Category: Technologies

Razer’s laptops launched at CES may look the same as before, but inside, all three have the latest components, and you’ll be looking at some new screens.

The company could only tease the Blade 18, which it says won’t ship before April and the price is still TBD, but the company did show off its new display — a 165Hz 4K IPS panel — and highlighted the laptop’s support for Thunderbolt 5 and its ability to drive three 4K monitors and its support for higher bandwidth. TB5 also implies it will (unsurprisingly) incorporate an Intel 14th-gen HX CPU unless there’s a newer CPU on the horizon.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 2024 Blade 14 will incorporate the AMD Ryzen 8945HS, the top model of the new processors AMD unveiled in December during Intel and AMD’s “all our chips love AI” pre-holiday launchathon. Razer goes for all the options, which in this case means USB 4 and Wi-Fi 7. You’ll be able to configure it with a 1600p 240Hz display and up to a GeForce RTX 4070, and the design allows for upgradeable DDR5 memory. You’ll be able to preorder starting January 23 for availability sometime in February. Razer still hasn’t set the price yet.

As for the middle child, the Blade 16, it’s sporting one of its fancy new 1600p (2,560×1,600 resolution)240Hz OLED displays or its dual-refresh Mini-LED IPS screens that can switch between 4K (2400p) 120Hz and 1200p 240Hz. It also and incorporates the new Intel Core i9-14900HX and up to a GeForce RTX 4090. The OLED display is rated ClearMR 11000 (a new measure of motion blur sponsored by VESA) and DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified; despite the ClearMR rating, Razer seems to classify it as a creator system rather than a gaming system, shipping it with Nvidia Studio drivers, although they’re effectively the same.

The Blade 16 does have pricing and availability! It will start at $3,000 and you can buy it now. Razer has eliminated the RTX 4060 configuration; an RTX 4070 makes that base price a little more palatable.

Acer announced five new gaming laptops at CES based on Intel’s new 14th-gen HX series of mobile processors. At the top of the lineup are updates to Acers’ 16-inch and 18-inch Predator Helios laptops with up to a Core i9 14900HX CPU and RTX 4090 graphics.

You’ll also find the Core i9 14900HX offered in the more affordable Predator Helios Neo line with up to RTX 4070 graphics. The Predator Helios Neo 16 gets an update while the larger Predator Helios Neo 18 is a new entry in the line that previously comprised only 16-inch models.

Rounding out Acer’s new offerings is an update to the budget Nitro 17 that tops out with a Core i7 14700HX and RTX 4060 graphics.

What’s new with Acer’s new Predator Helios laptops

In addition to getting updated with the latest 14th-gen Intel HX silicon, Acer’s latest Predator Helio 16 and 18 models feature swappable mechanical switches for the WASD keys that provide tactile feedback and faster response time for twitchy gamers. Three sets of switches are included in the box so gamers can dial in the right feel.

Both the 16- and 18-inch models also feature 250Hz mini-LED display options powered by up RTX 4090 graphics running at a full 175 watts.

The Predator Helios 16 (PH16-72) will be available later this month starting at $1,900. The Predator Helios 18 (PH18-72) will start shipping in March starting at $2,000.

Step-down Predator Helios Neo updates

Acer’s Helios Neo models are a notch down from the flagship Helios (non-Neo) models and lack top-end features like mini-LED displays, mechanical WASD keys and per-key RGB lighting. Intel’s new flagship mobile processor, the Core i9 14900HX, is offered on both new Neo models, but graphics top out at a 140-watt RTX 4070.

The 18-inch model is a new addition to the line that previously featured only a 16-inch size. Both models feature an IPS display with 2,560×1,600-pixel resolution and 240Hz refresh rate. In lieu of per-key RGB lighting, the keyboard features four-zone lighting.

Both models will be available in March with the Predator Helios Neo 16 (PHN16-72) starting at $1,500 and the new Predator Helios Neo 18 PHN18-72 starting at $1,550.

New budget Nitro 17

For gamers on a budget, Acer announced a new Nitro 17 that features up to a Core i7 14700HX CPU and RTX 4060 graphics. The Nitro 17 still features an old-school 16:9 display rather than a more modern panel with a taller and roomier 16:10 panel. At least it’s a QHD panel instead of a more pedestrian FHD unit.

The Acer Nitro 17 (AN17-72) ships later this month starting at $1,250.

TVs just seem to be getting bigger, brighter and better every year, and value-first companies like TCL are doing it without jacking prices. I previewed the company’s latest lineup of televisions at CES 2024 and from what I’ve seen so far, they once again look like superb performers for the money.

