Final yr, after scouring the halls of the Las Vegas Conference Heart and sifting by means of tons of of devices, prototypes, and impressive guarantees, we introduced you our definitive record of the Finest Tech of CES 2024. These merchandise have been the game-changers, the boundary-pushers, and the units destined to form the yr forward. Or, not less than, that is how they appeared on the time.
However now that CES 2025 is only a few quick days away, it is time to ask the query each tech fanatic wonders: What truly occurred to these dazzling improvements? How did they fare in the true world? Did they make it to market, or are they nonetheless caught in improvement limbo? If certainly they launched, have been they sleeper hits or industrial flops?
We charged our knowledgeable analysts to look again and see how properly their 21 picks stood up. This is what they discovered.
CES 2024’s Finest Ultraportable Laptop computer: Dell XPS 14
CES 2024 Palms On: New Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16 Modernize Design, Add AI Oomph
We highlighted the Dell XPS 14 at CES 2024 for its hyper-modern redesign and up to date Core Extremely processing, in addition to for providing a devoted GPU possibility in such a trim body. Later, in April, we reviewed the ultraportable, and every of these things remained optimistic factors—for probably the most half. Our evaluate praised the truth that its GeForce RTX 4050 GPU presents unusual energy for this dimension, that the battery life is ample, and that the brand new design seems slick. On the flip aspect, the new-look flush keyboard proved much less snug for typing than we might have favored. Plus, Dell actually wanted to bundle a USB dongle, and the unit as an entire is a bit hefty for a 14-incher. Throughout this and the opposite XPS display sizes, Dell’s up to date design performs properly and appears sharp, however we did finally have some misgivings about its practicality. —Matthew Buzzi, Lead Analyst, {Hardware}
CES 2024’s Finest Gaming Laptop computer: Alienware M16 R2
CES 2024 Palms On: Alienware’s 16-Inch m16 R2 Gaming Laptop computer Goes Compact With Intel Core Extremely CPUs
After the unique Alienware m16 impressed in 2023, we favored the look of the m16 R2 much more final yr, because it trimmed 15% from the unique’s whole dimension whereas sustaining top-end energy. For a premium gaming laptop computer that purports to be transportable, this was a giant draw, and we noticed firsthand that this wasn’t simply sizzling air after we reviewed the Alienware m16 R2 in February. The smaller design tops out at “solely” a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, however it pushed sturdy efficiency whereas being well-built, long-lasting, and even well-priced, contemplating the total bundle. This choose held up properly. —Matthew Buzzi
CES 2024’s Finest 2-in-1 Laptop computer: Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid
CES 2024 Palms On: Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid Is Two Techniques in One
In June of 2024, we lastly noticed the Lenovo ThinkBook Gen 5 Hybrid come to market, bringing Lenovo’s funky Home windows/Android hybrid convertible laptop computer to actuality. However it wasn’t low cost—greater than $2,500 within the model we finally obtained to check, which is greater than you’d spend shopping for two succesful units working Home windows 11 and Android individually. Even our personal reviewer, when he reviewed the Gen 5 Hybrid late within the yr, praised the innovation, if not the precise design. The pill docking connection appeared finicky; the dual-device format was cumbersome; and the mix of Home windows and Android wasn’t a case of 1 plus one equaling three. Bummer battery life and restricted connectivity additional hindered this experimental 2-in-1, making it a novel, however not uniquely thrilling, product. It is just a little unhappy, however not each moonshot finally ends up being a smashing success. —Brian Westover, Lead Analyst, {Hardware}
CES 2024’s Finest Gaming Gadget: MSI Claw
CES 2024 Palms On: MSI Claw Bets on Intel for Handheld Gaming Supremacy
