Artificial intelligence and machine learning have become such hot topics that even mainstream media has been giving them their 15 minutes of fame. Unsurprisingly, there are both proponents and critics of these technologies, but it’s hard to deny how AI is becoming an unavoidable presence not just in devices but also in services. Just take a gander at how many AI-powered or AI-enhanced designs there are at MWC in Barcelona this year. Of course, that’s not the only trend that’s gripping the mobile tech industry, and so we sift through the dozens of products and concepts at MWC 2024 to pick out the best designs that help live life to the fullest, with a little help from AI, of course.

TECNO Spark 20 Pro+

The TECNO SPARK 20 Pro+ is a remarkable choice in the affordable smartphone category, providing advanced imaging features and a stunning design at a reasonable price, perfect for today’s generation of creators. The camera boasts a 108MP lens with 3x lossless zoom and 10x digital zoom, leading to incredibly detailed photos. The large 1/1.67″ sensor size and F/1.75 aperture ensure excellent image quality in diverse lighting conditions. Its HDR Multi-Frame Fusion intelligently balances light and shade for optimal composition. The phone also features a 32MP Glowing Selfie Camera with an 88.9-degree golden lens, enhanced by AI portrait restoration, perfect for selfies or group shots. The high-end camera stack also includes TECNO’s 9-in-1 Adaptive Pixel technology. This feature increases light sensitivity by 900% and uses an ultra-large 1.92µm pixel to enhance your shots’ clarity.

Designer: TECNO

Vloggers will adore how it can record in 2K resolution, making it ideal for capturing important memories and putting your best self forward. Features like an automatic bokeh for movie-like effects, a night algorithm for improved low-light captures, and slow-motion support to enhance the production quality make you feel like a pro cinematographer without breaking a sweat. It also offers advanced video stabilization and dual-focus technology for diversified filming scenarios. The Dual View mode, which combines front and rear camera views, opens up new vlogging opportunities that will take your channel to the next level.

The high-quality Corning Gorilla Glass 5 makes it sleek and easy to hold thanks to an ergonomic design, and it is lightweight at 190g with a thickness of 7.55mm. With its pioneering 56.5-degree Ergonomics Double Curved Design, the phone is a sight to behold and a joy to behold from every angle. The Quadrant Star Array camera on the back provides excellent photos and adds balance, while the Sparkle Sand Pattern sparks interest and awe, easily making you the center of attention. The glossy back cover comes in three colors – Lunar Frost, Temporal Orbits, and Radiant Starstream, plus a fourth, Magic Skin 2.0 Green, for extra durability and an eco-friendly choice. Durability is another key factor that contributes to its appeal, with water and dust resistance features ensuring longevity. These aspects, combined with its high-quality camera system, make the TECNO SPARK 20 Pro+ a remarkable device that offers exceptional value for its price.

TECNO CAMON 30 Premier 5G

Photography has become one of the major reasons to have a smartphone these days, whether you’re an amateur shutterbug or a prolific influencer. Although manufacturers played the megapixel game in the beginning, it is now clear that takes more than that to produce breathtaking images and viral videos. It can be a complicated matter, but TECNO is simplifying it into a single package that is poised to revolutionize the mobile photography scene.

Designer: TECNO

Developed in collaboration with Sony, the TECNO PolarAce Imaging System on the new CAMON 30 Premier 5G adds an independent imaging processor just for handling photos and videos. The results definitely speak for themselves, and it’s a technology that will put TECNO on the global map when it comes to mobile photography. The CAMON 30 Premier 5G itself is quite the looker, inspired by the aesthetics of rangefinder cameras while still maintaining a stylish and classic appearance.

D-Link Aquila Pro AI M60

Our Internet needs even at home have become more complicated, and the routers of the past are clearly not equipped to keep up with the demand of all the smartphones, tablets, and smart home devices competing for bandwidth. More powerful and sophisticated routers do exist, but the vast majority of them seem to be designed to flex their muscles, showing off their antennas and bulky boxes that look more like technological monstrosities rather than an integral part of your home.

Designer: D-LINK

The D-LINK AQUILA PRO AI mesh router, specifically this M60 AX6000, is like a breath of fresh air in this market, elegant, charming, yet also very capable. Inspired by an eagle in flight, the curved sides, bright color motif, and smooth surfaces try to capture the gracefulness of one of the most powerful birds of prey. The mesh router offers everything that its peers have, including plenty of AI-powered features, and still looks beautiful anywhere you place it. Its housing is even made of post-consumer recycled materials or PCRs, helping D-LINK give back to the very nature that inspired this design.

Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design Edition

Foldable phones are becoming more common, with more players joining the competition. At this early stage, there is still plenty of room for exploration when it comes to design. Indeed, we’re seeing foldable phones that come in different shapes, materials, and aesthetics, all of them trying to mask what is really a large and thick slab of glass and metal. Honor is taking that to the next level with its partnership with the famed Porsche Design house, presenting a foldable phone that pushes the boundaries of what you can accomplish with such a device.

Designer: Honor

The Honor Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design Edition is unabashedly a luxury device, even more luxurious than how foldable phones are already perceived. As the name states, its design is inspired by the luxury marque, particularly the flyline that Porsche values dearly. But it isn’t just all looks either, with the Magic V2 RSR possessing features its rivals can only dream of. That includes the ability to use a stylus both on the internal display and, more importantly, the outer Cover Screen as well. Yes, its price tag may seem astronomical, but that has never stopped luxury items from selling well, especially when they’re made as good as this.

Honor Magic6 Pro

Not everyone wants a foldable phone, and for those who just want a regular yet beautiful handset, the Honor Magic6 Pro aims to deliver. It’s definitely a striking design, with a camera island that combines the circle and “squircle” designs that pervade the smartphone market today. Rather than giving in to flat trends, the Magic6 Pro wears its curves like a badge of honor, no pun intended, providing not just a graceful appearance but an ergonomic shape as well.

Designer: Honor

Of course, the Honor Magic6 Pro is also well-equipped with the latest smartphone technologies, from the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor to an advanced camera system that includes a 180MP telephoto camera. The highlights, unsurprisingly, are the AI features that enhance the user experience, like “Magic Portal,” which can automatically recognize addresses in a text message and open up Google Maps when you want to start navigating. Anything you drag to this “portal” will be analyzed by Honor’s AI to take the appropriate action, whether it’s searching, shopping, or other activities you’ll need help with.

TECNO Dynamic 1 Robot Dog

You probably never expected a smartphone maker to debut a robot dog, but that’s exactly the surprise that TECNO had in store here at MWC 2024. Putting a friendlier face and form to the design popularized by Boston Dynamics, the TECNO Dynamic 1 is reimagining what man’s best friend would look like a few years from now. But more than just a novel and expensive toy, this robot dog is envisioned to become a faithful companion to your household.

Designer: TECNO

In addition to mechanisms that allow the TECNO Dynamic 1 to gracefully imitate the natural movements of dogs, including climbing stairs and shaking hands, the robot dog is equipped with AI that allows it to navigate your home safely, just like those robot vacuum cleaners. Of course, that AI is also capable of understanding voice commands, obeying your every word better than a real furry pal. There is definitely plenty of potential for such a design, especially in security, so we’ll be waiting with bated breath for what’s to come.

TECNO Phone Materials Concept

The back of the phone is the most visible part to others, so it’s only natural that owners want it to be the most beautiful part as well. Unfortunately, smartphone designs are generalized to appeal to as many tastes as possible, which leaves very little room for customized experiences. Sure, we have seen some with vegan leather covers, but most phones simply use glass or plastic. Fortunately, not all manufacturers are content to leave the status quo as it is, and TECNO has shared some of the interesting and sometimes odd explorations it has made so far.

Designer: TECNO

Stereoscopic 3D effects, environment-friendly organosilicone fabric leather, color-blending leather, and colored textured glass are just some of the concept materials that TECNO has been playing around with. It even has fragrance leathers with microencapsulated essential oil particles to have your phone smelling as good as it looks. Not all of these make sense and they might not even make it into production, but the concepts are an important part of the ideation process that will lead to innovative designs that look and feel like they were made for actual human persons and not just faceless consumers.

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 repairability

Laptops are slowly but surely dominating the PC space, especially as they become powerful enough to compete with desktops. There are, however, still some things it can’t easily beat its towering cousin. The modular nature of desktops means they’re trivial to repair since you only need to replace the broken parts. That also means they have a longer lifetime in general, reducing the overall e-waste that’s usually involved in upgrading and discarding laptops in just a few short years.

Designer: Lenovo

Lenovo is bringing that kind of sustainability to its latest laptops, particularly the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5. Collaborating with self-repair experts over at iFixit, Lenovo designed this mobile workstation to be easy to repair, scoring an astounding 9 over 10 on iFixit’s meticulous repairability index. With parts that are easier to replace, including a socketed RAM instead of a soldered one, the ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 goes a very long way to ensuring the longevity of these powerful and essential tools.

Lenovo ThinkPad Transparent Display Laptop

After staying nearly the same for decades, we’re now seeing attempts at redesigning the laptop without completely erasing its familiar form. Dual screens and foldable screens are just two of the latest explorations we’ve seen lately, but they’re hardly the only innovations possible in this space. In fact, Lenovo has just revealed what could even be more ambitious than a foldable or rollable laptop, one that has a transparent display and an all-glass keyboard to match the aesthetic.

Designer: Lenovo

Transparent TVs are starting to appear in the market, bringing a long-time fantasy to life. Lenovo seems to finally be satisfied that these transparent displays have become mature enough to be used on a laptop. Although still just a proof of concept, the ThinkPad Transparent Display Laptops is already very promising and mind-blowing, demonstrating what could be possible in just a few years’ time. It definitely sparks the imagination, looking like a functional prop straight out of a sci-fi movie set, and it probably prefigures the display-centric computers that are waiting for us in the future.

Humane AI Pin

Our smartphones are powerful devices, but they can also be a source of stress, distraction, and a host of other mental and emotional issues. But the world we live in today requires a connected lifestyle, even for some of the most basic actions. The Humane AI Pin is an ambitious design that tries to keep us connected while also removing the middleman that is the smartphone, providing the necessities of modern life without distractions and complicated apps.

Designer: Humane

More like a badge than a pin, the Humane AI Pin basically projects a simplified interface on your hand that you can control with gestures. It has a camera that sees the world around you and a cloud-based AI service that interprets it, which includes voice commands and queries for information. It’s like those fancy holographic gadgets you see in sci-fi shows, except it’s already here today and actually quite usable. It demonstrates that you won’t really need a smartphone for most of the things we use a mobile device for, freeing you to be more present in the moment and with other people.

nubia Music Phone

It may have been banished from smartphones, but the headphone jack is still a standard connector in other places, especially in the music industry. Bluetooth headphones and speakers might be improving, but some audiophiles still swear by their wired equipment, especially because of the flexibility they offer when you want to let others enjoy the same tunes you’re listening to. Inspired by the social aspects of listening to music, nubia made a surprising launch of a phone that’s designed to let you share your music easily.

Designer: nubia

The nubia Music doesn’t just bring back the 3.5mm port, it actually has two of them so that you can connect two headphones or external audio equipment at the same time. But if you want to share your music with the whole room, it also has an ultra-loud speaker on its back for maximum reach. What would normally be an unsightly component is made beautiful by making this speaker and the neighboring cameras resemble the design of an old-school turntable. With its distinctive appearance and its one-of-a-kind features, the nubia Music is clearly designed to cater to a fun-loving crowd that’s always ready and willing to share the things they love, including their passion for music.

nubia Pad 3D II

3D is becoming just as pervasive as AI in the tech industry, in no small part thanks to augmented and mixed reality experiences. Unfortunately, these technologies seem to suggest that you need to wear specialized goggles or even headsets just to enjoy these three-dimensional digital objects. The nubia Pad 3D II, however, proves otherwise, and its second iteration improves on the foundations that were laid last year to deliver a tool that can be used for both enjoying as well as creating 3D content without having to wear glasses.

Designer: nubia

This large 12-inch tablet utilizes eye sensors as well as AI algorithms to detect where your eyes are looking in order to adjust the display’s pixels and create a stereoscopic effect without wearing headsets or visors. It can even convert regular 2D content not made for 3D into 3D, all in real-time, with some AI help, of course. Dual cameras and, again, AI work together to enable users to capture the world around them and convert it into a digital 3D format that can then be used for your creative masterpieces. Whether you just want to watch 3D videos or you want to create the 3D content that goes into them, the nubia Pad 3D II offers a tool that will open up more possibilities without burdening your head.

