The Best of CES 2022

The Best of CES 2022 - CONTENTS

1. AMD and NVIDIA: The battle continues in 2022
2. Intel and high-end gaming CPUs: Intel Alder Lake
3. Samsung's curved beast: The ultimate gaming monitors
4. Canon and VR: A vision for VR video calls
5. Unifying Smart Home systems
6. Phones that can change colour? Meet Vivo V23 and V23 Pro
7. OnePlus 10 Pro revealed - with some extras
8. Mind-controlled headphones? Wisear pushes the boundaries
9. Introducing BMW iX Flow, a car that can change colours
10. LG in fine form: New gaming laptops and 97" TVs
11. G-Force chairs? RGB watches? Razer brings surprises
12. A sure bet: HyperX unveils a new headset, keyboard, mouse and game controller
13. ROG Strix Flare Animate II: The most beautiful keyboard in the world?

AMD and NVIDIA: The Battle Continues In 2022

It is clear that the battle between AMD and NVIDIA will rage on in 2022. The products just unveiled during CES make it clear. We already have our favourites from both companies. What caught your eye? The affordable Radeon RX 6500 XT graphics card or the most powerful gaming GPU GeForce RTX 3090 Ti? Or are you looking forward to the new gaming laptops?

New mobile Ryzen 6000, desktop Ryzen 7000 and cheap graphics cards

AMD executive Lisa Su gave us a small taste of the brand new Zen 4 architecture that will run the Ryzen 7000 desktop processors. And the showcase was really cool, as all the cores in the current units can handle 5GHz. This, coupled with the move to DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 interfaces, suggests an intergenerational performance boost of perhaps tens of percent. Before the Ryzen 7000 arrives (hopefully later this year), however, AMD will put discerning fans to the test with the intriguing AMD Ryzen 5800X3D V-Cache. This is a modified Ryzen 7 5800X with an L3 Cache enlarged to 96 MB. This is quite extraordinary in terms of consumer CPUs, so a 15-20% increase in gaming performance is expected over the regular Ryzen 7 5800X without 3D V-Cache.

If you are looking for a new laptop, you may be interested in what AMD has to offer. A number of laptops equipped with Ryzen 6000 mobile processors should arrive in the upcoming weeks. These are based on 6nm manufacturing technology and Zen 3+ architecture, with a clock speed reaching up to 5 GHz and they include an enhanced graphics unit with RDNA 2 architecture. Other advantages include support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 along with USB 4 and speeds of up to 40 Gbps, enough to transfer a 4K movie in under 7 seconds. Users will also get PCIe Gen 4, DDR5, as well as video output in HDMI 2.1 standard. An important feature is the redesigned integrated graphics card, which combined with FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) can offer 60 FPS at 1080p even for the most performance-intensive games.

And if you're looking to build a cheap PC that can still handle decent gaming, the Radeon RX 6500 XT is just the graphics card you need. You will be able to enjoy a solid performance in Full HD resolution or your preferred eSports. Another noteworthy detail is that the card should be actually available, because the card has "only" 4GB of RAM, which makes it unusable for Ethereum cryptocurrency mining.

NVIDIA steps up its game: New (mobile) graphics cards, RTX 3090 Ti

Gaming laptops are almost exclusively equipped with Intel processors (you can even get the newly available 12th generation Intel Alder Lake processors) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 mobile graphics cards. So you can enjoy the biggest AAA games on fast G-SYNC monitors with support for refresh rates up to 360Hz or NVIDIA Reflex technology.

But maybe you still prefer a classic gaming PC. In that case, you could soon buy the most affordable representative of the GeForce RTX 3050 series. Namely we are talking about RTX 3050 that particularly shines when put to test in Full HD resolution with ray tracing and DLSS. It'll rock games like Black Ops Cold War, Doom Eternal, F1 2021 and Control at over 60 FPS without a hitch. The card will go on sale at the end of January.

If you like to play in 4K resolution or stream, getting the most powerful gaming GPU right now—GeForce RTX 3090 Ti—is a must. We should learn more details like the price and especially performance later in January.