We liked the concept of the MSI Claw, on the time the primary Home windows gaming handheld constructed on Intel’s then-current CPUs and Intel Arc Graphics. However after we truly obtained one in to evaluate, its underwhelming efficiency, a flurry of driver points, and a excessive value muted all of that potential. Its snug design, full Home windows 11 integration, and superior options like Wi-Fi 7 assist have been highlights, however glitchy software program, spotty sport efficiency, and AI performance that felt undercooked undermined the attraction. Hopefully, this snug gaming handheld will get higher in future iterations; we obtained a preview of a brand new Claw 8 AI+ 8-inch model with Intel’s newest cellular CPU, the Core 2 Extremely, simply earlier than CES 2025. —Brian Westover
CES 2024’s Finest Cellphone: Asus ROG Cellphone 8 Professional Version
(Credit score: Iyaz Akhtar)
Asus used CES 2024 to debut its flagship gaming cellphone, and the machine made a giant splash. It was one of many few telephones to be revealed on the electronics confab, so it was straightforward to select as a present winner. The excellent news is that the cellphone launched efficiently within the US and past. We reviewed the ROG Cellphone 8 Professional Version and located that it has glorious efficiency, stable battery life, first rate cameras, and, after all, that flashy ROG design. It was a sound choose, in the long run. —Eric Zeman, Managing Editor, Cellular
CES 2024’s Finest Good Dwelling Product: Roborock S8 MaxV Extremely
(Credit score: Roborock)
The Roborock S8 MaxV Extremely led our record of thrilling robotic vacuums at CES 2024 due to its impressive-on-paper 10,000Pa of rated suction energy. (On the time, that quantity led the sphere.) However after we truly obtained a pattern of it in for evaluate, the suction wasn’t the highly effective draw we had hoped: The vac struggled to select up filth from hardwood flooring, and it ran over obstacles constantly. The Roborock Qrevo Curv debuted this fall with 18,500Pa of suction and did higher in our testing. —Andrew Gebhart, Senior Analyst, Good Dwelling and Wearables
CES 2024’s Finest Equipment: Eureka Twin Washing Bot
(Credit score: Eureka)
We knew this machine was only a idea when it made our CES greatest record final yr, however the concept of a washer with a robotic vacuum embedded at its base was simply so cool that we could not resist. At IFA this fall, I noticed the idea on show once more. It is nonetheless distinctive and nonetheless cool…however no nearer to an precise launch. Maybe we’ll get extra concrete information on the CES to come back. —Andrew Gebhart
CES 2024’s Finest Well being and Health Gadget: Withings BeamO
(Credit score: Withings)
This futuristic gadget wasn’t purported to be only a idea—it was anticipated to launch in June after making its debut at CES 2024. A “multiscope” machine for checking your well being at house, the BeamO is principally a really fancy thermometer. Sure, it might probably test your temperature, however it might probably additionally take an ECG, test your blood oxygen ranges, and even take heed to your respiratory. It guarantees to detect atrial fibrillation, coronary heart murmurs, wheezing, and extra. However first it wants to truly hit the market. Withings nonetheless has a web page devoted to it on the corporate web site, so it is not verifiably vaporware fairly but, however it’s properly previous its due date. —Andrew Gebhart
CES 2024’s Finest Good Glasses: XReal Air 2 Extremely
(Credit score: Will Greenwald)
These video good glasses from XReal are constructed on the Air 2 (which we reviewed proper earlier than CES 2024) however enhanced with built-in cameras for full augmented-reality features with six-degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) movement monitoring and a best-in-class 52-degree area of view. They have been certainly launched, and whereas we didn’t evaluate this mannequin, it looks like a superbly superb pair of glasses with additional sensors. The massive query, although, is the best way to truly reap the benefits of them, and that’s one thing that hasn’t developed a lot on the buyer aspect during the last yr. XReal’s Beam Professional hub has some 6DOF options, however few different units do; nothing’s very polished but. With XReal targeted on its newer One and One Professional good glasses (the Professional that includes a built-in spatial computing chip, although no cameras), it seems like the corporate is already transferring on from the Air 2 Extremely. —Will Greenwald, Lead Analyst, Client Electronics
CES 2024’s Finest AI Gadget: Rabbit r1
(Credit score: Rabbit)
