As hectic of a show CES can be, it's a great place to see cool tech from just about every company out there. Now, it's time to reveal the winners of Neowin's Best of CES 2020 awards.
Best of CES - Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel
There were a lot of amazing and innovative products at CES 2020, but Acer's ConceptD 7 Ezel wins the crown because of how versatile this PC is. It's a convertible with Nvidia's RTX graphics, so you don't have to choose between a convertible form factor and enough power for video editing or gaming with this machine.
It comes with Intel's H-series processors and Nvidia's GeForce RTX graphics, or there's a Pro model with Intel Xeon and Nvidia Quadro RTX. Obviously, you'd pick the model that matches your work flow.
It also has a beautiful 15.6-inch 4K display, with excellent color accuracy, especially considering that it has an anti-glare coating, something that often leaves the screen looking washed out. It has a Wacom pen built into the side, so pen storage isn't something that you have to worry about either.
From typing on a laptop, to drawing on a tablet, to playing AAA PC games, to editing video, the Acer ConceptD Ezel really has it all. Check out our hands on article here.
Most Innovative PC - Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is definitely one of the coolest products I've seen at the show, although the market will still have to tell us how practical a PC with a foldable OLED display is. But that's the selling point, a 13.3-inch 4:3 foldable OLED screen, that folds in half for two 9.6-inch 3:2 displays.
It has a magnetic keyboard that can sit inside of the device if you're using it as a clamshell, or there's a kickstand so you can stand up the full 13.3-inch screen and use it that way. Initially, the device will run Windows 10 Pro, but when it's ready, there will be a version running Microsoft's new Windows 10X OS.
Starting at $2,499, it will also come with an option for 5G connectivity using Qualcomm's Snapdragon X55 modem.
If you're worried about the form factor, you shouldn't be. Like all ThinkPads, the X1 Fold is meant to be durable, passing a variety of MIL-STD-810G tests. Lenovo doesn't gamble with the ThinkPad brand, especially the ThinkPad X1 brand. You can check out our hands on article here.
Best Software Solution - Dell Mobile Connect
There have been plenty of solutions to send and receive text messages from your smartphone, and few of them support iPhones. Dell's Mobile Connect always has, but now it's adding file sharing and screen mirroring to the product, bringing feature parity between iOS and Android users.
It's kind of a big deal. Microsoft's own Your Phone app that's built into Windows 10 supports SMS messaging, file transfer, and screen mirroring, but all of those features are exclusive to Android. Until now, everyone was fine blaming Apple's limitations, but it seems like Dell has been able to pull off the impossible.
If you've got a Dell consumer PC that was purchased since 2018, you'll get this update in a few weeks.
Best 5G PC - Lenovo Yoga 5G
By my count, there were four 5G PCs announced at CES: Yoga 5G, ThinkPad X1 Fold, HP Elite Dragonfly, and Dell Latitude 9510. There are a few things that differentiate the Yoga 5G, but only one that matters for this award. It supports both mmWave and sub-6 5G.
This isn't just the first PC I've seen that does that, but it's the first device. Even T-Mobile's new OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren is sub-6 only for the Un-carrier's nationwide sub-6 network, but if you're in an area that supports T-Mobile's mmWave as well, the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren won't take advantage of it.
And yes, the three other 5G PCs are all sub-6 only. The Yoga 5G uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G Compute Platform instead of an Intel CPU, and that's another thing that differentiates it. Moreover, when Intel PCs with MediaTek 5G modems start shipping in 2021, those will be sub-6 only as well.
5G is meant to be a combination of millimeter waves, and low-band and mid-band sub-6. Millimeter waves are faster, but can be easily blocked. Sub-6 is better at penetrating walls, but it's slower. A robust 5G network will take advantage of both of those things, and the Lenovo Yoga 5G is the first to support that. You can check out our hands on article here.
Best Gaming PC: MSI MEG Aegis Ti5
MSI's new gaming desktop, the MEG Aegis Ti5 Gaming Desktop, is definitely a beautiful device to look at. It's also super powerful. It packs a 10th-generation Intel Core i9, along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, so it's absolutely as powerful as it gets.
