We've practically run out of superlatives for Dell's XPS 13, the company's flagship ultraportable that sparked the slim bezel trend and has remained one of our favorite notebooks for years. So where does Dell go from here? Say hello to the XPS 13 Plus, a more powerful and ambitiously designed notebook with a lattice-less keyboard (read: no space between the keys) and a glass haptic touchpad that blends right into the palm rest. It's a laptop that looks so sleek, it practically begs to be touched. It's just a shame that in its frenzy to create a modern masterpiece, Dell also removed the headphone jack. Sigh.

But before we dive into the many problems with that, let's take a look at what's good: The XPS 13 Plus pushes Dell's design capabilities to new heights. There's a focus on clean lines and minimalism, as if Dell carved a computer directly out of a slab of polished metal. In addition to that attractive new keyboard (which also sports larger key caps), the XPS 13 Plus is also powered by Intel's 28-watt 12th-gen processors. That's a healthy jump from the standard XPS 13's 15-watt chips, and it means you can expect a lot more performance from its 2.73-pound frame.

There's also a row of capacitive touch function buttons above the keyboard, which look as if they're embedded right into the computer's metal case. I'm sure some may prefer sticking with physical function buttons, but losing the extra row of keys adds to the air of simplicity Dell is striving for.

But of course, minimalism also means cutting out extraneous design elements, which in this case means the headphone jack and mini-SD card slot from the standard XPS 13. It's not too surprising to see Dell cleaning up its port situation, but losing the headphone jack seems particularly egregious for a machine that's meant to be a super-powered XPS 13.

When we pressed Dell representatives on the issue, they noted that plenty of smartphones are also losing the nifty 3.5mm jack. While that's true, phones are also a very different use case. It makes more sense to wireless buds or headphones on the go, but I'd wager many people have a nice pair of wired headphones by their computers. Part of me also wonders if the Dell reps have ever tried to connect random Bluetooth headphones Windows. It's not nearly as simple as it is on phones.

During our brief hands-on time with the XPS 13 Plus, I also noticed that its new haptic touchpad could lead to some usability issues. You can't actually feel where the touchpad begins and ends, which led to some missed clicks while I was browsing the web and poking around Windows. I also occasionally had trouble differentiating between left and right clicks, since it was hard to judge where the center of the touchpad was. I'd wager you'd get used to it over time, but that's not exactly user friendly. Dell may have been better off using a thin Apple-esque border around the touchpads, which still looks pretty sleek on MacBooks.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Despite my reservations around some of Dell's design choices, the XPS 13 Plus still looks and feels like an upgrade from the standard XPS 13. (That laptop isn't going anywhere either, but Dell isn't announcing any updates for CES.) The large borderless keyboard is a touch-typist's dream, and the Infinity Edge display still looks fantastic. You'll also be able to choose between OLED and LCD screen options, as you'd expect. Dell managed to squeeze four speakers into the XPS 13 Plus as well, a first for its 13-inch ultraportables.

Dell says it's targeting a $1,200 starting price for the XPS 13 Plus — a bit more than the XPS 13 — and that it's planning to ship the notebook this spring.

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With the pandemic now almost in its third year, it’s fair to say video calling won’t become a smaller part of our lives anytime soon. So it’s surprising we haven’t seen more monitors like the new U3223QZ from Dell. It has a webcam built directly into its frame. And judging by the spec sheet the company shared, it’s a pretty good one too.

It features a Stravis CMOS sensor from Sony that can capture 4K HDR video at 30 frames per second or 1080p footage at 60 frames per second. It also features an adjustable field of view you can switch between 65, 78 or 90 degrees depending on how much your environment you want your contacts to see. The camera automatically closes its shutter when you don’t have a video conferencing app open. On the front, there’s also a toggle to disable it entirely. But best of all, the webcam works seamlessly with Windows Hello, so no need to type in your PIN each time you want to unlock your PC.

