We’re only two days into CES 2024, and something occurred to me in the aftermath of ASUS’s packed presentation. We’re in a new golden age of gadgets, the likes of which we haven’t seen in many years. The world seems ready for something new after spending more than a decade cramming everything imaginable into our phones. An awful lot of companies seem to think the next big thing will be powered by artificial intelligence. Perhaps it will be, but even if it isn’t, we’re seeing a breadth and depth of gadget innovation at CES that’s exciting.
Yesterday, the gadget that stuck with me the most was the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid. I love the flexibility and modularity it promises. ASUS’s ROG Phone 8 line of mobile phones was a close second with its beefy, game-friendly specs. But neither captured my imagination quite like one of the accessories ASUS saved for yesterday’s presentation.
The ASUS ZenScreen Fold OLED Portable Display
The ASUS ZenScreen Fold OLED MQ17QH has a lot in common with the ASUS ZenBook 17 Fold OLED laptop, except instead of being a laptop, it’s a portable, foldable, 17.3-inch OLED screen. The display’s 2560×1920 resolution makes it extra tall. The screen can be used in either portrait or landscape orientations, with the content that’s displayed onscreen switching automatically between the two. ASUS makes a stand for the screen that uses a quarter-inch tripod mount to secure the display, but it also has a built-in kickstand that works in either orientation. When folded, the ZenScreen Fold is roughly the size of a 13-inch laptop. The device features two USB-C connectors for power and video transmission, as well as a mini-HDMI port.
If that all sounds like it will cost a lot, it will. Although ASUS didn’t reveal the price of the ZenScreen Fold during its presentation, it told Abt in the video above that it will be close to $3,000.
ASUS Comes Out Swinging
The ZenScreen Fold wasn’t ASUS’s only interesting product announced yesterday. The company also showed off the AirVision M1, a pair of glasses that serve as an external display, similar to the XREAL Air glasses that Federico and I have and the XREAL Air 2 Ultra glasses I covered earlier this week.
The AirVision M1 features an impressive 1100 nits of peak brightness, a 57-degree vertical field of view, which is wider than many similar products, support for multiple aspect ratios, and displays content in 1080p. The glasses also work with a Windows app that allows it to display multiple virtual screens of content. There’s no word yet on when and where the glasses will be available or how much they’ll cost.
Dual-screen laptops aren’t new, but ASUS’s entry in the category looks promising. The Zenbook Duo features two 14-inch 2.8K connected touch-enabled screens that refresh at 120Hz and can be used in landscape or portrait orientations, plus a keyboard that can be detached. The multiple configurations appear to provide a lot of flexibility in the way the Zenbook Duo can be used, and at just 3.3 pounds, it’s not much heavier than a MacBook Air. According to The Verge, the Zenbook Duo will start at $1,499.
Odds and Ends
There have been a lot of other interesting announcements at CES over the past couple of days, too, including:
- The Razor Aether Monitor Light Bar, a computer screen-mounted light that bathes your desktop in light but can also throw game-synced RGB color against your wall behind your monitor, which will be out in March for $129.99
- JBL announced the Live Buds 3 and Live Beam 3 earbuds that are IP55 and IP54 rated for water and dust resistance respectively and feature a touchscreen charging case that can receive notifications and other alerts from an Android phone.
- Sennheiser introduced the Bluetooth 5.4 Momentum Sport earbuds that include a heart rate sensor that syncs its data with the Apple Watch and are IP55 rated. The earbuds will be available on April 9th for $329.95.
- Nanoleaf is ready to turn the entire exterior of your home into an RGB playground with its descriptively-named Smart Multicolor Permanent Outdoor Lights.
- TP-Link introduced the Tapo DL130, a smart door lock that doubles as a video doorbell and works with Apple Home that the company says is coming soon for an unspecified price.
- Wi-Fi 7 has been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, so expect wireless router manufactures to start rolling out certified Wi-Fi 7 routers soon with promises of faster speeds.
Weird and Wonderful
Every year, CES is flooded with expensive cooking gadgets, and this year is no different. UK-based Seergrills demonstrated a grill called the Perfecta that allows you to grill a steak in under two minutes. The $3,500 grill’s burners can reach 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit, and, of course, it uses AI to help you perfect your grilling skills. Seergrills says the Perfecta will be available in Q4 2024.
I love Razer’s over-the-top gamer gear. Alongside computers and accessories, the company showed off Project Esther, a new haptics technology built into what it says is the world’s first HD haptic cushion for a gaming chair. Razer’s rumble chair is still just a prototype, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a version of it is released eventually.
Companies seem to have learned the lesson that showing off creepy humanoid robots at CES gets attention, but not necessarily the right kind of attention. This year, Samsung and LG both showed off cute robots. Samsung’s Ballie is a colorful round robot that incorporates a projector and can perform smart home tasks and video phone calls.
LG’s robot rides on two-wheeled legs and performs household tasks as part of the company’s ThinQ home system. According to LG, the unnamed bot acts as your agent, controlling home appliances, traffic reports, weather, and other information using “AI.”
To wrap things up today, I want to leave you with Pivotal’s personal aircraft. The one-person electric vehicle, which is called the Helix and looks a little like a drone for humans, is available for purchase for just $190,000. The Helix doesn’t require a pilot’s license because it’s classified as an ‘ultralight’ aircraft by the FAA in the US, which is a little frightening if you ask me, but fortunately, that also means it can’t be flown over congested areas or near airports.
Alright, that’s it for this CES roundup. I’ve got to go add the Helix to my list of reasons not to move to Silicon Valley.
