktop PC.
Yeah, Microsoft was the first to show the concept before canceling it, but Lenovo has taken the idea and run with it. It’s bigger, more powerful, and can do much more than the Surface Neo.
We can’t wait to get our hands on it!
LG UltraGear OLED: Supermax superwide monitor
Desktop monitors can be boring up until they’re not. LG’s new UltraGear 45GR95QE is a mammoth 45-inch (21:9) display with a WQHD (3440 x 1440) resolution and a bendy 800R curvature.
But that’s not the significant part. It’s the fact it’s OLED and supports 240Hz refresh (0.03ms response) for the first time. For years you had to choose OLED (deep black, better contrast) but a low refresh rate or an LCD with worse contrast but with a higher refresh rate for gaming.
No more, as LG solved that with this new display!
When I sat behind it to play some games, the near-wrap-around effect of the curved display and fast refresh OLED was jaw-dropping. This will be my monitor for 2023, with no questions.
Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra: The world’s best webcam?
When it comes to webcams for streaming or regular video calls, you have standard ones and then busting out a full DSLR. The former has OK image quality, while the latter looks great but is cumbersome and super expensive.
Mark my words when I say Razer has created the best of both worlds with the Kiyo Pro Ultra. It’ll be hands-down the best webcam on the market. It has the largest sensor ever put into a webcam and such good lenses it doesn’t need to blur your background with software; it does it naturally, just like a real DSLR.
The camera is fitted with a processor that “can convert raw 4K 30 FPS (or 1080P 60 FPS) footage into uncompressed 4K 24 FPS, 1440p 30 FPS, or 1080p 60 FPS directly into your stream”.
It also uses AI-powered Face Tracking to focus on the user’s face and combines that with DSLR-level detail and clarity, as well as HDR support at 30FPS for a crisp and vibrant viewing experience. It connects using USB 3.0 and can be customized using Razer Synapse for the perfect color and lighting adjustments.
Look, I’ve used it and have no problem telling you it’s the best. The Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra Webcam releases today and can be purchased exclusively from Razer starting at USD 299.99 / €299.99 (opens in new tab).
Razer Edge: Xbox Cloud Gaming on steroids
There’s handheld gaming (see Steam Deck), and then there’s cloud gaming (see Logitech G Cloud), but Razer is coming in between them with its Razer Edge.
With optional 5G (Verizon), local storage (including micro-SD expansion up to 2TB), and support for all the cloud-gaming services like the Xbox Game Pass, this is the handheld to get.
At $399, it packs a 6.8″ 2400×1080 AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh, is powered by Android, and uses the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 processor with passive venting. It can play your favorite Android games with touch or the included controllers and even handle your favorite emulators for the classics if that’s your jam.
The screen is fantastic with its high refresh rate and AMOLED crisp colors; it’s portable, ergonomic, and frankly, just awesome.
It goes on sale later in January from Razer.com (opens in new tab) and is cheaper on Verizon at just $369 (opens in new tab).
Razer Blade 16: Dual-mode laptop
Here’s the problem: You’re a creator and like to game. The issue is previously you had to buy a Razer Blade laptop with a low full HD resolution but a high refresh rate (great for gaming) or a 4K display but a low refresh rate (great for video editing).
But what if you could have both?
That’s the new dual-mode Blade 16 (opens in new tab) with its UHD+ (3840×2400) 16:10 mini-LED display, which can jump between 240Hz at full HD and UHD+ at 120Hz. Now you can game or edit videos and create content like a pro without compromises.
It’s genius.
The rest of the laptop is no slouch, either. It packs up to a Core i9-13950HX (5.6 GHz) with 24-cores and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU. That’s an insane amount of power in a very cool laptop.
Look for this beauty later this spring.
Razer Leviathan V2 Pro: Unbeatable sound
Hear me out (pun intended). Razer’s new Leviathan V2 Pro is the best soundbar (and just speaker systems) you can get. Built with THX, this soundbar takes things to a new level with beam-forming technology that tracks your head movement to help drive the 7.1 virtual surround sound, thanks to a built-in IR camera.