Dell

As for the display itself, it’s a 31.5-inch 4K IPS panel that is DisplayHDR 400 certified and covers 98 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Dell claims the U3223QZ is the first monitor in its class to feature IPS Black technology. As a result, it has a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. For context, most IPS panels have contrast ratios of 1000:1, so they don’t display blacks as deeply as VA panels and OLEDs do.

As with most Dell monitors, the U3223QZ comes with plenty of ports. You’ll find Display Port 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 connections, as well as five USB-A ports capable of 10Gbps data transfers. If you need to power other devices, there’s one USB-C port capable of 90W PD and another capable of 15W PD. What you won’t find here is an HDMI 2.1 connection. If it wasn’t already clear, this is not a monitor Dell designed for gaming. So don’t expect FreeSync support or a faster than 60Hz refresh rate.

Dell will begin selling the U3223QZ on March 29th. The company said it would share pricing information closer to release.

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Dell launched the Alienware Graphics Amplifier way back in 2014 and only recently discontinued it, but now, the company has announced that it's giving eGPUs another shot. A new device called Concept Polaris is aimed at "performance-driven enthusiasts" and takes lessons learned from the original, though Dell has yet to decide if it will go beyond the concept stages. 

The design couldn't look more different from the Graphics Amplifier, with rounded edges replacing the more aggressive gamer-oriented styling of the original. Dell said it offers "meaningful cable routing" along with lighting effects, and the ability to mount it both vertically and horizontally. Power-wise, it uses up to a 425 dual AC adapter, allowing for a full-sized GPU with reduced occupied internal space. 

Dell

It can accommodate off-the-shelf full-sized 16-inch desktop gaming graphics cards and uses liquid cooling with Dell's 240mm Cryo-Tech cooling solution and "Element 31" thermal interface material. "With that kind of cooling architecture, overclocking your GPU natively with Alienware Command Center to reach its unrealized potential could never be easier," the company explained. 

Rather than using the clunky, proprietary connector that Dell installed on so many of its previous Alienware laptops, Concept Polaris connects to your laptop via Thunderbolt 4, though it's backwardly compatible with Thunderbolt 3 as well. In exchange for your free port, it provides external USB-A, USB-C and 2.5Gbps ethernet connections.. 

The concept sounds a lot more practical than the original, though it's hard to knock the first product considering it had such a long life. In any case, Dell is promising "desktop-level graphical strength" thanks to the overclocking potential — that is, provided it ever gets built. The company said that "it is a concept and many of these features and ambitions will evolve and change and, perhaps, even the purpose of the device will be redefined." It's hoping potential users will tell the company what they think "as we continue to explore concepts like this for the near future." 

Alienware isn't going to let rivals' small gaming laptops go unanswered. The brand has revealed the X14, its (and Dell's) thinnest gaming laptop yet. The 14-inch design uses a trick dual-torque element hinge and cooling upgrades to keep the design to a 0.57-inch thickness while including high-performance components, including a 12th-generation, 14-core Intel Core i7 and up to GeForce RTX 3060 graphics. It's even billed as the first 14-inch laptop to support both NVIDIA's G-Sync and Advanced Optimus graphics switching.

The 144Hz 1080p display isn't remarkable by itself, but all X14 models support Dolby Vision HDR. There's healthy expansion as well. You can configure the X14 with up to 32GB of (soldered-in) DDR5 memory and 2TB of SSD storage. You won't be hurting for connectivity between the two Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-C, USB-A, HDMI 2.1 and a microSD card slot.

Alienware ships the X14 sometime this winter at a starting price of $1,799. The base trim will get you 16GB of RAM, RTX 3050 video and 256GB of storage.

There are compromises involved in cramming that hardware into a laptop slimmer than many ultraportables. We had early hands-on time with the Alienware X14, and we found the keyboard particularly cramped — including the WASD configuration you'll likely use with first-person shooters. It is a solid and relatively light (no more than 4.06lbs) machine given the components inside, though, so it's worth considering if you want a gaming rig that easily fits in your backpack.