OnePlus Watch 2

When they first launched, smartwatches and their proponents were ridiculed because of the idea that you’ll need to recharge your phone every night. Things have improved significantly by now, but we’re still talking around two days before you need to put the smartwatch down on its charger. There are indeed some designs that boast two weeks of uptime, but they also run software with more limited functionality to make that happen.

Designer: OnePlus

The OnePlus Watch 2 boasts around 100 hours of battery life, which is a little over four days. What makes this figure impressive is that it’s running Google’s Wear OS, which means it has full access to all the apps, integrations, and features that standard smartwatches offer. Plus it manages to remain stylish even with all the power it packs inside.

Infinix E-Shift Color Technology

The back of smartphones is the most expressive part of the device, a veritable canvas for displaying the phone’s character as well as the owner’s inclinations. Of course, not everyone has the same aesthetic tastes, but phones are designed to cater to the general public. What if you could design your own phone’s rear cover without having to commit to stickers or even protective cases? It would definitely be a step up from today’s designs, allowing owners to truly express themselves in different ways, even on different days.

Designer: Infinix

Infinix’s E-Shift Color delivers some of that freedom and flexibility by practically putting a display on the phone’s back. It’s not a regular battery-draining LCD screen, though, and instead leverages E Ink’s Prism display technology to let users select and even create colorful patterns to decorate the back of their phones. Since it’s based on an e-paper display, it doesn’t consume power until you change the design again. Even more interesting, E-Shift Color can actually animate these changes when the phone is plugged in, taking the charging experience to a whole new level.

Xiaomi CyberDog 2

Robot dogs are apparently becoming more popular to the point that smartphone manufacturers and tech companies are making their own commercial mechanical canines. Xiaomi is one of those brands that is dipping its hand (or paw) in this very niche market, and it’s showing off its second-gen design here in Barcelona. Looking like the robotic version of a Doberman with very short ear stumps, the Xiaomi CyberDog 2’s biggest stunt is its agility and flexibility which lets it even do backflips without breaking a sweat, or a circuit, in this case.

Designer: Xiaomi

Although it will hardly classify as “cute” like actual dogs, the CyberDog 2 has a distinct look akin to a muscular canine breed thanks to the faceted surface that covers its body and legs. Compared to its headless predecessor, Xiaomi has definitely made strides in making its robot dog actually look like a dog and be more approachable, hopefully even by kids. It’s still questionable what you’d use a $3,000 robot dog for, but the Xiaomi CyberDog 2’s more refined design, improved stability, and expanded functionality make it something worth observing in the months to come.

Xiaomi SU7 Electric Car

Xiaomi is no longer just a smartphone manufacturer, and nowhere is that more obvious than at MWC 2024 where it unveiled its most ambitious product yet, its first electric vehicle. The brand has been putting out personal mobility devices like e-scooters and e-bikes, and now it is taking its transportation dreams to the highway. Labeled as a “performance sedan,” the Xiaomi SU7 boasts reaching 60 mph speeds in just 2.78 seconds and a range of 497 miles with its 101kWh battery.

Designer: Xiaomi

The design of the electric car is quite noteworthy as well, and not just because of its blue paint job. The sleek profile and curves give a sporty character, and its elegant appearance would have you guessing which long-time car manufacturer produced such a beauty. We’ll still have to see how it actually fares on the road or if it will actually roll out to other markets, but Xiaomi definitely got people talking simply by showing off that it can also make cars as well.

Xiaomi Watch S3

Smartwatches have thankfully outgrown the days when they all looked more like sports watches rather than fashionable timepieces. There’s not a bit of variety in terms of designs, including some that try to mimic the appearance of classic watches and their faces. You can even replace straps, sometimes with standard lugs, to mix and match your style. There is, however, still one classic design element that smartwatches haven’t been able to implement, at least until now.

Designer: Xiaomi

The Xiaomi Watch S3 finally brings interchangeable bezels, letting you easily swap rings to fit your mood and style, even on a daily basis. It might sound like a very trivial feature, but it’s detail like that that gives classic watches their charm. Of course, the Xiaomi Watch S3 will only be compatible with bezels designed by Xiaomi or authorized accessory makers, so hopefully, the idea will catch on and become a standard feature on future smartwatches.

OPPO Air Glass 3

Some might consider the Apple Vision Pro to be overkill even without considering its price tag, and they definitely have a point. You probably don’t want to have your computer screen in front of you all the time, nor would you want to wear a headset while you go about your daily work. You might, however, want to be able to see your tasks and some notifications when you need to without having to fish your phone out of your pocket, which is where the OPPO Air Glass 3 comes in.

Designer: OPPO

Rather than promoting augmented reality, the OPPO Air Glass 3 espouses “assisted reality,” which is how it describes its focused experience that shows only important information in front of your eyes. It does not use tinted lenses or pixel-dense screens but instead employs a micro projector that displays appointments, todos, notifications, and the like without getting in the way of your vision. The glasses themselves look like normal eyewear, save for the very thick frame, and the improved optics prevent the occurrence of blurred images that would normally be observed in this kind of display.

Samsung Galaxy Ring

After many leaks, rumors, and wishes, Samsung finally revealed the Galaxy Ring, making it one of if not the first major tech companies to launch this kind of wearable device. By now, there are already smart rings on the market, but the Galaxy Ring has the advantage of having an existing ecosystem of devices and services that revolve around wellness and health. You don’t need to stray far if you want to give up your Wear OS smartwatch for something that’s more elegant and also more discreet.

Designer: Samsung

The Galaxy Ring is simple, nondescript, and minimalist, which is actually the whole point of such devices. Rather than the powerful smartwatches that call attention to themselves and become a source of distraction, these smart rings offer the basics of health and activity tracking without burdening your wrist. It will definitely be interesting to see where Samsung will take the Galaxy Ring and if other manufacturers will quickly follow in its footsteps.

Motorola Adaptable Display Bendable Phone

Although foldable phones have become a major focus in the industry, they’re not the only design that can take advantage of flexible screens. Rollable phones have yet to become commercially available, and displays embedded in textiles are still a dream in the fashion industry. Motorola has one such design that really pushes the boundaries of what smartphones might look like in the not-so-distant future.

Designer: Motorola

Dubbed the Motorola Adaptable Display, this bendable phone is designed so that it can wrap around your wrist, almost like an open bracelet. Unlike a typical foldable phone that’s just two flat slabs joined with a hinge, the entire phone bends flexes, and bends in this case. Of course, you can’t completely remove all the flat components that make a smartphone tick, but Motorola’s eye-catching bendable phone demonstrates what’s possible with a few more iterations and polish.

The post Best of MWC 2024: The Reality of AI first appeared on Yanko Design.

The start of the year is always an auspicious time to put your best foot forward. It is perhaps because of that reason that the consumer electronics industry chose the days following the changing of the calendar year to present their best products, concepts, and designs that are meant to help improve human lives, pet well-being, and the planet’s health. Unsurprisingly, a good number of these new and upcoming designs boast the use of AI in one way or another, leveraging the latest technologies to offer features that almost look and feel like magic. Now that the world has more or less gone back to its usual flow, there is a dizzying number of products being shown off in Las Vegas. Some elicit applause and praise, while others leave you scratching your head. And some really take the cake, rising above the rest with their thoughtful design and exceptional value, and Yanko Design has picked out the top 25 award-winning designs that will help you live a smarter, healthier, and more enjoyable life.

Acer Predator SpatialLabs View Pro 27 3D Monitor

With the rise in mixed reality platforms, the appreciation and need for 3D content is similarly on the uptick. Creating these three-dimensional digital assets isn’t a trivial task, especially since we’ve been restricted by two-dimensional tools like a flat 2D monitor. Viewing things in 3D is certainly possible, though most require wearing specialized glasses just to get the full effect. With the Acer Predator SpatialLabs View Pro monitor, however, you have an unencumbered view of 3D objects, allowing you to get fully immersed in the game or craft 3D designs with accuracy and comfort.

Designer: Acer

Thanks to the latest 3D Ultra Mode delivered by the monitor’s second virtual camera, you can enjoy true stereoscopic 3D without the need to wear glasses. A collection of 3D stereo configurations, including pre-configured 3D profiles for some AAA titles, lets you quickly switch to the best settings with a single click. And what’s good for gamers is also good for creators who work on these 3D assets, offering designers and artists an indispensable tool in a digital world that’s increasingly going 3D.

Acer Predator Z57 Curved Gaming Monitor

With the growing number of apps, references, and tools that we use for both work and play, sometimes even the biggest computer monitors are no longer enough. That’s not even considering how our flat displays start to lose their appeal and comfort the bigger they get. Taking lessons learned from decades of cinema technology, curved monitors have arrived to offer a more immersive viewing and gaming experience. And with a massive 57-inch screen, the new Acer Predator Z57 Curved Gaming Monitor takes that to the extreme, providing not just more space but also more tools to level up your productivity.

Designer: Acer

The Acer Predator Z57 packs some of the specs on any gaming monitor, like the equivalent of dual UHD screens with a pixel resolution of 7680×2160, a fast 120Hz refresh rate, 1000 nits of brightness, and DCI-P3 98% color gamut, all working to deliver realistic-looking visuals. The extra-wide 32:9 aspect ratio and 1000R curvature increase not only your field of vision but also your comfort as it conforms better to how our eyes naturally work. With enough screen real estate, you can run multiple applications side by side without losing time switching between windows, while picture-in-picture features allow you to view two different sources at the same time. Whether you’re trying to immerse yourself in a game or trying to maximize your productivity for work, the Acer Predator Z57’s large, curved screen puts you right in the center of the action and in full control of your space.

Airseekers Tron Robotic Lawnmower

Think of Airseekers as the Tesla of robotic mulching lawn mowers. Unlike most competitive brands on the market, these devices do not require strong connections to an antenna with a line of sight to satellites in orbit. Instead, Airseekers use 5 cameras mounted on the front of the unit, called “Air Vision,” for positioning, navigation, and object detection. These cameras act as eyes in the front, sides, and even the rear of the mower. The battery life lasts roughly three hours, and the final version will have a swappable battery.

Designer: Airseekers Robotics

Airseekers incorporates a significant AI component as it has been trained with numerous images to understand its surroundings. It offers intelligent functionalities such as facial recognition for owners, family members, and pets. If an unidentified individual is detected, the system promptly notifies the owner via the app. As a security precaution, if the mower is taken outside of a designated area, it locks up and sends a notification. Additionally, there is an option to use your own SIM card for data service to track the mower’s location. Overall, Airseekers is simple to set up, convenient to use, and checks many of the features required from a robotic lawn mower. The security feature should provide peace of mind for owners against theft.

Anker Prime 6-in-1 Charging Station (140W)

With multiple devices come multiple charging needs, not all of which can be provided by a single charger. That’s not even counting the times when you need to juice up more than one device at the same time, at which point it becomes a frantic search for the right chargers while you scramble to fight over a power outlet. As one of the foremost experts in charging solutions, Anker has come up with a product that provides all the outlets and power you need. Best of all, it’s barely larger or thicker than your smartphone.

Designer: Anker

With two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and two AC power outlets, the Anker Prime 6-in-1 Charging Station has everything you need to top up all your devices without hogging all the power outlets. One of those USB-C ports can even charge a power-hungry 16-inch MacBook Pro while having enough power for another USB device. Anker’s GaN Prime technology and 7-point safety system guarantee peace of mind even with those scary-fast figures. And unlike typical charging stations and power strips, the Anker Prime 6-in-1’s slim and compact design banishes tangled cables and lets you easily set up a workspace anywhere with a single outlet.

ASUS ZenBook Duo 2024 Dual-Screen Laptop

Laptops are no longer just portable computers for work. They’ve also become showcases of the latest technologies and designs, catering to a wider range of users that include gamers, programmers, designers, creatives, and more. As the needs of these people evolve, so do the designs of laptops as well. A single screen, for example, might no longer be enough to squeeze in all the windows you need, but carrying around and setting up even a portable monitor can be more trouble than it’s worth. Enter the new ASUS ZenBook DUO (2024), a dual-screen laptop that hits multiple birds with one design, now with a much larger display.

Designer: ASUS

As the world’s first 14-inch dual-screen laptop, the ASUS ZenBook DUO (2024) has plenty of real estate for your productivity and collaboration needs. Whether you lay it out completely flat, prop it up like a book, or use it like a regular laptop with the full-sized Bluetooth keyboard, it gives users the flexibility they need to stay on top of things without burdening them with unnecessary accessories. And with the latest hardware available for laptops, it has enough power to support any workflow, including those that utilize AI-powered software and features that are flooding the market today.

