Shacknews Best of CES 2023

The 2023 Consumer Electronics Show featured thousands of exciting debuts, reveals, and announcements from across the realm of technology. Whether you're a PC player, an electric vehicle watcher, or someone interested in how tech will continue to play into our everyday lives, there was something for just about everyone at CES. Shacknews was among the outlets present and we have a few products that we'd like to recognize from our time there this past week.

Without further delay, here are Shacknews' Best of CES 2023 picks:

NVIDIA Series 40 GPUs

NVIDIA's latest line of graphics cards appear to be a major breakthrough for both users and manufacturers alike. Built on the company's Ada Lovelace architecture, the Series 40 GPUs offer a massive jump in graphical fidelity via RTX Ray Tracing, more frames per second, and allow for use of other features, like NVIDIA Reflex, NVIDIA Broadcast, and DLSS 3.

What's especially remarkable about the Series 40 GPUs is that the Ada Lovelace architecture makes them exceptionally power efficient. That's become a godsend for laptop manufacturers like Razer, MSI, and Acer, which can tout their best performing machines to date.

AMD 3D V-Cache Ryzen 7000 CPUs

AMD is making big strides with its latest batch of CPUs. The company's 3D V-Cache tech is coming to the Ryzen 7000 series, which will allow for greater cache memory and higher overall performance. That makes the Ryzen 7 7800X3D especially appealing. Of course, if you want more, you can adopt the other two 7000 series CPUs revealed during CES. The Ryzen 9 7900X3D CPU boasts 12 cores, while the Ryzen 9 7950X3D offers a whopping 16 cores.

Of course, as noted by our friends at PC Gamer, there aren't many games that scale beyond eight cores. The thing about that is, nobody knows when a game like Crysis or The Witcher, something that pushes PC builds to their breaking point, will be around the corner. If it's not this year, it could be next year. Those who want to be prepped for that can adopt the higher-end stuff early. Those who don't will be perfectly served by the 7800X3D.

PlayStation Project Leonardo

With PlayStation continuing to build games that are accessible to all players, Sony has taken a major step forward at CES 2023 with the unveiling of Project Leonardo. This is an accessibility controller kit for the PlayStation 5, one built in collaboration with leading disability experts. Users can design the controller with a physical aesthetic that suits them while also setting up controller profiles that work best for them.

Project Leonardo is a great standalone accessory on its own and should work as a strong complement to games like God of War Ragnarok, which will continue to offer a growing range of accessibility options. Learn more by checking out our Project Leonardo news story.

Razer Edge

Handhelds have been making a comeback in the last year with Steam leading the way. Cloud gaming has offered an extra incentive for manufaturers to jump back in and Razer's entry to the market may be the best of the bunch. Built with Qualcomm's Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 processor, the Razer Edge is built exclusively with gaming in mind, offers the crispest visuals among its peers, offers a comfortable grip using the Kishi V2 Pro, and has small exhaust vents along the back of the device that keep it cool even after extensive gaming sessions.

As for your gaming library, Razer Edge has no shortage of ways to play. It supports both Xbox Game Pass and NVIDIA GeForce NOW, but it also allows users to access their Steam library through Steam Link. You'll want a reliable internet connection to make this work, which makes the Verizon 5G model that much more enticing. Of course, those who would rather not opt into another data plan can adopt the Wi-Fi model instead.

Regardless of whether you're relying on 5G networks or not, the Razer Edge is the best of the cloud gaming handhelds we've seen so far. Razer takes a lot of chances and they don't always pan out, but the Razer Edge looks like a winner. For more information, check out our story on the Razer Edge pricing details.

Razer Blade 18

Razer also brought its newest line of laptops to CES. New Razer Blade 15 and 16 models were shown off with a new dual-mode mini-LED display featured in the latter. However, the notebook that caught our eye was the new Razer Blade 18.

The Razer Blade 18 offers a Quad HD Plus (2560x1440) display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. A lot of what's packed in is top of the line, including the high-res 5MP camera, THX spatial audio 6-speaker setup, and comprehensive port selection that allows for multiple hookups. Plus, since it's being built with the Intel Core i9-13950HX CPU and NVIDIA Series 40 GPUs, Razer can better focus on keeping the device cool, which it looks to do with a revamped hyper-efficient vapor chamber setup.

With a bulky exterior that comes with a feature-rich interior, Razer is boldly billing the Razer Blade 18 as a desktop replacement. Time will tell whether that claim is accurate, but from what we saw at CES, it's certainly an impressive piece of machinery.

HTC VIVE XR Elite

For the VR crowd, HTC brought its latest headset to CES. With a comfortable lightweight setup, the VIVE XR Elite is able to mix together the best aspects of virtual reality with the potential for future AR applications. It doesn't have much in the way of battery life, but can easily and quickly be powered up with an external USB-C charger. It makes up for that with a frame that weighs just over one pound and can be made even lighter after taking out the battery cradle.

