While Samsung surprised everyone with the powerful Samsung Notebook Odyessy at this year’s CES, the company does not seem to be taking a stop even now as it recently released the Notebook 9 pro, Notebook 9 Pen and Notebook Flash that seem to be good news for content creators and students. These laptops are about design as much as for performance too.
Samsung Notebook 9 Pro Overview:
Last year’s Notebook 9 and Notebook Pen felt more like a $400 Chromebook, but this year, we got the premium laptop feel back again! This year’s Notebook Pro has sharp edges, tighter corner radii, thinner bezels, larger shallower keys and is made of Aluminium, that makes it feel way more premium.
On the performance front, you get an 8th Gen Intel i7-8565U processor, 256GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. We have seen the Spen as one of the key elements in Samsung’s smartphone lineups but this is the first time the company is bringing it to a laptop with the Notebook 9 Pro and 9 Pro Pen. In order to be able to use the S- pen, the company is pushing hard on its Windows ink platform. And the S- Pen we are talking about now, is compatible with Windows Ink and also offers Air command
Samsung’s S Pen is compatible with Windows Ink and also offers Air Command, a quick access menu for drawing and editing that Note fans will recognize.
Samsung Notebook 9 Pro Specifications:
360-degree Touchscreen Display (1,920×1080)
Built-in S Pen with 4,000 pressures levels
Windows Home OS
Intel Core i7-7500U Processor
13.3-inch model ( with 8GB DDR4 RAM) and 15-inch model ( with 16GB DDR4 RAM)
256GB SSD
Supports fast charging via USB-C port
Samsung Notebook Flash Overview:
On the other hand, the Samsung Notebook Flash looks retro but comes with very modern features. It has a typewriter keyboard and at 13.3- inches, it has an FHD display with Anti-glare screen. It comes with multiple port options, including one USB 2.0, one USB3.0, two USB type-C. The laptop is incorporated with Gigabit- Wifi Technology that aids faster Web streaming and surfing.
Also, there is a fingerprint sensor in the laptop too for instant log-in options.
Dell is going all out with their thin and light Alienware offerings. The two laptops dubbed Alienware m15 and m17 are based on Dell’s “Epic” design language. With structural components made up of magnesium alloy and copper. The Alienware m15 isn’t something new, more of a refresh with the inclusion of an RTX graphics card. The Alienware 17, on the other hand, is a pretty impressive laptop, basically a larger m15, but it is pretty fresh.
Alienware m17
The Alienware m17 is a 17-inch laptop that weighs just 6 pounds or 2.7kgs. They do claim it to be the world’s thinnest and lightest 17-inch gaming laptop, but that statement isn’t really accurate anymore. The laptop has a thickness of just 0.91inch while manages to fit in a 90Wh battery, i9 8950HK and RTX 2080 Max Q GPU. You get to choose from a 1440p panel at 120Hz, a UHD 60Hz one, and an FHD@60Hz, probably exclusive to the RTX 2060.
You get to choose from three different GPUs, the best one being Nvidia’s RTX 2080. The other GPU options are RTX 2060 or the RTX 2070 Max Q. There are two RAM slots that can be configured to a maximum of 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory. The feature list includes an FHD webcam with dual array microphones, Gigabit LAN, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5 and stereo speakers. You get two storage drives which include an M.2 NVMe SSD.
The FHD panel here delivers up to 300 nits of brightness with 72% of the sRGB color coverage. The UHD panel can do 400 nits with a 100% sRGB colors covered. The laptop gets RGB lighting across six zones. For cooling, it gets Alienware’s brand new CryoTech 2.0. Color options include Epic Silver and Nebula Red. The laptop will be available from January 21st with prices starting at $1,650.
Alienware m15
The new Alienware m15 is just a refresh over its older model. New graphics card, cooling technology, and a claimed 17-hour battery life are the new upgrades on the newbie. This laptop is configurable with either an RTX 2060, RTX 2070 Max-Q or an RTX 2080 Max-Q. Processor choices include a Core i5-8300H, a Core i7-8750H or the Core i9-8950HK. Pricing starts at $1,580 while the availability is scheduled to start from January 21st, same as the Alienware m17.
CES 2019 is not only about innovations and new stuff. It also means seeing a lot of old tech getting refreshed. Similar seems to be the case with HP. They’re not really introducing anything new like others are. But they’re actually upgrading their existing tech to make it better. Here’s what HP is up to in CES 2019.
HP Omen 15 with RTX graphics
The HP Omen laptops are pretty well-known when it comes to mid-range gaming laptops. And the Omen Laptop series has been updated quite a few times, which is obvious. And now, at CES 2019, the HP Omen 15 Laptops get the new RTX-series graphics.
The HP Omen 15 has pretty similar features otherwise to last years. It has a 15.6″ 1080 display with 144Hz refresh rate. The laptop is still powered by the 8th-gen Intel i7-8750H CPU which was refreshed last year, with 16 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, and 1 TB HDD. The only difference is that it now includes NVidia RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics, which is a considerable upgrade over the existing GTX 1070 graphics.