Beatbot AquaSense Pro Smart Pool Cleaner

Indoor floors aren’t the only spaces that can benefit from a smart robot helper. In fact, compared to living room floors, cleaning a swimming pool is exponentially more difficult no matter the size, not just because it has to be done underwater but also because you have to clean the bottom, the sides, and even the surface of the water itself. It becomes pretty obvious that the standard features of smart robot vacuums aren’t enough to meet the needs of pool owners, which is why Beatbot is utilizing a wealth of revolutionary technologies to deliver the most advanced intelligent pool cleaning robot for your ultimate convenience and peace of mind.

Designer: Beatbot

Boasting 20 sensors, 9 motors, 4 brushes, and 2 filters, the Beatbot AquaSense Pro exudes not only immense power but also incredible smarts. It doesn’t just see its surroundings but also understands them, deftly avoiding obstacles and making split-second decisions based on changing conditions. Its sophisticated Beatbot OS brain allows it to optimize its route to avoid overlapping paths and missed spots, saving you time and power without sacrificing its performance. Once the work is done or before its large 10,000 mAh internal battery runs out, it will return to its starting position, rise to the surface with a submarine-inspired automatic water release, and let you easily retrieve it to dock it for charging.

This impressive cleaning robot actually boasts the industry’s first 5-in-1 cleaning solution for floor, walls, waterline, water surface, and water clarification. Whether it’s rolling on the floor, sticking to curved walls, or gliding across the water surface, the Beatbot AquaSense Pro offers 100% pool cleaning coverage, giving you peace of mind that comes from knowing that your swimming pool will always be clean and safe to use anytime you need it.

BLUETTI AC180T Power Station and MultiCooler

With our heavy dependence on electronic devices both at home and outdoors, it’s only natural that we’ve also become quite conscious of how much power we’re using, especially when we’re about to run out. Power banks are fine for smaller devices, but living off the grid for one reason or another requires a smarter solution. BLUETTI has been churning out solar-charged portable power stations for years, but its latest AC180T takes things up a notch with one super handy feature: the ability to swap batteries on the fly.

Designer: BLUETTI

The BLUETTI AC180T is basically an inverter that can hold two removable batteries that you can hot-swap at any time, delivering 1800W of power all the time. You can swap out the battery packs as needed without having to power the AC180T down, providing uninterrupted power to your appliances. It’s the perfect partner for BLUETTI’s new MultiCooler that’s powered by the same removable battery, keeping your food and drinks chilled while you enjoy the great outdoors.

Clicks QWERTY Keyboard iPhone Case

Despite the prevalence of photo-based media and social networks, it’s a bit ironic that we’re typing on our phones more than ever before. From churning out one hashtag after another to rapidly typing out a response to someone to even composing a verbose email, we rely heavily on the only input method available on our smartphones: the on-screen keyboard. Bringing the physical keyboard back isn’t an option, not unless you have this fun-looking iPhone case that does exactly that.

Designer: Clicks

Designed for creators and anyone who feels offended by the unforgiving flatness of these virtual keyboards, Clicks revives the painless joys of pecking at actual keys as you compose your novella (or your snark comment). Easy to put on and easy to remove, the accessory adds a playful character to the iPhone 14 and 15, definitely an attention-grabber that influencers will want to soak up. It’s a simple yet effective solution to a problem almost a decade in existence, one that might actually encourage you to type in proper sentences with proper spelling.

GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker

Cooking your own food at home provides plenty of benefits, allowing you to fully control what goes inside the dish as well as its flavor. There are, however, also hard limitations, especially if all you have is an indoor kitchen. Smoking food indoors is a big no-no, whether because of the smell the smoke makes in your house or the insufficient taste it produces in the end. If you’re a fan of the unique smokey flavors that this outdoor cooking process delivers, then you’ll probably raise your hands in thanks for GE’s latest innovation, the Profile Smart Indoor Pellet Smoker.

Designer: GE

Looking just a little larger than a big air fryer, the GE Indoor Smoker makes the seemingly impossible now possible. Using the same regular wood pellets you would use outdoors, you can safely smoke meats, seafood, vegetables, and more indoors, all year round. Its Active Smoke Filtration converts wood smoke into plain warm air so you won’t have to worry about your kitchen stinking after hours of smoking. With precision control, you can bring out the best flavors for the kind of food you’re cooking while also using fewer pellets than a regular outdoor smoker. It’s a simple but life-changing innovation that food lovers and home chefs will adore.

Graphene Square Cordless Transparent Graphene Cooker

Graphene is a revolutionary material that’s often associated with batteries recently, but that’s hardly the only application for it. It’s exactly because of its super ability to conduct heat and electricity that it has become an ideal material for use in electronics. Graphene Square, however, has put it to use in a pretty unbelievable way, creating a portable wireless cooker that defies convention and expectations, letting you clearly see the food as it cooks as if through a looking glass.

Designer: Graphene Square

The top and bottom “glass” of this transparent box are actually the almost invisible graphene modules that generate mid-IR (infrared) radiation to cook the food inside. Because of graphene’s energy-efficient properties, you can even power this transparent cooker with a briefcase-sized battery that connects to the bottom of the box. It’s definitely an unconventional approach to cooking and an even more out-of-this-world design, but it’s one that easily grabs attention and sparks the imagination of what the future of cooking could become.

Hisense 110UX Mini LED TV

Hisense is an old name in the consumer electronics market, and at CES 2024, it is putting its best foot forward when it comes to its display innovation. Its crowning glory is the massive 110UX TV flagship of its premium ULED X series, offering not only its largest panel but also its best technologies in this space. Unsurprisingly, there’s also a pinch of that AI special sauce that everyone’s going crazy over these days.

Designer: Hisense

With such a large area, it’s both no surprise yet also incredible that Hisense managed to cram 40,000 backlight zones, ensuring even and consistent brightness and contrast across the board. An impressive 95% BT.2020 color palette makes images really pop, while the 10,000 nits of brightness leaves no detail hidden in the shadows. With a new Hi-View Engine X chipset, the Hisense 110UX offers enhanced image reproduction powered by artificial intelligence, leaving nothing left to chance and freeing you from the worries of having to manually tweak half a dozen settings just to get the perfect image.

Hisense Automobile Laser Display

Our world is littered with displays, and not just the obvious ones like TVs, computers, and phones. From points-of-sales to even cars, we rely on dynamic screens to bring us the right information when we need it. For vehicles, however, having a screen on the dashboard might no longer be enough, so Hisense developed an innovative Automobile Laser Display projection system that provides navigation and entertainment all throughout, without sacrificing safety.

Designer: Hisense

The triple-laser projection might be 80% smaller than typical optical products, but it boasts 48% higher color performance and 200% luminous efficiency, delivering clear images that can be critical to ensuring safe driving. Its Laser Holographic AR HUD blends virtual and physical objects, turning the windshield into a captivating, information-reach holographic screen. That same optical technology also transforms the side and rear windows into screens, immersing passengers in a new world of in-vehicle entertainment.

Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE E Ink Laptop

Some people prefer to keep their laptops clean and professional, while others personalize the back of their laptops until there’s no space left unturned. It’s difficult to find a middle ground between these two extremes since opting for one naturally excludes the other. But that’s exactly the kind of miracle that Lenovo is trying to pull off, thanks to the magic of colored E Ink panels.

Designer: Lenovo

Building on its experience with using an E Ink screen on the lid of a laptop, the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE proof-of-concept creates an opportunity for meaningful customization and personalized designs. Owners can select from a variety of colorful patterns and have them change in a sequence, or they can opt for a more practical display that shows the time all the time. Best of all, this E-Ink Prism color display uses very little power and continues to change the design even when the system is powered down.

Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid Windows/Android Detachable Laptop

Windows tablets let you use your finger or stylus but don’t exactly offer an enjoyable experience. Android laptops are similar, though they come from the opposite end of the spectrum, revealing how ill-equipped the mobile platform is for desktop use. Unfortunately, there are people who need to use both operating systems and are, therefore, forced to juggle two separate devices. It is for these people that Lenovo has designed the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid in an attempt to bridge the two worlds in a rather innovative way.

Designer: Lenovo

This isn’t just a tablet with a keyboard that dual-boots Windows and Android and wastes your time switching between the two. Neither is it a Windows 2-in-1 laptop that runs Android in a virtualized environment. It’s actually two devices, a laptop base and tablet screen, running Windows and Android, respectively, each with its own hardware and batteries. This means they can run separately, though you’ll need to hook up the laptop base to an external monitor, of course, but you can also use it as a normal Windows laptop as well. When the two are joined, you can also access the Android side easily in a window of its own, allowing you to use the right tool for the right job with a single product.

LG CineBeam Qube Smart Projector

There is a growing number of smart home projectors popping up in the market, but very few are able to escape the dull rectangular shape that their ancestors came in. At the same time, however, there are practical benefits to a boxy shape, so there isn’t much reason to throw it all out the window either. What we need is an out-of-the-box (pardon the pun) thinking that makes what a normal form suddenly look like a piece of art. Enter the new LG CineBeam Qube, a compact laser projector that masquerades as an art object that gives life to your living space even when you’re not using it.

Designer: LG

It stands upright rather than lying down flat like typical projectors. Its silver chassis shines with an elegant luster that gently calls attention to itself without being loud. Its 360-degree rotatable handle provides more than just function but also a visual accent. Everything bout the LG CineBeam Qube shouts retro art object, but its modern projector capabilities make it more than just a pretty face. Whether it’s showing your favorite films, displaying beloved memories captured in photos, or simply standing there on your shelf or table, this beautiful design fulfills a role in bringing your indoor space to life.

LG SIGNATURE OLED T Wireless Transparent 4K TV

TVs have long stopped being just screens for watching videos. In many households, they have become centerpieces and focal points for interactions with family and friends. Today, they are also transforming into decorative objects that add not just functionality but also aesthetic value to living spaces. LG has been pushing the boundaries of TV design, as demonstrated by its Object collection, and now it is unveiling the next big step in that direction with a 4K TV that liberates owners from the stifling constraints of having a big black rectangle that clashes with the rest of your decor.

Designer: LG

With the transparent beauty of the LG SIGNATURE OLED T, the TV itself visually disappears when turned off, seamlessly blending with the rest of the room when not in use. Or you can use the Always-on Display capability for showing art, videos, or photos when you’re not watching anything. Thanks to LG’s cutting-edge wireless transmission technology, you can place it anywhere in the room and not worry about having a black wart marring your otherwise pristine interior. And because it utilizes the best of LG’s industry expertise, it isn’t just a pretty face but a solid 4K TV for an immersive entertainment experience. Whether it stands invisibly in the middle of the room or hangs silently on a wall, the LG SIGNATURE OLED T wireless transparent 4K TV gives you the freedom to enjoy life’s pleasures while keeping your beautiful space clean and free of big black screens.

Logitech Reach Webcam

Thanks to work-from-home arrangements in the past years, webcams have become popular again. It also showed, however, the limitations of these accessories. The modest VGA and HD cameras of old were no longer enough for professional quality video meetings, and the rise of live streaming as a potentially lucrative profession meant that these cameras could no longer just sit on top of computer monitors. It is for this new breed of users and new kinds of online content that the Logitech Reach was designed, enabling people to more easily share non-digital content on their videos, whether live or pre-recorded.

Designer: Logitech

In a nutshell, the Logitech Reach “show-and-tell” camera is a webcam on an articulate arm, providing the flexibility to point the camera anywhere at different angles. This allows for easy “flat lay” shots, moving or zooming the camera for more expressive videos, or a simple video meeting setup, all with a single device. And with 1080p/60fps video quality, it isn’t even sacrificing performance for that unique design, empowering a new generation of creators, students, and workers to rise to the new demands of their fields.

Mosslab Moss Air Air Purifying Terrarium

We’ve become acutely more aware of the rather worrying quality of the air we breathe even inside our homes. Appliances and gadgets that purify indoor air have risen in demand because of this, but the solutions they offer also come with their own drawbacks, especially in how they aim to keep us healthy while slowly killing the planet in exchange. Mosslab is offering an alternative, one that is not only more sustainable but also more aesthetic, and it utilizes an unexpected life form that’s regarded as nature’s understated miracle worker: moss.

Designer: Mosslab

Basically a terrarium in a sleek futuristic design, Moss Air functions as an air purifier and humidifier in one, utilizing the natural capabilities of moss to filter air and produce clean oxygen. Easy to maintain with just some water in an invisible tank, Moss Air offers a convenient yet eye-catching way to keep your room’s air fresh and clean, without doing much harm to the environment in the process.

ONECOM FINTIN V1 Braille QWERTY Keyboard

Technology is supposed to help everyone live better lives, but the way the market works, some people always get left behind. With many technologies moving over to touch-based controls like on-screen keyboards, people who can’t see the screen, let alone type on it, are left at the mercy of screen readers and speech recognition services, many of which are still unable to provide the accuracy needed for communication. Nothing beats a keyboard when it comes to text input, so ONECOM developed a handheld QWERTY keyboard designed specifically for the needs of visually impaired people.

