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The Best of CES 2013

As another Consumer Electronics Show fades into the Las Vegas sunset, we take a look back at the most important products unveiled at the show.

2013The Best ofCES

Back in 1899, Charles H. Duell, the commissioner of the United States Patent Office, is purported to have said, "Everything that can be invented, has already been invented." This was after electricity, the steam locomotive, and the light bulb, but before airplanes, penicillin, the transistor, television, and of course, the Shake Weight.

Obviously, as a society, we're still inventing new things. That brings us to this year's CES, which was a little bizarre, given the lack of Microsoft, Qualcomm's insanely bad keynote, and the overall "been-there, done-that" feeling. But it turns out some really impressive technology hit the show floor.

It's been getting tougher and tougher for hardware manufacturers to distinguish their laptops, tablets, and smartphones, but a select few managed to do just that—and in a really good way. With that, here's a full roundup of the best products we saw at CES 2013. In terms of overall concept and vision, as well as its actual physical realization—the complete package, really—these products stood out for their forward-looking designs.

CES 2013 Bug Remember that we're talking about what products and concepts impressed us the most on the show floor. We haven't actually reviewed them yet. As always, there's a good chance some will never even make it to market, or that some of the ones that do won't perform the way we had hoped.

So call these products the best, the most notable, the most impressive—any of those terms will get across the fact that one way or another, we're really enthusiastic about them. We can't wait to get our hands on the finished versions in PCMag Labs—at least with the exception of the cars, which we really can't fit through the front door anyway. For some folks, it's probably tempting to say that everything important has already been invented. But we're guessing that's just a bit premature. –Jamie Lendino

Best Phones, Tablets, and Laptops

BEST PHONES

Sony Xperia Z
sony xperia z As far as high-profile smartphone launches at CES are concerned, Sony impressed us the most this year with the absolutely beautiful Xperia Z. From a technical standpoint, this phone hits all the marks that will make geeks happy—it's got a huge 5-inch, 1080p display, a state-of-the-art quad-core processor, and a 13-megapixel camera with HDR video capture. But where this phone really shines is design. While most smartphones seem to be growing more and more delicate, Sony has made the Xperia Z dust resistant and waterproof. Despite the all-glass construction, tempered glass and anti-shatter film promise to make this phone much more rugged than it seems. Throw in some innovative battery-saving software, and you've got one of the best smartphones at CES. –Alex Colon

Yotaphone
yotaphone We love new thinking, and the Yotaphone's dual-display system is not only new, but surprisingly well thought out. Not a gimmick, the e-ink screen on the back of the Yotaphone can act like a custom case, display the time and weather, or store images like a boarding pass that you want to remain available even if you're doing something else on your phone. Plenty of other dual-display phones have entered the market and failed, but Yota actually thought through what you'll do with this. The company's dry sense of humor helps, too. –Sascha Segan

BEST TABLETS

Razer Edge Gaming Tablet
razer edge gaming tablet Compared with last year's show, the tablet space was relatively quiet; traditional tablet makers seem to be waiting for February's Mobile World Congress to show off their wares. (Even our runner-up tablet isn't a brand-new product.) As such, the top tablet this year comes from a gaming company. The fun-focused Razer Edge injects some much-needed excitement into the tablet space. While we've heard all the promises from manufacturers that their tablets can handle games, Razer has gone on Edge to show us a tablet that is made specifically to excel at gaming. Integrated controllers and brag-worthy components give gamers all the tools they need for a Windows 8 tablet that could slay the competition. Portable gaming isn't just for laptops and small-form-factor desktops anymore! –Joel Santo Domingo

Runner-Up: Microsoft Surface Pro

BEST LAPTOPS

Lenovo ThinkPad Helix Ultrabook
lenovo thinkpad helix ultrabook The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix Ultrabook wins for solving one of the biggest problems that come with laptops that convert into slate tablets: Docking. While most tablets that link with keyboard docks are fidgety with their orientation (only one way) and how they clip together (with tiny guides), the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix makes sure you're (almost) always clipping the tablet to the keyboard in the right way with its innovative "Rip and Flip" design. This is just one of the elements that make us excited to see this beefy, enterprise-grade ultrabook later this year. –JSD

Runner-Up: MSI GT60 Quadro Workstation

Best Desktops, HDTVs, and Home Theater Gear

BEST DESKTOPS

Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC
lenovohorizon A Table PC? That's an idea, and one that Lenovo decided to run with. Witness the Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon, an all-in-one PC that can be used while propped up with its attached stand or laid flat. In its upright or "vertical" mode, the system runs Windows 8; in its flat or "horizontal" mode, the Horizon automatically activates its proprietary Aura touch interface.

