AussieBatt have spent a week sampling the technological wonderland that CES 2019 has to offer. And we have picked our ten favorite products from this year’s show. They really do span the gamut: laptops, smartphones, smart home, automotive, and general gadgetry, reflecting the increasing number of ways just about everything in our lives has become connected in one way or another.
Acer Chromebook 315
With Acer Chromebook 315 massive 15.6” display, this is one of the largest Chromebooks on the market, but it will cost just $280 when it debuts later this year. It’s using the AMD A4/A6 series mobile processors, meaning performance should be nearly identical, and it will be offered with up to 8GB of RAM and with touch and non-touch 1080p displays. For the person wanting a large-format, no frills laptop at an affordable price point, the Chromebook 315 is an easy pick.
ASUS Chromebook Flip C434
ASUS may have the premium ultraportable Chromebook to beat in 2018 with the new Flip C434. It offers 8GB of RAM (for US SKUs), a Y-series Intel Core i5 processor, 6 cells Asus a32-m50 long life battery, and a good-looking 1080p IPS display with extremely tiny bezels. It has a solid keyboard according to our resident key snob Ryan Whitwam, and a full aluminum body makes the C434 feel exceptionally well-built. The C434 is fully convertible which makes it a great device for watching video. ASUS planning to launch the C434 in spring for just $550,which is an extremely good price for what I would definitely call a true “premium” Chromebook.
HP Chromebook 14
HP’s first AMD Chromebook presents a far better value than similarly-priced Intel Chromebooks, with much more powerful 15W processors and more capable GPUs. It’s positioned in the MSRP sweet spot for Chromebooks, and having tried it out, I think this will be a compelling buy for students and home users alike. It offers USB-C charging – on both side of the laptop – and a rugged, textured hard plastic design that won’t show scratches or fingerprints.
Nubia Red Magic Mars
ZTE offshoot Nubia is launching its gaming smartphone, the Red Magic Mars, in the US next month. It packs a Snapdragon 845, 128GB of storage, 6GB of RAM, and a 3800mAh pa3534u-1brs battery – already making it sound pretty appealing on paper. Oh, and it costs $400. Once I saw that price, pretty much any other concerns I had about this Nubia phone went straight out the window. That’s an insane amount of performance for the money, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any phone in the world offering these kinds of specs for that kind of price.
Lenovo Smart Clock
If we had a Most Adorable Gadget award, Lenovo’s new Google Assistant Smart Clock would win, hands down. Its tiny 4-inch display makes it look pint-sized even next to the already small Google Home Hub, and I think people are going to love having these on their bedside tables. $80 does seem a bit steep, but this is the first product of its kind in the Google ecosystem, I bet a lot of people are willing to pay for what is essentially a Google Home Mini that has a clock and some smart display functionality.
Arlo Security System
Arlo announced its own home security suite at CES this week, and it really does look good. It works with your existing Arlo Base Station, and is comprised of three products: a sensor, a siren, and a remote. The sensor can detect temperature or moisture, hear smoke or carbon monoxide alarms, and be used as a traditional door or window sensor. That’s a huge amount of functionality in one little dongle. The siren is pretty smart, too, with neat tricks like being able to play the sound of a dog barking or a TV show in the background in order to dissuade would-be intruders when they’re detected.
Arlo Ultra 4K
Arlo makes our favorite home security cameras, both for their quality and user-friendly features like local video backup. The Ultra 4K really ups the game, though, offering 4K capture and monitoring atop a new and improved version of Arlo’s mounting package that can position the camera at a staggering number of angles – even more than the current products.
Anker PowerPort Atom PD1
Anker’s new Atom PD1 30W USB-C wall charger is impressive for one reason and one reason only: it’s tiny. At just the size of a standard iPhone wall wart, it’s smaller than most Android phone chargers that top out at just half its maximum power output. Provided it has USB-PD support, you could charge a fanless laptop pretty quickly with this tiny little brick and just stop carrying any other charger.
Jabra Elite 85h
Jabra is entering the noise-cancelling headphone fray this year with its new 85h over-ears, and I’m downright impressed with what they’ve achieved here. The 85h are extremely stylish, feel very comfortable, and based on my initial impressions, offer extremely respectable noise cancellation. They’ll be $300 when they arrive later this year, and they have Google Assistant built-in with hotword activation, the latter being a feature products from the likes of Lenovo and Bose lack.
