Best of CES 2023

At this year's CES Show in Las Vegas, we got the chance to see live all the latest devices, gear, and systems coming this year or soon. Though there were no real "earth-shattering" breakthrough technologies or products, there was a lot of technology that we have seen before but is finally coming to market, like AR Glasses and innovative digital health devices. Listed below are the winners of our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES 2023:

Schneider Home combines a smart energy panel, EV charger and solar inverter to work as one system in the home.

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As more homes convert to solar power and electric vehicle sales increase, homeowners will need a better solution and setup to accommodate these new energy-saving sources, significantly helping them navigate their path to net zero. Schneider Electric has the answer for all the homes that are adding EV chargers and solar power. It is Schneider Home, the company's new smart sustainable home energy management solution which includes a home battery for clean energy storage, a high-power solar inverter, a smart electrical panel, an electric vehicle charger, and connected electric sockets and light switches – all controlled by the easy-to-use Schneider Home app.

What we like about Schneider Home is how it intelligently organizes home energy by bringing together utility power, solar, backup battery, and EV charging. It offers unparalleled intelligence to homeowners, including the ability to monitor energy consumption by individual appliances, decides where to prioritize power during an outage to extend available backup power, and avoid expensive electrical service upgrades when purchasing an EV. The solution also allows homeowners to save by enrolling in utility programs and qualifying for tax incentives.

We reward Schneider Electrics our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES for this new energy setup that eliminates the complexity for homeowners by automating energy production, storage, measurement, and control in their smart homes. You can learn more about Schneider Home here.

In this video, GearBrain highlights the winners of our Editor's Choice Award Winners for Best of CES Show 2023.

EcoFlow Blade is first robotic lawn-sweeping mower

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We are all familiar with robotic vacuums and how they work. And we have seen several companies try to take this concept and apply it to the outdoors recently. At this year's show, EcoFlow, a manufacturer of eco-friendly energy solutions, debuted the EcoFlow Blade, the world's first robotic lawn-sweeping mower. Blade is the first robot mower we have seen that comes with an automatic leaf collection, virtual boundaries navigation, and precision lawn mowing all controlled by an app.

The Blade has a lot of similar features to robot vacuums. For instance, it comes with smart obstacle climbing and avoidance which is common in many robot vacuums. It also has a feature robot vacuums don't have, an anti-theft feature that works on 4G and ESIM connectivity.

You will be able to pick up the EcoFlow Blade in April. Pricing has not yet been set.

LG Signature OLED M Smart TV is first consumer TV with Zero Connect Technology

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Every year at CES you expect to see a new TV. It's been like that for years. At this year's CES LG celebrated the 10th Anniversary of their LG OLED line of smart TVs as well as launched the LG Signature OLED M. This new smart TV is the world's first consumer TV with Zero Connect technology, a wireless solution capable of real-time video and audio transmission at up to 4K 120Hz. What this means, is you can put your smart LG OLED M anywhere in the room, close to an outlet of course. Then you can hide all the devices you want to connect to your TV, like a game console, streaming devices, or cable box. These get plugged into a Wireless AV box which sends the content over to your LG TV wirelessly. Thus, keeping the area around your TV clean and free of all those wires normally found behind your television. (Note: the Wireless AV box can't be more than 30 feet away from the TV.)

The cost of this 97-inch 4K screen smart TV has not been disclosed. We are assuming like all LG Signature smart televisions; the OLED M is not going to be cheap. It could be in the same price range as LG's large 8K OLED TVs and not nearly as expensive as the rollable TV which lists for roughly $100,000.

Mercury Marine's new Avator 48V electric outboard and Fathom e-power system work together to power electric boats and no need for a generator

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As the smart home technology ventures out of the home, besides the car, the next place is on the water. Boats are becoming smart homes on the water, and you can find the same conveniences, like smart lights, switches, locks, and appliances in these vessels. But what caught our eye at CES this year was what Brunswick is doing with their boats. They launched a bunch of electrified products which we think will transform the marine industry.

At CES this year, Brunswick launched the first commercial EV outboard engine, the Mercury Marine's Avator 48V electric outboard series, as well as highlighted Navico Group's newly launched Fathom e-power system – a lithium-ion power management system that replaces the role of combustion engine generators in supplying power for onboard systems in marine and RV applications. When you combine these two products in a boat, there is no need for a generator. These two devices can provide you with all the power you need to run your boat. And since these devices are smart, you can monitor energy usage and get tips from an app which will help prevent you from running out of power.

