The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the world’s biggest tech event, and like clockwork, it rolls around in January every year. Tech companies worldwide showcase their innovations in the form of consumer electronic products in several categories such as mobiles, laptops, televisions, home appliances, and more. This year’s CES started on January 11 and, as usual, was a four-day event. However, unlike past years, CES 2021 was a completely virtual online event. While several renowned and budding brands from all over the world showcased hundreds of products during CES 2021, we have made it easy for you by breaking it down categorically.
Here are the top announcements made at CES 2021.
Laptops and computing
Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE
the Zephyrus Duo 15 SE is the newest member of the Asus ROG series of laptops, and it stole the show in the laptop segment at CES 2021. This is an iterative upgrade over the previous Zephyrus G15 and is more powerful, packing in AMD’s newest, next-generation Ryzen 9 5900HX chipset paired with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. This laptop’s unique feature is its enormous 14.1-inch secondary display along with a 15.6-inch primary display, which takes the PC gaming experience to a whole new level. The laptop is up for preorders at Asus’ online store and is launched at a starting price of $2,900.
Asus also launched a small and compact $399 desktop called the Asus fanless Chromebook. The device is powered by 10th Gen Intel Core processors and can be configured with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Needless to say, the device runs ChromeOS out-of-the-box.
Acer Chromebook Spin 514
Acer brought back the Chromebook Spin 514 at CES 2021. This time, the laptop is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 3000 mobile processors, which essentially boosts the performance of this midrange convertible laptop. The device sports a 14-inch full HD touchscreen display and comes with up to 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD drive. The device is available in multiple colors and starts at $479.99. It begins shipping in February.
Razer Blade
Although there are laptops out in the market flaunting 4K display resolutions, a lot of gamers still prefer a standard 1080p resolution on their gaming devices/laptops. It is because of the delayed refresh rate issues, which causes latency in rendering game graphics. Razer Blade 15, introduced at CES 2021, addresses this issue by providing a 1440p resolution with a refresh rate of 240Hz to deliver a high-resolution gaming experience. The graphics on the device are powered by the GeForce RTX 30 card. Razer introduced 15-inch and 17-inch variants to the lineup, and both are available for preorder at prices starting at $1,699.99 and $2,299.99, respectively.
Apart from these devices, several other laptops and PCs were announced at CES 2021 from Samsung, LG, Alienware, and other manufacturers with an eye on both the personal market and the growing number of users who work from home. AMD also debuted its 5000 series Ryzen processors at this year’s event.
Smartphones and wearables
LG and TCL rollable smartphones
Foldable smartphones have started generating buzz in the current consumer market, and LG and TCL showcased their concept rollable smartphones at CES 2021. LG is yet to disclose any information regarding the specifications, pricing, and availability of this futuristic smartphone. On the other hand, TCL showcased two more rollable, extendible display concepts.
While the concept of rollable phones is fun and fancy, it is still at least a couple of years (if not more) before these new revolutionary smartphone concepts become commonplace. There is also a possibility that these devices will never even hit the consumer markets.
Like every year, there were dozens of other smartphones unveiled at CES 2021. A majority of these devices were budget-friendly devices that fall in the low-to-mid-range segment. Smartphone makers such as Moto, Alcatel, and TCL unveiled new lineups of their handsets at the event. Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S21 lineup during CES, but at a separate Galaxy Unpacked event.
The Mudra Band
The Mudra Band is essentially an Apple Watch strap that allows you to control your smartwatch with the hand that’s wearing it through gestures. According to the manufacturer, Mudra Band is also the world’s first wearable brain-to-device interface. It allows users to operate the Apple Watch to perform several actions such as answering calls, clicking pictures, turning off the alarm, and controlling music.
The device can be preordered now and costs $179. It will be available starting in March and comes in different color and size options. To know more about it, click here.
Apart from the Mudra Band, Fossil, Skagen, Honor, Michael Kors, and Amazefit unveiled their new lineup of smartwatches and fitness bands at the event.
Televisions and multimedia
CES 2021 also featured a ton of announcements on upcoming televisions and multimedia products such as music systems, Bluetooth stereo speakers, headphones, and more.
Samsung showcased its 110-inch MicroLED powered 4K TV with a whopping price tag of $156,000. We have also witnessed several affordable 8K TVs from TCL in its 6-series. Sony came up with its proprietary 4K streaming platform that powers its lineup of televisions. Dubbed Pure Stream technology, it streams videos at up to 80Mbps, providing near-lossless quality for all the 4K enthusiasts.
CES 2021: Wrapping it up
Although the ongoing pandemic has affected everyone’s lives, it is evident that the tech world is advancing no matter what. While the event was online-only and a few big names like Xiaomi and Huawei were not a part of this year’s event, we still saw a staggering number of new products, innovations, and consumer tech announced at this year’s CES. Innovation is picking up, and it will only get better over time.
Featured image: CES