The most intriguing series — aside from a 115-inch behemoth that costs $20,000 — is the new QM851. TCL says it will cost about the same as the QM850 it replaces (around $900 for the 65-inch size), but it’s nearly twice as bright. The company claims 5,000 nits in highlights, compared with 2,800 nits last year.

The QM850 was my favorite TV for the money last year, in part thanks to superior brightness, and its overall image quality was superb. The 851, with its higher brightness and more mini-LED dimming zones (up to 5,000, again up from 2,800), should be even better. I had the chance to check out the 851 in person at TCL’s suite, and while my viewing time was brief and as usual restricted to canned demo footage, the TV definitely looked good.

The QM851 comes in 65-, 75-, 85- and 98-inch sizes — unfortunately it lacks a 55-inch size. Also new for 2024 is a 2.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos sound system and a NextGen TV tuner.

The step-down QM751 does offer a 55-inch size, however, in addition to all of the sizes found on the 851. This series isn’t as bright, but TCL still claims 2,000 nits thanks to a mini-LED backlight with up to 1,300 zones. Both the 851 and 751 offer quantum dot color, a 120Hz panel and TCL’s game accelerator system, which can refresh at up to 240Hz by cuttng resolution in half. It’s a neat feature but hardly (cough) a game-changer since it works only with PCs.

TCL’s final pair of quantum dot TV series, the Q651G-Pro and vanilla Q651, lack mini-LED so they won’t be as bright. The main difference between the two is that the Pro has local dimming, so it should have better contrast and picture quality, and the non-Pro comes in more sizes (down to 43 inches and up to 98). In both series, only the 85- and 98-inch models have 120Hz refresh rate panels — the others are 60Hz native, so they can’t take advantage of smoother 4K/120Hz gaming from a PS5 or Xbox Series X.

Once again TCL is using the Google TV operating system exclusively in its midrange and high-end TVs. It will continue to sell a handful of smaller, less-expensive Roku TVs in its S series. I prefer built-in Roku to Google TV, but the latter is solid in its own right, and you can always add a Roku streamer to any TV if you want.

The new TCL TVs go on sale this spring and I’m looking forward to the chance to review them in CNET’s lab.

TCL’s new phones want to make staring at your phone all day feel less burdensome on your eyes. The TCL 50 XL Nxtpaper 5G and 50 XE Nxtpaper 5G, announced Monday at CES 2024, both have a matte screen meant to simulate the experience of reading on paper versus a screen.

TCL’s appropriately named Nxtpaper screens aren’t new to phones; the company launched two phones last year with the technology. But these are TCL’s first Nxtpaper phones to launch in the US as part of its broader 50 series phone lineup. Pricing and full details haven’t been announced yet, but all models in the new TCL 50 family — including those with its Nxtpaper screen — will cost under $300.

The biggest benefit behind NxtPaper is that it should be easier on the eyes, with the company claiming that it filters blue light by up to 61%. It was difficult to tell how well the TCL 50 XL NxtPaper 5G lives up to those claims after using it for only a few minutes. But the screen’s matte finish was immediately noticeable, which I can imagine would make it more resistant to fingerprint smudges than a typical phone.

Read more: Best Phones of 2024

There was also virtually no glare on the display, which could make TCL’s Nxtpaper phones ideal for those who frequently read outdoors in bright sunlight. You can really notice this most when turning off the screen. Unlike many other electronics, the TCL’s Nxtpaper screen doesn’t turn into a black mirror. The step-down TCL 50 XE Nxtpaper 5G uses the previous generation of TCL’s Nxtpaper technology, while the XL version has the noticeably brighter 3.0 edition.

The phones have three different viewing modes: a normal view for general use with Android apps, a low-contrast color paper mode for comics and a black-and-white ink paper mode to act more like an e-reader. The NxtPaper phones will both include a 50-megapixel main camera, 5,010mAh battery and 128GB of storage. The XL will have a 6.8-inch FHD+ display, while the XE will have a slightly smaller 6.6-inch HD+ display with Nxtpaper 2.0 versus the XL’s brigher Nxtpaper 3.0 technology. While both phones will be the debut of the NxtPaper display in the US, TCL has previously included it in two phones that debuted internationally in August.

TCL is also releasing two tablets with this newer version of NxtPaper: the TCL NxtPaper 14 Pro and the Tab 10 NxtPaper 5G. The 14 Pro will include a 14-inch screen with a 2.8K resolution display and run on a MediaTek 8020 processor. The Tab 10 has a 10.4-inch display with a 2K resolution alongside 5G compatibility.

