CES 2023: all the news from the year’s biggest tech conference

At CES 2023, Satechi announced what it calls its most powerful charger yet: a new GaN charging hub capable of delivering 200 watts of power. Basically, it can charge a lot of stuff at once and do it at high speeds, too.

The GaN charger comes with six USB-C PD ports, so you can charge up to six devices at the same time. Weighing a little over a pound and measuring about 4.1 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches, it’s also small enough that you could fit into your backpack and pull it out while on the go.

Sony builds incredible virtual worlds for its PlayStation games, and now the company is starting to dabble more seriously with building metaverse worlds, too. At CES 2023, the company showed a brief look at a metaverse-y experience it’s building with the soccer club Manchester City. But so far, Sony seemingly isn’t bringing the same high-quality, must-play approach it’s known for to this soccer-focused hangout.

The experience, which Sony and Manchester City are calling a “proof of concept,” will let fans participate in activities at a virtual version of the team’s Etihad Stadium with their own custom avatars. In clips from an official video, virtual avatars run around the stadium and on the field itself, occasionally dancing and celebrating together. Avatars, 3D images, and “other expressions unique to the metaverse” will let players communicate “in a new way,” Nami Iwamoto, a senior product planner at Sony, said during the company’s CES 2023 keynote. 

CES will continue through the weekend, but The Verge has already seen a whole lot of what the show has to offer. This week on The Vergecast, myself, our editor-in-chief, Nilay Patel, and our senior news editor, Richard Lawler, get together and talk about some of the weirdest stuff we’ve seen, the most absurd concepts, and all the genuinely cool tech coming out of the show.

We start the show talking about some of the goofiest car concepts we saw, including the Sony and Honda collaboration dubbed Afeela and BMW’s new concept that has color-changing panels (courtesy of E Ink) and a digital assistant.

A weird thing has happened at CES this year: display manufacturers not named Apple have announced true 5K and 6K monitors designed for creative work and productivity. These new monitors, which will appeal to Mac users for reasons other than “it’s white and doesn’t have RGB lights,” are providing some actual competition to Apple’s Studio Display and even an alternative to the staggeringly expensive pro-level Pro Display XDR.

It’s hard to overstate how rare this actually is. Though there have been many monitors marketed toward MacBook owners over the years, with features such as USB-C connectivity, high-wattage charging, and nicer than average designs, they’ve typically all had traditional 4K panels and sub-par pixel densities, as opposed to the higher-resolution displays that Apple puts in its devices. There was always a compromise required with one of those other monitors if you hooked a MacBook up to it.

The Always Home Cam, Ring’s autonomous indoor security drone, made its public debut at CES this week. But it was flying in an empty room behind a glass door and disappearing into a side room between flights, so we never saw it take off or land. The demo, while impressive, shows that it’s unlikely we’ll see Ring’s indoor security camera patrolling your living room anytime soon.

Despite announcing preorders (by invitation only) for the security camera in 2021 and saying it would ship to customers’ homes that year, Ring still hasn’t committed to a new date. “We are looking forward to — in the next short future — shipping it out to customers at high volume,” founder Jamie Siminoff told The Verge in an interview. But he also said 2024 was the earliest we could expect to see it widely available.

French automaker Peugeot revealed its Inception concept, a deadly looking electric car that’s all sharp angles and brutalist designs. The concept, which was announced at CES this week, will inspire a lineup of future EVs that will start making their way to customers in 2025.

Stellantis, which owns Peugeot, had a heavy docket at this year’s CES, including a Chrysler cockpit concept and a battery-electric Ram 1500 truck that borrows a lot from the world of muscle cars. But the Peugeot Inception was arguably the most CES-y of all the announcements, with its rectangular steering wheel, hyper-minimal dashboard, and color-shifting interior. There’s even a device inside the car called “the Halo Cluster” with a 360-degree screen, for some reason.

Cake, the Swedish maker of deliciously designed electric motorbikes, finally has an e-bike with actual pedals, not pegs. The Cake Äik comes in two street-legal variants: In the US, it ships with a throttle and mid-drive 500W motor (with a 1000W peak) with a 20mph (32km/h) top speed, while in Europe it’s pedal-assist only and you’re stuck with a 250W motor (500W peak) capable of just 16mph (25km/h) max. 

