CES is a show filled to the brim with exciting announcements, products, and concepts, and 2024 was no different. The buzzword for this event was AI, but beyond that, we also got to see a ton of cool and interesting products that are a bit more tangible. For example, if you're a computing enthusiast, there were plenty of laptop announcements to drool over, along with some interesting accessories and cool prototypes we wished were real. We got to see the best CES 2024 had to offer in Las Vegas firsthand, and now, we're here to look at the very best CES had to offer.
Dell XPS 14
The new Dell XPS to get
It's been a long time coming, but Dell finally refreshed the entire XPS lineup with new devices that sport fresh, new looks. The new Dell XPS 13, 14, and 16 all take after the XPS 13 Plus of years past, but it's the Dell XPS 14 we're really excited about. This is basically the new sweet spot in the XPS lineup, and it'll please the majority of users.
This is a laptop you can easily carry anywhere, and thanks to its 14-inch OLED display, it keeps the beautiful visuals you've come to expect from Dell's XPS line. But what's cool is that besides the new Intel Core Ultra processors delivering AI capabilities, you can also configure it with a discrete Nvidia GPU, meaning this is the most compact XPS laptop with discrete graphics we've seen.
Of course, the new design is beautiful, too, finally moving away from the years-old look of the XPS 15 to deliver something much more modern and fresh. It still has some elements you may not love, like the touch function keys and invisible touchpad, but it looks beautiful.
HP Spectre x360 14
The best laptop, again
HP also brought a redesigned Spectre x360 14 to the table this year, and it's the first time this laptop will actually have a 14-inch display instead of a 13.5-inch one. It has a new, more subdued design, a 2.8K OLED panel with a high refresh rate, and, of course, brand-new Intel Core Ultra processors with an NPU for AI tasks and much faster graphics. Otherwise, it's the same Spectre we've come to know and love.
The HP Spectre x360 was already the best laptop on the market for the past year, so these changes and upgrades only make it easier to recommend. We've already reviewed the new Spectre x360 14 and are confident in calling it the best laptop again.
Omen Transcend 14
A beautiful 14-inch gaming laptop
The Spectre x360 14 isn't the only 14-inch laptop HP brought to the table at CES 2024. The Omen Transcend 14 also stood out as HP's first 14-inch Omen gaming laptop, and it looks striking. For starters, it comes in white, which we love seeing in gaming laptops, and its display has a 16:10 aspect ratio. But having more laptops packing powerful performance into a compact chassis is also great. In fact, the Omen Transcend 14 is the lightest 14-inch gaming laptop in the world at only 3.6 pounds.
Despite that, it comes with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics, so you're getting plenty of power here to run the latest games. And those games will look beautiful thanks to the 2.8K OLED 120Hz display option you can get. It's looking like a terrific laptop all around if you're into gaming without sacrificing portability.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid
A crazy cool blend of Windows and Android in a laptop package
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is another crazy concept in Lenovo's ThinkBook line, and it's one of the coolest ones yet. The Hybrid branding makes all the sense in the world here. This is a 2-in-1 laptop that runs both Windows and Android, and you can switch between them at the push of a button. And if you're wondering how it can do this, this isn't actually one device — it's two.
The base of the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid is a PC featuring an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and up to 32GB of RAM, and the display is an Android tablet with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 12GB of RAM, and a stunning 14-inch OLED display. You're getting two high-end devices in one, and while you can switch between experiences on the fly, you can also use both halves independently at the same time. The screen can be a tablet, and the base can be a PC connected to an external display.
Practicality-wise, this may not be for everyone, but it's easily the coolest product at CES (it was a personal favorite of mine) and reasonably priced for what you get.
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE
A laptop that can look like anything you want
Lenovo didn't leave it at one cool product this year, though. You can't buy the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE, but it's still a very cool idea. This laptop features an E Ink Prism display on the lid, allowing it to display colorful images on the back with basically non-existent power consumption. This means you can have a laptop that looks pretty much like anything you want, which is the kind of personalization that's sorely missing in the tech world.
Sadly, the concept we got to play with was pretty limited, but Lenovo was showing off some cool ways to use the tech, like adding a clock or a pattern that constantly changed colors. But the idea of a laptop that can fully reflect your personality and interests, even when turned off, is really cool, even if the product doesn't exist yet.
Asus Zenbook Duo
A dual-screen OLED laptop
We didn't really expect to see another dual-screen laptop in 2024, but Asus threw us a curveball in the best way. The Asus Zenbook Duo is a laptop featuring two 14-inch OLED displays, both with 120Hz refresh rates. That means, right out of the box, this is a dual-screen setup you can use anywhere. Instead of having a keyboard on the base, it's a detachable accessory, which you can snap on the bottom half and use wirelessly with the two screens.
Lenovo did this idea first with the Yoga Book 9i, but the Asus Zenbook Duo has some very welcome improvements. For one thing, the keyboard is stored inside the laptop when closed instead of snapping magnetically to the outside. Also, that keyboard includes a proper touchpad, rather than relying on the touchscreen to double as a touchpad, which can feel a bit awkward. While foldable laptops are still underpowered, the Zenbook Duo has high-end Intel Core Ultra CPUs, so you're not sacrificing performance, either.
Acer Swift X 14
A compact creator laptop with AI capabilities
Not every laptop has to do something crazy or unique. The Acer Swift X 14 may not be the most exciting, but it's still a pretty great device, especially if you're a creator. This compact 14-inch laptop features a beautiful 14.5-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, which is already a great start, but it also comes with Intel Core Ultra processors and Nvidia graphics up to a GeForce RTX 4070. That means you have a great CPU with a built-in NPU for AI and a powerful GPU that can also handle demanding AI workloads, making this a great machine for those embracing AI. You can also get it with up to 32GB of RAM.