Designer: ONECOM

Braille keyboards do exist, but their traditional designs make it impossible to use them with smartphones and mobile devices, especially on the go. The FINTIN V1, in contrast, fits nicely in your hand and can easily be used like thumb-typing on a mini Bluetooth keyboard. Despite that size, it actually supports the full QWERTY keyboard through special tactile keys, enabling users to express themselves fully on their phones, tablets, or any other device that requires text input.

ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) All-Aluminum Laptop

Gaming laptops are becoming more popular as powerful portable machines that can be used for more than just gaming, but their typical designs intimidate buyers from making an investment. Gaming products have a rather unique aesthetic that won’t appeal to everyone, even among some gamers, and they definitely look out of place in some settings. With the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024), however, the gaming laptop looks a bit more “grown-up,” but it isn’t just its appearance that has changed.

Designer: ASUS ROG

Sporting an all-aluminum CNC-machined chassis, the new ROG Zephyrus G16 boasts a body that is lighter and more durable than most gaming laptops. The switch from plastic to metal also frees up more space, so the Republic of Gamers is able to squeeze in more hardware for the same size. The result is what is probably the MacBook Pro of gaming laptops, lightweight, slim, sleek, and professional, while still flaunting top-of-the-line gaming hardware and a subtle yet distinctive accent that still identifies the product as fit for gamers.

Samsung 2024 Bespoke 4-Door Smart Flex with AI Family Hub+

While most appliance manufacturers focus on the living room as the center of family interaction, Samsung introduced a rather interesting spin that put the kitchen at the hub. That’s why it called its line of smart refrigerators the Family Hub, and this year it is upgrading its Bespoke 4-Door fridge with more smarts and features that promise you’ll spend less time worrying about food and more time to enjoy preparing them, preferably together with the rest of the family.

Designer: Samsung

Besides being a mouthful, the 2024 Bespoke 4-Door Flex Refrigerator with AI Family Hub+ takes advantage of the smart internal camera that it has been installing in its fridges since last year to power its Vision AI technology that can identify up to 33 fresh food items inside. The idea is that the fridge will be able to warn you when food is about to go bad (based on AI or manually inputting expiration dates), suggest dishes you can make based on ingredients you have at hand and your preferences, and remind you to stock up on supplies or replace the water filter. And being part of Samsung’s Bespoke line of smart home appliances, you can also pick the designs that will better match the rest of your kitchen, presenting a modern fridge that’s not only very intelligent but also quite stunning as well.

Shift Robotics Moonwalker X Robot Shoes

Some people fear that robots and, now, AI will take away their jobs, but that hasn’t exactly happened nor will it in the foreseeable future. Robots, in particular, can be used to augment rather than replace human abilities, especially when they come in a form you would have never expected for a robot. Shift Robotics’ Moonwalker X, for example, hardly looks anything like one, but these redesigned robotic shoes with small wheels will give people more mobility and safety in their line of work.

Designer: Shift Robotics

Made for workers in industries that require a lot of going around places, sometimes while carrying heavy loads, the Moonwalker X aims to enhance walking by turning it into a safe glide. Designed to strap over your own shoes like sandals, the 10 small wheels underneath carry your weight without weighing you down. The new design is lighter, more comfortable to wear, and easier to maneuver, so workers spend less time worrying about how to use the robotic shoes and more time getting things done.

Timekettle X1 AI Interpreter Hub

The world might seem like a smaller place thanks to the Internet, but language barriers still keep us apart. Human language can be complicated and nuanced, making it difficult for conventional computer software to translate one language to another, much less in real-time. Timekettle, however, has been making strides in developing technologies that break down these barriers, and its new X1 AI Interpreter Hub further enhances the experience, delivering a single compact package for all your translation needs, wherever you go and without missing a single word.

Designer: Timekettle

Artificial intelligence today has proven to be quite adept at handling the intricacies of human languages, both written and spoken. Harnessing this powerful tool, the Timekettle X1 Interpreter Hub offers the equivalent of having a professional UN interpreter at your beck and call. The standalone device doesn’t need to be paired with a smartphone or have an app installed, so you can get up and running, or rather talking, immediately. Providing both online and offline translations, a recording mode, and, more importantly, simultaneous multi-way translation between as many as 20 people, this AI-powered translation tool is all that you need to make those important connections that transcend geographic and linguistic borders.

UGREEN Nexode Pro 160W GaN Charger

It almost feels like scrambling for a wall socket or power outlet is now an inescapable part of modern life. Juggling multiple devices at the same time is already a hassle, but having to charge them all at the same time can be a hellish experience. Different devices come with different charging needs and different chargers, and you can never be sure if one will work for the others, forcing you to bring as many chargers as you have devices. Thankfully, that’s not the case, especially with UGREEN’s new Nexode Pro 160W GaN Charger, the one charger to rule them all, including your MacBook.

Designer: UGREEN

It’s almost amusing how the 16-inch MacBook Pro has become the measuring rod by which chargers are judged, but that’s because of how power-hungry it can be. With a maximum output of 160W, the UGREEN Nexode Pro doesn’t even break a sweat, quite literally too. GaN technology allows the charger to have a small and compact shape while still maintaining maximum power efficiency, heat management, and safety. Plus, you won’t be hogging the socket just to charge the four devices you can plug into it, perhaps even earning you some friends in the process.

Vaonis Hestia Smart Telescope

Our smartphones are already impressive on their own, but they open the doors to even more mind-blowing possibilities with the right accessory or device. Their cameras, for example, can already take breathtaking photos and videos, but imagine what they can do when you connect them with something that can actually see farther, even to the depths of space. That’s the premise behind Vaonis’ latest masterpiece, the Hestia, which turns your smartphone into a smart telescope just by placing it on top of a portable box.

Designer: Vaonis

Looking almost like a mini projector, the Vaonis Hestia utilizes the imaging sensors and computing power of your smartphone and combines it with sophisticated optics to view the night sky in all its grandeur or, with the proper filter, even the sun during a momentous solar eclipse. The easy-to-use Gravity app not only becomes your guide to the night sky, but it also lets you take expansive and incredible shots by stitching multiple short exposures and utilizing image-enhancing algorithms. The Vaonis Hestia makes it easy to expand your world and your mind with the wonders of the universe, a skill that will be quite in demand as we move closer to space tourism and colonization.

Xreal Air 2 Ultra Mixed Reality Glasses

While it’s undeniable that the announcement of the Apple Vision Pro had a big impact on the mixed reality market, it’s also too easy to forget that there have been people playing in that field for years already. Xreal, formerly called Nreal, has been making AR glasses since 2019, and now it’s jumping into the spatial computing arena with the Xreal Air 2 Ultra with a more open ecosystem and actual glasses rather than a headset.

Designer: Xreal

Like its previous Air glasses, the Xreal Air 2 Ultra takes the form of large black sunglasses, something easier to put on and take off compared to even a comfy headset like the Vision Pro. That bulk is necessary to cram important sensors for features like full positional or six degrees of freedom (6DoF) tracking, hand tracking, and more. More importantly, Xreal’s device is compatible with more devices, ironically including the iPhone, which can’t be said of Apple’s ecosystem. Lightweight, stylish, and significantly more versatile, the Xreal Air 2 Ultra offers a promising design that will make spatial computing more available to everyone.

The post Best of CES 2024: Tech Designs for Smarter, More Comfortable Living first appeared on Yanko Design.

New Year New Gear, they say… but before we explore what 2024 has in store for us, here’s a look at our top EDC gear from the year gone by. Our love for EDC only grew in 2023 as we began venturing outdoors again (you know, after the entire 2-year house arrest), and we honestly believe 2023’s been a golden year for the category. Titanium finally went mainstream, with Apple adopting it for their flagship 2023 iPhones, and we saw multiple independent creators taking to platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to bring their EDC visions to life!

So what really constitutes this list and how did we arrive at our top ten? It’s simple, really. All the EDC have a few things in common. They’re built to be compact, robust, highly utilitarian, and have a wow-factor, whether it’s a unique feature, or just stellar craftsmanship. We’ve even awarded a Best EDC Design of 2023 to a certain multitool so scroll ahead to know more about why we loved it so much!

1. Prytium Titanium Multitool by G.S.G (Best EDC Design of 2023)

With a staggering 14 features built into its compact, lightweight, machined titanium design, the Prytium Multitool wins our award for just being the most versatile, capable, and handy piece of EDC money could buy. Perfect for pretty much any situation life throws at you, the Prytium is the kind of EDC you wish you’d have if you were stranded on a desert island. It’s got possibly every conceivable tool from a folding knife to a bottle opener, pry tool, nail file, glass breaker, and even a few wrenches and screwdrivers to get you through a whole gamut of worldly situations, whether they’re mildly frustrating like a hangnail or actual emergencies that require tactical tools.

Why is it noteworthy?

Aside from being made from Grade-5 that is well known for its sheer durability, the Prytium really surprises with exactly how much it manages to pack into its pocket-friendly design. It does so rather cleverly too, offering tritium slots so that your EDC is visible even at night, a deep pocket clip so you can attach your multitool to your clothing for convenience, and my favorite bit, a removable replaceable blade that you can change whenever the old one gets dull… so you spend less time sharpening your blade and more time using it instead.

2. 8-in-1 EDC Multitool Scissors by Eiger Design

The world of EDC goes well beyond just knives. It also includes tools, fidget toys, stationery, wallets even… but you’ll be hard-pressed to find an EDC scissor, yet here we are. Perfect for indoor and outdoor culinary adventures, this 8-in-1 EDC Scissor comes apart to double as a set of knives… but what’s more interesting is the fact that it also has a built-in bottle opener, can opener, nut-cracker, and even a fire-starter, all in one handy package. Quite like the M-Stand from before that splits into two, this pair of scissors can separate into its individual halves, giving you two knives, and a variety of multitools on demand. Put them back together and the hefty scissors can cut through hard materials like cured meats too, while also relying on a serrated mid-section to crack through walnuts.

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Why is it noteworthy?

This gizmo is the kind your kitchen couldn’t live without, but it’s also perfect for outdoor cooking on a camping trip. Use it as a single scissor, two handheld knives, or by its whole gamut of features… the 8-in-1 EDC Scissors get points for being clever, practical, and reinventing an aspect of life that isn’t just outdoor/lifestyle. Pair it with Uphold’s travel cutlery for the ultimate cooking experience outdoors! Oh, and if you’re looking to buy your own pair of scissors, we recommend checking out the YD Store.

3. Septimo Multi-tool by Jeremy Valdez for CRKT

The CRKT Septimo Multi-Tool may appear to be your typical pocket knife, but it’s ingeniously designed to offer far more than just a flipper blade. Crafted to combine compactness, ergonomic comfort, and a rich array of features, this versatile tool was conceived by Jeremy Valdez, a seasoned member of the 7th Special Forces Group. Inspired by his vision of the perfect everyday carry multitool, the Septimo (which translates to ‘Seventh’ in Spanish) boasts a 2.86-inch fold-out American Tanto blade with a secure liner-lock mechanism. It also includes a built-in bottle opener, a dual-purpose flathead and Phillips head screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, and a handy glass-breaker tip for those tricky situations. Plus, with its convenient pocket clip, you can keep your Septimo Multi-Tool easily accessible, ensuring you’re always prepared for a wide range of everyday situations.

Why is it noteworthy?

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but for the Septimo Multitool, it was more like a strong survival instinct. The origin story of the Septimo is probably the wildest thing you’ll ever hear. A member of the 7th Special Forces, Jeremy Valdez was posted in Afghanistan in 2009 when his helicopter crashed during a combat operation. In the heat of the moment, Valdez realized that the tools he had at the time failed miserably at real-world applications when it came to prying open fuselage, cutting harnesses, and freeing his fellow soldiers from the blazing, mangled chopper wreckage. Some people live in the trauma of such incidents, but not Valdez. He went to the drawing board and came up with the Septimo – a tribute to his fallen brothers and sisters, and an EDC so capable it has literal military experience.

4. Rike Knife S05 by Rike Knife

This knife almost won Best EDC of the Year for just how bonkers-beautiful it is. Intricate to the point of being absolutely impossible to counterfeit, the Rike Knife S05 has one of the most unique Damascus blades we’ve ever seen. In fact, I can say with a degree of confidence that I’ve never seen a blade this beautiful. With a dizzyingly detailed pattern that’s brought about by using different grades of metal that are hammered, forged, and acid-etched to reveal the marbled texture, the S05’s blade is a literal work of art. It sports a clip-point design that folds into a titanium handle that has a marbled pocket clip too. The price of such beauty? Well, given that you’re paying for top-tier craftsmanship, the $550 price tag doesn’t really hurt as much.