Intel Alder Lake processors and the most powerful gaming CPUs

Intel introduced only a few 12th generation Alder Lake processors in late 2021, and the full reveal of the complete model lineup had to wait for CES 2022. The lineup includes a large number of mobile chips in addition to 22 desktop processors. The big change is the hybrid design, as the new Intel Alder Lake processors feature so-called performance cores (P-cores) and efficiency cores (E-cores).

The Intel Core i7-12700K, for example, consists of 8 performance cores operating at up to 5,000 MHz and 4 efficiency cores operating at 2,700 to 3,800 MHz. The processors are accompanied by curiously redesigned heatsinks and in particular the Intel Laminar RH1, designed for the Core i9, looks fantastic.

Even when it comes to mobile processors, Intel is betting on powerful and efficient cores, which in practice will also have a positive effect on battery life. The top configuration of the Intel Core i9-12900HK will feature up to 14 cores (6 + 8), PCIe Gen 4.0 support, DDR5 memory, WiFi 6E and Thunderbolt 4. Intel expects to deploy it in around 100 laptops from all key manufacturers. They will gradually go on sale during the first quarter of this year. In terms of performance, official presentations claim an increase of up to 28% in 1080p resolution compared to the last generation. A boost of 44% performance is expected when using Adobe Creative Cloud apps, beating even the Apple M1 Max.

However, if you don't want to wait, the battle for the title of most powerful gaming CPU is being fiercely contested by the factory overclocked Core i9-12900K. It will reach clock speeds of up to 5.5 GHz for a single core thanks to the use of Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost technology. All cores will then run at 5.2 GHz assuming they get sufficient cooling.

Samsung's curved beast: A 4K monitor at 240Hz and Mini LED

Samsung made a shining impression at CES 2022 even when it comes to monitors. The visitors' attention was mostly captivated by the new Samsung Odyssey Ark, which is a 55-inch gaming beast with a 1000R curvature, 4K resolution, and a refresh rate of 165 Hz. These remarkable specs are complemented by the presence of a massive stand that allows the entire monitor to be rotated by 90°. If you set the monitor up in portrait mode, you'll have about a 30" screen in front of you, and almost twice that area above. It's certainly an interesting way to replace three monitors, though admittedly this vertical arrangement won't be ideal for everyone. But it's certainly an interesting idea, and the execution is undoubtedly compelling.

Samsung has innovated elsewhere as well, introducing the 32" Samsung Odyssey Neo G8, a smaller variant of the 49" G9 launched in the middle of last year. Even though the newcomer has a smaller screen size, the amount of pixels make it more than comparable to its older sibling. In fact, it will offer 4K (2160p), whereas the Odyssey G9 features "only" QHD (1440p)—but because of the "super ultrawide" aspect ratio, the G9 is the equivalent of two regular QHD monitors placed side by side. Both monitors have a distinctive 1000R curvature, 240Hz refresh rate, and most importantly Mini LED backlighting that provides thousands of individually dimmable zones, as well as a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits, which of course means top-notch contrast and HDR.

The third exciting announcement is the Samsung Smart Monitor M8, a future addition to the line of smart monitors equipped with a modified Tizen operating system typical for this manufacturer's TVs. This means you can use the monitor without a computer, both for basic work and entertainment. The M8 model brings a new stylish ultra-thin design, 4K resolution, improved maximum brightness, 10-bit colours and the option to attach a magnetic webcam.

Canon and VR: A vision for VR video calls

CES isn't a trade show focused on photo technology and the industry attendance was unsurprisingly low. Only Canon showed up, and instead of new mirrorless cameras or high-end lenses, it only brought its technological vision for VR video calls named Kokomo. The company only gave a general outline of this vision at CES 2022, so at this point it's impossible to say exactly how it should all work, or how likely it is that we'll ever see it on the market. Even Canon has officially admitted that the technology may never take off.

According to the available information, a smartphone, a compatible Canon camera and a VR headset will be required to use Kokomo's communication software. You should then be able to get in touch with your loved ones or coworkers via the internet using a virtual reality call. That's about all we know at this point. Canon used this platform to highlight, among other things, its RF 5.2mm f/2.8L dual fisheye lens introduced last year, capturing the 180° backgrounds we can see in the Kokomo promotional video.