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Self-driving car technology is currently limited to test programs and specialized vehicles, but Mobileye thinks it can play a key role in making driverless vehicles you can actually buy. The Intel-owned company has unveiled an EyeQ Ultra system-on-chip designed with consumer self-driving cars in mind. The SoC can juggle all the computing needs of Level 4 autonomy (full self-driving in most conditions), but it's reportedly the world's "leanest" such chip — car brands won't need to use more complex, power-hungry parts that could hike costs or hurt battery life.

The EyeQ Ultra is built on a more efficient 5-nanometer process, but the architecture is the key. Mobileye's design revolves around four task-specific accelerators tied to extra CPU cores, graphics cores and image processors. The result can process input from cameras, LiDAR, radar and the car's central computing system while handling 'just' 176 trillion operations per second. For context, NVIDIA's Drive Atlan is expected to manage 1,000 trillion operations.

Mobileye, an Intel company

You'll have to wait a while to see the chip in action. Mobileye doesn't expect the first working EyeQ Ultra chips until late 2023, and you won't see full production until 2025. That's roughly in sync with numerous automakers' self-driving vehicle plans, however, and could help the company fight NVIDIA's offering. It's not clear that you'll get to 'drive' a Level 4 car in three years, but that's no longer as far-fetched a concept as it once seemed.

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Last month, Exeger and Mayht announced a partnership to create a portable Bluetooth speaker that's powered by light. At CES, they offered a glimpse at the prototype. 

Swedish company Exeger makes Powerfoyle, a material that can turn natural and ambient light into power. Dutch startup Mayht, meanwhile, is behind a type of audio tech called Heartmotion. It claims to have reinvented "the core of the speaker driver" to allow for speakers that can be more than 10 times more compact than other models without sacrificing sound quality or bass output. According to TechCrunch, Mayht's drivers need less energy than similar audio devices, so solar cells are a seemingly sufficient power source for the speaker.

Details about the speaker's specs remain unclear, such as what percentage of the device's surface is covered in Powerfoyle material. We've seen some headphones that use this tech, including Urbanista’s Los Angeles headphones. Based on our time with those, the speaker will need a decent proportion of solar cells to meet Exeger and Mayht's claim that it has "unlimited battery life" — at least if you don't live in eternal darkness.

Whether the speaker can deliver solid sound quality remains to be seen. The physical size of a driver and the depth of a cabinet are key factors in how speakers generate bass, so it'll be intriguing to hear how Mayht compensates for that.

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It wouldn't be CES without a deluge of new gaming laptops, and so far, the 2022 edition of the annual trade show has delivered. It should come as no surprise then that Razer took the opportunity to update its popular Blade 14, 15 and 17 models. The company hasn't redesigned the three laptops, but it has made a handful of tweaks. They all feature refreshed keyboards with "slightly larger" keys, a change Razer says it made with the "wellness" of users in mind. They also include a new hinge design that is thinner and enables better ventilation.

Razer

However, the highlight of these machines is their updated internals. All three will come standard with DDR5 RAM for the first time. It's also possible to configure them with NVIDIA's latest laptop flagship GPU, the RTX 3080 Ti. With 16GB of onboard GDDR6 memory, Razer claims it delivers better performance than a desktop Titan RTX. Another option you'll have is the RTX 3070 Ti. Razer says the GPU is up to 70 percent faster than the RTX 2070 Super NVIDIA shipped in 2020. The company also claims it can deliver 100 frames per second while rendering games at 1440p. 

The Blade 15 and 17 will also come with Intel's new 12th-generation Core H-series processors. Announced at CES, these use the same performance and efficient core design as their recently announced desktop counterparts. Those with money to spare can configure the Blade 15 and Blade 17 with the 14-core i9-12900H. Oh, and all the computers will come with Windows 11 pre-installed.