Why is it noteworthy?

I’m going to sound like an absolute broken record at this point, but that Damascus blade has my heart. Almost like a piece of psychedelic art, it has something hidden in every corner, from checkers and strips to even Japanese symbols. Oh, and as far as the blade’s sharpness goes, it has a viciously sharp edge that cuts through materials like they’re made of butter.

5. KeyMaster by EDC Monster

I’d like to think that the KeyMaster is key-shaped because of its sheer ability to ‘unlock’ any kind of real or metaphorical door that holds you back. Sure, the key-shaped design means it’s the ideal size to fit on your keychain, but let’s also acknowledge the fact that this key-sized EDC has 14 different tools built in, including multiple wrenches for bicycle spokes as well as hex nuts, a few popular screwdrivers, a fold-out scalpel blade, a bottle opener, and even a miniature scale that has BOTH metric as well as imperial measurements.

Why is it noteworthy?

It’s small enough to sit on your keychain, weighs a paltry 29 grams (1 ounce), and is made from the most durable metal known to mankind. What’s not to love?! The KeyMaster is a handy-dandy EDC for when you need to perform minor repairs or when you need a small knife to cut open boxes, slice paracord, whittle wood, or defend yourself. And when you’re done, crack open a brewski with the built-in bottle opener!

6. Folding Travel Cutlery Kit by Uphold Living

The problem with travel cutlery is that in the interest of portability, it often makes a few unfortunate trade-offs. Take the spork, for instance… a two-in-one piece of cutlery that saves material/space, but is just an odd contraption that nobody loves to use. The Uphold Travel Cutlery Kit possesses the unique distinction of being a rather no-compromise solution. Designed to be as small as a bunch of credit cards, this kit contains not one, not two, but three cutlery sets that you can use just as you would the ones at home. The Uphold kit features a working spoon, fork, and knife that sit flat when not in use, but curve to assume their ergonomic shape when you need them, thanks to clever design and the use of flexible materials at exactly the right points, while relying on food-grade titanium alloy and aluminum alloy for the rest.

Why is it noteworthy?

Single-use plastic spoons and forks are a menace. Not just for the environment, which they pollute by thousands of tonnes every year, but also for humans. Why? Because flimsy plastic spoons and forks don’t offer any robust functionality at all. They bend and flex when you try to cut through food, and they’ll melt if your gravies are too hot. Uphold’s alternative is vastly better. Not only is it made from durable metals like titanium, but it’s also designed to be compact when tucked away, and incredibly functional when you need to dig into your food. The full-length design gives you all the convenience you need while you eat, and the fact that you’ve got a separate knife, fork, and spoon means no more dealing with that spork nonsense.

7. Typhoeus Morphing Knife by CIVIVI

We’re big fans of CIVIVI’s knives in general, but when I laid our eyes on the Typhoeus for the first time, I honestly felt my jaw drop a little. The Typhoeus isn’t your conventional folding knife, because it has a handle that folds too. Once you flip the blade out, you can either use it as a conventional clip-point knife, or fold the handle further to turn it into a push-dagger. This unique format gives you two knives, a conventional one and a hardcore tactical one, so you can cut open boxes and defend yourself with equal effectiveness. The Typhoeus features a 14C28N steel blade sitting within a G10 handle, but our eyes are on the Damascus steel variant that gets an upgraded aluminum handle for a more robust experience.

Why is it noteworthy?

The novel format is exciting and really reinvents a category (knives) that doesn’t see too much out-of-the-box thinking as far as mechanisms are concerned. Plus, with the Typhoeus you really get two knives for the price of one, and that itself should be enough to convince the moderate skeptic!

8. A2 Badger OTF Knife by Tekto Knives

Another one of our favorites remains Tekto’s OTF range. In a world where most portable knives have blades that swivel inwards and outwards, Tekto’s OTF (or Out The Front) knives shoot outwards when you hit the switch on top. The A2 Badger grabbed our eye this year for how compact yet capable it was. It eschewed the spear-point edge seen on most OTF blades for an American Tanto-style blade, crafted from titanium-coated D2 steel, and features a glass-breaker tip on the reverse end of the handle, giving you a knife that’s dangerous from head to toe!

Why is it noteworthy?

We firmly believe that if you’re an EDC enthusiast or even an amateur collector, you NEED to have an OTF knife in your arsenal. The A2 Badger, to that degree, is perfectly compact, well-built, and designed to be reliable and last long. The titanium-coated blade holds its edge remarkably well, and that aluminum handle feels great in your grasp, whether it’s for cutting or for shattering even laminated glass. When all’s said and done, that pocket clip lets you slide your OTF knife right into your jacket or pants, for another day.

9. M-Stand Titanium Multitool by ActMax

The M-Stand proves that there’s always room for more features in an EDC. It might look like your conventional push-dagger, but the M-Stand, as its name suggests, also doubles as a stand for your smartphone or tablet simply by splitting it apart into its two halves. Neodymium magnets hold the two titanium halves together, giving you an EDC you can wear around your neck simply by sandwiching a chain between the left and right elements of the M-Stand. However, when you need to use its vast catalog of features, split it apart and you’ve got two knives that also have built-in features like hex wrenches, a bottle opener, a paracord cutter, pry-bar, fire starter, and the phone stand, as I mentioned earlier. Snap them back together and you’re armed with a rather capable spear-point push dagger that you can wear between your knuckles and use for everything from self-defense to shotgunning a beer-can!

Why is it noteworthy?

The beauty of the EDC industry is its rather low barrier to entry. Sure, you’ve got a few big-name brands that dominate the category, but then an independent small-time creator shows up with a novel design and a Kickstarter campaign, getting the entire EDC community excited to see something new. The M-Stand is that novel design. It’s unlike any multitool we’ve seen. It does its job well, and has a fidget-like quality that’ll have your hands and eyes falling in love with it every single day!

10. Batch #003 Knife by Leatherman

When it comes to multi-tools, Leatherman is practically a household name. Back in 1975, during a European holiday, Tim Leatherman and his wife Chau found themselves encountering leaky hotel plumbing and making roadside repairs to their temperamental Fiat. This experience sparked a brilliant idea that gave birth to the plier-based multitool – a remarkable innovation that Leatherman is renowned for pioneering. Based out of Portland, Oregon, the Leatherman company still champions this category as one of the most functional tools in their catalog, but earlier this year, the company developed a new kind of EDC that caught our fancy. The Batch #003 isn’t your everyday EDC knife. It comes with Leatherman’s proprietary interchangeable blade system. Press a button and you can pop out the old blade for a new one. Unlike most knives with replaceable standardized blades, Leatherman actually makes their own blades in-house, offering you a choice between a drop-point and a sheepsfoot blade, both made from 420HC stainless steel and completed with a stone-washed finish.

Why is it noteworthy?

Aside from being a gorgeous folding knife, the Batch #003’s proprietary blade-changing system sets a standard that I really hope more knives follow in the future. It’s difficult to sharpen some types of blades (especially serrated ones), and discarding a knife for just that fact seems like a truly wasted potential. Swapping blades is a great way to prolong a knife’s overall lifespan. Did I also mention that the Batch #003 comes with its own torx and bit drivers too? Just as a nifty cherry on the cake!

The post Best of EveryDay Carry – Yanko Design Awards 2023 first appeared on Yanko Design.

At YD, we live by the fundamental belief that there’s nothing more powerful than an idea. Concepts have always enthralled us, because they represent what our future could look like, and that’s where designers come in with their unique skill – imagining this conceptual alternate reality on behalf of all of us. As we come to a grand close to 2023, we look back at some of the concepts that we (and you, surely) loved. These concepts represent some of the most intriguing ideas and visions of the year, like imagining what a proper PlayStation Portable in the modern age would look like, or even the Gen-2 CyberTruck for instance. We’re even crowning one of these concepts as our “Best Concept Design of 2023” for its sheer vision, attention to detail, and the fact that it just ever so slightly made us want to throw money at our screens. Want to know what it was? Want to also see the other concepts that made it to this ‘Best of’ list? Scroll down to find out!

1. MOI3D Gaming Console by Vadim Danilkov (Best Concept Design of 2023)

We loved this console for a few reasons. Aside from the fact that it’s detailed down to the last screw and capacitor (check the video), it’s also a tsunami of absolute nostalgia. The MOI3D is a handheld console concept that’s designed to run any PlayStation CD right back to the 1994 PS One. It comes with all the bells and whistles, starting from a screen on the front and a CD-reader on the bottom to action buttons (including L1/L2 and R1/R2), HDMI out, USB-C charging, a CD tray button, and front-firing speakers. Notably, it lacks a 3.5mm audio jack but more than makes up for it with backward compatibility with games from as long as 30 years ago when the PlayStation first debuted!

Why it’s noteworthy?

The Best Design title doesn’t come easy. We rate our designs on their brief, their output, the level of detail, their originality, and their overall appeal and the MOI3D smashed it out of the park on all levels. The amount of detail is dizzying, and the prospect of being able to play all your favorite PS games on one handheld console is even more exciting!

2. Tesla Cybertruck 2.0 by Dejan Hristov

As the Cybertruck FINALLY begins delivering to customers who first ordered it back in 2019 (if they were ready to pay that tear-jerking new price), we decided it was time to plan for the next big thing. Dejan Hristov’s Cybertruck 2.0 really caught our fancy for its unique design. It was eye-catching and iconic without being polarizing, and still somehow stuck to the Cybertruck’s design language without looking like it was made using origami. The gentle curves do a wonderful job of reflecting light and the world around it, creating the truck’s overall appeal, and if that rear truck bed wasn’t enough storage, this one also sports a frunk that opens like a drawer cabinet!

Why is it noteworthy?

Hristov’s design paints an arguably less polarizing picture of the Cybertruck but retains its overall soul. When Musk made a point that all pickup trucks looked the same, he wasn’t wrong. Hristov carries that torch but creates an EV that looks different without looking ugly.

03. Apple iPhone Ultra by Jimmy Huynh

We all thought Apple would drop an iPhone Ultra this year, but the company delivered something just as good – an iPhone Pro series made from titanium, with USB-C, and an Action button. Sure, it doesn’t look as captivating as this particular concept by Jimmy Huynh, but we love it all the same. As far as this iPhone Ultra concept goes, Huynh retained the Watch Ultra’s aesthetic beautifully, with a gorgeous crown, orange action button, and that nude titanium finish that culminates in those speaker grills at the bottom. Sure, some might find that odd bump on the side unappealing, but we appreciate anything we can rest our fingers against as we hold this phone up.

Why is it noteworthy?

It’s been a hot minute since Apple announced any new iPhone range. The Watch got an Ultra debut last year, but Apple’s stuck to the iPhone, SE, and Pro range for years now. Although some say there wouldn’t be much difference between the Pro and the Ultra, we disagree. The Ultra isn’t a creative-aligned iPhone. It’s an iPhone that’s built like a brick. Incredible sturdiness, game-changing resilience, and the kind of software security that would make it perfect for government officials (perhaps even the ones in the CCP)!

04. Nothing Power Bank by Subhav Menon Srivastava

Last year Nothing created waves with its first transparent-bodied smartphone, and while we got the Nothing Phone (2) this year, we were hoping for a few phone-adjacent accessories. A Nothing Power Bank, for example. This transparent portable charger from the mind of Subhav Menon Srivastava has us drooling because of how gorgeous it looks. While most power banks have nothing more than an Li-ion battery and a PCB, Srivastava makes things interesting with printed elements on the outer glass, and an LED display that shows the battery percentage of the power bank. You’ve also got a whopping 10,000 mAh battery on the inside, and a few LED lights that bring the power bank to life when plugged in.

Why is it noteworthy?

Our readers certainly loved the Nothing Power Bank, with 60,000 views on the concept. That pretty much affirms that there’s public demand for the Nothing Power Bank, so if Carl Pei is reading this…

05. Apple Mac Nano by Le KBM

Sometime in 2022 (or probably earlier) a patent surfaced for an Apple keyboard with its own Mac computer built into it. Given that Apple was developing its own silicone line, at the time this made absolute sense. Fit an entire Mac into a keyboard and you had yourself a makeshift Mac Mini with you! Plug a display in and you were ready to go (maybe you’d need a trackpad or mouse too, but you get my drift). Designer Le KBM decided to build out this vision, creating the Mac Nano concept. The concept features a rejuvenated Magic Keyboard with a touchbar on top and an M-series chip inside, giving it laptop-worthy computing power in the format of a keyboard. Hook an iPad or an iPhone to it and you have yourself a renegade Mac with a touchscreen. What’s not to love?!

Why is it noteworthy?

