Ken's Best Of CES 2015

9:06 AM article , ces 2015 , opinion 0 Comments

     This year's CES has come to an end and here I am again, summing up what I find interesting throughout the annual event. These products/concepts are some of my personal favourites that were revealed during the event. While I don't cover everything that's happened during the event, I find that TechCrunch and The Verge provide some of the best coverage on this year's event so check out their coverage if you are keen on learning about everything CES.


ASUS ROG Swift PG27AQ 27-inch 4K G-Sync Monitor (link)
     ASUS's ROG Swift PG278Q swept everyone off their feet when it was first released as it was the first 1440p monitor to have G-Sync support. G-Sync is NVIDIA's propitiatory standard which allows monitors to refresh only when the display card outputs a new frame. To learn more about G-Sync, you can visit NVIDIA's page here. In short, it provides a smoother and much more enjoyable gaming experience for consumers. This time around, ASUS has addressed one of the major issues that reviewers/users have pointed out, the TN panel. The PG27AQ features a 4K IPS panel which allows for better colour reproduction and overall better image. Of course, the only drawback is the downgrade to 60Hz but as of now, only a handful of people can drive 4K above 60fps so that's fine in my eyes. Overall, a good upgrade to an already amazing monitor.

pictured: LG 34UM67

AMD FreeSync Monitors (link)
     AMD is off to a good start with its FreeSync technology, a direct competitor to NVIDIA's G-Sync, with the introduction of 9 FreeSync supported monitors, which if I recall correctly. is already more than the number of G-Sync supported monitors despite its earlier launch. Competition is always good for consumers as it keeps competing companies on the edge, always trying to top each other. My favourite among the 9 monitors would be the LG ultrawide monitors. I always wanted a 21:9 aspect ratio monitor but could never find one here in good ole Malaysia; the only LG products I can seemingly find are washing machines and refrigerators. Oh well, such is the vain of living in a developing(?) country.


NVIDIA Tegra X1 ft. Drive CX and Drive PX (link 1 link 2)
     I swear this is the last item on the list that has to do with graphics chip manufacturers. Remember the Tegra K1? Meet its little sister, codename Erista (Tegra X1). The Tegra X1 continues to improve on the K1's already very powerful display and processing capabilities. Utilizing NVIDIA's latest Maxwell architecture, the X1 effectively reduces power consumption without compromising its performance. While that doesn't sound too exciting, wait till you hear this: self-driving cars that can learn. Yes, utilizing the Tegra X1's amazing processing capabilities, the Drive PX is able to drive itself around the a course with some learning; which goes to show how powerful its real time processing is. Drive CX on the other hand, is a digital cockpit interface for vehicles, which looks pretty impressive on its own. I will attach a video below from the NVIDIA press conference.



ASUS ZenFone 2 (link)
     ASUS is on the list again, this time for the ZenFone 2. The reason the ZenFone 2 is on this list is for its amazing value; the base 16GB/2GB model is priced at a mere $199. Also, an interesting thing on the spec sheet is the Intel Z3580 processor; I want to see if Intel could break the monopoly that Qualcomm has over the industry on flagship phones. Still not a big fan of the on-screen buttons though.

Razer Turret (link)
     What is a CES list without Razer in it, am I right? While Razer did reveal the Forge TV Android gaming console, what interests me more is the implementation of mouse & keyboard for this particular setup. While this combo is not a entirely new concept (ROCCAT Sova), it's nice to see a much more compact and subjectively more stylish implementation. The mousepad is also magnetized to ensure that the mouse doesn't just fall off, which is a nice touch if I might say.

Honorable Mentions

ALCATEL ONETOUCH's Watch (link)
     This would have been one of the top things on my list, if only it ran on Android Wear. A $150 Android Wear running circular watch that looks nice? Sign me up for that.

MSI GS30 (link)
     If you didn't know, I am not a big fan of having to sync multiple devices especially when it comes to personal computers which contain some of my very important work. The GS30 is a lightweight laptop on-the-go and a graphics powerhouse when you need with a simple docking mechanism. Now MSI, make it cheaper and I will bite. With all that said, I really want this concept to take off so I don't have to panic when one of my documents are synced with the cloud.