The Rabbit r1 was one of many most-talked-about units of CES 2024. This pocket-size, AI-focused handheld companion was meant to reply questions and take particular actions. To our shock, Rabbit truly introduced the machine to market a number of months later with a splashy launch occasion in New York. In our evaluate, nonetheless, we discovered the Rabbit r1 was barely able to doing any of the issues that Rabbit promised. The corporate has continued to replace the r1, however its struggles at launch stewed this Rabbit earlier than it might get hopping. It was extensively panned. —Eric Zeman
CES 2024’s Finest Prototype: Sony Spatial VR Headset
(Credit score: Sony)
It’s a thriller! Sony introduced its enterprise-level, content material production-focused mixed-reality headset eventually yr’s CES, however we haven’t seen a lot of it since then, aside from a number of scattered accounts of the way it feels from different commerce present encounters. It’s positively an formidable headset, with a decision of three,552 by 3,840 pixels per eye and a novel ring-shaped controller. It simply isn’t out but, and we don’t know when it will likely be, or how a lot it’ll price. File it below, “Could be cool, nonetheless doesn’t exist.” —Will Greenwald
CES 2024’s Finest Automotive: Honda 0 Sequence EV
(Credit score: Emily Forlini)
The 0 Sequence EVs gained’t launch till 2026, however within the meantime, Honda has discovered some shocking success with its 2024 Prologue. Nice leasing offers, loyalty to the Honda badge, and an approachable but fashionable design are drawing individuals to it, in line with 25 homeowners who chatted with PCMag. Oddly sufficient, it’s constructed on GM’s battery platform, which is an interim step till the 0 Sequence EVs debut with Honda’s in-house platform. The 0 Sequence guarantees to be light-weight, cost in 10 to fifteen minutes, and have 10% degradation or much less. However it’s nonetheless greater than a yr away. —Emily Forlini, Senior Reporter
CES 2024’s Finest Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 4
(Credit score: Sennheiser)
Sennheiser usually depends on CES to point out off its secure of headphones, earphones, and different merchandise for the yr forward. One in every of its 2024 standouts was the Momentum True Wi-fi 4. We have been impressed with the True Wi-fi 3 earphones and had excessive expectations for the True Wi-fi 4. Sadly, these up to date in-ears have been merely good. We favored the high-end design, its bass-forward audio, and the customizable in-app EQ, however we discovered the noise cancellation merely ample for the comparatively excessive value. —Eric Zeman
CES 2024’s Finest TV: Hisense 110UX
(Credit score: Will Greenwald)
Hisense’s 110-inch micro-LED TV got here out, we examined it, and it impressed us. It has an enormous display, a very shiny image with nice coloration efficiency, and a 4.2.2-channel spatial-audio speaker system. It’s additionally $20,000 (although we noticed it on sale for “simply” $15,000 in the course of the vacation season), so it’s not sensible except you might have each a room large enough and a pockets deep sufficient for this monster. —Will Greenwald
Really helpful by Our Editors
CES 2024’s Finest Monitor: Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED Gaming Monitor (AW3225QF)
(Credit score: Alienware)
This monitor launched because the “world’s first” 32-inch 4K OLED gaming monitor. As you’d anticipate from a modern product, a gaggle of rivals quickly joined it. We’ve reviewed a number of extra with related specs to this point this yr, and we’re anticipating to check extra subsequent yr. None of them, nonetheless, has to this point managed to dethrone the AQ3225QF, whose unbelievable efficiency and visuals make it our present prime choose for high-end gaming displays. —Tom Brant, Deputy Managing Editor, {Hardware}
CES 2024’s Finest Projector: LG CineBeam Qube
(Credit score: John A. Burek)
LG’s CineBeam Qube wasn’t groundbreaking, however it caught our eye at CES 2024 merely for being a very small, actually elegant 4K projector that appeared to have promise for indoor and outside use alike. Finally, it hit the road below a barely totally different title—CineBeam Q—for $1,300, and, for the vacations, we noticed it on sale for simply $800. We have not managed to get a pattern into PC Labs for testing simply but, however it’s positively a product that was launched, which isn’t at all times the case for our Better of CES picks. (See Sony’s VR headset above.) —Will Greenwald
CES 2024’s Finest Printer: HP Sprocket Photobooth
CES 2024 Palms-On: Throw a Image Get together With the HP Sprocket Photobooth