With Aura activated, multiple users—as many as you can fit around the 27-inch, 1,920 by 1,080 screen—can play games together. There are even bundled accessories (dice, joysticks, and strikers) that can be used for games developed by such companies as Electronic Arts and UbiSoft. With a battery that reportedly lasts for two hours, you can even move the system around, At 25 pounds, though, you're better off using the optional Horizon Multimode Table. With the Horizon Table PC, Lenovo is making a big pitch for interpersonal computing. –Laarni Ragaza

Runner-Up: Velocity Micro Edge Mini

BEST HDTVs

Samsung UN85S9
samsung4k-adjusted Nearly every HDTV manufacturer was showing off 4K or UHD (ultra high-definition) televisions here at CES. One that really stood out: Samsung's 85-inch 4K LED HDTV has a massive frame that supports a thin panel, turning it into a unique piece of furniture as much as it is an HDTV and giving it a unique up-and-down pivot for getting the viewing angle just right. It sports all of Samsung's Smart Interaction enhancements, including voice command, gestures, and a built-in camera, and can upconvert 1080p quite capably, as I saw from a video clip from Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows. Samsung hasn't announced pricing for it yet, but this huge, striking set should be available in May. We're guessing it won't be cheap. –Will Greenwald

Panasonic 56-Inch 4K OLED HDTV
panasonic Panasonic's 4K OLED HDTV isn't as large as Samsung's and it won't be available as soon, but it's one of the most technically impressive. First, it's a 4K HDTV that uses an OLED panel. Second, the panel is manufactured using a printing process that places color elements like ink on a page. Third, the entire panel is just half an inch thick. This could be the face of 4K HDTVs in the future, with new technologies to make the panel and form the picture. It won't be in homes any time soon, though, as it's only a proof-of-concept. –WG

BEST HOME THEATER GEAR

Epson Home Cinema 750HD
epson home cinema 750hd The Epson Home Cinema 750HD is the company's brightest home theater projector to date, so it could replace your HDTV. Offering 2D and active-shutter 3D with 720p resolution, it can display movies, video games, and other content at sizes of up to 300 inches diagonally. Rated at up to 3,000 lumens, the projector features five pre-set color modes, including one dedicated to gaming. It can be placed in an entertainment center or mounted to the ceiling from 3.5 to 35.5 feet from the wall or screen. The Epson Home Cinema 750HD ($899) should be available in late March. –Tony Hoffman

Runner-Up: Dish Hopper with Sling

Best Gaming Gear, Cameras, and Networking Products

BEST GAMING GEAR

Nvidia Project Shield
nvidiashield2 Nvidia has been fighting for years to make Android a viable gaming platform, and 2013 may finally be the year. Project Shield isn't just the first viable standalone gaming system to disrupt the cozy duopoly of Sony and Nintendo in ages. It's also the flagship product for Nvidia's Tegra 4 chipset, which will bring tricks like much-improved photo quality to future smartphones and tablets. The only possible point of failure: Games. Nvidia has done a decent job nurturing high-end games for Android in its Tegra Zone showcase, but the best titles still appear on consoles, PCs, and even iOS before they come to Android. Can Project Shield change that? We'll see. –SS

Oculus Rift
oculusrift Virtual reality feels like a technology that never really congealed for consumers, but Oculus VR might change that with its Oculus Rift head-mounted display. It's one of the most immersive visual experiences I've ever seen in a gaming or home entertainment device, and I can definitely see it making action games like Skyrim and Far Cry 3 more exciting, and horror titles like Slender more pants-wetting.

How it works: 3D images combine with head tracking to let you look around a virtual world and feel like you're really there (at least visually). The demos I saw showed how they work together to put you into the virtual world, but they require coding software that incorporates both a 3D picture that looks realistic and head tracking that can keep up with you. I can definitely see motion sickness and disorientation being a factor if developers don't consider just how effective the Oculus Rift can be. –WG

BEST CAMERAS

Fuji X100s
fuji x100s At last year's show Fujifilm walked away with this award thanks to its X-Pro1 compact interchangeable lens camera. Fuji wins again in 2013—this time with the X100s. On the exterior the camera isn't that much different from the X100, which was first shown at a trade show in 2010 and hit the market in 2011—but the internal components have been very much improved. It now features an X-Trans CMOS sensor, a design unique to Fuji that uses a six-by-six color filter array rather than the traditional Bayer four-by-four array, omits a low-pass filter for sharper images, and delivers improved autofocus.