And talking about the upgrades, HP is apparently upgrading the display too. While 144 Hz seems plentiful, it will actually address some demands and release the HP Omen 15 with a 240 Hz display later in mid-year. The pricing on that is not disclosed yet, but the one showcased at CES starts at $1369 and will be available starting February.
HP Spectre x360 15 with AMOLED display
The HP Spectre x360 15 convertible is one of the company’s most well-received laptops. And as good as it is, it’s now getting better with an upgraded AMOLED display! OLED screens on laptops are not a new concept by any means as the HP Spectre x360 13 had one back in 2016, but this is the first 15″ laptop with an AMOLED panel.
But there are no changes in any of the other hardware components. The laptop will be the same HP Spectre x360 we’ve been seeing with all the regular configurations i.e. it will come equipped with the 8th-gen Intel i7 processor, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB of PCIe SSD storage. The only new addition, is as aforementioned, a new AMOLED display.
The new addition is not a very big deal, but it does come with a lot of benefits. It will provide users with bright picture quality (400 nits) and good color accuracy (100% on the DCI-P3 color gamut), wide horizontal viewing angles, deeper blacks and faster response times (up to 1 ms). The display will also support HDR, but it is not clear as to HDR10 or Dolby Vision. Also unspecified is the resolution of the display, and the price of the laptop. But we can expect a slightly more increase in price than last years, I guess.
HP Omen Obelisk Desktop beefed up
HP’s fully customizable gaming tower, the HP Omen Obelisk Desktop, with its starting price around $1000 was very appealing last year. And now, at CES 2019, the pre-built gaming machine gets a lot of upgrades, and can cost very well over $2200! But for that price, the desktop will be more powerful than ever before – with 9th-gen Intel Coffee-Lake processors, and top of the line RTX graphics!
There will be two options to choose from for the users, an Obelisk 1010 or 1020. The Obelisk 1010 will come with a 9th-gen Intel i9-9700K processor and an NVidia RTX 2080 graphics card. As for the latter, it will have the Intel i9-9900K CPU and the most powerful NVidia RTX 2080 Ti. Both the models can feature up to 64 GB HyperX DDR4 RAM, and up to 512 GB dual M.2 SSD with Raid 0 Array support.
It also supports DTS Headphone X technology and 5.1 Surround Sound for better immersive audio quality. The Obelisk desktop also has an updated 750W Platinum PSU Dedicated Omen BIOS for optimal settings and Omen Command Center Software with CPU Overclocking Support. With these upgrades, the HP Omen Obelisk will have a starting price of $2249, but this is actually cheaper than the likes of Acer Predator Triton 900!
HP Omen X Emperium 65 Gaming Monitor
This is not an upgrade from HP, this is something entirely new. And it is as scary as it is exciting! The name it itself packs quite a lot of weight, and it is something that HP teased a year ago. The HP Omen X Emperium 65 Gaming Monitor is HP’s first NVidia BFGD (Big Format Gaming Display) display for gaming. And it looks promising enough to provide one of the most immersive gaming experiences ever.
While there are many other such large displays, particularly TVs that play 4K (now even 8K), this one is built with gamers in mind. This gaming monitor is basically a 65″ screen with 4K resolution, 95% DCI-P3 color accuracy, a 144 Hz refresh rate, and NVidia’s G-Sync. And being a BFGD, it has a full-size DisplayPort port that can push out higher frame rates along with 4K and HDR; as opposed to present screens with HDMI 2.0 that support HDR and 4K but cannot play content higher than 60 fps.
The monitor features HDR 10 support, with an acclaimed peak brightness of 1000 nits brightness, and a standard 750 nits, and full array local dimming. Another exciting feature is it’s soundbar – with 3 stereo amps at 120 watts and motion-activated port lighting. With that, when you play games on it, you might feel as if you’ve dropped into a real battle arena.
The display also comes with a built-in NVidia Shield set-top box, so, you’ll have Android TV and Chromecast support as well. So, basically, a 4K TV if you’re not gaming in it. And that should be a feature, as this costs a scary $5000! We are yet to see it in action, but maybe we will soon find out.
So, that’s some of the major highlights from HP this CES 2019. The most exciting for me is the HP Obelisk desktop. Which is your favorite one?
Since the beginning of smartwatches, we have kinda expected a lot from them. We expect them to be able to do a lot, but also be simple enough to use. But we are not quite there yet. And the Samsung Galaxy Watchis the perfect example of such. It is simple-ish, packs a lot of features, and tries to do a lot of things…yet, falls behind our expectations.
Samsung changed the naming convention for its smartwatches. The Gear S-series is now simply the Samsung Galaxy Watch, and with its improvements over the Gear S3 Frontier, the change of the name is also not very surprising.
Compatibility: Android 5.0 or higher & RAM 1.5GB above, iPhone 5 and above with iOS 9.0 or above
Design
As far as the design goes, the Samsung Galaxy Watch is quite elegant. It really looks like a wrist watch! And by that’s actually saying a lot.