As you might imagine, the Blade 14 features the fewest improvements as the most recent addition to Razer's lineup. The 2022 model includes a new fingerprint-resistant coating and a 1080p IR webcam with full Windows Hello support. Internally, the computer has one of AMD's latest 6000 series processors, the Ryzen 9 6900HX, paired with 16GB of DDR5 RAM.

As for the Blade 15, it will come with a new optional UHD display. The highlights of this IPS panel include 100 percent DCI-P3 wide color gamut coverage and a 144Hz refresh rate, up from 60Hz on the 4K OLED Razer offered previously. Your other display options with the 2022 model are a 360Hz 1080p panel or a 240Hz 1440p screen.

Razer

Lastly, the Blade 17 gets some of the most practical upgrades. Razer has equipped its flagship with a higher capacity 82WHr battery. It also comes with eight speakers, up from four on the 2021 model. Last but not least, the Blade 17 will ship with a new 280W adapter that, thanks to its GaN circuitry, is about the size of a 180W power brick.

The Blade 14 will start at $2,000 when pre-orders open on February 10th through the Razer website and select retailers, with broader availability to follow later in the first quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, the Blade 15 and Blade 17 will start at $2,500 and $2,700, respectively, and will be available to pre-order beginning on January 25th.

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Hisense is going big into bright Mini LED TVs this year with new models hitting up to 2,000 nits, while also introducing high-refresh 4K 120Hz gaming features like many other manufacturers. It also unveiled a new short throw laser projector that uses its triple RGB "TriChroma" laser engine with picture sizes up to 130 inches, the company announced. 

The top-end model is the 75-inch U9H, now using Mini LED Quantum Dot tech instead of what Hisense called ULED before. That means you get 1,280 full-array local dimming zones instead of 240, and up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness, double the 1,000 nits of the previous U9G model. The U9H, like all of Hisense's sets for 2022, comes with Google TV. 

The U9H also got a host of both entertainment an gaming features, including Dolby Vision along with Dolby Vision IQ and Filmmaker Mode that enable the most accurate colors possible. On the gaming side, it can hit 4K 120Hz variable refresh rates (with support for FreeSync) and offers an auto low latency mode to keep response times down. It also offers an updated processor, ATSC 3.0 tuner and 2.12 audio channel configuration with Dolby Atmos support. It arrives late summer 2022 for $3,200. 

Hisense

The Mini LED-powered U8H meanwhile, takes the brightness down a notch to a still-impressive 1,500 nits, while also offering Filmmaker Mode, Dolby Vision IQ, and HDR10+. Other features are similar to the U9H, like the 4K 120Hz variable refresh rate, Freesync support, Dolby Atmos sound and ultra-high speed HDMI. The U8H arrives in mid-summer with prices starting at $1,100 available in 55-, 65- and 75-inch screen sizes. 

The U7H uses regular LED tech, but still offers Dolby Vision IQ, Filmmaker mode, HDR10+, Quantum Dot and Freesync, along with 4K 120Hz variable refresh rates, in sizes from 55- to 85-inches and prices starting at $800 (summer 2022). Finally on the TV side, the U6H drops the refresh rate down to 60Hz, but still delivers things like Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+ and Filmmaker mode. Those models, arriving in summer 2022, will range from 50- to 75-inches and start at $580. 

The other interesting product we're seeing from Hisense is the new 4K PX1-PRO TriChroma short-throw laser projector (above). It uses three separate red, green and blue lasers to deliver a billion colors and a 60Hz native refresh rate, while offering features like Dolby Vision, HDR10 and Filmmaker Mode. It also comes with Dolby Atmos playback and ultra high-speed HDMI ports for eARC and auto low latency mode. As with the TVs, it also supports Android TV and all that entails. The PX1 PRO is now available for $4,000. 

