CES 2024 is officially underway, and it's always a busy time for the tech world. You'll see many great laptops being unveiled, as well as new excellent monitors and other PC accessories like headsets and mice. If you're like me and pay close attention to the announcements, though, you're looking for the devices that stand out, and not for the reasons you might think.

Some of these new laptops just stand out from the others in some weird ways. There are a couple this year that caught my attention. And I have to hand it to MSI, Lenovo, and Asus for trying new things and sticking out in the sea of generic devices we get each year at CES.

3 MSI Cyborg 14

A gorgeous translucent look

I got to see the MSI Cyborg 14 head of CES 2024 at an event in New York City, and boy, did it stand out. Sure, MSI might have had some crazy powerful laptops like the Titan 18 HX, which sports a haptic RGB touchpad and a boost of up to 270W of power when you combine the 95W CPU and 175W GPU, but the Cyborg is what caught my eye.

With the lid open, it looks like a regular gaming laptop. However, look closer, and you'll see an all-translucent look that reminds me a lot of a Game Boy Color. On the bottom, you can see through to the SSD, the fans, and other laptop components. This even extends to the ports area. I've never really seen anything like this before, as gaming laptops tend to be mostly gray, black, and red. They're mostly boring, aside from some RGB lighting and maybe a logo.

2 Asus Zenbook Duo UX8406

The new foldable laptop on the block

I classify the Asus ZenBook Duo UX8406 as "weird" even though we've seen dual-screen laptops at past CES and even on the market in 2023. However, unlike the previous models, Asus went for a major redesign. Instead of having the signature tilting design and screenpad, the entire laptop has gone the way of the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i. That means the device now has two 14-inch 3K 120Hz OLED displays with a 180-degree hinge down the middle.

Sure, you might argue that this is a copy of Yoga Book 9i and isn't really original, but there are a few features that make it weirdly cool compared to the competition. For one, you don't have to use an awkward fold-up stand to get the Zenbook Duo fully vertical with both screens open, thanks to an integrated kickstand. The keyboard also doesn't need to be recharged separately. It connects to POGO pins on the edges of the screens for power or data. Even the connectivity is better than what the Yoga Book 9i offers, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-A, and HDMI, whereas Lenovo's offering only has Thunderbolt ports. Talk about unique!

1 Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid

An Android tablet and a Windows laptop in one

However, the weirdest laptop I saw at CES 2024 is the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, which is like if a Surface Book met an Android tablet. This is a hybrid device with two detachable parts, so you can switch from a Windows laptop to an Android tablet with ease. The Windows laptop, known as the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid Station, is the base system. The Android device, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid Tab, lives inside the display. Lenovo says they can be used separately as two devices or work together.

The Windows portion is powered by an Intel Core Ultra Processor, while a Qualcomm chip powers the tablet. Usually, you see this separately, and it's really rare to see an Android tablet and a Windows PC all in one. Sure, you could run Android apps on Windows 11, but switching between full-blown Android and Windows on the same device? It's unheard of You're truly getting the best of both worlds right here.

What did you like at CES?

Those are three standout products that I noticed coming out of CES, but beyond the laptop space, there's a lot more that I could have mentioned. Samsung, for example, showed off a transparent Micro-LED display, while LG announced the CineBeam Qube, a projector that looks like an old-school film camera. Companies aren't afraid to think differently this year to get the attention of your wallet, which is part of the reason why I love CES and look forward to it each year.