The X100s features a retro black leatherette and chrome design—from a distance it doesn't look that much different from a Leica M2—and has a hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder. The resolution of the EVF portion of the finder has been greatly improved from the previous version of the camera. Its lens is a fixed 23mm f/2, which delivers a field of view comparable to a 35mm lens in terms of full-frame photography. The X100s is priced at $1,299.95 and will be available in March. –Jim Fisher

Runner-Up: Pentax Mx-1

BEST NETWORKING PRODUCTS

DiskStation Manager (DSM) 4.2 Beta
diskstation manager If you took a look at many of the new offerings in networking products at this year's CES most of the noise was surrounding 802.11ac. Speeds over 1 Gbps! More range! Whole-home wireless coverage! But without suitable client devices to support 802.11ac, and without testing, it's hard to say which wireless router will be the best of 2013. Our top networking pick is software: Synology's DiskStation Manager 4.2 Beta. We've seen incredible products from Synology, and that excellent hardware along with a beefed up interface with added features that the DSM 4.2 promises to bring, should make for some top-of-the-line products. The best feature is the ability to remotely connect to your DiskStation NAS without having to configure port forwarding on your home networks. Other vendors have tried to implement this feature, but none has gotten it quite perfect. With DiskStation Manager, Synology has a good chance of changing the game. –Samara Lynn

Runner Up: Almond+

Best Gadgets, Toys, Robots, and Cars

BEST GADGETS

Hapifork
hapifork Given the nationwide obesity epidemic, it is a wonder no one thought of this before. We need smarter forks. The Hapi Fork is a little bigger than you standard fork, but it does a lot more. Charge it up and it will monitor not just how many bites you take, but also the pace at which you eat. If you try to take more than one bite every 10 seconds, the fork will gently vibrate to tell you to slow down. Once you are done, you can upload all this data to an online service that will let you track it, and presumably, share this data with friends. –Dan Costa

Runner-Up: Fitbit Flex

BEST TOY

LEGO Mindstorms EV3
lego mindstorms ev3 After four years, LEGO finally updates its Mindstorms robotics kit with Mindstorms EV3. This time, the "Intelligent Brick" is smarter, more expandable, and can be programmed on your mobile device. It's Linux-based now, so hackers can have even more fun playing with it and pushing the limits of what LEGO can do.

Because it's LEGO, it's compatible with the company's many licensed building sets. Yes, that means you'll be able to build R2D2 by combining the Mindstorms EV3 set with some creative Star Wars sets. Me? I'm going to put a Bluetooth speaker on my Mindstorms EV3 robot, throw a black sheet over it, and torment my coworkers with a cyber-Nazgul. –WG

BEST ROBOT

InTouch Health RP-VITA
rp_vita_image Developed in partnership with iRobot, InTouch Health brought it latest medical robot to CES 2013: the RP-VITA. Although InTouch has other medical robots, the RP-VITA is the first one that can navigate autonomously. The RP-Vita has built-in mapping, obstacle detection, avoidance technology, and an iPad user interface that can connect directly to hospital systems. When a patient rings a call button, the RP-VITA could be dispatched bedside allowing the doctor to evaluate the patient's condition from anywhere in the world. That won't help if you just need help getting to the bathroom, but it can help doctors be in more place than one. –DC

BEST CARS

Dodge Charger Pursuit
dodge charger pursuit It is kind of cruel to pick the best car at CES and make it something you can't go out and buy. Then again, there are a lot of great ideas at CES that will never make it to market. You can, however, take comfort in the fact that this tricked-out police cruiser will be on the Los Angeles streets just a few weeks. With an automatic license plate scanner, infrared cameras, 12.1-inch in-dash display, fully integrated keyboard and bulletproof doors, this is the most technologically advanced cop car in the country. Or at least that is what Sgt. Dan Gomez of the L.A.P.D. Information Technology Bureau's Tactical Technology Department says. He helped design the car with Chrysler and a dozen other vendors. And who am I to argue? The guy carries a gun. –DC

Runner Up: Formula Ford Racer

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