CES is always a smorgasbord of new laptop reveals and launches, with CES 2024 being no exception. From the sleek best ultrabooks to the best gaming laptops, there's something for everyone, as long as you have a discerning eye for what suits your needs best.
The biggest brands like Razer, Asus, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, and more made an appearance at the giant tech show one way or another, either on-site or through press events just before. And they all made sure to show off their best laptops, whether it was new fare or refreshes of established lines.
And out of all their top-class showings, these are the best laptops of the event, the cream of the crop that you should keep an eye out for if you're looking to sink your teeth into a brand-new portable machine in 2024.
Laptops
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE
At CES 2024, we gave Lenovo our Best of CES 2024 award in the best laptop category for its latest breakthrough in laptop design – the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE, a concept laptop that continues Lenovo's years of innovation with E-Ink technology.
The laptop's standout feature is its E-Ink Prism technology integrated into the laptop lid that allows users to craft not just static images but animated designs on their, offering a level of personalization far beyond anything you'd get with traditional stickers or cases.
The technology is composed of numerous small segments capable of color-changing to create vivid designs and animations. Remarkably, this dynamic display consumes minimal power, mere milliwatts, while remaining vibrantly visible even in well-lit environments.
Ideal for professional settings, it can showcase company logos or marketing graphics, making it a perfect fit for trade conferences. But it's not just for businesses; anyone can personalize their device, making the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE a revolutionary step in laptop aesthetics, and one that we hope we see move beyond the concept stage.
Asus Zenbook Duo
Promoted as the “world’s first 14-inch dual-screen OLED laptop” (which it is technically more accurate to say the first laptop with two 14-inch OLED screens), the Asus Zenbook Duo features dual-screen and equally sized Asus Lumina OLED displays.
Each screen is 14 inches, with a 3K resolution (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) touchscreen and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. You can connect both screens into a single screen that measures 19.8 inches diagonally. It also comes with an Asus ErgoSense keyboard, which can be attached to the bottom screen or detached and used via Bluetooth.
Finally, the Zenbook Duo is powered by an Intel Core Ultra CPU with its built-in neural processing unit, or NPU, which uses AI acceleration to boast hardware performance but can also help power generative AI models like stable diffusion offline.
All around, this dual-screen laptop is easily one of the most impressive laptops making its debut, and I look forward to seeing its true potential once it launches.
Acer Swift Go 14
I've been a huge fan of the Acer Swift Go series, thanks to its incredible OLED display, compact size, and efficient performance perfect for productivity work. The 2024 Acer Swift Go 14 looks to be just as impressive, with an absolutely stunning 14-inch WQXGA+ OLED (2880 x 1880) screen that makes anything displayed look bright and crisp. Its webcam is a 1440p QHD camera, which is a huge upgrade from the HD fare of previous models.
It's also equipped with up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU and Intel Arc graphics, all current-gen tech with the latter meaning it can handle light editing as well. The RAM and storage configurations are meaty as well with options for up to 32GB and 2TB, respectively. Port selection is pretty solid with everything but an ethernet port, and it's thin and light to boot.
From what I've seen so far, the Acer Swift Go 14 is shaping up to be one of the best thin and light laptops, and coupled with its $749 price tag it could easily be the best cheap laptop running Windows on the market when it finally hits the shelves.
Dell XPS 14
The Dell XPS 14 is the latest refresh in a line that's been rather inconsistent in quality and performance. But from what I've seen so far, this version has been extensively improved on. It features a beautiful 3.2K+ OLED display with a sharp and bright image, a full HD webcam, with a chassis of machined aluminum and Gorilla Glass 3 for the touchpad.
The specs are equally impressive with configurations up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. It also has configurations for RAM and storage as high as 64GB and 4TB PCIe 4 SSD, respectively. Not only does this laptop work for productivity but makes for a strong gaming machine as well as well suited for creative and editing work.
Its only downsides are the taskbar and touchpad, which are still accessibility nightmares. But otherwise, the excellent build quality, specs, webcam, and display all come together in a thin and light package. Its affordable price point is the cherry on top.
Gaming laptops
Razer Blade 14
The new Razer Blade 14 is one of the first new laptops in 2024 to feature the new award-winning AMD Ryzen 8040-series AI processors, and this one might be a doozy of a gaming device.
Powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and featuring up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPU, and a QHD+ 240 Hz display, the 14-inch form factor belies its performance potential.
And, with the addition of a dedicated NPU unit inside the processor's core architecture, creatives who dabble in gaming or vice versa have a whole new reason to invest in the Blade 14. With phenomenal performance with Stable Diffusion or other AI models as well as more common, built-in applications for AI processing like edge detection for photo editing or background blurring in video calls, this year's Blade 14 brings something entirely new to the table and are well worth checking out.
Alienware m16 R2
The Alienware m16 R2 probably has the most drastic physical change between a previous model and its refresh in any of the laptops I've seen at CES. It received a 15% reduction in its size due to the removal of an overly large and bulky ventilation system, which was since overhauled. Also upgraded is the webcam, which sports an FHD resolution.
It features a 16-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) display with a speedy 240Hz refresh rate. It also has configuration options for up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, as well as massive 64GB RAM and 8TB storage upgrades if you really want to beef up this machine.
One of my favorite features is the addition of Stealth Mode, which is activated by the 'Fn' + 'F2' key combo. This lets you set performance to Quiet Mode, which deactivates RGB lighting and lowers the ventilators' strength. It's shaping up to be one of the best gaming laptops that will give buyers a more affordable option that doesn't skimp on the power.
Acer Helios Neo 16
Another gaming laptop that marries both power and affordability, the Acer Helios Neo 16 is one of Acer's several gaming offerings and my favorite one. It balances the pure power and style of the Helios 16 and 18 with the affordability of the Nitro 17.
Just looking at it, it's a stylishly metallic laptop with a code design on the lid (unless you're in the US) and an extremely cool clear plate over the metal in the back of the laptop. The 16-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) display features a massive 240Hz refresh rate and DCI-P3 100% color gamut, allowing it to double as a creative and editing machine.
The Helios Neo 16 offers some excellent spec options up to the Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, with RAM and storage options up to 32GB and 2TB, respectively. The port selection is equally robust, with ports for nearly any use.
All in all, this is an impressive gaming laptop, that easily could offer just about everything that a gamer could want when it hits the shelves.
We’re covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.
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