Conceptually, the Mac Nano seems somewhat strange but then again, the Mac Mini was an odd concept too. Why create a portable Mac when the MacBook Pro was already a thing? Well, the Mac Mini sort of found its own place in the Apple ecosystem, and for people looking for an ‘Air’ version of that, the Mac Nano is the perfect choice! Plus, we haven’t seen a ‘nano’ Apple product in a while!

06. PocketMan P1 Handheld Console by Grzegorz Rozwadowski (Twig Studio)

The PocketMan P1, inspired by Teenage Engineering’s raw, industrial design, boasts a sleek metal-first aesthetic with exposed screws. It features essential controls like a D-pad, action buttons, multiple joysticks, and four shoulder buttons. It also offers a USB-C port, a 3.5mm aux jack, and card readers on both sides for game loading. The black-and-white screen gives it a retro touch, possibly with an option for a color display. While currently a concept, the P1 showcases minimalist metallic design, rejecting the need for excessive ergonomics and RGB lighting in gaming hardware.

Why is it noteworthy?

Aside from that nostalgic handheld form factor, there’s a lot to be appreciated about how wonderfully cyberpunk the PocketManP1 looks. When your eyes aren’t immersed in the game, they’ll probably be admiring every inch of the P1’s metallic design while your hands familiarize themselves with every single button, trigger, and joystick.

07. Note Digital+Analog Desk Accessory by Harshit Sahu

Part digital clock/calendar, part whiteboard, and part pinboard, this Note-taking desk accessory has the best of all worlds. It’s essentially a compact whiteboard that can flip over, doubling your writing space. One side features a dotted grid for diagrams, while the other can be plain or carry the same design. Sticky notes can also find their place on this versatile board. What sets Note apart is the addition of a multi-purpose vertical screen on the left side, displaying the time, calendar, and synced appointments from your phone. It even offers functions like a timer, world clock, and music player.

Why is it noteworthy?

“Paper can be simple, and apps can be quick, but not everyone needs all the commitment that these two different note-taking methods sometimes require,” says our Co-Editor-in-Chief JC Torres. This piece of digital stationery may not be a revolutionary device, but its creative integration of analog and digital concepts makes it a focused and efficient tool for specific needs. It simplifies your workflow without overwhelming you with unnecessary features, ensuring that your productivity remains the top priority.

08. Sony Playstation XPERIA by Santosh Palaniappan

This one’s a classic case of “what could have been”. Designed by Santosh Palaniappan, the PlayStation XPERIA is the perfect hybrid between a smartphone and a gaming device, combining the company’s two successful product lines. Featuring a sliding display that reveals gaming controls underneath, along with a triple-camera setup, it offers versatility beyond gaming. Messaging, internet browsing, selfies, movie watching, and social media game streaming become seamless possibilities. The PlayStation Xperia strikes a balance between smartphone and gaming device aesthetics, combining the functionality of a smartphone with the visual appeal of the PS5. Its white and black design with textured grips and the iconic PlayStation symbol microtexture on the rear exudes elegance. Front-facing speakers enhance the media and gaming experience, and sliding the screen transforms it into a handheld console.

Why is it noteworthy?

With a focus on both gaming and smartphone capabilities, the PlayStation Xperia concept offers a promising vision for Sony’s future product lineup, blending the best of both worlds for tech enthusiasts and gamers alike. It doesn’t compromise on anything a gamer would want in their phone or their handheld console, and let’s be absolutely honest, it looks positively drool-worthy!

09. Ford Mini Bronco by Naoto Kobayashi

Ever seen an off-roader coupe? Well, feast your eyes on the Ford Mini Bronco, a two-door off-roader that we absolutely wish was real. Crafted by designer Naoto Kobayashi, the Ford Mini Bronco boasts a unique design with distinctive pixel-inspired headlights in the front and dynamic taillights at the rear. It’s ideal for a group of two or three adventurers looking to hit the off-road and embrace an eco-friendly lifestyle. This compact EV offers SUV-like excitement without the fuel consumption of larger Ford vehicles. However, it’s important to note that the Ford Mini Bronco is currently just a concept, a vision of what the future of transportation could hold. We can only hope that one day, this remarkable concept will become a reality.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Mini Bronco is a small-format-large-ambitions car that really doesn’t compromise on space or features. The lack of two extra passenger seats means the Mini Bronco has a spacious rear, perfect for storing your outdoor gear. Its short wheelbase and minimal overhangs (on the front and rear) promise enhanced off-road capabilities, and Kobayashi even managed to fit a large-size tent on the top that people can sleep in!

10. Google G Spot Tracking Device by Obi Fidler

Google will help you search for a lot of things, but this is a first! Meet the G Spot, an audacious concept from the mind of Obi Fidler that doubles as Google’s first-ever tracking device. The G Spot is a sleek and compact GPS smart tracker that takes inspiration from Apple’s popular AirTag. This innovative device boasts a conveniently small form factor, making it a breeze to carry around discreetly. What sets it apart is its seamless integration with Google’s robust ecosystem, allowing you to effortlessly track its whereabouts through the Find My Device and Google Maps services… and obviously that name, which I will never tire of saying!

Why is it noteworthy?

This one makes the list just for how much of a belly laugh it gave us as we first saw it online. The entire project is an absolute riot, making fun of what could be Google’s tracking device. Hilariously named the G Spot, this tracking device comes equipped with a tensor chip and a whole lot of double entendres!

The post Best of Conceptual Design – Yanko Design Awards 2023 first appeared on Yanko Design.

It’s that time of year again when we take stock of the past 12 months and reflect on the ups and downs in order to get a brief glimpse of what lies ahead. It has been a pretty active year for the tech industry in many segments, from companies recovering or folding from the events of the past 3 years to the explosion of AI-powered services. Of course, there has also been a torrent of new designs and product types, such as the gaming handheld fever that’s gripping the PC market. In other words, there has been a great storm swirling in the tech and consumer electronics world, and now that the dust has finally settled, we’re taking a look at some of the best product designs that you can grab today or in just a few months.

Best Mixed Reality Headset – Apple Vision Pro

After years of speculation and waiting, Apple finally revealed its hand and showed the world its vision for its mixed reality platform. Of course, that includes the hardware that will become the gateway to that reality, the Vision Pro. In typical Apple fashion, the headset isn’t just a rehash of any old VR/AR gear and is specifically designed not only to showcase the power of Apple’s Spatial Computing but also to provide convenience and comfort in all aspects.

Designer: Apple

Why it’s noteworthy

As expected from any Apple product, the Vision Pro has a minimalist, understated design where every part is made with meticulous attention to detail. In addition to luxurious, comfortable materials, the headset is designed to be lightweight and well-balanced, allowing for long hours of use without straining the head. It was also made to immerse the wearer in a virtual world without taking them away from the real world, especially when communicating with others by making eye contact. Apple’s visionOS platform is carefully tailored to mix the real and the virtual seamlessly. Admittedly, the pricing for the Vision Pro is going to be high, but that’s also on par with any high-quality product that Apple makes.

Best Gaming Handheld – Lenovo Legion Go

Although some manufacturers have been churning out portable gaming PCs for years now, things really heated up when the big names in the industry started jumping in. Valve got the ball rolling with the Steam Deck, followed closely by the ASUS ROG Ally. Lenovo may just be the latest to jump on board, but thanks to both its expertise and the advantage of hindsight, the Lenovo Legion Go is pretty much ahead of the game not just in terms of specs but also in design.

Designer: Lenovo

Why it’s noteworthy

Yes, the Legion Go looks big, but mostly because it has the biggest screen among handheld gaming PCs in the market today. Its removable controllers give the perfect Nintendo Switch vibe, but the FPS mouse mode also delivers a new and unique way to play games. The high-performance hardware leaves few complaints, aside from the usual battery life, and the built-in kickstand removes the need for a separate accessory. There’s definitely still room for improvement, so it’s actually exciting to see what Lenovo has planned next for this device category.

Best Foldable Phone – OPPO Find N3

Foldable phones are becoming mainstream to the point that there might be too many to choose from at this point. While Samsung still has the lion’s share of people’s attention, it has long relinquished being the best in this market. It has easily let its rivals pass it by, and OPPO, who is relatively new to the scene, has just produced what is pretty much the best foldable phone you can buy (depending on where you are).

Designer: OPPO

Why it’s noteworthy

The OPPO Find N3 combines not just the best specs but also the best designs currently available in this category. It folds flat, has stylish color options, and has a more normal, wider shape that makes it more usable as a regular phone when folded. And it doesn’t skimp on the cameras, which is something that most foldable phones still have a hard time getting right. This particular model might not be available in all markets, but the OnePlus Open is a dead ringer and might be available in countries where the OPPO Find N3 isn’t.

Best Laptop/Portable PC – HP Envy Move

When thinking of “portable computers,” most will probably think of laptops since those are the most common designs available. They’re not always the best, though, especially when you consider the ergonomics involved. Desktop PCs, however, are just too large and bulky to be portable, even the thin all-in-one PCs are firmly rooted to desks. HP is challenging that status quo with a unique PC that is as portable as a laptop yet as usable as an all-in-one desktop.

Designer: HP

Why it’s noteworthy

The HP Envy Move is, for all intents and purposes, an AIO or All-in-One PC that was designed to be carried around, especially thanks to a built-in foldable handle and a pocket for storing a wireless keyboard. Its large 23.8-inch screen has plenty of room for work and entertainment, and you won’t have to crane your neck down every time you use it. Yes, it’s probably going to be awkward to carry it with you everywhere, but when you have a few fixed places to set up work or sit down for a movie, this computer will give you the full desktop experience in no time flat.

Best Portable Power Station – Bluetti AC500 + B300S

A stable supply of electricity has almost become a luxury these days. Power grids can go down without prior notice, or you might find yourself spending days and nights outdoors. Gas generators no longer cut it and are dangerous liabilities rather than assets, but there’s, fortunately, a large selection of safer and greener battery-powered generators now available today. Perhaps too many, in fact, since they come in all sizes and capacities, but Bluetti’s latest modular AC500 inverter and B300S expansion batteries offer the perfect flexibility for all your power needs.

Designer: Bluetti

Why it’s noteworthy

The modular design of the Bluetti AC500 means that you can stack as many as four of these 3,072Wh batteries if you need to, enough to power a home for a day or two. Or you can only bring the inverter and one battery module if you just need to go camping over the weekend. Best of all, you can charge the batteries using solar power, so you don’t even have to worry about power outlets in case of emergencies or being stuck outside. It’s a great way to enjoy the conveniences of modern life by having access to safe and sustainable power at any time.

Best Powerbank – Anker 737 GaN Prime 24K

Our dependence on computers and smartphones becomes pretty obvious when we start scrambling for a charger and find no power outlet available. There’s a variety of portable batteries, a.k.a. power banks, available today, but not all of them deliver the power you need to charge multiple devices, let alone a power-hungry laptop. Anker is one of the leading brands in this space, and it has a solution that addresses that need without forcing you to carry a veritable brick in your bag.

Designer: Anker

Why it’s noteworthy

The Anker 737 GaN Prime 24K offers portability and power in a compact package. It has enough output and battery capacity to charge a MacBook, for example, which means smartphones, accessories, and even drones are no sweat at all. GaN (Gallium Nitride) technology makes charging not only faster but also safer, while a helpful LCD display shows all the necessary stats you need to keep tabs on the power bank itself as well as the devices it’s charging. The block is admittedly chunky, but compared to power banks of similar capacity, it’s surprisingly compact and light, making it the perfect all-around partner for any mobile worker.

Best Smart Speaker – Sonos Era 300

The hype around smart speakers may seem to have died down, but that’s mostly because they have become almost too common. Every modern Bluetooth-enabled speaker these days has some smarts now, leaving manufacturers more freedom to explore other designs. Sonos is one of the pioneers in the wireless speaker space, and it continues to push through with new designs even in the face of unrelenting competition. Its new Sonos Era 300 this year makes an impact not only with its design but also with its commitment to the environment.

Designer: Sonos

Why it’s noteworthy

The Sonos Era 300 has a distinctive shape that almost looks like a flattened speaker icon, with a front half that flares out and a back that is more or less uniform in size. That shape isn’t accidental, as it allows the multitude of woofers and tweeters to be positioned for maximum efficiency and performance. What really makes the Sonos Era 300 extra special, however, is the attention that it gives to sustainability, picking materials, lowering power consumption, and encouraging quick repairs in order to reduce its negative impact on the environment.

Best Wireless Earbuds – Sony WF-1000XM5

Apple may have made wireless earbuds popular, but it is far from being the only game in town. When it comes to design and especially sound quality, the AirPods are easily eclipsed by products from more experienced brands. Reclaiming its foothold in this audio space, Sony has launched a new pair of high-end buds that truly immerse you in your favorite music, regardless of your environment.