In a world where smartwatches tend to look like a smartphone on your wrist (I’m talking about none other than the Apple Watch), its round shape with the subtly placed buttons on the side looks good. But in terms of looks, it is not that different from the last year’s Gear S3 or Gear Sport. This watch too has the same rotating bezel – which is also a clever way to navigate through the watch. This is pretty clever – your finger won’t block the small screen while scrolling about. And it is something so simple, yet, no one else thought of it.
There is a choice between two models – a 46 mm model and a 42 mm model. The 46 mm model has a greater advantage over the smaller one. It comes with a larger battery, that claims 4-day of battery life, and a slightly larger screen at 1.3″. However, all the other things are the same.
The one we got our hands on is the smaller model, and that weighs only about 49 grams. The 20 mm rubber strap is also very comfortable and you’ll have no problem keeping the watch on for 24 hours a day. The watch has just the right amount of heft to it with its stainless steel case, and if you look closely at the details, you will appreciate the design. Also, the buttons on the side, are not intrusive at all. The placement makes it not so prone to accidental presses when you bend your wrist.
However, there are not many eye-catching things in the design. With very similar design to the Gear S3, it also looks like any other watch. And that’s where the Apple Watch played well – though it looks like a micro-smartphone, it looks different!
The Samsung Galaxy Watch is also IP68 Water Resistant for 50 meters. And this time, it’s not only regular water resistatn. It’s designed to be swim-proof, even with salt-water and chlorine resistance. So, you don’t have to worry while taking it for a swim.
Display
There is not much to talk about on the display front, though. The 42 mm model has a 1.2” display with a 360 x 360 resolution. The 46mm model has a 1.3″, and that is a very negligible difference. It is easy to miss while measuring even.
The Super AMOLED panel is great, and that’s one of the best things about Samsung’s smartwatches. Yes, it is a small screen and the type of display may not even be that big od an issue. But AMOLED gives you deeper blacks, and with so many watch faces having a dark interface, that is somewhat of a big deal in this one. The brightness of the watch is aso commendable. It is quite visible at all times – in the sunlight, indoors, or wherever, thanks to its Adaptive Brightness feature.
You also have the Always-on display option, but that can chug your battery like water. So, unless you’re okay with charging it every night, you should keep it off.
In addition, the screen has military grade protection with Gorilla Glass DX+ on it. Samsung claims it’s uncrackable…and, I believe them. This watch was abused a lot, and took hits while playing football, yet, there was not even a scratch on it. And for other companies that do not understand this, they should now. Watches tend to be abused a lot in our daily lives. So, some kind of protection is mandatory.
Battery
Many smartwatches tend to struggle in the battery department. But the Samsung Galaxy Watch stays on the safe side with this one. The larger 46 mm watch has a good 472 mAh battery, and that claims 4 days of battery life. And it might last a good amount of over three days with heavy usage.
But for our smaller model, that is not the case. For a very less difference in size, the difference in the battery is huge. The 42 mm unit has a small 270 mAh battery – almost half the size. And while Samsung claims 3 days of battery life, that is not so. For me, the battery lasted only slightly over 2 days. And that, too, on regular usage only – when I had the always-on display setting off.
If you keep it on, the battery life is very poor. And for a battery that size, charging time is considerably long. It takes close to 2 hours to fully charge with its charging dock.
Also, if your phone has a small battery size, that’s something else you need to worry about. Since the watch is connected to your phone via bluetooth at all times, your phone’s battery will drain a lot faster too.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Watch runs on Tizen OS – Samsung’s own OS for its smartwatches. And that’s for the best. The rotating bezel for navigation is Tizen’s own little neat feature. You can also use your watch with non-Samsung devices and iPhones, by just downloading the Galaxy Wear app, but some apps are limited to Samsung Experience OS. And iOS support is very limited on iPhones. So, the best experience is when you’re connected to the S-series flagships or Note-series.
Samsung galaxy watch galaxy wear app
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Info
Watch Faces
Settings
Spec wise, there’s the 1.15 GHz Exynos 9115 dual-core processor with 768 MB of RAM, and I guess that keeps the watch zippy as it is. The watch does not demand too much, so, that much is enough. However, if you get the LTE version, you get 1.5 GB of RAM on it.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Watch Faces
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Tizen OS also gives you a lot of watch faces to choose from – and as much as that can be overwhelming, all those alternatives with options to customize your own is very welcome. You can change the watch faces from your watch itself or even through the Galaxy Wear app on your phone.
Feature wise, there are a lot of things packed into the watch, whether you use it or not. the watch functions as your health monitor, notifications manager, music player, etc.
Samsung Galaxy Watch
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Music Player
Notification
You can get all your phone’s notifications on your watch. But of course, there are limitations. It won’t show any images sent to you, for which you have to check your phone. Also, if you want to reply to a message, you have to type letter by letter, that too, using gestures, and that is time-consuming. It is easier to just get your phone and reply back.