Like the Cake Ösa electric moped I reviewed last summer, Åik is positioned less for commuters, and more as a utility bike for people that rely upon two-wheeled transport for their livelihoods or rugged outdoor fun.

Google is introducing new features for Android 13 that should make it easier for users to transition between different audio devices when listening to music. Announced at CES 2023, media notifications will ask users if they want to switch over to a different listening device based on their proximity, allowing you to seamlessly transition between your phone, speakers, headphones, TV, car, and more.

This feature uses the cross-device software development kit (SDK) released by Google last year. The tech uses Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, and ultra-wideband to detect which audio devices are physically near the user, and then identifies which device a user may want to use based on their current activity — for example, switching audio playback from a Bluetooth speaker back to your phone if you answer a call.

I will admit that I was skeptical when I first saw pictures of Lenovo’s new dual-screen Yoga Book 9i. I’ve tried foldables and dual-screens aplenty, and while many are usable, many also have serious limitations. But this is the first dual-screen laptop I’ve ever tried that I could see myself actually buying. And that’s because Lenovo has clearly done the software engineering necessary to make sure it can address many of the somewhat... obvious concerns that shoppers might have with such a device.

The first objection is an obvious one: there’s no visible touchpad on the Yoga Book i9. That’s what first jumped out at me when Lenovo announced the device, which is a laptop-sized spiritual successor to Microsoft’s Surface Neo — essentially two 13.3-inch, 16:10, 2.8K OLED screens stacked on top of each other with a hinge in the middle and a detachable keyboard. “How on earth will one navigate this?” I wondered as I watched the keynote.

Razer has given us a first look at the Razer Blade 16 and Razer Blade 18, which will be released in the next few months. And I will say right now: I am impressed.

The Blade 18 is the biggest and most powerful Razer Blade that has ever been released, which is neat in itself. But I’m actually even more excited about the Blade 16, which is debuting some never-before-seen on a Razer Blade.

I couldn’t justify keeping Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack because it didn’t stay firmly stuck to my phone without swiveling, and I’ve seen third-party attachments that are much, much worse. Thankfully, the next version of the Qi wireless charging standard, Qi2, will mandate magnet strength, size, and dimensions in addition to its electrical properties — even though that’s the opposite of what I reported yesterday.

(The bigger news about Qi2: it should mean that future Android phones and Apple phones will be able to use the same wireless magnetic charger, effectively MagSafe for Android.)

Last month, I spent 15 whole minutes hunched over an HP Spectre x360 in a drafty Best Buy store — agonizing over whether its amazing OLED screen would destroy the laptop’s battery life and repeatedly googling for the answer. When I found out the answer was “yes, substantially less battery,” I had to walk away.

But why should I have to choose between a great screen and one I use all day? Why not both? That’s the idea behind the ThinkBook Plus Twist, a new laptop that Lenovo’s announcing at CES 2023.

Tesla has high hopes for the Cybertruck — if it can ever get it out the door. You’ve probably seen a Rivian or a Ford F-150 Lightning on the road by now. The Chevy Silverado EV will go on sale later this year. But if the creed you live by is “Mopar or no car,” you may have been wondering, what does Ram have ready to deploy in this upcoming electric truck arms race? 

At CES 2023, we finally find out. Stellantis’ truck brand unveiled the fully electric Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept, which aims to bring all the muscle-car energy that Mopar fans expect when a version of it goes into production in 2024. That production version will get an official reveal in the next few months. 

EcoFlow is now selling Whole-Home Backup Power Solutions that bundle together a variety of the company’s products that are already available a la carte. The kits are basically a more scalable version of Tesla’s Powerwall+ without the long installation wait times, that also remains portable so you can take some of that idle power with you for an off-grid getaway.

The new EcoFlow kits make it easy to choose the right amount of backup power for your needs and budget. Prices start at $3,699 and approach $20,000 if you want unlimited emergency power. That’s a lot of money (even after a US tax credit) compared to noisy gas generators, but EcoFlow’s emission-free kits don't require maintenance and could also help reduce your day-to-day energy bill.

