One would be hard-pressed to find a better showcasing platform than the CES. It's arguably the best time to unveil products companies have been stealthily stashing up their sleeves.
What's more, this boisterous January affair not only clues people in on what's the latest and greatest in the rapidly growing tech industry, it also partly spells the tech climate for the rest of the year.
Gaming laptops are one the most anticipated reveals every year at CES. Thankfully, a roster of companies stepped up to the plate and delivered. As a result, the PC gaming community will surely have a lot to look forward to this year. Let's take a look at the best gaming laptops that were announced at CES.
Samsung Notebook Odyssey
It's been years since since Samsung released a dedicated gaming rig, which makes the Notebook Odyssey an overdue follow-up. The device comes in two sizes: 15.6 inches and 17.3 inches, and although the internals deftly qualify it as a gaming machine, its aesthetics and build quality have a lot of room for improvement.
The $1,000-plus laptop feels a bit cheap because of its plastic build. At that price one can opt instead for similarly spec'd rigs with a better, and much more robust build quality. The Verge has already called both Notebook Odyssey models as "gaudy monstrosities."
The Notebook Odyssey's dismal design aside, the laptop does come with a seventh-generation Intel Kaby Lake processor, with an Nvidia GTX 1050 GPU for the base model, and a yet-to-be-determined GPU for the larger one. The smaller model comes with 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 256 GB SSD that's partnered with a 1 TB HDD. Meanwhile, the larger model comes with 64 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD that's partnered with a 1 TB HDD.
The base model hits shelves February, retailing for $1,199. The larger model comes out April, although its price hasn't been revealed yet.
Lenovo Legion Y720
Lenovo also unleashed a lineup of gaming laptops at CES carrying the Legion name, with the virtual reality-ready Y720.
The Y720 can be configured with a seventh-generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, and an Nvidia GTX 1060 with 6 GB of GDDR5 memory. There's also an optional 4K display, and up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM. Users can opt for a 2 TB HDD or a 1 TB SSD. Powering it all up is a 60 watt-hour battery that Lenovo claims can last up to five hours on a single charge.
The Legion Y720 starts at $1,399, hitting shelves April.
Dell Inspiron 15 7000
There's also Dell's Inspiron 15 7000, by the looks of which is seemingly a direct hit at Lenovo's Legion lineup. The Inspiron 15 7000 is an even more budget-friendly gaming rig with very comparable specs.
For $799, users get a 14-inch Core i5 Kaby Lake-powered gaming laptop, with an Nvidia GTX 1050 GPU in tow. For those willing to shell out a bit more for extra spec bumps, there's also the 15-inch model, which comes with a Core i7 processor, a 512 GB SSD, GTX 1050 Ti GPU, and a 74 watt-hour battery. The base model, however, only comes with a 1080p screen, while the beefier 15-inch model can rock 4K.
The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is available now.
Not To Be Missed: Project Valerie And Acer Predator 21 X
Also CES standouts are Razer's Project Valerie and Acer's Predator 21 X, which proved to be quite the beastly, power-packed charmer machines they are, cornering huge fanfare while on display.
Project Valerie is a gaming laptop that has not one, not two, but three 4K screens. Yes, you read that right. Two more 4K screens are housed beneath the upper chassis of Project Valerie, which autonomously deploy and latch onto both sides of the main display. Talk about futuristic. It essentially brings the multi-display setup anywhere, and while it's still a very early concept as it stands — which explains the lack of key metrics — one can certainly imagine what this'll mean for multi-display workstations that are exclusively stationary.
Acer also unveiled the Acer Predator 21 X, a monstrous beast of a gaming laptop. It was first announced at last year's IFA but with scant information. Now that it's been revealed, gamers can finally take a full-view gander at the gaming laptop.
Bearing a curved IPS display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,080, it's the first laptop to ever come with such a screen. It rocks two Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards, with a Kaby Lake Intel Core i7 processor that can be overclocked for faster performance. It comes with 64 GB of DDR-2400 RAM, up to a 2 TB HDD, with up to four 512 GB solid-state drives.
Orders start in February, with the beefy laptop retailing for a whopping $8,999.
Any thoughts about the gaming laptops unveiled at CES this year? Tell us in the comments!
