Here are just some of the CES related items I’ve found interesting on this Tuesday morning. It is heavy on PC news, as there were keynote addresses from AMD and nVidia.
You can see my Monday evening roundup, which includes a $3000 dog dog door and an obligatory picture of a dog here.
AMD Launches Ryzen 5000 Series for Laptops
After launching the Ryzen 5000 processors for desktop computers last fall, AMD has the 2021 mobile lineup covered, with 15(!) Ryzen 5000 processors. Everything from 15W parts found in thin and light utrabooks up to 45W mobile workstation and gaming focused processors. AMD says this entire processor lineup is competitive and/or better than what Intel currently offers in both power and power efficiency.
We will start seeing laptops announced with these new processors 5 minutes ago, since this is CES and there will be 23408 laptops announced. Intel has long had a virtual monopoly on laptops, especially in the thin and light category. I’m stoked to see if these Ryzen parts live up to the hype all throughout the stack.
nVidia Launches RTX 3000 series for laptops, and desktop RTX 3060
nVidia’s annoucemnts are not geared nearly as much towards the mainstream, but are still great for the category they serve. The RTX 3060 for desktop computers has been announced at $329 USD, which works out to roughly $420 in Canada. This is a graphics card for gaming that should be aimed squarely at those wanting to play in 1080p, and should do a very good job of it. The question will be whether anyone can actually buy these, as graphics cards from both nVidia and AMD have been very hard to come by.
nVidia also took the wraps off the RTX 3000 series for laptops, with the RTX 3060, 3070, and 3080. These are of course designed for gaming, but also content creation workflows. They should be good upgrades from the 2000 series found in older laptops.
As with the Ryzen Processors, we are already seeing laptops announced with these parts in them.
All the Laptops Were Announced
I’m not going to write about every single model in every single line, but shortly after AMD and nVidia announced their new products, what feels like millions of press releases were pushed out with announcements of new laptops featuring the shiny new things Intel, AMD, and nVidia have announced over the past 24 hours.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/12/22226223/asus-rog-flow-x13-zephyrus-duo-15-se-gaming-laptop
https://www.engadget.com/razer-blade-15-17-rtx-30-gpu-quad-hd-174536217.html
https://www.engadget.com/lenovo-thinkbook-plus-gen-2-i-e-ink-screen-laptop-170048754.html
LG Phone With Rolling Display Allegedly Coming in 2021
I didn’t write about this yesterday because I figured it was entirely a shiny demo to show off in a video, but apparently this is a real product we will see this year. LG has been teasing a flexible display for a few years now, and last year even showed off a prototype that could roll into itself, like a scroll. The LG rollable screen made a brief appearance in a video in LG’s keynote yesterday, and now the company says there will be a device launching this year with that technology. The device will be something that starts off phone sized and a user can expand the screen into something the size of a small tablet.
There are no other details than this, so we will have to wait and see if it actually does come to pass.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/12/22226532/lgs-rollable-phone-launch-release-date-ces-2021
Anker’s New Wireless Earbuds Aim to Bring High End Features For Less
Anker’s Soundcore brand has been releasing decent, cheap headphones for several years now. They haven’t blown anyone’s socks off, but they have generally been less expensive than the competition while offering similar features, so they have warranted some consideration. The newest entry into this field is the Liberty Air 2 Pro, which aims to compete directly with earbuds like the AirPods Pro, and the Upcoming Galaxy Buds Pro.
The Air 2 Pro’s come with an AirPods like design, noise cancellation, 6 hours of battery life in the earbuds, and a wireless charging cae all for $170 in Canada. The feature set it meant to compete with the AirPods Pro which have a retail price of $330. I own a different pair of Anker headphones that see occasional use, and while they are cheap, I do not prefer them over the more expensive options. They still remain a good value pick, but they do miss some of the nice to have features found on more expensive buds. I expect that the Liberty Air 2 Pro will be 75% as good as competing products for a little over half the price, meaning they will be a good value. It just depends if you want every bell and whistle, or want something less expensive.
https://www.engadget.com/anker-soundcore-liberty-air-2-pro-announced-price-specs-180002750.html