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Best of CES 2022 Awards: The very best of the best products
Android Authority’s Best of CES Awards honor the most exciting new products from the sea of announcements at the world’s biggest trade show. From products running the gamut from truly innovative to completely bizarre, we highlight the very best of CES 2022. Without further ado, here are our winners (you can watch our quick summary video here or view the entire list below).
Phones and wearables
Best phone: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE continues the recent tradition of Samsung’s Fan Edition mantra: bringing a more affordable version of its premium product line to market. With the Galaxy S22 launch just around the corner, the S21 FE will soon be eclipsed in terms of fan attention but it’ll continue to be a favorite for a while for its relatively affordable specs sheet and feature set.
Best affordable phone: Nokia G400
The Nokia G400 delivers an entry-level sub-6GHz 5G experience without breaking the bank. The promise doesn’t end with 5G though. The G400 packs a massive 5,000mAh battery, 120Hz refresh rate on the display, and carrier support from all the U.S. majors.
Best mobile accessory: Targus Cypress Hero EcoSmart backpack
How is a backpack a mobile accessory you may ask? The Targus Cypress Hero EcoSmart backpack has Apple’s Find My tech built in. That means if you lose your iPhone you can hit a button on the backpack to make your phone ring. Alternatively, if you lose your backpack, you can also locate it quickly with the Find My Tech app. The bag itself is environmentally friendly too, made out of 26 recycled plastic bottles.
Best wearable: Garmin Venu 2 Plus
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus takes all the best bits of the original Venu 2 and adds support for calls and voice assistants. The best part is the Venu 2 Plus is voice assistant agnostic, working seamlessly with Siri, Bixby, or Google Assistant via your phone’s Bluetooth connection. With these additions, Garmin makes its first real foray into true smartwatch territory and it’s a great first swing at bat.
Best wearable innovation: MindMics
MindMics is a pretty revolutionary idea: using Infrasonic Hemodynography, MindMics can passively record highly sensitive body metrics whenever you pop your earbuds in. The technology is so sensitive it can hear individual valves opening and closing in your heart while also tracking respiratory rate and stress levels. Designed to augment your existing all-day fitness tracking gear, MindMics will allow you to record an additional layer of health data whenever you’ve got your MindMics-equipped earbuds in.
See also: The best wearables of CES 2022
Audio
Best headphones: JBL Quantum TWS
True wireless earbuds have long lagged behind what gamers need. Until the JBL Quantum TWS arrived that is. The Quantum TWS includes a USB dongle to mitigate latency, finally bringing the true wireless experience up to the level of gamer expectation.
Best gaming headset: HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless
Speaking of gaming headphones, the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless goes the distance, literally. With enough battery for over 300 hours of continuous playback, the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless set a new standard for gaming headset longevity.
Don’t miss: The best audio products at CES 2022
Best soundbar: TCL Alto 9
TCL Alto 9 soundbars offer high-end features at what we can only expect to be a far more affordable price than a lot of the competition. With support for Dolby Atmos and 7.1.4 surround sound, the Alto 9 series of soundbars also include TCL’s RayDanz technology for increasing the size of the “sweet spot” in front of the soundbar.
Best audio innovation: Roland AeroCaster
The Roland AeroCaster is perfect for anyone that’s found themselves doing more on-camera stuff during lockdown that requires multiple camera angles. Whether you’re recording hosted video walkthroughs for work, creating live tutorials for students, getting your podcast off the ground, or just extending your videography skills, the AeroCaster lets you record and mix multiple smartphone video and audio feeds in a super simple and affordable package.
Laptops
Best laptop: Dell XPS 13 Plus
Dell’s excellent XPS line just got even better with the XPS 13 Plus. Adopting 12th gen Intel silicon and up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM, the XPS 13 Plus also extends the keyboard edge-to-edge with larger keys. For those envious of Apple’s TouchBar, the XPS 13 Plus adds a touchbar-like capacitive function row and a fancy new glass trackpad.
Best gaming laptop: Alienware X14
The Alienware X14 is the thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop around. This is great if portability is as important to you as gaming performance. The X14 is also the only gaming laptop of this size to support both NVIDIA’s G-Sync and Advanced Optimus technologies. At around four pounds and $1,799, the X14 may be light but it’s not cheap. Nevertheless, a high-performance machine in a form factor like this it’s sure to find fans.
Up next: The best laptops of CES 2022
Best Chromebook: ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5
The ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 brings Windows-grade specs to the Chrome OS landscape with up to 12th gen Intel CPUs. It’s also a super durable laptop with MIL-STD 810H certification so it should be able to go the distance, no matter the processing or physical demands you throw at it.
Best 2-in-1: Lenovo Yoga 9i
Lenovo’s updated Yoga 9i was our favorite 2-in-1 at CES 2022. While most other laptop-makers look to remove things, Lenovo is bringing back a classic: physical shortcut keys. From switching between light and dark mode, cycling through performance and audio profiles, or toggling on background blur in video calls, these buttons offer a ton of convenience for commonly used menu settings.