The watch also allows you to make calls via a Bluetooth connection to your phone. But if you have more than 1 SIM on it, and you have not set a default, you will have to again, choose on your phone. That kind of defeats the purpose. And if you carry your phone at all times with you, calling is not a very useful feature. But even so, the call quality is okay, though.
The most comprehensive of all is the health monitor feature. It tracks your sleep, breath, heart rate, stress, etc. The sleep tracker is quite accurate too. And it has an expanded 39 exercise trackers, which goes from basic walking to various gym workouts like bench press and deadlifts. Some of them are accurate, while others are not. 6 of them, which are the most basic ones, are automatically detected.
For instance, the walking and running tracker was super accurate. It counts the number of steps walked down to the last step and doesn’t miss even the casual two-three steps to the bed or sofa either. And it shows you how much calories you’ve burnt too. If you are doing arm curls or crunches, it keeps track of them very well. But for some exercises, like push-ups or leg-workouts, it counts the time rather than the number of reps. Of course, it has to do with the watch being on your hand. The gyro-sensor can sense the movement of the watch on your hand for some exercises, while not so much on others.
And while I’m at it, there were some instances when the watch wrongly tracked my movements. I was riding my motorbike, but the watch recorded it as if I was cycling.
The watch is awoken by your hand movement. If you keep the always-on display off, you need to bring the watch close to your face with a swift movement to wake it to see the time. Subtle movements won’t register, like if you’re typing on your computer, and you move it slightly, it won’t wake up. And that can be annoying at times.
These issues were present on the Gear S3 too, and it’s still here. The Galaxy Watch has a lot of improvements, but not on this department it seems. So, that’s something Samsung really needs to figure out.
In the health department, there are also options to manually log in your coffee, water or meal intakes, but I don’t think anyone does that. Maybe some who are really trying to get in shape or are health conscious. And that too is easy to forget to log into every time, so your calories consumption measurement will come out inaccurate most of the time. So, that is something I rarely use.
Talking of other things I don’t use, it has Bixby voice assistant as well. While I don’t even prefer Bixby on my phone, here, it seems to work less accurately than on your phone. Also, I think a voice assistant on a smartwatch is not that helpful. But if they had to put in one, they should have gone with Google Assistant.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch also supports Spotify, which seems region specific. But if you want to listen to music normally, you have to transfer your music files from your phone to the watch, with the help of the app. There’s 4 GB of storage space inside to store some pictures and music. Also, the audio quality is good enough for a watch. Now, listening to music on your watch is not something you’ll do often, but it is kinda fun while doing some small chores like cleaning your room, or things like that.
Conclusion
To sum up, there comes a question what is this watch really about? It tries to do a lot of things, but many would not even use half of it. The regular 42 mm costs $329, and it is pretty close to that in Nepal too. And I feel like the watch does justify the cost, but the usage does not.
The design is great, the display is great, some functions are very useful. But, like I said, it does things, most of us won’t even use. The comprehensive health and fitness features are great, but there are fitness bands for cheaper that can get the job done. As for other things, we use our phones anyway.
So, it is clear that this watch is not for everyone. In fact, it is not for most people. But if you want a fancy smartwatch with a lot of features, then, go for it. It can save you from having to glance at your phone every now and then too. And if you’re a very health conscious person, this is a great option that can do things many fitness bands can’t.
But if Samsung could have made a less fancy smartwatch with basic features for the lesser price, that would be actually better. Like J-series of the Watch for $100 or so, that would be more interesting.
For now, the Samsung Galaxy Watch feels more like a luxury, not a necessity. So, this is a watch that’s really smart, but right now…it’s ahead of its time.
Pros:
Classy and Elegant design
Solid stainless steel construction
IP68 Water Resistance and Gorilla Glass DX+ protection
At this year’s CES the focus of TV manufacturers like Samsung and LG seems to be the screen. Yesterday, we saw a prototype of a75- inch modular 4K Samsung TVmade with micro LEDs. It’s apparently known as The wall TV. And today things just got more interesting with Samsung and LG releasing 8K TVs! Well, if you think that is interesting, wait until I drop the bomb! Those TVs support iTunes and Apple’s AirPlay 2, Boom!
Samsung Electronics has formally unveiled its 2019 series of TVs at CES. The 85-inch OLED TV was just not it that Samsung unveiled another 8K TV sized at 98 inches. Not just the two sizes, the 8K models will be available in 62, 65, 82 and 85 inches for purchase soon after the pre-bookings are over.
Software-wise, those Samsung TVs will feature a Universal Guide with “improved” AI capabilities, along with the latest version of Bixby and support for Alexa and Google Assistant voice controls with extended support for iTunes and Airplay 2. This is the first time Samsung has borrowed Airplay with Apple.
However, seems like Samsung isn’t the only one doing this. Other major players in the sector are also onboard. LGs new lineups of 8K TVs will also feature iTunes and Airplay too. So, anyone using an iPhone will be able to stream their desired content from phone to TV. In addition, LG says that its TVs will support Apple’s HomeKit system too, so they can be controlled with home routines.