Companies like Razer, Alienware and Asus ROG have been offering laptops with RTX 3080 and 3070 GPUs inside for a while now, but over the summer NVIDIA launched a pair of upgraded desktop cards: the 3070 Ti and 3080 Ti. Now, the company is bringing the “Ti” brand over to laptops.

The 3080 Ti will be available in laptops priced $2,499 and above. NVIDIA says it’s faster than last generation’s Titan RTX desktop card, and will be able to play (unspecified) games with 1440p ultra settings at over 120 fps. It also features 16GB of GDDR6 clocked at “the fastest ever seen in a laptop.” Exact details beyond that haven’t been shared yet, but the first 3080 Ti laptops will be available in February, so we won’t have long till we find out exactly what they’re capable of.

The 3070 Ti will be available in laptops priced $1,499 and above. NVIDIA says this one is “70 percent faster than the RTX 2070 Super laptops,” which isn’t a particularly helpful figure but hey-ho. It’ll apparently be able to run 1440p games at ultra settings at 100 fps, and, again, will start appearing in laptops in February.

Finally, NVIDIA announced some new technologies for Max-Q laptops, including an AI CPU Optimizer which can control the frequencies and power draw of certain Intel and AMD "nex-gen" CPUs, Rapid Core Scaling which can turn off some GPU cores while boosting the frequencies of others for productivity tasks, and Battery Boost 2.0, which will tune both your game and your hardware to apparently improve gaming while on battery. NVIDIA claims that last one can increase your battery life by 70-percent, presumably at the expense of in-game performance.and fidelity.

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For basically the entire modern history of esports, 1080p has been the sweet spot for competitive gaming. The wisdom goes that a 1920 x 1080 pixel grid gives enough clarity to follow all of the gameplay, while also being light enough that the GPU can process hundreds of frames per second, giving a competitive advantage (or, at least, leveling the playing field).

GPUs today have outgrown 1080p in a big way, though, with flagship cards being able to pump out framerates way above the peak of monitor refresh rates in certain titles. Valorant, for example, can be played at High settings well in excess of 500 fps on NVIDIA’s latest and greatest, while older titles like CS:GO hit over 700 fps.

NVIDIA says that an RTX 3080 paired with an Intel i9-12900K can play Valorant, CS:GO, Overwatch and Rainbow Six Seige in excess of 360 fps at 1440p. With that in mind, the company thinks the time is right for the leap beyond 1080p.

Obviously NVIDIA is motivated by the need to convince gamers to buy expensive GPUs, but apparently there’s a competitive benefit to playing at higher resolution. NVIDIA's own researchers found that a 27-inch 1440p display can improve aiming “by up to 3 percent” over the 24-inch 1080p sets used by current pros.

This new “1440p esports category” begins with four NVIDIA-certified displays: the ASUS ROG Swift 360Hz PG27AQN, the AOC AG274QGM - AGON PRO Mini LED, the MSI MEG 271Q Mini LED and the ViewSonic XG272G-2K Mini LED. The ASUS set is a 360Hz monitor, while the others feature Mini LED backlights but cap out at 300Hz.

All four monitors support G-Sync adaptive refresh rates, an “Esports Vibrance” color mode and, more importantly for the target audience, support NVIDIA’s Reflex latency analyzer. Intriguingly, the new monitors also come with a “1080p mode,” which blanks out the outer edges of the screen to provide a 25-inch 1080p “display” for gaming. There must be some clever scaling going on here, as a 1:1 1080p rendering on a 27-inch 1440p monitor would be a 21-ish inch image. Either way, this mode would be vital for some games – newer esports titles can be more graphically intense than the stalwarts, and playing at 1440p could sacrifice the sort of refresh rates esports pros want for competitive play.

There’s no word on pricing yet, although don’t expect them to be remotely affordable for the average gamer. As for when they’ll be available, NVIDIA has only given out the vague “soon.”

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