The soundbar won many awards for one reason: We all got to hear it.
The sound wraps around your head, and it feels like you’re wearing headphones (there’s a headphone mode, too). It’s loud and crisp, and the virtual surround is next level. And thanks to the powerful subwoofer (a cube for your floor), you’re really going to feel it when you watch a movie or play a game on your PC.
Look for the Leviathan V2 Pro later in January for $399 (opens in new tab).
LG Gram Style: Iridescent touchpad haptics
LG gets another shoutout for its new line of gram Style laptops available in 14- or 16-inch sizes.
Sure, the WQXGA+ resolution OLED display with 3,200 x 2,000 pixels is gorgeous, but two things make this laptop really different:
1. It has an iridescent layer on its outer lid and inside on the keyboard deck. It shimmers in the light, shifting color and making this thing really amazing looking.
2. It has a haptic touchpad with LED lighting that comes on when you press it, so you know where the touchpad boundaries are.
The design is genius, and these ship with Intel 13th Gen P-series processors, so they pack power, too. Being gram’s, they’re also going to be absurdly light, coming in near 2 lbs.
Look for both of these (plus the updated LG gram 17 with the new optional RTX 3050 GPU) later this spring.
Lenovo’s Motorola ThinkPhone: ThinkPad fan’s dream phone
It’s been years in the making, but Lenovo and Motorola are finally giving ThinkPad fans what they want: A ThinkPhone!
What makes this thing unique? The hardware is beautiful, with a large OLED display at 144Hz. There’s also the 50MP camera array on the rear and an excellent front-facing camera.
But it’s the software stuff that Lenovo did that wowed me.
You can seamlessly (and wirelessly) use the ThinkPhone’s cameras on your ThinkPad laptop during video calls. Walk around the room and give a tour with the ThinkPhone’s high-quality cameras. Instantly copy photos you take to the Word document you’re writing. Use the Lenovo-branded red side button to use the walkie-talking feature with Microsoft Teams. Bask in all the security apps, carbon fiber design, and MIL-STD chassis for extreme durability.
It even ships with a tiny 68w fast charger that does double duty as your laptop’s charger and has a 5,000 mAh battery for all-day use.
Look, consumers won’t appreciate this phone, but if you’re a road warrior who likes Lenovo, you’re going to love what this thing can do. It’ll make you better at your job, trust me.
Lenovo ThinkBook Twist: Thinking differently
Anyone remember the 2013 Lenovo ThinkPad Helix? Well, it’s back, but much improved with the new ThinkBook Twist.
Basically, the display rotates around on a single axis in the center, so you can lay the display reversed down on to the keyboard turning this laptop into a tablet.
But wait, there’s more! This laptop has TWO screens. One is an eye-pleasing 13.3″, 2.8K, 60Hz, 400nit, OLED with Dolby Vision. The other is a 12″, front-lit, 12Hz, color e-ink with touch and pen support.
Yup, use the outer color e-ink screen for notes, leaving your calendar open, reminders, or seeing your emails without having to power anything on. Use the OLED display for regular work.
Or, you know, reverse all of that. The e-ink display can run Windows on it making it ideal for things like Microsoft Word where you can type for hours and hours without killing your battery.
Truly wild stuff.
ASUS Spatial Vision: 3D displays level up
3D in a laptop without needing glasses?
It all sounds a bit gimmicky, and perhaps it is, but once you try it, at the very least, you’ll be blown away by how good it is.
ASUS announced its new ProArt StudioBook 16 and VivoBook Pro 16X laptops, with glasses-free 3D OLED displays that use eye-tracking to create the 3D effect. Look at the display while the Spatial Vision software is running and you have 3D.
This is one of those “you have to see it to believe it” things, but I assure you that you’ll be wowed when you do try it. Now, will creators and gamers make use of it? That I don’t know, but we have to give ASUS props for trying!
The only real bad news so far is that neither of these laptops is slated to launch until Q3, so right now, it really is just an early tease.