The 8K TV that LG is rolling out is called Z9, will have α9 Gen 2 processor with improved AI capabilities that will help enhance picture quality by adjusting the brightness and mapping colors in accordance to ambient conditions that will be measured by the light sensors in the TVs.
Along with 8k TV sets, LG has also confirmed that the company’s groundbreaking rollable TVs are going for sale this year and will be very expensive. It’s been a year that we saw a prototype in 2018 and this year finally the company’s flagship4k rollable OLED TVwill be out in the market for purchase. This year’s to come rollable TV by LG will have a refined base station and added 100- watt Dolby Atmos speaker for powerful built-in audio.
MSI hasn’t quite disappointed us yet when it comes to gaming laptops. Their try at the ultrabook market with their prestige series has been quite overwhelming. The problem is we never really associate MSI with ultrabooks or anything that isn’t gaming. But here we are, MSI has launched three new laptops in CES 2019, only two of which are gaming laptops. We also got a new Desktop PC and a CPU case, which we will get into later.
MSI GS75 Stealth
This is a thin and light offering from MSI but with an RTX 2080 (Max-Q) GPU in a 0.75-inch thick aluminum alloy body. To go with the RTX 2080 MSI is hoping that the 8th Gen i7 processor should do the work. We are expecting it to not come with the 8750H but a more beefed up 8850H CPU, but for the time being, we do not know. A 144Hz 17.3-inch display delightfully wraps everything up in a sweet little package.
This just goes to show that powerful gaming laptops don’t need to be thick and bulky. According to MSI “the GS series breaks the stereotype of bulky and heavy gaming laptops, offering an exceptional and portable gaming experience.” They are also planning a refresh to their GS65 laptops with the latest gen processors and GPUs in a 4.19-pound body. This said laptop will follow a traditional 15.6″ display.
MSI has also improved on the thermal solutions for the GS75 Stealth with it’s Cooler Boost Trinity+ fans. This new cooling interpretation is supposedly a lot more efficient. We also do not have any information on the RAM sizes, but we do know this small laptop can fit up to three NVMe SSDs. Unfortunately, MSI hasn’t disclosed the pricing, or availability for the world’s first 17″ thin and light laptop with an RTX 2080 inside.
MSI GE75 Raider
The MSI GE75 Raider might not be as thin and light, but it does come with per-key customizable RGB lighting keyboard. Sure the specs seem great with the RTX 2080 GPU and latest gen i7 processor, but we are getting a lot more styling point with this one. The laptop comes with a reflective diamond cut trim and a red anodized finish. The design patterns have been solely crafted to entice the enthusiasts.
Back to the spec sheet, this also comes with a 17″ panel with fairly thin display bezels. It also gets a really nice set of audio output with Dynaudio. The cooling department also sees improvements, with MSI’s Cooler Boost 5 technology which gets two dedicated fans and seven copper heat pipes. Sadly, we have no information on the laptop’s pricing, configurable specs, and availability.
MSI PS63 Modern
Finally, we have come to a not so powerful laptop, the MSI PS63 modern. It doesn’t share a really any design queues with its siblings above, but it does hold up its own in terms of thickness, and battery life. Firstly, it comes with an Intel Core i7 processor, a GTX 1050 GPU and a 15.6″ display. It’s fairly thin at 0.63-inches, and weights just 1.6Kgs. It also gets a fingerprint reader and a claimed 16-hour battery life with Quick Charge 3.0 support.
MSI’s other product announcements
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Gaming PC casing
Gaming PC
Other than laptops, MSI also showed us a gaming desktop, the MSI Trident X. This desktop gets Intel’s 9th Gen K series processors and RTX graphics cards, although MSI didn’t specify any. There is also a compact version to continue on their Infinite series compact desktops, dubbed the MSI Infinite S Gaming. They also showed us their new innovative Silent Storm Liquid Cooling System.
Finally, the last product from MSI was the MSI Gungnir 100 PC casing. It’s a gaming PC casing that MSI describes was “inspired by the sharp look and feel of ‘Gungnir’, the legendary spear wielded by the Norse god Odin”. Other than that, we can expect MSI to come up with an MSI version of the just-released RTX 2060.
There are just so many companies jousting to showcase their latest and the best at CES 2019. And even if you are totally crazy about tech, things are too much to handle! With companies like ASUS having shown their hands, Acer has some on its sleeves as well. This CES, Acer has three new laptops up its sleeve.
Acer Predator Triton 900
While Acer did tease this beast back at IFA 2018, the fully functional model is only now up for the show. And this is the combination of Beauty and the Beast both, to say the least. And to call it only a laptop seems undermining, too. It features the impressively engineered “Ezel Aero Hinge” that lets you have four usage modes. You can flip it over to make an entertainment-only system, slap it down for tablet only mode, a stand mode for efficient working, and the usual notebook mode.