A complete new type issue is a uncommon factor with printers, so we welcomed HP’s revolutionary reimagining of the industrial picture station—the type you may discover rented for a marriage or put in in a restaurant—for house use. Because the Sprocket Photobooth’s debut at CES 2024, a number of rivals have joined the fray, together with Arcade1Up, whose personal $399.99 Photobooth launched late in 2024. We just lately reviewed HP’s entry, which makes use of inkless Zero Ink (Zink) picture inventory, and located it a winner (and superior to the Arcade1Up effort). Will probably be attention-grabbing to see if, going into 2025, this rising class of product will develop into a pattern. —Tom Brant
CES 2024’s Finest CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8700G
(Credit score: John A. Burek)
What pushed us to tag this desktop processor as CES 2024’s greatest new CPU? Its built-in graphics processor (IGP), constructed on the identical underlying know-how—RDNA 3—driving AMD’s Radeon 7000-series graphics playing cards. This CPU hit retail shortly after the present; we examined it simply weeks later, giving it a “Good” 3.5-star ranking and dubbing it “a wonderful single-chip gaming resolution, particularly for small PCs that may’t home a graphics card.” Its $329 debut value made it much less favorable than combining a funds CPU and GPU, which implies it is a good worth largely for mini gaming PCs. AMD has hinted towards an RDNA 4 debut in early 2025, which can properly issue into AMD’s IGP plans earlier than lengthy. —Joe Osborne, Deputy Managing Editor, {Hardware}
CES 2024’s Finest GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous 16G Knowledgeable
(Credit score: John A. Burek)
MSI’s tackle the GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous was one among our first hands-on seems at Nvidia’s step-up graphics card that changed the RTX 4080 with enhanced efficiency at a lower cost. This product was positive to be launched, and later that month, we reviewed Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous Founders Version, handing it our Editors’ Alternative award. This specific MSI mannequin has been on sale all through 2024, however at publishing time is out of inventory at a number of retailers following the Black Friday and Cyber Monday rush. We’ll seemingly proceed to see RTX 40-series GPUs promote into 2025 at discounted costs, particularly since RTX 50-series graphics are anticipated to debut at CES 2025, if the numerous leaks and rumors maintain true. —Joe Osborne
CES 2024’s Finest Compact Desktop: Asus ROG NUC
CES 2024 Palms On: Asus ROG NUC Resurrects the Mighty Mini PC for Gaming
Armed with laptop computer processing and graphics, the pint-size (2.5-liter-size, truly) Asus ROG NUC was by no means going to problem huge gaming desktops for efficiency supremacy. However it did ship comparatively potent efficiency in a definite type issue, and even for a extra reasonably priced value than we anticipated. It’s kind of costly when it comes to the precise performance-per-dollar, however this space-saving gaming rig not solely supplies gaming energy and a few restricted upgradability, however it’s additionally among the best examples of CES guarantees being stored later within the yr. —Brian Westover
CES 2024’s Finest DIY PC Product/Expertise: MSI Undertaking Zero
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
That is a kind of CES product reveals that we have been in a position to get in hand upfront of its announcement, so it’s one thing you may completely purchase in the present day. Undertaking Zero is an ecosystem of instances and motherboards that work in tandem to make hiding away cables simpler, serving to system builders create cleaner, extra interesting gaming rigs. (In brief: Many of the cable connectors are on the again of the motherboard, out of sight.) We lined the brand new merchandise in an in depth MSI Undertaking Zero construct information, and extra just lately, we examined Asus’ counterpart to Undertaking Zero: its Again to the Future (BTF) platform, which includes a barely extra refined resolution for hiding the GPU energy cable, utilizing particular cable-free BTF graphics playing cards that feed energy wholly by means of a BTF-compliant motherboard. We don’t have any information into how profitable both of those PC-building options has been to this point, however with each cable-killer options touchdown simply months aside, we doubt this race to innovate is over but. —Joe Osborne
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