Best laptop innovation: ASUS Zenbook Fold 17
At CES 2022 ASUS was attracting all the eyeballs with the Zenbook Fold 17. While we’ve already seen foldable laptops via Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold, the Zenbook Fold 17 ups the ante, and the screen size. The Fold 17 has options galore: 17.3-inch tablet mode; full-sized display with external keyboard; or partially folded display with the keyboard attached for a more compact netbook-like experience. If foldable laptops are here to stay, this is how they should look.
TVs & monitors
Best TV: Sony A95K QD-OLED
The Sony Master Series A95K comes in 55- and 65-inch sizes and ticks off practically everything you could ever want in a TV. The A95K is a 4K 120Hz HDR OLED TV with built-in Google TV and native Apple AirPlay 2 casting. Its QD-OLED panel combines the quality of OLED with the benefit of quantum dot LEDs.
Best 8K TV: Samsung Neo QLED QN900B
If 8K is more your style, the Samsung Neo QLED QN900B is our pick of the bunch. With Samsung’s Neo Quantum Processor on board, the QN900B offers improved contrast mapping and is able to better separate foreground and background objects.
Read more: The best TVs and monitors from CES 2022
Best TV innovation: SKYWORTH W82
If you can’t decide between a traditional flat-panel 4K OLED TV and a curved option for gaming, the SKYWORTH W82 is both. With the click of a button on the remote, the 120Hz panel can be curved to suit your needs. Who says you can’t have everything?
Best monitor: Samsung Odyssey Neo G8
Our favorite monitor of CES was also our favorite gaming monitor: the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8. With a 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and 2000-nit peak brightness, the G8 has all the eye-searing specs gamers demand. Its curved 4K OLED panel is sharp as a tack and will serve both gamers and regular folks equally well.
Best monitor innovation: Samsung Odyssey Ark
Samsung’s Odyssey Ark was the most futuristic monitor we saw at CES 2022. The curved 55-inch OLED panel is, naturally enough, great for gaming, but it can also be rotated a full 90 degrees so it curves up over your head. Which would be great for…extreme TikTok binging? We’re not entirely sure, but whatever you need to do, the Ark can likely adapt to it via Samsung’s Multi View feature.
Smart home
Best smart home product: Eufy Security Video Doorbell Dual
Security cameras are a pretty well-cooked product category at this point but there’s always room for innovation. Eufy’s new Video Doorbell Dual tackles the dual problems of home security and porch piracy in one convenient camera. The Dual has a primary camera pointed outwards to keep an eye on visitors both welcome and unwanted. But it also has a second pointed downwards to monitor packages left on (or picked up from) your porch.
Best smart health product: Withings Body Scan smart scale
Withings showed off a new smart scale with integrated retractable handles at CES. The handles let it record a whole bunch of neat things beyond your weight. From measuring nerve activity and recording ECG stats to analyzing body composition, the Withings Body Scan smart scale provides a one-stop fitness assessment at home.
Best robot vacuum: ECOVACS Deebot X1 Omni
Robot vacuums and mops have entered the next phase of their evolution. While auto-empty docks are pretty common accessories at the top end, they still require manual interaction for mopping. The next generation of auto-empty dock, like that included with the ECOVACS Deebot X1 Omni, will refill your robot vacuum’s water tank and clean its mop cloth at the same time as emptying the dustbin.
Best smart home innovation: Matter developer tools for Amazon Alexa
Matter, the one smart home standard to rule them all, isn’t new. But at CES 2022 it took a giant leap forward with Amazon announcing the release of developer tools for the protocol. Using these tools, Matter can make Alexa (or any other smart home platform) your home’s admin. This will allow you to unify various smart devices under one standard and control them all with your assistant of choice.
Automotive
Best car: Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX
One of the biggest complaints with electric vehicles after charging hassles is range. The obvious solution – to just put a bigger battery in them – isn’t a very scalable fix. Better fuel efficiency is a far better solution. The Mercedes-Benz EQXX is setting the bar with a 650-mile or 1,000-kilometer range. That’s more than 50% better than the current best range on an EV.
Best automotive innovation: BMW iX Flow
The iX Flow is like an e-ink chameleon skin for your car. Arguably a “paint job,” the iX Flow is an electrophoretic layer on the car’s panels that allow it to change color. The effect is truly mesmerizing even if it is currently limited to black, white, and grayscale. It looks extremely cool in action and we can’t wait to see a full-color version.
Check out: The best cars and concepts at CES 2022
Best automotive concept: LG Omnipod
LG describes the Omnipod as an on-the-road extension of your living space. It offers all the creature comforts you might expect from your apartment or first-class cabin. The autonomous Omnipod is able to adapt its interior throughout the day. It can be an office at one moment and a cinema at the next. LG says it blurs the distinction between home and car. If you think you might end up living in your car at some point in the future, this is the way to do it.
Best automotive accessory: Nextbase iQ
Like a home security camera for your car, the Nextbase iQ is an AI-powered dashcam. It’s the first always-connected dashcam using a 4G LTE and Wi-Fi connection. If you’re involved in an accident, the Nextbase iQ can automatically notify emergency services. It can share both your location and critical medical information like your blood type. You can also check-in on your car remotely. Or if you find yourself in a troublesome situation, voice-activate a mode that instantly livestreams footage to the cloud.