But that is only the aesthetics part of it. In terms of hardware, the laptop packs an immersive 17″ 4K IPS display with NVidia’s G-Sync technology. It is powered by the 8th-gen Intel i7-8750H processor with RTX 2080 graphics. It packs 32 GB of RAM and PCIe SSD storage options in a Raid 0 Array. That is a lot of power to handle, and to support it, the laptop features 4th Gen AeroBlade cooling with CoolBoost technology.
With all that it packs, it is not surprising that it is almost 2.4 cm thick, and that it costs a whopping $4000! It will be available for purchase around March. Designs like this, and that of the ASUS ROG Mothership, are great refreshing views from the usual laptops, and we expect to see more by the time CES 2019 is over.
Acer Predator Triton 500
With all that it offers, the Acer Triton 900 is a very compelling piece of a laptop. But of course, $4000 is a lot of bucks to shell out. So, should you want a great gaming laptop from the Triton range, but don’t want to spend as much, there is the new Acer Predator Triton 500.
This is nowhere close to the Beauty and the Beast combo of the Triton 900, aesthetics wise. But this more affordable option packs a lot of the same hardware inside a conventional notebook chassis.
The Predator Triton 500 features a 15.6″ 1080 display with 144 Hz refresh rate and 3 milliseconds of response time. It, too, is powered by the latest 8th-gen Intel i7-8750H processor with the latest RTX 2080 graphics too. Only, you get the slightly less powerful RTX 2080 Max-Q on this one. But you also have a RTX 2060 configuration available. Besides that, you get PCI SSDs in Raid 0 array too, and can have up to 32 GB RAM.
At $1800, this is a much affordable deal for those who want a portable gaming machine. But of course, if you’re looking for something that stands out, this is not something that will.
Acer Swift 7 2019
Acer’s Swift 7 was a hihgly portable notebook when it came out, too, but now, they’ve made it even smaller. In fact, so much so, that it is a laptop with second most-thinnest bezels with a 92% screen real estate. The first position, of course, went to the ASUS Zenbook S13, with a screen real estate of 97%. But this one, is lighter weighing under 1 kg!
But such a slim chassis comes with some compromises. To maintain the small size, there are no cooling mechanisms inside. And so, the only option to manage thermals is to integrate a very power-efficient Intel Y-Core CPUs. And this leads to sacrificing quite the power. You get an Intel i7-8500Y CPU inside, combined with 16 GB RAM, and up to 512 GB storage. That makes it suitable only for the road warriors, not for those doing heavy workloads. For an asking price of $1700, the configuration seems not so worth it.
Besides, that. the display is a 1080 IPS panel with 100% sRGB color gamut and ample 300 nits of brightness. And with an extremely conservative design, there’s nothing eye-catching or compelling feature about this. Which is why, even thouh this is pretty slim and sleek, it doesn’t get enough attention.
So, that is what is new from Acer this year at CES 2019. If there are any other new releases, we’ll surely let you know.
By now, you probably already heard that the 20-series RTX GPUs have made their way to portable PCs. This is exactly what makes the Samsung Notebook Odyssey a piece of newsworthy news. Samsung has been trying to get into the laptop business for quite a while now, however, hasn’t quite worked out yet. Ask yourself, do you ever think of Samsung when it comes to gaming laptops?
With the Samsung Notebook Odyssey, things look encouraging. This new laptop comes with a six-core i7 processor and Nvidia’s RTX 2080 GPU. Pair those specs with 16GB of RAM, 256GB NVMe storage, 1TB hard drive and a USB-C port, which was weirdly missing last time. This seemingly looks like a beast of a laptop, but the issue wasn’t specs, it was the design and the display.
Addressing the second issue first, this laptop comes with a 15.6-inch 144Hz 1920×1080 resolution panel with Nvidia G-Sync support. This should fix their problems in the display department. So, back to the first problem then. The laptop gets a fresh new design with an all-metal chassis. The display gets a relatively huge bezel at the bottom while the top and the sides offer very minimal edges.
Samsung even managed to fit the webcam up top. The laptop doesn’t exactly scream gaming either, which is actually a good thing. Plus at just 5.2 pounds, it’s a gaming laptop with an RTX 2080 inside, can we even expect lesser numbers? Samsung says the laptop comes with a new cooling system, with five heat pipes and more blades on system fans than before.
There is no information about the laptop’s pricing just yet, although we do know the Notebook will be available by early 2019 in the US.
So the annual Consumer Electronics Show is now underway in Las Vegas. The 2019 edition of CES, of course, will showcase amazing technology too, but for the most part, there will be upgrades. And ASUS, the laptop manufacturer seems like it has its hands full. There are just an overwhelming amount of releases and upgrades. See some of them in here:
ASUS ROG Strix II series updated with RTX Graphics
The ASUS ROG Strix II series of gaming laptops were one of the best around. They were not quite up to the top, but have a good set of configurations nonetheless. The ASUS ROG Strix Hero II and the ASUS ROG Strix Scar II are the ones that belong to this lineup. Both these laptops have full-fledged desktop style keyboards with RGB lighting and pretty swell design and build. Both of these also have a 144 Hz display with 3 ms of response time. In addition, both of these pack the Hexa-core 8th-gen Intel i7-8750H processor, up to 32 GB RAM, and GTX 1060 graphics.