While TCL’s Nxtpaper display isn’t new, its expansion to the US market is another sign that tech companies are trying to upgrade the part of your phone you use the most: its screen. There have been several efforts to enhance the display on your phone beyond just making it sharper and brighter in recent years, such as the iPhone’s Dynamic Island and the bendable displays on phones from Samsung, Google and Motorola. Those approaches are way different than TCL’s Nxtpaper screen, but the common thread between them is that they all represent an effort to make your screen more useful in one way or another.

When I walked into TCL’s private suite at the MGM Grand at CES 2024, I was hoping for something big. Namely, a 115-inch TV called the 115QM891G. The company had unveiled the existence of this huge TV a few weeks earlier, but seeing it in person was another thing entirely. I’ve been reviewing TVs for two decades, and I’ve experienced some massive, searingly bright televisions. This is one is right up there.

The screen is eight and a half feet wide and nearly five feet tall. On its stand, which TCL told me isn’t the final design, the whole thing stood almost as tall as me, and I’m 6 feet 3 inches tall. It weighs nearly 200 pounds. TCL had set it up in a modest size room, with the couch maybe seven feet away, and from that seating distance it filled my field of view like an IMAX theater.

The thing about a mini-LED-powered TV, however, is that it can get much, much brighter than any projector. TCL claims a peak brightness of 5,000 nits, among the brightest TVs on the market, and its 20,000 local dimming zones should deliver precise lighting even on such a large screen. In my brief time watching, I didn’t notice overt blooming or stray illumination — my main impression was of extreme brightness and really impressive contrast.

That’s not surprising to me since the “baby” version of this TV, the 65-inch QM8 I reviewed in 2023, showed superb image quality using similar technology (on a much smaller scale). Of course, the 115QM891G includes all the other extras I’d expect, such as quantum dot color, a 120Hz panel, a tricked-out 6.2.2 channel Dolby Atmos sound system and a NextGen TV tuner. It’s not an 8K screen, but I didn’t notice any lack of sharpness.

Bigger TVs have graced the halls of CES, such as Samsung’s 292-inch Wall, but none were mass-market models. In other words, they all cost a lot more than this one. TCL is charging “under $20,000” for the 115QM891G when it goes on sale (my bet: $19,999), likely toward late spring or early summer 2024. It’s worth noting that rival Hisense has a 100-inch TV that costs a lot less (around $5,000), and don’t be surprised if other TV makers break the triple digit barrier soon. Ninety-eight-inch TVs are soooo 2023.

TCL also announced a range of smaller, much more affordable TVs at CES 2024.

TCL is unveiling its new line of cheaper phones at CES 2024 on Monday alongside a step-down model of the company’s augmented reality glasses. The TCL 50 series of phones put particular focus on the screens, with handsets that have a 120Hz refresh rate and the company’s paperlike NxtPaper technology. Meanwhile, the company’s RayNeo X2 Lite glasses tout its ability to do real-time translations and a newer Qualcomm chip.

The TCL 50 series is led by the TCL 50 XL 5G, which includes a 6.8-inch 120Hz refresh rate display, dual speakers, a 50-megapixel main camera, a 5,010mAh battery and 128GB of storage. The device itself also includes a leather-like back.

The step-down TCL 50 XE 5G includes a slightly smaller 6.6-inch 90Hz refresh rate display, but otherwise also the same speakers, camera, battery and storage options.

TCL is also announcing NxtPaper versions of the XL and XE phones, which are both the first US-bound devices from TCL to include its paperlike display. TCL claims those displays reduce blue light by 61%, and my colleague Lisa Eadicicco notes from her hands-on time that the screens have a more matte look in comparison to traditional screens.

The TCL 50 LE is a 4G-only phone that will round out the low end of the company’s lineup and is targeted at the prepaid phone market. That phone will include a 6.6-inch 90Hz refresh rate display, a 13-megapixel camera and 64GB of storage.

TCL did not reveal pricing for its new phone lineup, but last year’s 40 Series of phones all priced for under $200.

Alongside the phones, TCL’s RayNeo X2 Lite glasses are a step-down model to the original RayNeo X2 but still include the live translation feature those glasses spotlighted. The company touts that the Lite glasses include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip, which powers features like its AI assistant, photography and object detection. Availability and pricing were not yet announced for these glasses. The original RayNeo X2 is also going global through crowdfunding, with TCL announcing Monday that it will hit the Indiegogo platform in February.