The Fathom e-power system comes in 12V, 24V, and 48V customizable kits and is designed to integrate into a wide range of boats and recreational vehicles. The hardware and software elements are tested and validated to ensure compatibility with the Fathom e-Power system as well as third-party hardware. Additional custom kits are scheduled to launch throughout 2023.

Mercury Marine, a division of Brunswick, launched their new electric outboard that works with the Fathom e-power system at CES. Their new Avator 7.5E Electric Outboard is the first EV outboard to market but the company has two additional units, The Avator 20e and 35e under development and will be to market soon. All EV outboards come with an interchangeable lithium-ion battery pack developed in partnership with the battery experts at Mastervolt. The battery can be recharged overnight using the included charger, while additional higher-speed chargers will be available so boaters can choose their charge time. All chargers are compatible with a standard household outlet. Also, the EV engine converts its battery power into fun using a transverse flux motor which is outfitted on all models.

According to Andrew Przybyl, the Mercury engineer leading the Avator development team, "One of the main reasons we chose to be the first to use transverse flux technology in this application is because of its high torque density. The motor can generate instant torque at low rpm. Because of that, we were able to design a large-diameter three-blade prop that spins slower, which is better for efficiency and overall performance. The result is faster 0-4 mph acceleration and higher efficiency than similar competitive outboards. Efficiency is the name of the game in electrification, and the Avator 7.5e outboard was designed to give you the most out of every electron."

But what we like is how the Avator 7.5e integrates seamlessly into a complete propulsion system. Management and monitoring of the system can be done from the digital display. You can also control the outboard with the tiller or remote controls.

Overall, with the combination of Fathom's revolutionary system and the technology of Avator EV outboards, we reward Brunswick with our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES.

TCL RayNeo X2 Smart AR Glasses

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If you have been keeping up with the development of augmented reality (AR) smart glasses, you know many of these devices are still rather bulky and hard to wear regularly. At CES this year, TCL introduced TCL RayNeo X2 Smart Glasses and as you can see, they are not bad looking and are comfortable to wear. We know because we tried them on at the show.

The RayNeo X2 smart glasses harness pioneering binocular full-color Micro-LED optical waveguide displays alongside an array of new interactive features on the lens. It's this combination that offers an unparalleled AR experience for users. They are also lightweight and come with smart navigation and auto-translation. You can also take pictures, record a video and play music. Controls are on the arms of the frames and the cameras are on the bridge of the frames.

After wearing these smart AR glasses at the show and testing out a bunch of the features, especially auto-translation, I can say the TCL RayNeo X2 is the most advanced and ready-for-consumer use AR smart glasses on the market. We can see how these smart AR glasses can help the hearing impaired or travelers who need help with translation. They can also provide hands-free assistance with directions or making a call while driving or riding a bike. Thus, the reason we rewarded TCL with our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES.

However, you are going to have to wait to get them. TCL is making the RayNeo X2 available for the developer community in selected regions first (end of Q1 2023)

Samsung SmartThings Energy

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A popular theme at CES is sustainability and how all these new smart devices can help save the environment as well as provide energy savings to the consumer. Samsung announced at CES the new Samsung SmartThings Energy, a simple-to-use app to monitor energy usage for a more efficient smart home. Now you might be thinking that this is not something new and there are already smart devices that can help the consumer monitor energy usage. But Samsung has gone a lot further with monitoring and managing your entire household energy usage.

Integrated into the Samsung SmartThings app, Samsung SmartThings Energy will provide users with energy-saving advice, insights on energy usage by device and product, the estimated energy cost, and energy usage history. But at CES, Samsung announced how it is leveraging Samsung SmartThings Energy to bring about a new era of sustainable living. As a result of these expanded efforts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Samsung the industry's first mass-market Smart Home Energy Management Systems (SHEMS) certification. The certification recognizes smart home appliances and services that manage and automate connected devices to help consumers gain insights into their energy use, thereby inspiring energy-saving behavior, reducing costs, and helping to facilitate demand response measures that minimize stress on the grid.

And for this recognition, we too award Samsung SmartThings our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES 2023.