EcoFlow announced three new devices today — a refrigerator / ice maker, an air conditioner / heater, and a robotic lawnmower / leaf collector — as part of its burgeoning ecosystem of portable, battery-powered solutions for residential homes, off-grid cabins, and RVs. They join the company’s new whole-home battery backup kits, also announced at the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The EcoFlow Glacier makes me feel seen as a budding vanlifer and cocktail enthusiast. The battery-powered portable fridge, freezer, and ice cube maker has a removable 297Wh battery that can power the device for up to 24 hours on a single charge and be topped up directly using solar panels, which EcoFlow will be happy to supply. It can produce exactly 18 ice cubes in about 12 minutes, the company says. Those cone-shaped cubes aren’t exactly slow-melting “craft ice,” but living off the grid does require concessions. The EcoFlow Glacier will be available in April.

2023 is going to be a big year for hearables. While the concept isn’t new, this is the first CES since the FDA established a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. OTC hearing aids began hitting shelves in mid-October, and they’re on the show floor in Vegas right now. But the best hearables are from brands you’ve likely never heard of.

Take the Eargo 7.

Android phones will soon be getting a feature similar to — and perhaps even more powerful than — Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite. Qualcomm has announced that its new processors and modems will allow phones to communicate with the Iridium satellite network, letting users send and receive messages even in areas without cell coverage.

The feature, called Snapdragon Satellite, will be available in phones that have both Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and its X70 Modem system, along with some additional radios. Phones that support it should be “launched in select regions starting in the second half of 2023,” according to the company’s press release, and there are several manufacturers working on designs, according to Francesco Grilli, a Qualcomm spokesperson who helped conduct a briefing for journalists.

After hinting that it would be coming in 2023, Delta has confirmed that all SkyMiles members will get free in-flight Wi-Fi as part of a partnership with T-Mobile. The wireless carrier already offers free Wi-Fi on Delta flights to its subscribers, but starting on February 1st, that program will expand to any SkyMiles member, regardless of whether they’re a T-Mobile customer. But — as it so often does — this free service comes with a side of targeted advertising.

Not every flight will include free Wi-Fi at first; Delta is starting domestic. According to today’s news release, “most” mainline domestic flights will be included at launch, and by the end of 2023, the service should be available on more than 700 planes. The company plans to add international and regional routes in 2024. To get online, you’ll just need a SkyMiles number, which is free to sign up for. T-Mobile SVP Kevin McLaughlin confirmed to The Verge that there would be “no session limits,” and that the service will run on Viasat’s network. Delta currently uses two Wi-Fi providers, but it bills Viasat as the more robust option with “streaming capable speeds from pushback to park.”

Soundbars might not be the audio system of choice for most desktop setups, but Razer is trying is offering a new one for people who don’t want to mess with headsets or finicky surround sound systems. The popular gaming tech company just announced the Leviathan V2 Pro at CES 2023, the latest addition to its existing range of soundbars designed to provide compact, low-profile audio for PC gamers.

Created in partnership with THX and Audioscenic, Razer claims that the Leviathan V2 Pro can envelop a user with “3D audio” by combining beamforming surround sound with head-tracking AI technology. A built-in IR camera can detect the user’s position, allowing the soundbar to optimize sound by adapting the audio beams to the listener’s position in real time.

Razer and Verizon co-announced the pricing for the 5G-enabled Edge gaming handheld during CES 2023. It’s launching on January 26th for $359.99 when you add it as a new tablet line to your account. With an installment plan, Verizon says the math works out to $10 per month for 36 months. This pricing is available for a limited time, but a timeframe wasn’t provided by Verizon, so we’ve followed up to find out. The retail price for the 5G model is $599.99, which is $200 more than the Wi-Fi-only model.

We first heard about the Edge (Razer’s revival of the awkward 2013 tablet-handheld hybrid) in October 2022. It has a 6.8-inch OLED screen with a fast 144Hz refresh rate, and it sits snugly in between the Kishi V2 Pro, a modified version of the mobile controller that adds rumble. This handheld’s focus is playing cloud games over Wi-Fi and 5G, and to that end, it supports Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Steam Link for when you’re within range of a gaming PC.