The Scar II is FPS-games based whereas the Hero II is for MOBA gamers – as differentiated by the W-A-S-D and Q-W-E-R highlighting on the keyboard respectively. The difference is that the Scar II is available in 15.6″ and 17.3″ display options while the Hero II is only in available in a 15.6″ model. And now, both these laptops are updated with RTX 2060 graphics for better gaming performance. The Scar II can have 2 graphics options, an RTX 2060 and RTX 2070, while the Hero II will ship with RTX 2060.
Of course, we will see an increment in price as well, but for now, there’s no word on it. and these laptops will be available for purchase in a few months.
ASUS Zephyrus getting bigger
ASUS gaming notebook, the ASUS Zephyrus, now, has a bigger version with a 17″ screen. The new variant is called the GX701, or the ASUS Zephyrus S 17, which is not surprising. There are not many changes in the other aspects of the gaming laptop except for the bigger screen. The Zephyrus S 17 will have the same 1080 panel, with 144Hz refresh rate and 3 milliseconds of response time.
Everything else, too, is pretty similar with the ASUS Zephyrus S 17 being powered with the 8th-gen Intel i7-8750H as well. But the new one has the RTX 20-series of graphics, with configuration available all the way up to RTX 2080. It can also pack up to 24 GB of RAM.
The screen resolution might be a bit low for the larger screen, so, we might see 1440p or 4K variants as well. But the 1080 panel on a 17″ screen is also more immersive than 15″ ones, though. While all the other aesthetics part remains the same too, yes, even the footprint of the device, this one is a bit thicker at 1.8 cm. But that is still pretty sleek for a gaming laptop. It still retains the awkward keyboard and trackpad configuration, but that doesn’t seem to be that big of an issue with anyone.
Also, an improvement over the regular Zephyrus S is that it has a separate USB-C charger if you’re not gaming. This is light enough to carry around, just like the laptop. Again, there is no word on pricing. And the Zephyrus S 17 will be available for purchase in the first quarter of 2019.
ASUS ROG Mothership – Mother of Gaming Laptops?
There are so many gaming laptops these days, that many of them tend to look the same…give or take a few slight changes in aesthetics. And then, there’s the ASUS ROG Mothership – a new 17″ gaming laptop that sort of fits the name. First and foremost, a button will trigger a kickstand to pop out from behind the display, and the keyboard is detachable to be used wirelessly if you want.
All the processing components are behind the screen, and so, the ‘monitor’ or the display part is quite chunky. Hence, the requirement of the kickstand to support it. And this laptop is also powered by NVidia’s RTX 20-series graphics. Packing everything on the display part helps this laptop get better airflow, which will improve the thermals as well. Plus, the detachable keyboard means you can attach another wired gaming keyboard to play games with as well.
The screen also features a 144Hz refresh rate, 3 milliseconds of response time and NVidia’s G-Sync. Under the hood, it is powered by the Intel’s Core i9-8950HK CPU, and you can cram up to 64 GB of RAM. And if you really feel like it, you can run up to three 512 GB NVme SSDs in a Raid 0 array! But all of this doesn’t come in a small package, though. You’re looking at a 4.6 kg beast. This makes it less of a laptop, and more of a strange desktop…but you can carry it around if you don’t mind a bit of back-aches.
Of course, this is just very recent, so, no pricing information about this either. But I’d expect it to cost equal to the highest-end gaming PCs – if not more. As strange as this laptop looks, we have to commend ASUS on how it’s trying to reinvent gaming laptops.
ASUS Zenbook S13 – Worlds slimmest bezels on a laptop
ASUS Zenbooks are all about portability, but their S-series take it one step further. With the ambition of extreme portability in mind, the new and updated ASUS Zenbook S13 packs even more in its sleek body. First off, you will notice what it advertises – the slimmest of bezels on a screen at 2.5 mm! The laptop has a 13.9″ IPS screen and the bezels around it are next to invisible.
This raises a question about the position of the webcam. But unlike other laptops who opt for a bottom-placed webcam for thin bezels, the webcam is right on top – but on a “reverse-notch” of sorts. There is a slight bump on top of the laptop screen that houses the webcam, and it can actually help you open up the laptop more easily.
Also, at 1.29 cm thick, this could be the slimmest laptop in the world now too! And since it weighs only 1.13 kgs, we can assume it is not for power-hungry users, obviously! There are a few configurations – you can either choose one with Intel i5-8265U or an i7-8565U for better performance. It can pack up to 16 GB RAM, and if you choose, you can opt for one with NVidia GeForce M150 graphics.