Unifying Smart Home systems

The future lies in smart homes, where all appliances will be connected into a single system via the internet. This is virtually certain, and the proliferation of devices that proudly wear the Smart tag was clearly demonstrated at this year's CES trade expo. But the complex integration required for these systems is running into a serious obstacle: The currently available solutions are fragmented, and the manufacturers' proprietary apps prevent any integration into a unified system.

From the perspective of manufacturers, especially those selling complex systems, this is a good thing. From the customers' point of view, it's obviously not. The newly established Home Connectivity Alliance strives to resolve this dilemma by giving consumers a better choice and ensuring that brands are compatible with each other. It was founded by Arçelik, Electrolux, Haier, Samsung, American Standard Heating and Air Conditioning a Trane Residential. The formation of the alliance was just announced at CES 2022.

The aim is to have a single software platform that can be used to control appliances from all manufacturers. According to the alliance, the entire home electronics industry recognises the need for a simple solution. However, the whole vision is just beginning to take shape and the biggest challenge may be to convince all the big players.

Phones that can change colour? Meet Vivo V23 and V23 Pro

Although CES is not a trade show with a mobile phone focus, some models did find their place among the new products presented. For example, the Vivo V23 and its larger sibling the V23 Pro, two extremely stylish phones that can change colour (the Sunshine Glass colour variant that is—just put it out in the sun for a moment) and promise high-quality selfies.

The basic Vivo V23 variant sports a 6.44" AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and a refresh rate of 90Hz. On the face side we have a small notch with two selfie cameras with a combined output of 50Mpx plus autofocus and an 8Mpx ultra-wide sensor. On the back, there is a triple camera photomodule setup consisting of a 64Mpx main sensor, an 8Mpx ultra-wide and a 2Mpx macro camera.

The heart of the phone is a MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor combined with 8 and 12GB of RAM respectively. For user data, you get 128GB in the basic version and 256GB in the advanced. The battery has a capacity of 4,200 mAh with 44W fast charging. Both models run on the Android 12 operating system.

The Vivo V23 Pro differs from its sibling at first glance—it has rounder curves. The display is also rounder at the edges and has a respectable size of 6.56". The panel, resolution and refresh rate have remained unchanged. The front-facing selfie camera module is also the same, just like the 50Mpx and 8Mpx sensor combination. On the back, the main sensor has been moved around and the 108Mpx resolution gives the Pro model a significant advantage. 

The most noticeable difference, however, is the more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 1200 processor, which will also operate with 8 or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of RAM, respectively. The battery capacity has increased slightly, due to the larger display (to 4,300 mAh). Everything else remains the same. For now, we don't know if this stylish phone will ever reach the European market, but it will go on sale in India in January and the price is estimated to exceed 460 EUR for the Pro version.

OnePlus 10 Pro revealed, plus physical keyboard makes a comeback

CES in Las Vegas is not meant to be a mobile phone showcase. Still, some manufacturers have taken advantage of the widely media-followed event space to at least hint at what to look forward to in the coming months. Samsung, for example, unveiled its new model for this year, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G live for the first time to the general public.

The OnePlus 10 Pro will be unveiled, at least for China, on January 11. A teaser presented at CES 2022 has given us some idea of what to expect. OnePlus confirmed it will have Samsung's previously speculated LTPO 2.0 display with 2K+ resolution and a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz or a large 5,000mAh battery. The photomodule has a different design compared to the previous models and the renowned company Hasselblad has been involved in the making of the cameras.

TCL brought two attractive budget phones to CES 2022, the TCL 30 XE 5G and 30 V 5G. Aside from supporting modern 5G networks, they'll offer rather basic specs—4GB of RAM, MediaTek Dimensity 700 (30 XE) or Snapdragon 480 5G (30 V), and rather mediocre cameras. Their main selling point is the price, which is set at less at than 300 USD for the US market.

And finally, we have a phone that feels a bit like it came from a different world. The Astro Slide has a full-size slide-out keyboard. It's clearly designed as a feature-packed work tool that makes it easier to communicate, write documents or deal with your email correspondence. What's more, it comes with the very welcome 5G support. The phone should be available in March, but we will have to wait and see whether it will reach the European markets.

Mind-controlled headphones? Wisear pushes the boundaries

Everyone enjoys good music. Over the years users have become accustomed to controlling their wireless headphones comfortably with their voice. But there may soon be a time when even that voice won't be necessary. French startup Wisear has shared a development breakthrough in the form of mind-controlled headphones. Its technology serves to enable us to operate most of the functions of modern headphones with our thoughts alone, without having to feel out the buttons or mutter commands. The system combines artificial intelligence and sensor data.