Packing dual 2K resolution screens with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 110 degree field of view, the HTC Vive XR Elite may not be the best VR headset out there, but it is certainly the best for its size. Add in the potential for future AR experiences and the VIVE XR Elite becomes an exciting option for VR enthusiasts.

LG OLED Flex TV/monitor

Users looking for an all-in-one entertainment and PC gaming solution may want to turn their heads towards the latest offering from LG. It stands among the best of LG's curved displays, coming in at 42 inches with 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It utilizes LG's A9 picture processor while supporting NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync. In terms of audio, it comes with a 40W speaker with Dolby Atmos support, as well as a high-quality microphone for in-game or Discord chat.

What makes the OLED Flex impressive is in its name. Using a dedicated button on the included remote, users can bend the monitor to any one of 20 angles that's more to their liking. Those who need to bend more than the display itself can also adjust the monitor's stand however they want.

Whether you use it for gaming or for a glorified Netflix machine (there's a button that quickly switches between TV and PC mode), the LG OLED Flex monitor looks to be a status symbol among PC users. It certainly has a status symbol price tag with LG looking to sell it for a mind-numbing $2,499.99 USD. Price tag aside, it certainly looks impressive and hopefully is a harbinger of things to come from LG and other monitor manufacturers.

Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 monitor

Samsung came to CES with its own high-end computer monitor. The company looked at the Odyssey Neo G9 that it put together previously and basically said, "10/10, no notes... except one." That one note was to swap in a new OLED display.

The latest Odyssey Neo G9 boasts a 57-inch curved display with dual 4K (not to be confused with 8K) resolutions (7680x2160) on a 32:9 aspect ratio. With an ultra-thin design and a 240Hz refresh rate, the Odyssey Neo G9 is built with gaming in mind. It's also built with future gaming in mind, as it's one of the first monitors to use a DisplayPort 2.1 connection. There aren't many GPUs that support this just yet, which is something we'll keep in mind heading into CES 2024.

If you can manage the desk space for this thing, it's visually appealing piece of tech and more than likely a strong replacement for that dual-monitor setup you have now.

Hyper HyperPack Pro

As a frequent traveler, I couldn't help but love the latest product from the tech heads at Hyper. The HyperPack Pro is a lightweight 22L backpack with IPX4 water-resistant tech protection, passthroughs for charging cables, pockets that block radio signals, and a sleek visual aesthetic.

So far, you're reading that and going, "This just sounds like a backpack." Let's get to the best part. The HyperPack Pro is compatible with the Apple Find My feature. If you check your bag at the airport, for whatever reason, and your bag is lost, use your iOS device to track it down. Likewise, if your bag is ever stolen, use the Apple Find My feature to find it. If you're just scatterbrained and can't remember where you left this bag, find it with your phone.

The HyperPack Pro is a grand offering for travelers, especially those who carry around expensive tech.

TCL QM8 Mini-LED TV

CES is home to a lot of uber-expensive status symbols. As far as televisions go, few stood out to us more than the TCL QM8 Mini-LED TV. It improves on everything TCL put forward with the previous 6-series, taking a mini-LED QLED display and putting it on a massive 98" display, though 65, 75, and 85-inch varieties are also available.

The mini-LED QLED display allows for illuminated picture, smoother motion, and crisper dark colors across 2,300 dimming zones in just about any lighting environment. It packs four HDMI ports and a 144Hz refresh rate, which should be good news for those with multiple gaming consoles. On top of that, TCL is putting together a new Gaming Accelerator feature that allows players to experience their favorite titles with a 240Hz variable refresh rate. (Just be aware that TCL Gaming Acclerator compromises vertical resolution to make that refresh rate possible.) In terms of audio, a built-in subwoofer will help further enhance your gaming and entertainment outings.

There's no price point for the QM8 Mini-LED TV, but TCL rarely disappoints with its MSRPs. We'll keep an eye on this one.

OSIM uThrone gaming massge chair

It's hard to decide on a good gaming chair. It's become an increasingly stacked market. However, manufacturer OSIM has something the competition doesn't: a massage feature. OSIM is known for buliding massage chairs and recliners and it has parlayed that knowledge into putting together the world's first gaming massage chair.

The uThrone features all the architecture of an average gaming chair, but it also adds in OSIM's patented V-Hand technology. Users can activate built-in rollers along the back, shoulders, and lumbar area for pain relief and circulation. The control panel is located underneath the right armrest to avoid accidental activation. Users that need some extra relaxation can recline the chair down to a 145 degree position.

Beyond working as a massage chair, it's a pretty good gaming chair. The uThrone packs in a pair of Bluetooth speakers along the headrest for a more immersive experience. Given that the chair has to be plugged in for the massage rollers anyway, OSIM went the extra mile and packed in this handy gaming feature. The uThrone Gaming Chair has a hefty $1,299 USD MSRP, but given the massage features alone, it feels like it's a fair price.

Those are our standout choices from this year's Consumer Electronics Show. Be sure to check out more news and updates from CES 2023.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?