January was a pretty loaded month. We saw some cool stuff released at CES 2024. We saw a couple of interesting TVs. Of course, robots made it to the list, too.
Samsung and OnePlus released their flagship phones, and we also messed around with a fancy new OLED display from Alienware. Some of the tech unveiled this month was cool, but some of it was also just plain weird. Let’s look at our top coolest and weirdest picks of the month of January.
The titanium frame that Samsung adopted this time around definitely helps with pulling together the whole look of the phone, making the S24 Ultra feel like the ultimate model you can get. It also helps that the Galaxy AI features they packed into this device don’t feel gimmicky.
The coolest thing about the Omen Transcend 14 is its incredibly small silhouette. It’s just under 18mm tall, or 0.7 inches. Its 3-pound, 12-by-9-inch frame is even more portable than the Transcend 16 for gaming on the go. There’s one HDMI 2.1 port, two sets of USB Type-A and Type-C, and a headphone jack.
LG announced a fully transparent TV at the CES. LG claims this is the world’s first wireless transparent OLED TV and is calling it the Signature OLED T (T for transparent). The OLED T is merely a transparent panel that plays your content without invading your space with a large, black, obtrusive screen. LG argues that this will help create an illusion of your room looking larger than it would with a regular screen.
OnePlus 12 improves upon what its predecessor did without. It brings back wireless charging, bumps the base memory offering, and has a bigger battery. The front of the OnePlus 12 offers a 6.8-inch QHD+ display with up to 4,500 nits brightness in mega direct sunlight. But you’ll have to settle for OnePlus’s OxygenOS.
The Claw is MSI’s version of a Steam Deck. It’s a Windows 11-based handheld that uses an Intel Core Ultra processor, and sports a 7-inch screen, a 120Hz refresh rate, and 16GB of RAM. The Claw weighs just under 1.5 pounds, effectively equivalent to a Steam Deck and a fraction more than the ROG Ally.
Flo got to try out the Palmplug One at CES. Though she wasn’t entirely sure about how effective this would be in helping rehabilitate stroke patients (as it intends to do), she was attracted to it because of the bright LED lights on each fingertip. This device features haptic feedback, and you can use it inside other apps for a tactile effect when playing video games.
The new PS5 Slim already looks so good, so the three new covers for the console are just the cherry on top. What I really like are the matching DualSense controllers.
The N1 is a massive 137-inch microLED 4K TV that folds itself back into its base and turns into a modern art piece in your living room. It uses what they’re calling the ‘Adaptive Gap Calibration’ that increases brightness around the edges of each panel to make the gaps invisible. Priced at $220k, this is the farthest a product can get from being for the mainstream market.
After showing an initial prototype four years ago, Samsung officially revealed its cute new robot, Ballie, at CES 2024. This adorable little soccer ball-looking thing is being marketed as “your true AI companion” and can do everything from projecting visuals on your wall to turning switches on or off for you.
LG’s latest 4K projector, the CineBeam Qube, is being marketed as a “stylish interior accessory.” The aim is for it to blend quietly with your room decor because of its subtle, low-profile design. It also features a 360-degree rotatable handle that adds to its modern aesthetic. Weighing just 3.2 lbs, it’s also quite portable.
Unlike Apple’s ridiculously expensive $3500 Vision Pro, the XReal Air 2 Ultra costs just $700. They also don’t make you look like a fool thanks to a titanium ring frame and a modern, Wayfarer-esque design. XReal’s latest glasses are the successor to the XReal Air 2 and Air 2 Pro, mainly focusing on spatial computing. They embed a pair of 3D environment sensors with computer vision capabilities and provide real-time location as well as mapping intel.
The gentle 1700R curved screen on the Alienware AW3225QF is a beauty. Or, with a bit more metaphor, the monitor is a pure Goldilocks expression of “this one’s just right” in terms of size, performance, and quality. It’s a curved screen supporting up to a 240 Hz refresh rate at 4K, 3840 x 2160 resolution. There’s the stated 0.03ms response time that is typical of most OLEDs.