Aside from that, this is just a solid, sleek laptop. If you want something with a bit more power that keeps a sleek design, the Acer Swift X 14 is for you.
Intel Core Ultra
The heart of the AI PC
We've already brought up this name a few times, but Intel's new processors for laptops really were the star of CES despite being announced last month. The vast majority of the cool new laptops this year come with Intel Core Ultra, and for the first time in a really long time, this upgrade brings a significant change to the paradigm of how we use our PCs thanks to AI. The built-in NPU on the Intel Core Ultra processors allows for things that weren't possible before, like conversing with chatbots that understand true natural language and use that language to obtain any information you want.
We're just scratching the surface of what AI can do, and the use cases for general users aren't totally clear yet, but that means the future is even more exciting. Now that we have AI hardware, the software will be coming in the near future, and it will change everything. And, of course, Intel Core Ultra also brings double the graphics performance to enable gaming on thin and light laptops, along with any architectural improvements to how processors are designed.
MSI Claw
The first gaming handheld with Intel Core Ultra
Speaking of Intel Core Ultra, CES 2024 is also when we got to see the first new Windows gaming handheld from a major company featuring Intel's latest processors. The MSI Claw is the latest in an increasingly competitive space, but while all the big gaming handhelds of 2023 were using AMD Ryzen processors, this one features up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, along with 16GB of RAM.
The handheld has a 7-inch Full HD display, which should be perfect for the low-power nature of the processor, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate, so you can enjoy a smoother experience with your games. For controls, it has all the buttons and analog sticks, except it uses Hall Effect sensor joysticks to prevent wear and tear over time and has RGB lighting around the sticks and even in the face buttons. It also comes with MSI App Player, so you can use it to play Android games.
We're bound to see more handhelds with Intel processors later this year, but for now, the MSI Claw is unique and appealing.
Razer Blade 16
The first 16-inch Quad HD+ 240Hz OLED display
It should come as no surprise that Razer makes some of the best gaming laptops in the world, and the Blade 16 is no different. But for 2024, Razer is going a step further with a laptop that has the first-ever 16-inch Quad HD+ 240Hz OLED display. Made by Samsung Display, this panel delivers true blacks and exceptional contrast ratios, but also super-fast responsiveness thanks to the high refresh rate and the 0.2ms response time. It's been certified for both VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 and VESA ClarMR 11000, so it looks great.
Otherwise, it's the same fantastic laptop you already know. It has a sturdy and premium metal chassis, a huge touchpad, a great webcam, the latest 14th-generation Intel Core processors, and up to RTX 4090 laptop graphics. You can't ask for much better than this.
Clicks
A keyboard for the iPhone
Computers may have been the biggest part of CES, but phones also got a really cool product. Clicks is a product co-developed by fellow tech reviewer Michael Fisher, who you may know as MrMobile. It's a keyboard case for the iPhone, bringing back the tactility of typing on a QWERTY keyboard in the old BlackBerry phones that many users still miss.
The team went through many prototypes and tests to nail the perfect typing feel on such a portable device, and since it works with a wired connection, it doesn't really use any significant amount of battery on your phone. It also has a charging port to charge your phone without removing the keyboard. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely a super cool product, and hopefully, there will be versions for some Android phones at some point, too.
Alienware 32 4K OLED Gaming Monitor
A 4K 240Hz QD-OLED monitor
Much like computers, monitors are constantly evolving, and OLED panels have become increasingly popular over the past few years. Dell's Alienware brand debuted the Alienware 32 4K OLED Gaming Monitor (AW3225QF) at CES 2024, and it's kind of incredible. It uses third-generation QD-OLED technology, promising brightness up to 1,000 nits and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1.
But what helps make this more special is that it comes with a super-sharp 4K resolution and a very smooth 240Hz refresh rate, making for the ultimate gaming experience right now. It's also certified for Dolby Vision HDR, so it'll be perfect for enjoying all kinds of media content in HDR, not just games. With HDMI 2.1 support, you can play in 4K and 120Hz using the latest Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
At $2,000, this isn't a gaming monitor for everyone, but it's also the very best you can get.
Samsung 2D/3D Gaming Monitor
Make all your games 3D; no software required
Closing things off, we have one that isn't a real product, but that's also what makes it super cool. Samsung had a limited showing of its prototype 2D/3D Gaming Monitor. We've seen a few 3D products make their way to market in recent years, with Acer's SaptialLabs brand, the Asus VivoBook Pro 16X 3D OLED, and most recently, Lenovo's ThinkVision 3D monitor. However, Samsung is the first to apply that concept to a gaming monitor, and it's doing it cleverly.
Of course, when you're typing or doing other kinds of work, the monitor will be in 2D mode. However, for compatible games, the monitor can display with a 3D effect that works pretty much like Nintendo's 3DS. It has two cameras above the screen to track your eyes, so even if you move a bit, the 3D effect still works. To make it easier to play games in 3D, the monitor essentially takes any game that supports VR and uses that 3D data to produce a 3D effect that doesn't require you to wear anything.
It's not a real product, so it's hard to say when and if it will become available, but it's cool to see either way.
The best of CES
CES 2024 has been an incredibly exciting show; we'd expect nothing less from the biggest tech show of the year. All of these products and concepts make it worth traveling to Las Vegas every year, and it's great to share such cool stuff with our readers. Even beyond what we've highlighted here, there are a lot more cool products coming out of CES this year, so be sure to check out all of our CES coverage for all the goodies.