The best of CES 2018 awards: Our pick of the best products at this year’s CES tech conference
Read our list of the best tech announcements and launches at CES 2018
Arguably the biggest technology showcase of the year, CES 2018 is officially over. A week-long event filled with the biggest launches and announcements, it’s certainly one of the busiest entries in any tech journalist’s calendar. And the Expert Reviews team was there in full force, bringing you the latest coverage.
And as we’ve just about recovered from our jet lag – and the inevitable convention flu – now’s the perfect time to highlight our favourite products for the year ahead. From smartphone-powered laptops to TVs the size of your wall, we saw it all, and couldn’t resist handing out awards to the latest and greatest products.
Here are Expert Reviews’ favourite products from CES 2018.
Best of CES 2018 awards
Best laptop: Dell XPS 13
Dell certainly isn’t unfamiliar with receiving accolades. In fact, despite only having marginal refreshes every year, its XPS 13 ultraportable laptop is regularly at the top of our best laptops hierarchy. And this year’s model offers the biggest shakeup in years.
Dell’s 2018 redesign is more than enough to reignite interest in the range, introducing Coffee Lake CPUs, a Rose Gold colour, weight and size reductions and three USB Type-C ports. It’s gorgeous, and I can’t wait to get my hands on one for a full review.
Best TV: Samsung The Wall
Our best TV award winner was a no-brainer: no-one could accuse Samsung’s The Wall of being subtle. Essentially a bezel-less, 146in modular TV with self-emitting micro-LEDs, it has nothing to do with that Dale Winton game show nor Pink Floyd, but is well worth keeping an eye on.
That’s right, the TV is entirely bezel-less, which means the screen can be made to order to whatever size you see fit. And as for the micro-LED tech inside, well, each micrometre (µm) LED emits its own light, eliminating the need for any power-hungry backlighting or colour filters.
Indeed, The Wall offers a very interesting glimpse into the future of TV tech and makes us very excited for the year ahead.
Best audio product: JBL Link View
CES certainly wasn’t short of smart speaker announcements, but JBL’s Google Assistant-powered Link View stood out due to its interesting built-in display.
The speaker also has a front-facing, five-megapixel camera. And as for that screen, it measures 8in across the diagonal, has a resolution of 1,280 x 720 and is capable of displaying information just like Amazon’s Echo Show. Elsewhere, the twin 10W bass drivers flank the screen, facing forwards with a passive radiator at the rear to reinforce the bass notes.
It’s certainly an intriguing device and it will be interesting to see how it compares with the Echo Show when we eventually get our hands on a review device.
Best smart home tech: Nest x Yale Lock
The Nest x Yale Lock replaces your front-door key with a memorable passcode, offering peace of mind when you’re on your two-week holiday and can’t remember whether you locked the door.
Available in three finishes – polished brass, satin nickel and oil-rubbed bronze – the Nest x Yale Lock completely does away with physical keys in favour of a battery-powered touch-sensitive numpad for your home’s security. It will alert you via the app whenever it’s used, and automatically locks behind you, too.
It’s not out just yet, but the Nest x Yale Lock looks to be the final piece of the interconnected smart home puzzle.
Best fitness tech: Garmin Forerunner 645 Music
Fitness trackers have taken off recently, and Garmin certainly isn’t shy of leading the pack. In fact, the firm has a long-standing reputation with fitness watches, and Garmin’s latest Forerunner 645 Music looks to be no different. Not only that, but it has a handy surprise up its metaphorical sleeve.
Appropriately titled, this is Garmin’s first attempt at a smartwatch with music playback features. For £400, you can transfer up to 500 songs directly from your PC and store offline playlists with Deezer+.
Elsewhere, Garmin’s Forerunner 645 looks to set the gold standard for runners’ watches. Built-in GLONASS and GPS allow you track how far, how fast and where you’ve run, and the watch also accommodates swimming, cycling and walking tracking.
Best of show: HTC Vive Pro
And finally, the winner of our most prestigious CES 2018 award is the HTC Vive Pro VR headset, and its new Wireless Adapter accessory.
HTC Vive has lead the virtual revolution since way back in 2016. And now, just under two years later, the firm has launched a new and improved VR headset.
The Vive Pro almost doubles the screen resolution from that of the original, with improved ergonomics and built-in audio. Not only that, but the new optional Wireless Adapter finally cuts the cords and allows for hassle-free VR gaming.
The HTC Vive Pro could be the latest headset to rekindle the VR flame and is more than deserving of our Best of Show award at this year’s CES.
