CES 2022: our favorite tech from Las Vegas this year

Another year, another CES in the books. Like last year, this show was, well, a bit different. Unlike last year, the show happened in-person and there were vendors and attendees in Las Vegas, but things were far from normal. With many exhibitors opting out of in-person meetings, many media outlets doing the same, the images from the physical CES 2022 showroom look downright creepy.

But that didn’t stop the announcements from coming. Sure, we didn’t get the chance to wander the floor and see all the smaller companies and all their wild gadgets, but we did get to be a part of a bunch of meetings that debuted some legitimately cool tech. For us, that mostly means Chromebook-related stuff, but that’s not all we kept up with from CES 2022, and we wanted to put together a quick list of fun stuff from this year’s show that was worth your attention.

HP’s Elite Dragonfly Chromebook

While there was a time where we would wonder each year whether or not any Chromebooks would be announced at CES, we now know to be on the lookout each year at this point. The biggest, baddest Chromebook announced this year is none other than the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook, and it comes with basically every bell and whistle you could ask for in a laptop running Chrome OS. With a high-res 3:2 screen, solid magnesium/aluminum alloy chassis, fantastic quad speaker setup, improved 5MP webcam, wirelessly recharging USI pen, powerful 12th-gen Intel internals and a haptic trackpad, this Chromebook is packed with everything you could ask for and still starts at $999. Available in Q2 of 2022, I believe we’ll be talking about this HP Chromebook all year long. Check out our hands-on video here.

Acer’s mysterious MediaTek-powered Spin 513

This Chromebook is one I cannot wait to get my hands on. Powered by the yet-untested MediaTek Kompanio 1380, the outer parts of this new device look very familiar if you’ve ever tried out the Acer Spin 713. With a similar 3:2 high-res display, convertible form factor, 8GB of RAM/128GB of storage, and all-aluminum chassis, the $599 asking price could be very low if the Kompanio 1380 ends up being as performant as we hope.

ASUS’ surprise Flip CX5601

Literally out of nowhere, ASUS showed up virtually to CES with a Chromebook that we had no prior knowledge of: the 16-inch, 16:10 Flip CX5601. We don’t know a ton about this Chromebook, but it is the first 16-inch Chromebook and the first larger Chrome OS device with a 16:10 screen. With 12th-gen Intel processors and a quad-speaker setup, this one could be a solid entry for ASUS’ 2022 Chromebook lineup and we really like the looks of it so far.

Intel’s new ARC GPUs

With two of the three big Chromebook announcements having Intel processors inside, it only makes sense that we were excited to see the official unveiling of Intel’s ARC GPU at CES 2022. We’ve all known it was on the way, but to see Intel finally arrive with their new discrete graphics chip was pretty exciting. Only time will tell if they can really compete with Nvidia and AMD, but I’m hopeful they will. If they do, I could eventually see one of these GPUs in a Chromebook!

ASUS’ folding-screen laptop

A device that we did know about prior to CES is ASUS’ new folding-screen laptop: the Zenbook 17 Fold. As the name implies, the device’s main display is a whopping 17.3 inches at a 4:3 aspect ratio. When fully opened, it can be used as a mammoth tablet or in its more-useful state as an all-in-one display with speakers and processors inside. Folded in half, it becomes a thick-but-manageable 12.3-inch 3:2 laptop. While I don’t know how many people will buy this in its initial iteration, I’m glad to see more companies trying this sort of thing as I do believe foldable devices like this could be truly useful in the future.

Dell’s wildy-futuristic new XPS laptop

Dell’s XPS line is always reserved for their approach to best-of-the-best. This year, Dell has pushed the envelope with the XPS 13 Plus, a device that puts as modern of a spin on the common laptop as I’ve ever seen. With an edge-to-edge keyboard, a minimalist palmrest with built-in haptic trackpad, and the capacitive key row up top, this laptop looks like something from the future and a Windows laptop that I’ll be on the lookout for at my local Best Buy for sure.

Samsung’s larger-than-life gaming monitor

Samsung knows how to make displays, and the latest gaming monitor – the Odyssey Arc – from the company is in a league of its own. It is a 55-inch, 16:9, 4K and very, very curved. With a height-adjusting stand and the ability to orient the display in a vertical fashion, this monitor does things most simply cannot. Would a huge, vertical, curved-over-your-head screen add to your productivity? Who knows, but it is really cool to look at. Just don’t expect it until later in 2022.

BMW’s color-shifting vehicle

CES is notable for the number of vehicle tech breakthroughs that are shown off each year, and the lack of an in-person audience didn’t stop some of the big guns from showing off their latest concepts. The BMW IX Concept showed up with an E-ink paint job that allows the vehicle to change colors to varied shades of white and gray. Will it ever show up? Maybe, but that’s not the real point of a concept, is it? Just the idea that we could see E-ink in paint jobs on vehicles is pretty mind-blowing, and I love seeing this sort of thing at CES.

Chevy’s affordable EV

Finally, we have Chevy’s new Equinox EV. While not the most technically amazing EV at CES, this one caught my eye on the basis of one property: price. While we’re all still waiting for EV cars with good range to drop into a realistic price range for most, Chevy looks like they are ready to deliver it. The Equinox is a decent-sized vehicle that looks nice and the starting price is aimed at far more realistic $30,000. If they deliver on that, this vehicle could be a game-changing shift in the EV market that feels on the brink of real breakthrough.