Designer: Sony

Why it’s noteworthy

The Sony WF-1000XM5 boasts one of if not the best noise canceling experiences that tiny buds can offer. It even uses some AI special sauce to also reduce noise interference when you’re making calls, allowing for clear and crisp audio on both ends of the line. Best of all, its minimalist design doesn’t call attention to itself, but its stylish appearance won’t embarrass you if people do notice.

Best Robot Vacuum Cleaner – SwitchBot S10

We have long gone past the days when robot vacuum cleaners only vacuumed floors and still left everything else to humans. Now they can dump their dirt into bins on their own and even wipe the floor with a mop when needed. Human intervention can’t be removed completely, like in taking out the dust bin or refilling water in the tank, but the SwitchBot S10 further reduces the need for manual interaction by making the robot smart enough to dump its own dirty water and stock up on clean water all by itself.

Designer: SwitchBot

Why it’s noteworthy

The small and narrow auto-emptying station of the SwitchBot S10 is rather deceptive, making you think it’s less capable than its larger competitors. But that’s because the exciting action happens away from that bin and at the separate water station that lets the robot vacuum exchange dirty water for clean one using the same pipes that you already have for drains and faucets. It can even refill a humidifier’s water tank on its own, presuming it’s SwitchBot’s humidifier, of course. These almost completely automated processes reduce the need to get your hands dirty, literally, and reduce the risks of getting contaminated and sick from handling waste materials.

Best Smartwatch – Apple Watch Ultra 2

Just like with smart speakers, the smartwatch market has more or less normalized by now after a long struggle in trying to carve out its niche. Designs may no longer be changing drastically, but innovation hasn’t stopped completely either. Now it’s a race to put the best health sensors you can cram in such a small space, but Apple has long been ahead of the race and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 cements its lead even further.

Designer: Apple

Why it’s noteworthy

The Apple Watch Ultra series delivered what users have been asking for a long time, more space to see the information they need at a glance without having to tap their way through screens. It also adds a new double tap gesture so you won’t even have to use your other hand for basic actions like stopping a timer, ending a call, or better yet, taking a photo from your iPhone. It also introduces Apple’s first carbon-neutral products, offsetting the negative impact the production of its smartwatches has with “carbon credits” from nature-based projects and parts.

The post Best of Tech Design – Yanko Design Awards 2023 first appeared on Yanko Design.

PROS:

• Beautiful and spacious 8.8-inch 1600p 144Hz screen


• Detachable controllers with innovative FPS (vertical mouse) mode


• Great overall performance

CONS:

• Large and heavy


• Bottom USB-C port is unusable when using the kickstand


• Short battery life

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS

ERGONOMICS

PERFORMANCE

SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY

VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The Lenovo Legion Go pushes the envelope of what handheld PCs are capable of, paving the road for future innovation in this space.

Although it was hardly the first portable gaming console, the success of the Nintendo Switch really inspired a new class of gaming devices. It pushed the boundaries of what you can accomplish with a handheld, offering a gaming experience that you can enjoy anywhere, including while sitting on a couch in front of a TV or table. Of course, Nintendo’s selection of titles is just a small part of the larger gaming world, and there have been many brands that have tried to bring the magic of the Switch to PCs. The Steam Deck proved that such a product would be popular, but it just stopped there. Lenovo, on the other hand, went all out with what is possibly the closest to a “Switch PC” to date. But is the Lenovo Legion Go just a Switch clone or is it offering a completely new gaming experience? We take this innovative gaming handheld for a few good spins to find out.

Designer: Lenovo

Aesthetics

Right off the bat, the first thing you’ll notice about the Lenovo Legion Go is that it’s huge, bigger even than the Steam Deck that’s already considered a giant. It’s slightly thinner than the Deck but only in the middle because the removable controllers almost add an inch to that thickness. It is definitely the larger and heavier of the three major handheld PCs, something that has repercussions for comfort and ergonomics, as we’ll see later.

Fortunately, you might forget the Legion Go’s size the moment your eyes settle on its large 8.8-inch screen, also the largest in this niche market. With a high pixel resolution and bright colors, it easily outclasses the competition, at least in terms of sharpness and visual impact. It doesn’t come without cost, though, but if you value a large, sharp, and fast gaming screen above other specs, this is the one to beat.

The Legion Go definitely carries itself well compared to its peers in terms of aesthetics. Unlike the more rectangular shapes of the Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally, the Legion Go’s controllers taper a bit, creating a more interesting shape from the front. The back of the device is mostly flat save for the contoured handles of the controllers on each side. That back also features a full-width kickstand that lets you easily prop up the Legion Go on any flat surface for playing games or even for watching videos. The top edge has buttons and ports for controlling the device while the bottom has a lone USB-C Gen 4 port for both charging and data.

All in all, the Lenovo Legion Go presents a solid and distinctive design that doesn’t stray too far from the convention but has enough tweaks to make it stand out from the crowd. Its large screen plays in its favor, though the resulting large size is a bit of a double-edged sword. This niche market is still in its infancy and we’ll surely see more interesting designs in the future, but at least for now, Lenovo has pulled enough tricks to give the Legion Go a memorable character.

Ergonomics

There’s really no going around the fact that the Legion Go is a bulky and heavy device, bigger and heftier than its two closest rivals. For a device that’s primarily meant to be held in your hands, that can be a huge drawback. Even if its battery life lasts for hours (or if you’re playing it while charging), your hands and arms will undoubtedly tire after the first 30 minutes or an hour at most. It might be an artificial way to limit your gaming time, but the great thing about this kind of device is you don’t actually need to hold it up to play. Just like the Switch, you can simply set it down on a table or connect it to a large screen. Either way, you can just continue playing, at least as long as you have enough battery for it.

As mentioned earlier, this is as close as we’ve come to a Switch-like PC, and that’s primarily thanks to the detachable controllers. You can slide them off, though downward in the opposite direction compared to the Switch, and use them as normal Bluetooth controllers except split in two. There is, however, a special Lenovo-only mode that changes the narrative a bit. It’s called FPS mode and you stick the right controller into a base that makes it look like a joystick, except it’s a mouse that you drag across the table, not unlike those ergonomic vertical mice. As the name suggests, it’s meant to offer a more precise method of aiming with the right hand in FPS games and more fluid movement with the left controller. It’s definitely an innovative design but one that requires heavy muscle memory training to really get used to.

The Legion Go isn’t just a gaming device, however. It’s a gaming PC that runs a regular version of Windows 11, which means the user experience isn’t optimized for anything but a keyboard and mouse or, at the very least, a touch screen. This makes operating the non-gaming parts of the operating system a bit more tedious, though Lenovo thankfully included a small touchpad on the right-hand controller exactly for this purpose. There’s also a tiny scroll wheel on the back side of the same controller, but its location makes it difficult to reach. Along with the idiosyncrasies of Windows itself, this makes operating the device in handheld mode cumbersome and awkward.

Performance

Lenovo definitely pulled out the stops when it came to the Legion Go’s silicon muscles. Running inside is an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme with RDNA Graphics paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB or 1TB of NVMe SSD storage. It’s not desktop-level hardware, not even a gaming laptop, but at this size, it’s currently the best that’s available for handheld computers. It can definitely handle most PC games at medium settings, and maybe a few at high settings. Of course, cranking up those options will drain the battery quicker, and there’s not a lot in the first place.

The real star of the show, however, is the impressive 8.8-inch 2560×1600 IPS LCD display with a 144Hz refresh rate. Not only is it the largest among handheld computers, it also has the highest resolution. It’s bright, vibrant, colorful, and sharp. And it’s also quite the battery drain. On paper, a high resolution such as this would be a huge boon for gaming, but only if you have lots of battery and power to spare. At full resolution, the only way you’ll get above 60fps in Fortnite is by setting the setting to medium (67fps) or low (79fps). Then again, 47fps with high settings isn’t so bad either. Dropping the resolution to 1200p made the gameplay experience much better during our test.

The real problem is the battery life, though the Legion Go isn’t alone in this regard. At medium settings, playing Fortnite (with voice chat on) drained the battery in around 79 minutes and at 1200p resolution only. Again, the sharpness of the screen is a huge advantage over the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally, but the price it entails is just too high. Sure, you can set a lower resolution by default, but then you’ll be paying for hardware you’re not able to fully utilize.

The Lenovo Legion Go has the bare minimum when it comes to hardware connectivity, namely two USB-C 4.0 ports, one at the top and another at the bottom. There’s also a headphone jack for good measure so you can connect your favorite wired headphones for more immersive gaming. Having two USB-C ports is great for connecting peripherals or a hub while still having one port free for charging the device. The catch is that the placement of the bottom port makes it inaccessible when using the built-in kickstand. Sure, you can use the top port for charging, but you still lose the other port for other accessories. To be fair, the Switch has the same problem but is worse by having a single USB port, but you’d hope that designers would have solved this problem by now.

Being able to set the Legion Go down on a table and still play using the controllers is also a Switch-inspired feature, but the actual implementation needs a little bit of work. In addition to the awkward way of pulling out the controllers, you apparently can’t use a different external controller unless you take the pair out and disable them from Windows Device Manager. It might just be a bug or a hidden setting, but the fact that it isn’t as straightforward as on a regular computer (or even the Nintendo Switch) makes it a less favorable experience.

When it comes to performance, the Legion Go spares no expense at using the best possible hardware, but having the most powerful isn’t always the correct solution. Power-hungry specs, especially a hi-res screen, drain the battery faster than it should, and owners are forced to tweak every aspect to squeeze out as much juice as they can from the device. Admittedly, PC gamers are used to tweaking settings left and right, but that’s a little less convenient and less ideal on a handheld form factor.

Sustainability

Impressive as the Legion Go’s design might be, there will definitely be concerns about its long-term viability. First-gen designs in this industry don’t always spark confidence, both in terms of durability as well as customer support down the road. Lenovo is an established brand, of course, so there’s an implicit trust in the products that it makes. This device definitely feels solid, despite its plastic body, so you can be assured that it’s not some flimsy product that will die out on you in the first few months.

Its unique design does bring a few complications, though, particularly with the removable controllers. These can be points for mechanical failure in the feature, or structural weaknesses that could lead to an early death for the device. There are a lot of custom parts used for the Legion Go as well, so repairs will have to be done by authorized Lenovo service providers only. That increases the risk factor in purchasing a device that could meet more accidents in your hands compared to a conventional laptop.

Value

Gaming handhelds are becoming popular again, both from the retro front as well as the PC market. Just looking at the growing number of options outside of major manufacturers shows there’s a sizable market for these devices. Not every PC gamer is a fan, though these would also admit dreaming of being able to play games anywhere, including in situations where they can’t use their bulky gaming laptops. As mentioned, there are plenty of options available now, but the Lenovo Legion Go offers the best-balanced set of benefits and drawbacks in the market today.

It has powerful specs topped by a gorgeous and large display that really makes games pop. The FPS mode might need a bit of getting used to, but the convenience of being able to detach the controllers when needed is a huge boon, though there are some rough edges to smoothen out. Battery life is pretty dismal by default, but that’s on par with other handheld PCs. The biggest clincher is that you’re getting this solid mobile PC gaming experience starting at just $699.99, which means you aren’t cutting corners for that juicy price tag.

Verdict

There was a time when analysts proclaimed the PC market to be dying, but that might only be true for desktops. Laptops flew off the shelves during the pandemic, and now handheld PCs are sparking interest and ushering in a new generation of PC gamers who are living the dream of playing anywhere. There are still only a few players in this market, and Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC maker, is making sure it’s leading here as well.

The Lenovo Legion Go definitely shows the brand’s expertise, combining decades of experience with a bold design and innovative features. It also proves that there is still plenty of room for improvement, whether for refining features or introducing new experiences. At this point, handheld gaming PCs like these are still considered a luxury, but with a tempting $700 price tag, the Legion Go is doing its part to make these devices more approachable and more usable for everyone.

The post Lenovo Legion Go Review: Big Steps for Handheld PC Gaming first appeared on Yanko Design.

PROS:

• Distinctive cover design


• Effective liquid-cooling system


• Desktop-grade performance


• Comes with two power adapters (330W GaN, 140W USB-C)

CONS:

• Small, cramped trackpad


• Mediocre battery life


• A bit pricey

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS

ERGONOMICS

PERFORMANCE

SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY

VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

With an effective liquid cooling system and impressive performance, the Lenovo Legion 9i delivers a formidable desktop replacement wrapped in a fresh new aesthetic.