Again, no word on pricing, but ASUS Zenbooks are not known for affordability. So, don’t hold your breath. This, too, will be available in the first few months of 2019.
ASUS StudioBook – a portable Workstation
By now, you must be pretty darn confused with the lineups of these ASUS laptops. Zenbook, Zephyrus, and what not and that S-series on top supposed to be more portable than the regular ones? Well, brace yourselves. There’s the ASUS StudioBook S-series now – which combines portability with a raw performance!
Now workstation might mean different things to different people. Generally, they are for business people, but this workstation has a different idea. The StudioBook is a workstation for content creators – movie editors, VR builders, and the likes. And to do so, you all know that it requires some serious power!
So, just how powerful is this thing? For starters, it comes in two configurations: the 2.2 GHz 8th-gen Intel i7-8750H or for some more power, 2.7 GHz Hexa-core Xeon E-2716M. It can also pack up to 64 GB of DDR4 RAM and a whopping 4 TB of NVMe storage! There are also plenty of ports in here – a USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, three USB As, an HDMI, and an SDcard reader as well.
Since it is a workstation for content creation, the screen needs to be just right too, and it actually is. Its 17″ display with 16:10 aspect ratio looks pretty cool, and it has about 97% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, so, no need to worry about color accuracy. But the body packs only a 57 Whr battery, which might be easy to burn through during heavy workloads.
With this, there is no need to stay glued to your desk while creating or manipulating content. And this is just another of ASUS’ innovation for its laptops. And just by looking at the spec sheet, you can guess the price range pretty easily as well.
So, these are the ASUS latest releases in the CES 2019. With all of these, ASUS seems to have its hands full… Let’s see how these hold up this year.
Sony has ironically been the first and last when it comes to jumping on new smartphone display technologies. Take for instance that 4k display on the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, a first for smartphones. Then they greet you with their first 18:9 display on smartphones, a whole one year late to the party. Although that is the past, the first Sony smartphone with a 2k display still remains fresh. As for now, rumors of the Sony Xperia XZ4 has come up and it features a whopping 21:9 ratio display.
A 21:9 display on a smartphone isn’t something new, but Sony seems to be the first mainstream smartphone to do so. Leaked specs include a 6.5-inch panel stretched out over 166.9mm in height. You can watch the video below for an idea on exactly how it will feel to watch a movie on this said smartphone. The video was uploaded by Ice Universe, which is said to be a very reputable “leakster”. The leakster has also recently leaked some of the important details of the Samsung Galaxy S10.
The display isn’t really that tall, sizing at about the same display real estate as an iPhone XS Max vertically. But when the width comes into play, it just changes the whole perspective. One of the very possible uses of this display could be watching movies that were created in this aspect ratio, which is most of them. Apart from that, this display will offer very little functionality when it comes to real life usage.
Sony Xperia XZ4 Leaks and Speculations
That is all we are going to talk about displays for now, as the phone is said to launch with an impressive set of internals. The first of which is the inclusion of a Snapdragon 855 chipset with 6GB of RAM. Speculations of its internal storage show 64GB or 256GB, very specific. As for cameras, the back will feature a 1/2.3″ sensor with OIS and a single wide-angle sensor at the front.
Finally, the battery life is reported to be a 3,900mAh unit and will boot on Android Pie with Sony’s own UI on top. As for the launch of the Xperia ZX4, Sony might hold an event in the CES in January. If that doesn’t pan out, we will likely see it launch at the MWC in February.
The HP Omen 15 has pretty similar features otherwise to last years. It has a 15.6″ 1080 display with 144Hz refresh rate. The laptop is still powered by the 8th-gen Intel i7-8750H CPU which was refreshed last year, with 16 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, and 1 TB HDD. The only difference is that it now includes NVidia RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics, which is a considerable upgrade over the existing GTX 1070 graphics.
But there are no changes in any of the other hardware components. The laptop will be the same HP Spectre x360 we’ve been seeing with all the regular configurations i.e. it will come equipped with the 8th-gen Intel i7 processor, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB of PCIe SSD storage. The only new addition, is as aforementioned, a new AMOLED display.
There will be two options to choose from for the users, an Obelisk 1010 or 1020. The Obelisk 1010 will come with a 9th-gen Intel i9-9700K processor and an NVidia RTX 2080 graphics card. As for the latter, it will have the Intel i9-9900K CPU and the most powerful NVidia RTX 2080 Ti. Both the models can feature up to 64 GB HyperX DDR4 RAM, and up to 512 GB dual M.2 SSD with Raid 0 Array support.
While there are many other such large displays, particularly TVs that play 4K (now even 8K), this one is built with gamers in mind. This gaming monitor is basically a 65″ screen with 4K resolution, 95% DCI-P3 color accuracy, a 144 Hz refresh rate, and NVidia’s G-Sync. And being a BFGD, it has a full-size DisplayPort port that can push out higher frame rates along with 4K and HDR; as opposed to present screens with HDMI 2.0 that support HDR and 4K but cannot play content higher than 60 fps.