HCA's demo of "any app for any device" capability at CES Show

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​Interoperability and Energy Usage are big challenges for consumers today. Trying to figure out unified control with smart devices that work across multiple wireless protocols is difficult and extremely challenging. Thus, why we created GearBrain. But Home Connectivity Alliance is also working on solving interoperability and at CES, they not only released their new guidelines for cloud-to-cloud interoperability (the new HCA Interface Specification 1.0, a new industry standard for Cloud-to-Cloud (C2C) interoperability), they actually demonstrated it live with real smart appliances, smart thermostats, and televisions.

We saw in the HCA's booth a demo of how a user could use a Samsung SmartThing's app to monitor energy usage from a Vestal refrigerator, a Trane smart thermostat, and an LG dryer and washing machine. The ability to have all these smart appliances working together in one app to help the consumer save money on their energy bill is fantastic. And you can use any HCA member's app to see what is going on with all your smart appliances, HVAC systems, and smart televisions. It is this integration and monitoring capabilities that we award HCA GearBrain's Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES.

To learn more about HCA and their new HCA Interface Specification 1.0, you can visit their site here.

Plugable's Thunderbolt 4 Quad Docking Station allows you to connect to 4 monitors in one docking station.

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If you are one of those individuals who like to have multiple monitors in the office or at home, one of the things you know is many of the good docking stations have a limited number of ports for you to connect with. At CES Plugable showed us their new Thunderbolt 4 Quad Docking Station (TBT4-UDZ), a powerful docking station that allows you to connect to 4 monitors.

The Thunderbolt 4 Quad Dock is a powerful, innovative, and reliable 16-in-1 docking station. It features 100W best-in-class charging and 16 port expansion.

Leveraging the power of the Intel Goshen Ridge chipset, the TBT4-UDZ provides a variety of connectivity options for additional displays. With two HDMI ports and two Display Portports, users can mix and match monitors to expand up to four 4K 60Hz displays on Windows machines and up to two 4K 60Hz displays on Macs powered by M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.

With wired 2.5Gbps Ethernet, a combination audio port, an SD and microSD card reader, and seven total USB ports, this Thunderbolt docking station takes advantage of Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 features.

The TBT4-UDZ is available for pre-order now on Amazon for $299 and will be released on January 17th. Find other purchase sources for bulk, business, and professional users here.

If you are a gamer, developer or someone who benefits from multiple monitors working in tandem, the new Thunderbolt 4 Quad Docking station is for you, and the reason why we gave it one of our Editor's Awards for Best of CES 2023.

How about a flying indoor security camera to help monitor your home when you are away? Sounds like something out of the Jetsons. Well, it's here thanks to Ring. Their Ring Always Home Cam and we got a chance to see it in action at CES.

For those of you who don't know, Ring introduced in late 2021 the Always Home Cam, the world's first flying indoor security camera. This smart home security device works only indoors and starts flying only when the Ring Alarm is triggered. You connect to the Ring Always Home Cam with the Ring app to set up flight paths, store videos, and manually check on what's going on in your home when away.

At CES, we got the chance to see the Ring Always Home Cam in action. The video it takes inflight is 1440 x 1440 HD and has a 120-degree field of view. It connects to your home Wi-Fi network (dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and 5GHz) and uses a rechargeable battery and 120V-220V USB-C power adapter.

Some might be wondering why reward Ring for a device that came out in 2021. We are rewarding Ring for this feature because the market is ready for this type of technology and Ring is smart in how it rolls it out to consumers. Right now, you can request an invitation to buy the device from Ring on Amazon. But keep in mind the flying indoor camera only flies along preset flight paths in a single-story home.

Citizen's new smartwatch, CZ Smart

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How about a smartwatch that was developed together with NSA and IBM's Watson? It does exist and it's made by Citizen. At CES the company launched its newest smartwatch, the CZ Smart.

This smartwatch comes with proprietary wellness software that can anticipate, learn and help the watch get smarter so it can assist you to live a healthier lifestyle. This software, the CZ Smart YouQ application was developed using research from NASA's Ames Research Center and has AI from IBM Watson to understand and predict patterns of fatigue and alertness and offers customized insights and personalized strategies to build better habits to maximize your daily potential. This is something we have not seen in smartwatches.

When you combine this new technology with Citizen's high-quality design, purposeful function, and innovative technology, you get a powerful wearable that earned our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES 2023.

