CES 2024: What impressed us on show at the Las Vas tech expo
The Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, is the traditional start to the tech year with a who’s who of the tech world showing off what they have in store for the months ahead.
Taking place in Las Vegas, the smart home has been a key theme of CES 2024, with a plethora of brands keen to show off the latest gadgets they want you to connect to your smart home setup.
Matter and AI were definitely two of the CES 2024 buzzwords and you’ll see both mentioned lots in our pick of the Best in Show products…
Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra
CES wouldn’t be CES without Roborock unveiling a new industry leading robo cleaner.
This year, it’s the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra taking center stage; an absolute monster cleaning machine that adds Matter to the mix, but also a new FlexiArm Design Side Brush and Extra Edge Spinning Mop System, so even the tightest of corners gets cleaned.
With the new flagship, there’s a heavy emphasis on heat – the new RockDock Ultra not only empties, refills, and dispenses detergent to the robot, but also washes the mop with 60°C hot water and dries with 60°C heated air to prevent odor and mildew build-up.
Ecovacs Deebot X2 Combo
Ecovacs and Roborock traditionally go head-to-head at CES and this year was no exception, with the Chinese robo cleaning giants landing some serious blows with their new launches.
The new Ecovacs flagship can’t quite match the 10,000Pa suction of the new Roborock kingpin, but the Deebot X2 Combo is Matter-compatible like its rival, and boasts a unique feature we’ve not seen before.
The Combo part of the name is because, on the auto-empty dock, there’s also space for the accompanying handheld vacuum cleaner.
The result is a ‘whole home vacuum system’ where every room in your house, including stairs, on and below furniture, and even your car, is covered.
Abode Edge with Morse Micro HaLow Wi-Fi
Australian semiconductor specialist Morse Micro was showing off he groundbreaking capabilities of Wi-Fi HaLow technology at the show.
Capable of a transmission range of over 1.5 miles, Wi-Fi HaLow, or IEEE 802.11ah as it is otherwise known, operates on 900 MHz license-exempt bands to provide a much more vastly extended Wi-Fi range than the traditional 2.4 and 5GHz bands.
What this means, in terms of smart home kit, is devices like the new Abode Edge security camera, which will keep connected to your home network, even if it’s situated at the end of a large garden.
Abode’s latest smart security camera also packs in XailientAI smarts for reactive stands and an extra long battery life.
Aqara Hub M3
The Aqara Hub M3 is the Chinese brands first Matter controller and, what’s more, the M3 it’s a Thread border router too.
So it’s the full Matter controller / Thread border router combo; meaning that it’s not just Aqara devices can be controlled, but any Matter devices from any brands.
Taking things even further, and making the Hub M3 a genuine rival to the likes of the Aeotec SmartThings Hub and the Homey Pro, Aqara is also throwing dual band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and infrared into the mix too.
Nanoleaf Outdoor String Lights
Smart lighting specialist Nanoleaf added Matter to the mix when it launched the 2nd-gen Essentials line last summer, and is now taking the range outside.
The new Matter-enabled Essentials line-up has been expanded to include Multicolor Lightstrip (Indoor), Outdoor String Lights, and Permanent Outdoor Lights.
This is the first time that Nanoleaf has ventured outdoors but you can expect all the usual bells and whistles, such as pre-set scenes, integrations with your other Nanoleaf lights, and compatibility with all of the major smart home ecosystems such as Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit.
It was the Outdoor String Lights that really caught our eye in Vegas though, the crystal-like shape of the bulbs really help to create a dazzling lighting effect.
Samsung SmartThings Map View
Not a device this pick, but rather a fantastic introduction to the SmartThings Ecosystem: Map View.
Taking on Alexa’s Map View, SmartThings’ effort packs a much more powerful punch for a number of reasons.
The SmartThings app isn’t restricted to your smartphone or tablet – it can live on pretty much any Samsung screen such as TVs, monitors, and even fridge doors. That means a much bigger, much clearer, and more visually rewarding experience when using SmartThings Map View.
It’s super simple to create a map, with a number of options available. You can literally sketch out your house on the app or upload or take a picture of a floor plan.
Dreame Roboticmower A1
Dreame is the latest company to take the tech from its robo cleaners outdoors in the form of a robot lawnmower.
The Dreame Roboticmower A1 boasts a 3D high-precision LiDAR and a 3D omnidirectional obstacle avoidance system, that you actually help to train using a Bluetooth connection to your smartphone – so there’s no need for a boundary wire.
Your garden furniture should stay safe as the A1 can features an advanced AI algorithm, for not only long distance detection but millimeter-level accuracy. It can identify and avoid more than 11 common lawn obstacles.
EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra
EcoFlow’s Delta Pro Ultra is no ordinary power backup system – it’s an absolute beast.
Touted as the world’s mightiest smart hybrid whole-house battery generator and backup system, it can juice up your whole house with its massive 6kWh capacity, belting out 7200W and soaking in 5.6kW of solar goodness.
The EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra is stackable, up to 15 units can be combined, and it’s compatible with energy sources such as solar and gas.
AirThings Renew
Airthings, one of the leading lights in indoor air quality and radon monitoring, used CES 2024 to take the covers off of Airthings Renew, its first smart air purifier.
It’s a slick looking smart air purifier that aims to enhance air quality and provide better sleep conditions.
Boasting a 4-stage HEPA-13 filter and high-performance carbon filter, Airthings Renew efficiently removes 99.97% of particulates, gases, and odors, and is capable of purifying the air in a typical bedroom within 10 minutes.
Eufy X10 Pro Omni
Hot on the heels of a couple of the Roborock and Ecovacs heavy hitters is the Eufy X10 Omni Pro.
But while it doesn’t quite hit the heights of its rivals’ new flagships, the X10 Omni Pro does boast a pretty impressive feature list, with a price tag of around half of those competitors.
The suction rating of 8,000Pa is impressive and there’s also a new AI See obstacle avoidance system on board that can recongnize over 100 different object types.
Navigation is mapped in the Eufy app using iPath Laser tech.
More from Vegas
You can read more about these devices, plus a whole lot of other new launches and exciting arrivals on our dedicated CES 2024 smart home hub page.
