(CNN) –
CES 2021 is here, and the largest annual technology show in the world has never looked so different. But while this year’s event misses the packed Las Vegas ballrooms in favor of an overall experience, there are just as many cool gadgets and exciting innovations to get excited about as ever.
From eye-catching 8K TVs to laptops and desktops that make homework smoother than ever, we’ve already seen a bunch of fantastic products come out of this unique virtual CES. In order to cut through the sea of shiny new technology and find the best products we think are worth making money, we met large and small manufacturers for in-depth information sessions. We compared these articles to our best tests in terms of specifications and features and, in some cases, even got our hands on early units.
With that in mind, our pick is for the best CES 2021 items you can actually buy this year.
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook is our current recommendation for the best 2-in-1 Chromebook you can buy, but it only sells for $ 999. The new Galaxy Chromebook 2 retains the best features of its predecessor (including a bright screen and a beautiful Fiesta Red design), while starting with a much more achievable $ 549 with more modest specs. However, do not call it a downgrade – the Galaxy Chromebook 2 is the first Chromebook with a QLED screen that delivers vibrant colors and finer details than you can see on a standard LCD laptop. The beautiful screen and spicy keyboard of the Chromebook 2 performed well in our early practical testing, and the striking design makes the other Chromebooks from CES look dull.
If you’re looking for a game monitor to use with your PS5 or Xbox Series X, the new Acer Nitro XV282 KV should be on your radar. This 28-inch screen has the latest HDMI 2.1 standard, which you should take full advantage of in the sleek 120 frame-per-second gameplay that the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles are capable of. It’s also an excellent option for PC gamers, with AMD FreeSync Premium technology to eliminate screen tearing and 1ms response times for minimal input delay. The Nitro XV 282K KV achieved our best CES choice, as the HDMI 2.1 support makes it one of the first screens to make your next-generation console game as smooth as possible – and could usher in a new wave of optimized golf game monitors for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Look forward to it in May with a starting price of $ 899.
Like most other smart vacuum cleaners, Samsung’s latest does not have the most gripping name. But after a demo and a personal information session (safely conducted), the JetBot 90 AI + seems to bring a lot to the table. It bypasses other smart vacuum cleaners that only contain LiDAR sensors by throwing in cameras and throwing in object recognition. In this way, it can actually identify what is in its path and change direction. For this reason, the * chef’s kiss * on the JetBot avoided 90 obstacles – it could work around a cable, a pair of sneakers or the dreaded doggy do-do. It will even send an alert via the linked app to let you know what it ended up with. This is the first vacuum that this real technology has for avoiding objects on the next level, and it makes other smart vacancies look pretty dumb. We do not have prices yet, but the JetBot 90 AI + has a feature set that leaves other smart vacuum cleaners in the dirt.
Laptop webcams are generally terrible, which is an issue that HP wants to solve with the new HP Elite Dragonfly Max. This powerful 2-in-1 business notebook has a 5MP webcam, which, combined with the laptop’s advanced AI-driven audio technology, should make you look and sound as important as possible during important Zoom meetings. Combine that with a 13.3-inch screen with features like HP Eye Ease and HP Sure View Reflect to keep your documents safe for snooker while keeping eye strain to a minimum, and the Dragonfly Max forms the ultimate laptop of down the house. Although we did not test directly, the design, specifications and features of Dragonfly Max with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon – our best laptop for business users – seem to make it the most impressive laptop we have seen from CES so far. .
The UltraSharp 38 Monitor not only gives you an extended screen, but it has the specifications that match. This 37.5-inch WQHD + curved screen has a resolution of 3840 X 1600. Although not exactly 4K, we fully expect it to be sharp and probably difficult to select individual pixels. The panel should make it possible to produce a wide range of colors, such as previous UltraSharp Monitors, one of our current top picks for the best monitors. Those who work in creative programs like Photoshop and Illustrator can handle detail-oriented edits relatively easily. And in everyday use, we expect it to provide enough space for email, spreadsheets, and web pages. The real kicker is the built-in productivity hub – there are, among other things, two HDMIs, a DisplayPort, two USB-Cs, an Ethernet connection and four USB-A ports. This is an all-in-one docking solution that we believe will be a plug-and-play experience. This is not something that every monitor can fit in there. If you’ve looked at an older monitor and struggled with all sorts of dongles, it feels like the complete package. We look forward to testing the UltraSharp 38 Monitor when it launches on January 28th.
Samsung’s Neo QLED aims to increase the brightness level, vibrancy of the color and deepen black levels compared to previous generations. This is not done with completely new technology or even with a dramatically new processor, but with miniLED. Samsung’s Quantum Mini LEDs are about 1 / 40th as large as a regular LED taillight and remove much of the packaging. By reducing the size, more LEDs can be placed inside, and the TV can control the lighting on an LED-by-LED basis. This is closer to creating pixel-by-pixel images found on OLEDs. We had to see it in person, and the 8K Neo QLED draws our eyes with its increased vitality without causing bleeding or leakage. Given Samsung’s expertise in producing images and scaling, we feel it’s better than our current overall choice for the best TV, the TCL 6 series. The specificity that Samsung can offer with miniLEDs should increase the brightness level and take the brightness to a new level. We do not know the price yet, but Samsung’s Neo QLEDs will be available later this spring.