The CZ Smart watches with the proprietary CZ Smart YouQ application will be available in the U.S. on the company's website starting in March 2023.

Nextbase IQ smart dashcam

Nextbase

Our next award winner is Nextbase, a manufacturer of dash cams. At this year's show, Nextbase introduced Nextbase IQ, the world's first smart and fully connected dash cam.

This new smart dash cam is powered exclusively by T-Mobile in North America, delivering IoT connectivity and enabling real-time video and notifications, as well as over-the-air updates that will offer additional features throughout the life of the device. By combining as many as three cameras (up to 4K resolution) that embrace the latest AI-powered technology, with out-of-the-box connectivity from T-Mobile, vehicle owners can benefit from remote driver safety and vehicle security capabilities, such as live video and audio access and push notifications, whether they are behind the wheel or away from their vehicle.

We are awarding Nextbase IQ our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES because it's bringing an entirely new connectivity capability to the car and dash cams. It's now more than just a camera in your car. It's a security and driver assistance camera with intelligent technology to help keep everyone in the car safe. The 3-camera system with 4K resolution and 1440p HD cabin and rear-view cameras can record events when you get pulled over or can use an infrared system to detect if the driver is drowsy or impaired. It's an extension of your smart home security system for the car. Thus, why we gave Nextbase the award.

Moen's Smart Faucet with Motion Control and Handle-free

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At CES, Moen showcased a bunch of new smart water products. They introduced a new addition to the Moen Smart Water Network which was one of our Best of CES 2022 award winners. This smart water security system helps homeowners monitor and control the water inside and outside their homes. It consists of Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff, smart leak detectors, smart sump pump monitor, smart faucet, smart shower, and now the new Moen Smart Sprinkler Controller and Wireless Soil Sensor. But what caught our eye this year from Moen was their new Moen Smart Faucet with Motion Control.

Smart faucets have been around for a few years and offered controls via touch, mobile app, and voice commands. At this year's show, Moen showcased the first world's first totally touchless smart faucet, the Handle-Free Moen Smart Faucet with Motion Control. It's a next-generation smart faucet with a sleek, handless-less design. It uses the new touchless sensors which respond to hand motions to control the flow and temperature of your water. You can also use voice commands from smart speakers and displays like Amazon Echo or Nest Hub Max to control your Moen Smart Faucet.

This unique and intuitive technology is just another step in the evolution of the smart home, and we award Moen our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES. If interested in getting a Handle-Free Moen Smart Faucet with Motion Controls., it will be coming sometime in 2023. We will let you know once we have a chance to test it.

Tempest Weather Station is one part of Rachio's new Outdoor Smart Water Technology system.

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Smart watering was a popular theme at CES mostly because it is aligned with many companies’ sustainability goals. We saw companies introduce new smart sprinkler controllers, smart hose controllers, and full smart home water monitoring systems. Rachio, a leader and pioneer in smart outdoor water systems introduced their new Outdoor Smart Water Technology which included a smart hose timer, a smart sprinkler controller, and a smart weather station. This was the first complete smart outdoor watering system we have seen paired with a smart weather station.

GearBrain has tested many of Rachio's smart sprinkler systems over the years and they always delivered on their promise. At CES this year, the company introduced its Smart Hose Timer Kit and a Tempest Weather Station by WeatherFlow. The Rachio Smart Hose Timer is an outdoor faucet controller that connects to a Wi-Fi hub to automate hose watering with controls using the Rachio app. The Tempest Weather Station by WeatherFlow is an outdoor weather station that connects to the Rachio app to measure and report on the weather directly from your yard. It's solar-powered and has no moving parts.

When you combine these two new devices with a Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller, you get Rachio's Outdoor Smart Watering Technology System. We are awarding Rachio our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES for the forming of this innovative smart outdoor watering system which can help keep your lawn, shrubs, and flowers healthy as well as conserve water. It's also the first system we have seen that consists of a weather station that can measure in real-time the actual weather you get at your home. We have found this to be a missing element of good smart water systems, especially if it rains a lot around your area but not at your home.

The Rachio Outdoor Smart Watering Technology System is available today on the company's website. The Smart Hose Timer Kit costs $99.99 (valve and Wi-Fi hub included), Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller costs %149.99 for 4-Zone, $199.99 for 5 zone,s and $249.99 for 16-Zone. And the Tempest Weather Station by WeatherFlow costs $329.