Small electrodes are to be attached to the headphones to monitor brain activity and facial expressions. This is where Wisear comes into play with its AI technology, which is now patent-pending. It can convert these signals into commands to pause or play music, skip to the next song, adjust the volume, etc. The combination of sensors and AI is called "EarEEG". Wisear is now looking for a headphone manufacturer to partner with and get the technology to market. The future looks promising, as mind-controlled headphones could be a great fit for AI and VR systems.

BMW iX Flow electric car changes colours to match your mood  

The future of car transport was also supposed to be a major theme of the BMW Group's participation at CES 2022. Due to the ongoing pandemic situation, however, the BMW Group shifted all planned media activities at CES to a fully digital program live streamed from Germany. Nevertheless, we still got to see an extremely exciting variant of the BMW iX electric car, designated as the iX Flow, right here in Las Vegas.

It is the first ever vehicle with a shell covered with a layer of electronic ink, allowing for literal design wonders. The smooth colour changes (between white and black) are made possible by a specially developed body shell that is precisely adapted to the contours of BMW's all-electric iX. When stimulated by electrical signals, electrophoretic technology brings different colour pigments to the surface, giving the body the desired colouring.  BMW Group's Design Director Adrian van Hooydonk stated that "The BMW iX Flow is an advanced research and design project and a great example of the forward thinking that BMW is known for."

From the user's point of view, the car's design is extremely appealing. Specifically with electric vehicles, it is also possible we may be able to customise and see the car's current charging status directly on the body. And for example, if the BMW iX Flow is left out in the sun in summer, switching to white will lower the interior temperature by a few degrees. We'll see how long it takes for Flow technology to appear on the list of optional equipment, because right now the price would be astronomical.

LG shows a gaming laptop and up to 97" TVs

South Korea's LG was in the talk of the show at the Las Vegas trade event, especially thanks to its excellent large-format OLED evo Gallery Edition TV series. The electronics giant announced there will be models with up to 97" screen size to let customers enjoy the best picture possible. Moreover, artificial intelligence algorithms powered by the advanced α9 Gen5 intelligent processor allow the screen to be brighter than ever before. This revolutionary technology is the key to the high image quality of the LG OLED evo Gallery Edition, which displays deeper shades of black and higher brightness, revealing incredible detail and rich colours.

There's still more to say about LG TVs, as LG One:Quick Flex aims to become the communication interface for entire families. That's because it's simultaneously a 43" touchscreen display complete with built-in camera, microphones, speakers and a multi-functional stand on wheels. It is intended not only for home use, but also for office video conferencing, design presentations and teamwork.

LG is also well aware of the modern health risks, creating the unorthodox LG PuriCare AeroTower multifunction fan in response. Its strengths include a True HEPA filtration system that captures up to 99.97% of fine dust and allergens. And thanks to UVnano LED technology combined with HEPA filters, it provides an additional layer of protection as it reliably kills airborne bacteria.

Finally, there's a pretty big surprise for gamers—the LG UltraGear 32GQ950 high-end monitor newly added to the LG UltraGear series. It benefits from a top-of-the-line Nano IPS panel including ATW Polarizer technology, resulting in superior colour fidelity and vivid image reproduction, while VESA DisplayHDR 1000 provides a dynamic contrast on a large 4K screen. IPS response time of 1ms and refresh rates up to 160Hz ensure an breathtakingly immersive gaming experience.

Displays aside, LG is also targeting the gaming laptop market. The all-new LG UltraGear 17G90Q delivers alluringly smooth gaming with the most performance-intensive PC games. In addition to a 17.3" IPS panel with a 300Hz refresh rate, this LG portable gaming rig is equipped with an 11th generation Intel Core processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q graphics card.

G-Force chairs? RGB watches? Razer brings surprises

Razer is a globally renowned brand focusing primarily on gaming accessories. And their new gaming chair simulating G-forces up to 1G certainly lives up to their high-end reputation. Racing and flight sims in particular will gain a whole new level of immersion, but it will also find its use elsewhere. Moreover, Razer has also made a surprising foray into the world of smartwatches (complete with obligatory RGB backlighting). So let's take a look at how it went.