The RayNeo X2 Lite debuts hours after Apple announced preorders for its high-end Apple Vision Pro headset, which will be released on Feb. 2. Both TCL and Apple’s devices compete against headsets like the Meta Quest 2, all of which are bringing their spin on mixed reality experiences.

If you’re looking for ways to stick to a budget this year, one way to save some cash on your everyday essentials is buying in bulk. And if you’re looking to save money on a membership to a big box store, StackSocial has a solid deal on annual Costco memberships. Rather than getting a traditional discount on the membership itself, you’ll get back Costco credit that you can use toward a future purchase. That saves you roughly 33% off the cost of membership.

There are two different levels that you can choose from with this StackSocial deal. You can snag a one-year Gold Star Costco membership for $60, and you’ll get back $20 worth of Costco credit. While you still need to shell out the original $60, it essentially means you’ll get the one-year membership for just $40. Or spring for the Executive Gold Star Costco membership for $120 and get back $40 worth of Costco credit, which means the one-year membership at the higher tier will essentially cost you just $80.

StackSocial doesn’t list a specific date for when this deal will end, so we recommend making your purchase sooner rather than later if you want to take advantage of this offer. Keep in mind, this offer is only available only to new customers, or those whose memberships have expired for more than 18 months. If you’ve been thinking of picking up an annual Costco membership, this is a great way to keep more cash in your pocket.

Read more: How to Get the Most Out of Your Costco Membership

With a Costco Gold Star subscription, you’ll get one membership card for your household. It allows you to shop at any Costco warehouse worldwide, as well as online at Costco.com. While Costco is a great place to save on groceries and other everyday essentials, it offers a lot more. A Gold Star membership also means you can use Costco’s gas stations and pharmacies, as well as Costco’s optical and hearing aid centers. And Costco frequently has seasonal plants, decor, furniture, electronics and other products as well.

If you sign up for a Costco Executive Gold Star membership, you’ll can take advantage of all of the features of the regular Gold Star subscription, as well as additional benefits and greater discounts on select Costco services. Plus, you’ll earn an annual 2% reward up to $1,000 on qualified purchases.

After you sign up, you’ll receive your bonus shop card via email. The card can be used both in store and online, so you can use it right away. It’s also worth noting that after you pay for membership through StackSocial, you’ll have until June 30 to redeem the membership, or you may not be able to take advantage of the deal.

AMD launched its high-profile, newest-generation Ryzen 8000-series mobile CPUs less than a month ago, saving the more mainstream (read “less expensive”), meat-and-potatoes announcements for CES. As usual, that means a step-up-from-entry-priced graphics chip, the Radeon RX 7600 XT, for cards starting at about $329, and a new slate of low-power Ryzen desktop CPUs, made up of new 8000 series chips and additions to the old 5000 series.

The $269 Radeon RX 7600 remains at the bottom of AMD’s current-generation pecking order, now joined by the XT version. As is common — Nvidia frequently does the same — they use the same GPU, but AMD kind of unbottlenecks it. That means more memory (16GB vs. 8GB) and higher frequencies, with a concomitant increase in power requirements (25 watts more) to drive it all. That means the XT is bigger and takes two 8 pin power connections rather than one.

Radeon RX 7600 XT

Memory	16GB GDDR6
GPU clock (GHz, game/boost)	2.47/2.76
Memory data rate/Interface	18Gbps/128 bits
Ray accelerators	32
Stream processors	2,048
Compute Units	32
AI accelerators	64
Process	6nm
Total board power (watts)	190
Bus	PCIe 4.0×8
Size	2 slots
Launch price	Starts at $329
Ship date	January 24, 2024

In practice, the XT probably won’t bump you up a resolution class — in other words, it won’t really get you from 1080p to 1440p gaming without sacrifices. But it could conceivably lift you a quality class at the same frame rate, give you a little more headroom for video editing and viewing large 3D models, or give some generative AI calculations a little boost. Those are the types of things that benefit from the extra memory and the slight speed uptick. The larger size and needier power may disqualify it from fitting into your system as a replacement, depending upon how small it is.

AMD won’t offer its own card with the GPU; it will only be available from the company’s typical partners including Acer, PowerColor, Sapphire, XFX and others. It’s expected to ship on Jan. 24.

Along with the card, AMD announced some updates to its Adrenalin software, including video upscaling and improvements in streaming video quality.

On the other side of the processing fence, new Ryzen CPUs are on their way. They’re predominantly 65-watt CPUs, lower power for desktops but a power class formerly used for high-power laptops. Now they’re commonly used for entry-level gaming as well as small-form and general-purpose desktop PCs.

