8 gadgets from CES 2024 you can already buy

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a trade show, but it’s also a collective intention-setting event for the tech industry. If you want to know what companies are thinking about, look at what they do (and don’t) talk about at CES. Unfortunately, that means that many TVs, smartphones, and computers that get shown off at keynotes or on the show floor aren’t necessarily going to be usable anytime soon. Some of the most exciting ideas stay as just that: ideas.

But it’s not all a wash. For every experimental haptic vest, you can say there’s an interesting gadget in your hands, if not right now, then reasonably soon. This list collects the exciting new tech that you can order right now for your own glimpse of the future.

1 Rabbit R1

An AI companion for everyone

The Rabbit R1 made a splash at CES by not only being cheaper than comparable AI hardware products at $199 — the Humane AI Pin costs $699 and requires a $24 per month subscription — but by seeming legitimately useful. To be fair, it’s too early to say whether the R1 will replace anyone’s smartphone or tablet as the computer they carry with them everywhere because of its small screen and limited, app-less operating system.

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Rabbit R1: Everything we know about this ambitious AI assistant

Think of the R1 as a pocket assistant, but it doesn’t display apps. Instead, it uses AI to do tasks, and you interact with it via voice commands.

But its playful and tactile design and the LAM (large action model) concept that’s at the centre of the R1’s Rabbit OS could prove compelling. Rabbit imagines the R1 navigating services like Spotify or Domino’s website and taking action for you by understanding how apps and web interfaces work on a fundamental level and then letting you teach it new skills if it doesn’t. If LAMs work, it could make the fantasy of an AI assistant that does everything for you more feasible. At the very least, dramatically undercutting its competition means a lot of people will try it for themselves.

2 HP Omen Transcend 14

A mature gaming laptop

On some level, all gaming laptops appeal to the inner voice inside all of us that likes glowing RGB lights and bright, high-resolution displays, but the HP Omen Transcend 14 deserves extra credit for classing the rest of the package up, too. It’s a slim, 14-inch laptop with a 120Hz OLED display, up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, and up to a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU.

It should be able to handle modern PC games without too many issues. The difference between it and the other laptops at CES 2024 is the Omen Transcend 14 mostly looks like a normal laptop while doing it.

3 GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker

Smoked meats on your counter

Yes, technically, anyone can buy a traditional smoker and start making some of the best barbecues of their life. But not everyone has the outdoor space, or the wood, or money to make it happen. The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker is the smoker for the rest of us. This $999 device is small enough to sit on a kitchen counter and is able to smoke meats like a smoker five times its size.

Using wood pellets and an active smoke filtration system makes meat taste good and keeps your kitchen smoke-free, with a variety of settings available depending on your cut or type of meat. The whole system seems fool-proof; there’s even a built-in temperature probe to make sure you’re cooking things correctly. If you’ve dreamed of making your own Texas barbecue but you live in a tiny apartment, dream no longer.

4 Asus ROG Strix Scar 18

The gamer’s gaming laptop

If the HP Omen Transcend 14 wasn’t gamer enough for you, Asus may have a better option. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is a nearly $3,000 18-inch gaming laptop. Visually, it doesn’t look radically different to last year’s model, but internally, it has the latest Intel Core i9 processor, a Nvidia RTX 4080, and 32GB of RAM to throw at your favorite AAA games. This is by no means a small or light laptop. In fact, you might not want to get it near your laptop, but it should be a highly capable one, especially if you’re looking for a 240Hz QHD+ Mini LED display to get lost in.

5 Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station

Compact and adaptable charging

Anker’s MagGo Wireless Charging Station is just one of the company’s new Qi2 chargers and the first of what will be a tsunami of Qi2 devices going up for sale this year. Still, it’s a representative one. The three-in-one design the MagGo uses means that it can fold completely flat when not in use and unfold when you need a place to charge your iPhone 15, AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch Series 9 all at once. Thanks to the design of its front-charging surface, you can also use it as a stand for StandBy Mode. Like all Qi2 chargers, the MagGo charges at 15W speeds and uses magnets for a secure connection to your compatible phone, just like MagSafe. The difference here is Anker’s version does it in style.

6 Movano Health Evie Ring

A smart ring skilled in women’s health

The Movano Health Evie Ring was part of our roundup of the best fitness rings last year purely on the promise of its future health-tracking features, including the company’s dedication to providing a simple and accurate way for users to track their menstrual cycles. The Evie Ring is finally going on sale in 2024 with those skills and the other features you’d expect from a wearable, like heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring and sleep and exercise tracking. The Evie Ring seems like a thoughtful and, most importantly, affordable offering at $269.

7 Garmin Lily 2

An elegant and small smartwatch

The Garmin Lily 2 is a sequel to the original Garmin Lily, a women’s smartwatch we had mixed feelings about when we originally reviewed it. It’s not clear if the Lily 2 fixes the battery life limitations of the original, but it is keeping the Lily’s classy, rounded design, unique gray scale display, and smaller size, even at a slightly larger 35mm.

In terms of new features, Garmin’s adding improved sleep and activity tracking and Garmin Pay for wireless payments on its new Classic model (which gets fancier finishes and bands). Paired with the improved Garmin app, it’s a strong alternative to the Apple Watch, especially if you prefer round watches.

8 Xreal Air 2 Ultra

An early glimpse at the next generation of smart glasses

The Vision Pro might be the headset everyone’s talking about, but the Xreal Air 2 Ultra is the form factor everyone making VR headsets wants to release. Xreal’s smart glasses usually work as wearable displays that connect to your phone or console, with the ability to float a resizable screen in front of your field of view with limited augmented reality abilities beyond that.

The Xreal Air 2 Ultra is an updated version of the company’s Air 2 glasses that takes its AR and VR capabilities to the next level with head and hand tracking. Xreal created them for developers to design augmented reality experiences, but they’re available for the average person to purchase, too, if you want a small taste of what “spatial computing” might be like.