Day two of CES 2023 was huge. With press conferences from LG, ASUS and more, we heard the companies outline their plans for the new year and beyond. But more significantly, we saw a lot of cool gadgets in a day that usually dominates press events.
With the show opening to the public today (January 5), there’s still plenty to come in terms of hands-on opportunities with new products debuting at CES 2023. But all the press conferences and briefings we attended drew our attention here.
LG OLED T
LG had a lot of TVs to show off at CES 2023, from the wireless LG Signature Series M3 OLED to the latest version of its best-selling OLED set, the LG C3 and its improved upscaling. But the LG TV that caught our eye is the one designed to be out of sight — the LG OLED T with its transparent screen.
The idea is that the LG OLED T’s display turns transparent when not in use—ideal if you’ve placed the TV in front of a window or are using it in a store or museum where it’s occasionally unstable. is required. Another setup involves two screens — one displaying a virtual aquarium that disappeared when you wanted to watch some TV.
Alas, this is just a prototype for now. But we hope it won’t be long before the LG OLED T shows up — and then ends up — at a store near you.
Sony Honda Mobility Afila EV
At this point, we’d be concerned if Sony did not End your CES press conference without bringing the car out on stage. But this year’s Afeela EV is a little different from the concept cars that graced Sony’s CES show in 2020 and 2022. This time, the car is the original product of the dynamic alliance between Sony and Honda. And it’s coming to a street near you in the spring of 2026.
While details about the Afila car were scarce, we do know that it has a lot of sensors and cameras, and that the infotainment system will heavily influence Sony’s library of games, music and movies. Sony and Honda plan to start taking pre-orders in the first half of 2025, with the car debuting a year later.
Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (2023)
This year’s 16-inch edition of the Asus Zenbook Pro may look similar to last year’s model, but the real action is inside this laptop. Asus worked directly with Intel to redesign the CPU to be smaller. This frees up more space for the cooling system and other powerful internals like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 series GPU.
While the 38% smaller motherboard inside the laptop is certainly a big talking point, don’t overlook the other aspects of the 2023 Asus Zenbook Pro, be it the 16-inch OLED panel or the redesigned keyboard. It’s smaller than before, taking up only half of the laptop’s deck, and it’s mounted on a plate that can tilt it upwards. This should also help with cooling, and we’d imagine it’s more ergonomic too.
We’ll know for sure during the second quarter of this year when the Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (2023) is ready to ship at the price just announced.
Fossil General 6 Hybrid Valence Edition
Combine the traditional look of a wristwatch with the smart features of a wearable and you get the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition. The $229 watch, available now, combines an E-Ink display with physical watch arms, creating a very stylish-looking timepiece.
It would be a pretty forgettable entry if it were all in the latest Fossil, but it has sensors capable of continuous heart rate monitoring, SpO2 readings, step counting and exercise tracking. There’s a built-in Alexa assistant, though there’s no speaker so any information you ask for will appear on your watch face.
Best of all, the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition delivers these capabilities without the need for frequent recharges. According to Fossil’s estimates, you should be able to get two to three weeks of use out of the watch with normal use.
Withings U-Scan
This isn’t the streaming device we’re used to seeing at CES. But the hockey-puck-sized Wings U-Scan certainly has more uses than your streams, tracking everything from general health markers to menstrual cycles for female users. All you have to do is add water – Your Water, especially.
Yes, the U-Scan is embedded inside your toilet bowl where it can collect your health data whenever you need to heed the call of nature. The U-Scan receives its sample and beams its analysis to your smartphone via a Bluetooth connection.
This is definitely not a cheap way to track your vitals. When it hits the US later this year, the Wings U-Scan will cost $499, with replacement cartridges costing $90 each. Still, it might be worth the investment if U-Scan proves to be a whiz at monitoring health data.
Samsung Micro LED X TV
Like LG, Samsung has been busy showing off new TVs at CES 2023, including the QN95C Neo QLED TV and S95C OLED TV, which have a particular appeal to gamers. But the set that captured our imagination was the Samsung MicroLEDX.
If you’ve seen a micro-LED panel, you won’t need to ask why. It highlights the best things about OLED TVs such as the perfect blacks and vivid colors they provide in the design of things with stunning viewing angles.
Unfortunately, microLED TVs are also big in both price and size, which is why this CES demo impressed us. The set Samsung showed off was a 76-inch MicroLED model, which is a much more manageable size. Granted, the price is still prohibitive for almost everyone, but we get the sense that prices are starting to come down with screen sizes.
Samsung Galaxy A14
CES isn’t a big show for phones, with flagship models like Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S23 debuting at their own press events to grab all the attention for themselves. But Samsung hasn’t completely forgotten about phones — it introduced the Galaxy A14, a $199 addition to its Galaxy A midrange series.
The Galaxy A14 is at the lower end of the range, but don’t let that get you down. The 6.6-inch display has a 90Hz refresh rate, which is faster than you’ll find on iPhones starting at $600 more than this model. Samsung has also equipped the A14 with expandable storage, so you can add up to 1TB with a microSD card.
We won’t pretend the Galaxy A14 has a lot of premium features — we’d be surprised if the main camera and its dedicated macro and depth sensors can compete with top budget camera phones like the Google Pixel 6a. But smartphone buyers only spending $200 have an interesting option from Samsung.
Honorable mention
Tivo is back, kids, resurfacing as a smart TV platform alongside the DVR of choice a generation ago. Alas, you’ll only be able to find Powered by Tivo in Europe, but don’t let that kill your nostalgia for Tivo’s better-than-you-remember recommendations and commercial-skipping capabilities.
You’ll have an easy time tracking down JBL’s new Dolby Atmos soundbar. The JBL Bar 1300X will cost $1,699 / £1,299, and as you can imagine, it will support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D surround sound.
Finally, some new Roku TVs are coming, and unlike past models made by TCL, the Roku Select and Roku Plus models will be made by Roku itself. Prices range from $119 to $999 and you can bet they’ll take advantage of Roku OS software.