The 8000 series incorporates the new technologies that debuted in December, notably more-powerful Radeon 700-series integrated graphics (the “M” designation is for mobile) and generationally improved AI processing with AMD’s XDNA neural processing.

Mainstream Ryzen desktop CPU specs

	Max boost (GHz)	Cores	Threads	NPU	Power class	Integrated graphics	Generation (socket)
Ryzen 7 8700G	5.1	8	16	Yes	65W	Radeon 780M	Zen 4 (AM5)
Ryzen 5 8600G	5.0	6	12	Yes	65W	Radeon 760M	Zen 4 (AM5)
Ryzen 5 8500G	5.0	6	12	Yes	65W	Radeon 740M	Zen 4 (AM5)
Ryzen 3 8300G	4.9	4	8	Yes	65W	Radeon 740M	Zen 4 (AM5)
Ryzen 7 5700X3D	4.1	8	16	No	105W	None	Zen 3 (AM4)
Ryzen 7 5700	4.6	8	16	No	65W	None	Zen 3 (AM4)
Ryzen 5 5600GT	4.6	6	12	No	65W	Radeon Graphics	Zen 3 (AM4)
Ryzen 5 5500GT	4.4	6	12	No	65W	Radeon Graphics	Zen 3 (AM4)

The 8000 series requires AMD’s newest-generation AM5 socket, which makes it suboptimal for DIY upgraders, who probably have older motherboards, or buyers on a really tight budget. Because of this, AMD has also expanded its last-gen 5000 series with new CPUs that can fit into the older AM4 socket, but they have inferior integrated graphics and lack any sort of dedicated AI acceleration.

Most notable among them is the Ryzen 7 5700X3D, which uses AMD’s stacked-chip design (denoted by “X3D”) for faster-than-usual performance; it’s typically for gaming PCs with standalone graphics cards in them, and in this case, for midpriced systems.

Previously, the company’s AMD Advantage badging program denoted systems that maxed out all the AMD components and features possible and were designed in conjunction with AMD to do so. Now, those are being bumped up to a new AMD Advantage Premium slot, and poor, generic AMD Advantage will be used to denote more hands-off relationships — AMD “verified” without “rigorous qualification.”

This opens up marketing subsidies for custom builders and more prebuilt systems or laptops that don’t merit the co-development — companies such as Maingear, CLX, ABS and CyberPower PC — and existing partners including HP and Asus. Like Intel’s Evo badging, it rarely impacts your buying decisions in a meaningful way.

Buying the latest Windows OS directly at Microsoft will cost you a whopping $200. But if you’re building your own PC or are looking to upgrade your current one without breaking the bank, then you won’t want to miss out on this limited-time deal at StackSocial. This offer knocks 84% off a Windows 11 Pro lifetime license, which drops the price down to just $30.

This is a great price, but it’s important to note that not every computer out there is able to run Windows 11, so before you buy it, you’re going to want to ensure that your machine will meet the requirements for the operating system. Additionally, the listing says that if you have a PC that’s already running Windows 10, and Windows Update doesn’t let you install the free Windows 11 upgrade, your computer won’t be compatible with this version either.

After you’ve bought the license, you’ll get an activation key that you can use to install and activate Windows 11 Pro on one computer. To be clear, purchases like this are generally intended for advanced users — folks who are building a new computer or who want to dual-boot an existing computer with a second OS. If you’re doing that, you’ll need a secondary PC to access and download the files, so be sure you can access everything from another computer in your home, or that you have a friend’s machine you can use temporarily. Also note that you’ll want to have a USB thumb drive available to transfer the file.

If you’ve ever wanted to sync up The Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the LG Dukebox might be just the device for you. This little hybrid tube-speaker… thing could be one of the weirdest devices of CES 2024.

The LG Duke Box is a 360-degree speaker with a transparent OLED panel at the front to show off the tube amplifier inside. Transparent OLEDs have been with us for a number of years, but the technology has yet to really take hold. LG says the screen can be used to watch movies, or “create a cozy fireplace ambiance where the vacuum tube is visible amidst the flickering flames”.

The DukeBox is likely to take advantage of the pleasant sound properties of vacuum tubes, and you can see them used in a zillion cheap amps on Amazon, but also in guitar amps and preamplifiers.

The DukeBox is reminiscent of last year’s StanbyMe Go — another TV-speaker combo from LG, except that one was designed to be portable. Samsung also released a soundbar with a vacuum tube in it many years ago. At the moment, the DukeBox appears to be a concept and not a real product, so pricing and availability are likely a ways off.