Another year, another CES in the can. However, CES 2022 wasn't like the others. It was marred by the blight of Omicron, leading to an event trapped in an odd physical-online hybrid limbo. With that said, pandemics and logistical nightmares weren't enough to stop companies from debuting truly wild technology. Here are the top 10 wackiest things CES had to offer this time around.
Samsung Odyssey Ark
Imagine a curved, 55-inch 4K screen that can tilt on its side to form a massive vertical display. That's the Samsung Odyssey Ark.
Not much is known about this impressive piece of tech besides the barebones, basic details, so you'll have to wait to find out additional tech specs, pricing, and release date information. For now, just marvel at how something so big and curvy can rotate ninety degrees to give you a skyscraper-style display. Try not to imagine just how high the cost will be when Samsung eventually reveals the MSRP.
CyberPowerPC KINETIC PC cases
CES is all about the future of tech, meaning any company that pulls out all the stops to go full-on Deus Ex basically wins by default. And that is exactly what CyberPowerPC did with its KINETIC PC cases.
The case illustrated in the company's "this is a real thing" announcement video may as well be ripped right out of Deus Ex, since it's adorned with white and gold triangles on the front that autonomously move depending on your PC's temperature and airflow needs. Better yet, the case will be available in a black variant so you can get the true Adam Jensen "I definitely asked for this" experience with your ultra high-tech living, breathing PC case.
CyberPowerPC Tracer VI Edge Pro Liquid Cool series
Some companies just do the whole "cool CES tech" thing better than others, and CyberPowerPC is one of them. Beyond the KINETIC desktop PC cases, it also has a line of externally liquid-cooled laptops on the way, dubbed the "Tracer VI Edge Pro Liquid Cool series."
If you're one of the people who avoids the best gaming laptops due to their reputation for getting very, very hot, CyberPowerPC's offering is the solution. It'll enable you to liquid-cool a clamshell via a detachable reservoir, meaning that (in concept) overheating gaming laptops may soon be a thing of the past.
ASUS ZenBook Fold 17
Folding with a visible hinge? Pffft. Folding with an invisible hinge? Now we're talking. ASUS knew exactly what kind of laptop innovation we needed this CES and went all-out with its ZenBook 17 Fold OLED.
The laptop won't properly launch until the summer of 2022, but we can still get excited based on what we know today. It has a 4:3 17-inches unfolded, 3:2 12-inches folded display, an Intel 12th Gen Core i7 U-series processor, 1TB of storage, and a lot more. Not bad for a bendy boy.
Razer Zephyr Pro
The Razer Zephyr mask has been a hot commodity since it came out. And now, it's getting even better with the Zephyr Pro, an upgraded version of the original that'll pack voice amplification capabilities so you no longer have to fret as much about the general annoyance of your voice being muffled or muted by the mask you're wearing.
Rumor has it if the Zephyr Pro is effective enough, Warner Bros. will reshoot Tom Hardy's Bane scenes in The Dark Knight Rises and release a fully understandable studio cut of the film.
Razer Enki Pro HyperSense gaming chair
Much like CyberPowerPC, Razer knows how to make a splash at CES. Take, for example, its Enki Pro HyperSense chair. You know in 4D movie theaters how the chairs vibrate and provide feedback based on what's happening on the screen? Yeah, this chair is that sort of chair but even better because it's A) for gamers and therefore B) has RGB.
Better yet, this chair isn't only good for video games. It works with movies and music as well, meaning it will enable you to have something of a 4D movie theater experience right from the comfort of your media den. The future is now, ladies and gents, and Razer's sitting on it.
Razer's Project Sophia
Yet again, Razer grabs CES 2022 by the skull and gives it a noogie. Just when we thought we'd seen it all — Darth Vader masks, vibrating gaming chairs perfect for you-know-what VR media — Razer hit us with one more treat: A desktop PC.
Er, sorry, no — just a desk PC. A literal desk PC.
Dubbed "Project Sophia," this concept PC is an actual modular desk that just so happens to double as a computer. Pricing and release date are total unknowns right now, but what little we do know about Sophia confirms it's the most Stark-tech-esque thing to come out of CES yet.
Acer Predator CG48
Though Razer and CyberPowerPC have the CES market cornered when it comes to wacky tech of the future, Acer has a pretty sweet thing going in the "cool tech right now" sector. Enter: The Predator CG48 monitor... TV... thing. It's kind of both? It's really big, is the point.
The OLED, 3840 x 2160 screen is 48 inches, sports a 135,000:1 contrast ratio, and hits 0.1ms response times. If gamers have $2,499 burning a hole in their pockets, there are probably worse ways to spend it than on this intense display.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus (Gen 3)
What's cooler than one screen on a laptop? Two. One to look at, and one to use as a calculator or second web browser or doodle pad right beside your keyboard. And that's the charm of the new ThinkBook Plus. It's like someone at Lenovo took a pair of pliers, carved out a chunk of their laptop just like how prisoners do with Bibles to transport cigarettes, then slammed a tablet into that freshly opened mechanical orifice and called it innovation. And guess what? It is!
Between screen mirroring, screen waterfalling, and other elements that enrich the second-screen experience, there's a lot to dig about the ThinkBook Plus Gen 3's two screens. The device goes on sale in May 2022 for a starting price of $1,399.
LG DualUp monitor
You've heard of 16:9, 16:10, and 3:2. But what if we told you there was a monitor out there pitching 16:18? Because, well, there is.
LG's DualUp monitor sports a 28-inch 16:18 QHD screen that, thanks to its verticality, seems like a very special fit for video editors in need of as much top-to-bottom real estate as possible. Not to mention, the monitor clamps to desks and tables instead of opting for the traditional stand approach, so it has that going for it as well. A niche screen? Sure. A cool one? Definitely.