But that's not all, because it has a lot of other interesting features that you typically won't see in a gaming desktop PC. For one thing, this device actually has 5G cellular connectivity. For another, there's an OLED panel on it that will let you adjust your gaming settings.
Best Desktop PC: HP Envy 32 All-in-One
HP's Envy 32 All-in-One is one of those AiOs that could fit in any home or any office. It has a beautiful design with wood paneling on the base and other parts, narrow bezels, and a large fabric-covered Bang & Olufsen soundbar under the display. It's powerful too, boasting the title of being the first all-in-one to include Nvidia's GeForce RTX graphics, all the way up to an RTX 2080.
It includes a 32-inch 4K HDR600 display, so it's also the first HDR600 PC, and HP also says it's the world's largest PC. It also comes with a few extras, such as a wireless charging pad in the base, and a stand for a phone or a tablet in the keyboard. Moreover, the keyboard supports pairing with three devices, so you can easily switch between the PC and your phone.
You can check out our review of the HP Envy 32 AiO here.
Most Unique PC: Lenovo ThinkBook Plus
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus is just a regular laptop on the inside, until you see the E Ink display on the outside. You can use it for reading, annotating PDFs, taking notes, checking your email, checking your calendar, and more, all without opening your laptop and sucking down battery life.
It's not the first time that Lenovo has included an E Ink display on a product. The Lenovo Yoga Book C930 actually had an E Ink display for a keyboard. The difference here is that the ThinkBook Plus doesn't make any sacrifices, because once you open it, it's just a premium laptop.
Whether you like it or not (I love it), there's no arguing that it's unique. You can check out our hands on article here.
Best PC for Business - HP Elite Dragonfly G2
HP's Elite Dragonfly is being refreshed with Comet Lake vPro processors, Sure View Reflect, Qualcomm 5G, and Tile integration, all of which are worthy improvements. But those are just adding on top of an already awesome business PC, a PC that only launched a few months ago to begin with.
The Elite Dragonfly comes with a 13.3-inch display, promising to be the lightest 13.3-inch business convertible in the world. Indeed, it starts at just 2.18 pounds, made of CNC-machined magnesium. But it doesn't make compromises, with a U-series processor, a proper array of ports, and 4K or Sure View display options.
It also has one of the best keyboards around, as it's quiet, comfortable, and accurate. The company took the already awesome keyboard that it was using in the EliteBook 1000 series and brought it into the Dragonfly. All of this adds up to a fantastic package for a business PC.
Best Clamshell PC: Dell XPS 13
Dell's XPS 13 is always one of the best laptops around. But when I reviewed the most recent one, I found myself wondering why it still exists. With the most recent refresh of the XPS 13 2-in-1, the convertible became a complete superset of the clamshell, so why wouldn't everyone just buy the convertible?
And then Dell announced a redesign of the XPS 13. It's everything that it should be. The new XPS 13 is thinner, lighter, and has an even higher screen-to-body ratio than its nearly-bezelless predecessor. It now weighs in at just 2.64 pounds, it's 14.8mm thin, and the screen-to-body ratio is 91.5%.
It's also been refreshed with Intel's Ice Lake processors. Not only are the CPUs built on a 10nm process, but it also includes Intel's Iris Plus Graphics, so the performance is fantastic. The webcam is still on top of the screen, but it now has an IR camera for facial recognition. It's worth mentioning that the screen is larger as well, at 13.4 inches with a 16:10 aspect ratio.
You can check out our hands on article here.
Best Convertible PC: HP Spectre x360 15
This year, HP refreshed the Spectre x360 15 with narrower bezels and a much smaller footprint, just like it had already done with the smaller 13-inch model. As always, it's certainly one of the most visually stunning laptops on the market, with its gem-cut angled edges and two-tone design.
As usual, there are two different types of configurations. You can get it with a 10th-generation U-series processor and the latest Nvidia MX graphics, or you can get it with the latest H-series processor and GTX 1650 graphics. And of course, you can get it configured with a beautiful 4K OLED display.
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