With all the bad storms we are experiencing today, many consumers are looking for a good reliable power generator but want it to be inside their homes. Most generators are gas-powered and need to be placed outside the home. At CES, we saw one company, Geneverse, introduce their new HomePower Pro Plus generator which is solar-powered but can run inside your home.

The Geneverse HomePower Pro Plus is a complete power system solution. The PRO Plus has a capacity of 4838Wh, 4400W of rated power, and a surge power of 8800W. The surge outlet supports up to 30 amps, providing the perfect alternative power source for contractors, RV travelers, beyond traditional use in the home.

What makes the HomePower Pro Plus ecosystem unique is the fact it comes with an ergonomic motorized "cart" for ease of portability and includes the Geneverse Transfer Switch, a power box capable of turning this portable generator into an in-grid generator in minutes. When you combine the sliding panels that provide access to 18 available outlets, you get a system that can work together or as standalone units to power your smart home. All you must do is make sure you power up these units via an AC Outlet, solar panels, or a carport. Once powered up, the generators can store and hold power for at least a year. So, when the power goes out in your connected home, you will be able to provide power to appliances, medical devices, lights, tools, and even your home office in no time.

Skyx SkyPlug makes it easier for users to install a light fixture on the ceiling or wall.

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When was the last time you hung a light fixture and complained about how tired your arms were afterward? Imagine if there was an easier and safer way to hang a fixture that would turn your light into a smart light. Thanks to Skyx, there is a way to use their new Skyx SkyPlug Smart.

The Skyx SkyPlug Smart is the new smart ceiling fixture. It integrates with any fixture type, at any scale. Whether you are hanging a fixture on a wall or ceiling, the SkyPlug makes it extremely simpler on all fronts. And it has been proven to be one of the safest ways to install a fixture.

At CES, we saw a demo of this new smart ceiling fixture and were impressed on quick and easy it was to connect to the wall. The SkyPlug features a smart base that transforms any light fixture and ceiling fan into a smart fixture that can be controlled by the proprietary SkyHome App. It's compatible and integrates with Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Home,Samsung Smart Things, and Cortana to name a few. Besides using voice control, users can use the SkyHome app to set up schedules, eco/energy saving mode, dimming, color changing, night light, and emergency lighting.

Based on the safety features of the technology the SkyPlug was voted into the US National Electrical Code (NEC), and therefore, is expected to become a US household standard for ceilings, like how the GFCI electrical bathroom outlet became a mandated household requirement.

Over the past few years, we have seen new digital health devices come to market and measure our fitness, sleep, blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, brainwaves, glucose, cholesterol, and hearing. Now we can add measurements of our urine to the list.

At CES, Withing's introduced the first in-home biomarker analysis called U-Scan. This new smart health device measures your urine in a very discreet way, in the privacy of your bathroom.

U-Scan consists of a technologically advanced pebble-shaped urine analysis reader that sits within the toilet bowl. Its changeable cartridges are designed to assess specific biomarkers without the need for external sample capture or strips. It debuted at CES with two consumer health cartridges, U-Scan NutriBalance which helps to regularly monitor general health and wellness, and U-Scan Cycle which enables monitoring and tracking of a female's monthly cycle. Later this year, the company will add a medical cartridge.

Withings U-Scan readerGearBrain

Withings U-Scan gets our Editor's Choice Award for Best of CES because it is a game changer in-home digital health. This new versatile platform that connects to the Withings Health Mate app will provide a ton of valuable and actionable insights based on daily readings. You will be able to get one in Q2 2023 if you live in Europe. It will come with consumer cartridges Nutri Balance and Cycle Sync3. Users will be able to buy U-Scan starter kit for €499.95 which comes with one U-Scan reader and one cartridge providing 3 months of testing; then you can subscribe to an automatic refill or buy a standalone cartridge on withings.com.

Future medical cartridges of U-Scan will be available pending regulatory approvals in Europe. For US consumers, U-Scan is not for sale in the United States but is in development and plans to be available in the future following FDA clearance.

Check out The GearBrain, our smart home product find engine to see the other compatible products that work with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa-enabled devices or any other smart-connected device you have in your home.

The GearBrain, First Compatibility Find Engine for Smart DevicesGearBrain's mission is to simplify the Internet of Things or new connected devices for consumers. Many of today's new connected ...