Razer Enki Pro Hypersense gaming chair shakes things up

The Razer Enki Pro HyperSense gaming chair offers a brand-new experience in addition to comfortable seating. This is all thanks to an integrated haptic system that can simulate G-forces of around 1G. It can also tilt backwards and vertically by approximately 4cm.

According to the manufacturer, it already supports more than 2,200 games, movies or music titles. Gaming sims like F1 2021 or the new Forza Horizon 5 will get a whole new depth of experience. Fans of flight sims like DCS World will also find plenty to enjoy. We're curious to see how it will work with movies and music and we can't wait to try the chair with VR (Kinedryl will definitely be there).

For now there is no word about the launch date or the potential price. Given the amount of technology involved, our sixth sense tells us that it won't be cheap.

Razer X Fossil Gen 6: RGB smartwatch

The Razer smartwatch announcement was a surprise, but a welcome one. Turns out that smartwatches don't all have to look like Apple Watch. The Razer X Fossil Gen 6 packs plenty of communication, entertainment and fitness features into an attractive round case with a physical crown, two buttons and a classic ridged bezel. Wear OS 3 provides the operating system, so you can expect access to many apps. And of course the most important thing: Razer left nothing to chance and made sure to cram in RGB backlighting as well.

A sure bet: HyperX unveils a new headset, keyboard, mouse and game controller

 For HyperX, CES 2022 was all about headsets. Their new HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless gaming headset will have the world's longest battery life ever, up to 300 hours. A more affordable new addition is the HyperX Cloud Core DTS, featuring immersive sound thanks to DTS Headphone:X 3 technology, which is also offered by the aforementioned Cloud Alpha. The latest headset, HyperX Cloud II Pink, boasts 7.1 virtual surround sound.

HyperX didn't stop at headsets, however. Probably the most interesting of the gaming peripherals is the new HyperX Pulsefire Haste wireless mouse, which is very lightweight thanks to its special design and can last up to 100 hours on a single charge. Fans of miniature keyboards will enjoy the HyperX Alloy Origins 65. The 65-percent mechanical keyboard equipped with original HyperX switches. Last but not least, the brand delighted mobile gamers with the new HyperX Clutch smartphone controller.

ROG Strix Flare Animate II: The most beautiful keyboard in the world?

The ASUS ROG gaming section also had plenty to show. The ROG Fusion II headset stands out particularly for its user comfort, but also for its 7.1 virtual surround sound and noise reduction thanks to artificial intelligence. 

Quick question: What is the most beautiful keyboard ever made? The ROG Strix Flare Animate II is a hot candidate for the spot. It's a new mechanical keyboard with ROG NX switches and, for the first time ever, the AniMe Matrix LED design element you may know from the Zephyrus G14 laptop. 

Never heard of AniME Matrix LED? It is a surface consisting of 312 programmable mini-LEDs, which in this case is located above the numeric keypad. The panel can be used to play animations of your choice or to display your logo or anything else you can think of.

For the sake of completeness, let's add that ROG hasn't forgotten about the standard RGB key backlighting either. As we all know, you can't have a gaming peripheral without it, otherwise it would be relegated to the ignominy of boring office keyboards.

The new ROG Chakram X wireless gaming mouse has also caught our attention. It doesn't offer anything revolutionary at first glance, it just pushes all the gaming mouse parameters to the limits of the laws of physics. And it also looks good thanks to its smart yet sophisticated exterior. Does our enthusiasm still seem premature? Then read on.

The ROG Chakram X may be wireless, but with a 1.5ms response time, it can take on any wired competitor. It's also excellent in terms of accuracy, thanks to ROG's new AimPoint optical sensor with up to 36,000 DPI resolution and less than 1% CPI deviation. Interestingly, if you do prefer wires you can connect the mouse via USB and play on. This way, you can charge the mouse without interrupting your match.

So, how was this year's CES 2022? We can describe it with many adjectives but boring is not one of them. Manufacturers have managed to bring innovation to industries that were considered all but static. Seriously, colour-changing phones and cars? A chair that dynamically reacts to the game? Mind-controlled headphones? We may be living in rather dark times, but technology still marches on.