Laptops have come a long way and are available in a wider range of options. While there are still some designs that prioritize extra slim profiles, others target performance to match or even rival that of a desktop PC. These desktop replacements, mostly in the guise of gaming laptops, have to make a few compromises to strike a balance between portability, performance, and heat management. There’s no perfect mix, at least none that would match almost all the needs of almost all types of laptop users. The Lenovo Legion 9i, though primarily a gaming laptop, promises to come pretty close to that ideal. Better yet, it comes with a unique and memorable design that might even appeal to those outside of gaming circles. Read on for a deeper dive into this visually distinctive laptop to see if it is really able to deliver on those promises.

Designer: Lenovo

Aesthetics

Right off the bat, the Lenovo Legion 9i is clearly not your average laptop, gaming or otherwise. The top cover has this unconventional pattern of polygons in different shades of gray. These are actually forged carbon chips, chosen not just for their unique appearance but also for the material’s lightweight durability. Lenovo says that no two Legion 9i units have the same pattern, so it’s almost like getting an exclusive edition for each purchase. Admittedly, it’s going to be a divisive topic, since the design isn’t something you can turn on or off as you wish, unlike RGB lights. At the same time, it’s like a breath of fresh air, deviating from the standard gaming aesthetic. Suffice it to say, it’s going to be a head-turner, no matter how you look at it.

The rest of the laptop’s chassis eschews the usual plastic affair and is made with 90% recycled magnesium die-cast in a classy Carbon Black finish. Not only does it afford increased durability, it also gives the laptop an interesting sustainability story. The chassis has a matte finish that adds a bit of texture, appealing not only to your sight but also to your sense of touch.

Speaking of those RGB lights, there’s still plenty to go around, though not in the usual places. On the A cover, you’ll only see it behind the large “LEGION” branding in the corner, while they’re pretty much under each key inside. There’s also a strip of light that runs around the edges of the laptop, wrapping it in a somewhat subtle rainbow of colors of your choosing. The ports themselves aren’t illuminated, but indicators for the back connectors do get a bit of light to help guide your hand in the dark. As always, you have full control of these lights, so you can configure them to match your mood or environment.

As a 16-inch laptop, the Lenovo Legion 9i is definitely on the larger end of the size spectrum, and even among its peers is still on the bulkier side. It is by no means excessively big, especially considering everything it’s packing inside, but those expecting MacBook Pro-like profiles are definitely looking at the wrong category of laptops. All in all, this portable desktop replacement strikes a fine balance when it comes to size and features, and it carries a unique visual character wherever you take it.

Ergonomics

As mentioned, the Legion 9i is by no means a thin and lightweight laptop, which can be expected from gaming-focused desktop replacements like it. In fact, it sits somewhere in the middle of other 16-inch laptops like a smaller ASUS ROG Strix G16 and a behemoth Alienware x16 R1. Yes, it is thick, but it could have actually been worse if not for the headlining liquid-cooling feature. It is surprisingly portable compared to other 16-inch gaming laptops, but you’ll still want to prepare your shoulders or hands whenever you have to carry this powerhouse. And regardless of that cooling system, you still wouldn’t want to put it on your lap except in the most dire circumstances.

When it comes to laptops, comfort and usability factors focus mostly on the keyboard and the trackpad. Gamers are especially picky about the former, as the performance of keyboards can mean the difference between glorious victory and devastating defeat. The Lenovo Legion 9i’s keyboard is, to put it simply, good enough. It’s not mechanical, of course, but it does have sufficient travel to make it feel snappy and comfortable at the same time, a rare treat for membrane-based keys. The keyboard is pushed further down compared to most laptops, but not because there’s some fancy display or interface at the top. Instead, that area is yielded to the aforementioned cooling system, including the ventilation grilles that sit there on top.

Unfortunately, that shift in position affects the trackpad in a detrimental manner. While the trackpad itself is responsive and smooth, its small size makes it feel cramped and difficult to use, particularly for vertical movement. While most gamers will have their favorite gaming mouse when they’re in the zone, it’s still a disappointing sacrifice that you will definitely feel whenever you have to use that trackpad to do some work quickly.

Performance

Due to the need for speed and power, gaming laptops naturally try to match the performance of their stationary desktop cousins. They are, however, more affected by the laws of physics, particularly when it comes to the heat generated by all that hardware, which in turn causes throttling and performance hits with deadly consequences for gamers. There has been no shortage of cooling innovations in the laptop segment over the years, and Lenovo finally brings one of those to its Legion laptop segment for the first time.

Co-engineered with the famed Cooler Master, the branded Legion ColdFront liquid cooling system runs over the GPU’s VRAM to help keep temperatures down, kicking into gear once the GPU hits the 84°C mark. There are also three fans that help ferry cold air away from those components and out the sides. The liquid cooling system is not a panacea and you’ll still hear the fans spin, though not at an uncomfortable high speed. It is quite effective in keeping performance stable while, at the same time, offering an alternative to bulky cooling solutions that are part of the reason why some gaming laptops are larger than they need to be.

On the opposite side of that distinctive forged carbon A cover is an equally eye-catching 16-inch 3200×2000 mini-LED screen, a display technology that outpaces IPS LCDs in terms of black levels but also surpasses OLEDs in brightness. And the screen is indeed very, very bright, especially when you show HDR content. It has an odd resolution, granted, but it is also higher than some of its rivals in the 16-inch laptop segment. Running games at QHD or QHD+ resolutions gives the most balanced performance, but “3.2K” as Legion calls it is definitely a good option for content that doesn’t require extremely high refresh rates.

As with any laptop in the market today, there are different configurations to choose from, but the base starts with a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13980HX, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, and 32GB of DDR5 memory. Those are pretty mighty specs with matching hefty prices, but they definitely show their worth when it comes to actual use. Synthetic benchmarks don’t tell the whole story, of course, but there is pretty much nothing the Lenovo Legion 9i can’t handle, whether it’s graphics-intensive games or video rendering. Granted, it’s not going to outperform a hulking desktop tower with the latest cooling solutions, but it definitely comes close to providing you with a desktop that you can use and carry anywhere.

Given everything that’s happening inside, it’s probably no surprise that the Legion 9i’s battery life is so-so. With moderate use, you can squeeze out a little over two and a half hours, but you’ll easily see that time cut down to an hour or so on more intensive games. Lenovo tries to make up for it with a super-fast 330W GaN charger, but it isn’t an understatement to call that a brick. Interestingly, Lenovo does something out of the ordinary and ships a second and significantly slimmer 140W PD charger that connects via USB-C. This is the one you’ll probably want to always carry with you, but you’ll also have to remember how it will limit the laptop’s overall throughput.

Sustainability

As the world’s largest PC maker, it is quite encouraging that Lenovo takes its environmental responsibility quite seriously. Especially with gaming laptops that chug plenty of electricity, Lenovo has to look for other areas where it can offset its negative impact on the planet. It’s not 100%, but the use of recycled magnesium on Legion 9i definitely helps cut down reliance on plastic, while giving the laptop both durability and looks.

Laptops have also thankfully become less restricted, at least when it comes to upgrading certain parts. You still can’t easily repair most commercial laptops like these, but upgrading storage and memory can usually be done with ease. For the Lenovo Legion 9i, however, that’s only true for the storage, which is immediately accessible after removing the bottom cover. RAM is unfortunately hidden beneath the motherboard, so you will have to remove other parts before you can double your memory. That means it’s more practical to aim for the configuration with the largest RAM capacity, though that’s easier said than done considering the price.

Value

Considering all the features mentioned above, it shouldn’t come as a shock that the price tag on the Legion 9i starts with a high figure. Depending on sales, it starts at around $3,200 to $3,400 with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and an NVIDIA RTX 4080. The maximum configuration pushes you back $3,800 to $4,000, again depending on any promos or the current SRP. It’s easily more expensive than the competition, but the good news is that you’re getting exactly what you pay for.

The Lenovo Legion 9i makes very few compromises, except what you can expect in terms of its size and weight. The integrated liquid cooling system, while not mind-blowing, is impressive and effective in keeping both temperatures and thickness down. High-performance hardware makes short work of gaming and content creation tasks, and plenty of connectivity options expand the laptop’s capabilities to desktop levels. And that bright mini-LED makes any type of content a pleasure to see. Plus you get a smart-looking distinctive piece of equipment that’s going to pique the interest of people around you. Taking all those into consideration, that hefty price tag becomes more of an investment on a desktop that empowers you to do anything you need or want anywhere you go.

Verdict

Gaming laptops are traditionally large and bulky because of hardware requirements, but thankfully they don’t need to be unattractive as well. Developments in engineering and design are revealing ways to slim down these portable powerhouses without sacrificing too much performance. It’s still a matter of making compromises, but the Lenovo Legion 9i thankfully makes very few of those.

The unique forged carbon lid and subtle RGB edge lighting immediately draw your attention, while the impressive performance keeps you glued to that beautiful screen. Liquid cooling and AI-tuned fans help keep that performance from fluctuating too much, and two charging options let you go big or pack light, depending on your needs. Yes, the trackpad is uninspiring, the battery life is too short for comfort, and the price tag is a bit tough to swallow, but you are definitely getting your money’s worth for a desktop replacement with a hot look and a cool personality.

The post Lenovo Legion 9i Gaming Laptop Review: Liquid Cooling meets Hot Design first appeared on Yanko Design.

Technology is all around us, and not just in the form of computers and smartphones that we use every day. They come in many shapes, sizes, levels of complexity, and price tags, but all of them have the same purpose: to make life easier, safer, and even healthier. The past years have seen an influx of technologies for use inside homes, creating an ecosystem of smart appliances and devices designed to take some of the stress away from daily life. Many of these products have converged at the IFA 2023 trade fair in Berlin, where brands big and small showcase their latest wares and ideas. Whether you’re in Berlin yourself or just watching from the Internet sidelines, the number of names and products can be quite overwhelming, so we’ve whittled that list down to the top 20 product designs that will help you live productive and comfortable lives.

AnkerMake M5 3D Printer

Almost everyone has had a dream to create something, whether it’s an art project, a toy, or even a replacement part for broken equipment. Of course, it’s not that easy to actually turn those ideas into reality, even if you have the skill for planning and drawing out those objects. You’ll still need a way to craft those things into solid, three-dimensional forms, a process that used to require access to a production line but can now be done with a home 3D printer.

Designer: AnkerMake

Best known for its portable batteries, Anker recently branched out to add an unexpected category to their portfolio under a new brand. But while there are countless 3D printers already available for use at home or in small offices, the AnkerMake M5 easily sets itself apart not only with its simplicity of design but also with its mouth-watering price tag, at least for the features it offers, which includes AI detection and a camera for video streaming and making timelapse. There’s even the AnkerMake M5C, which pushes the cost down to a more affordable figure. AnkerMake is effectively making such creation tools accessible to almost everyone who has the dream and the will to learn how to turn digital ideas into real-world objects.

Bluetti EP600 Modular Home Energy Storage System

Electric power has become a critical necessity in modern life, especially with our reliance on consumer electronics, but it has always been a precious limited resource that is also killing the planet in many ways. Although it is definitely possible to generate electricity from more sustainable and renewable sources, the amount of power that’s generated and stored is often insufficient for anything but the smallest of appliances, at least until now.

Designer: Bluetti

Building upon the strong foundations of its portable solar generators, Bluetti has expanded its portfolio to include less portable batteries, ones that are designed to hold enough power to light up the whole house and then some. The Bluetti EP600 is the latest design in this line, providing a modular system that lets you start small and later grow your energy storage system to meet your growing needs. Depending on the configuration, you can store up to 39.68Wh of power, more than enough for a few days off the grid. And, of course, these batteries can be charged using solar energy alone, allowing you to live on green energy for as much as you like.

CASETiFY Ultra Bounce Case

Manufacturers naturally design their phones to be beautiful and durable, but let’s face it, not all designs suit everyone’s tastes and not all phones survive the smallest accidents. That’s why there’s a thriving market for cases, for protection or for decoration, but it’s rare to find designs that attempt to do both. Of course, those do exist, and the new CASETiFY Ultra Bounce Case is one that tries to satisfy both needs.

Designer: CASETiFY

In addition to utilizing a 6-layer Rugged Protection System, the case also has unique expanded corners with air cavities that provide structural support and rigidity when the phone drops on one of its corners, the most common reason why screens crack. At the same time, CASETiFY offers customization options for fonts, colors, and patterns that make each case truly unique and truly yours. And as if those didn’t already check the right boxes, each case is also made from 65% upcycled cases through its Re/CASETiFY program that has diverted more than 430,000 phone cases from landfills, the equivalent of over 40,000 kg of plastic.

EcoFlow Wave 2 Portable Air Conditioner

Regardless of your beliefs, it’s impossible to day how the world seems to be getting warmer and warmer. That has created the ironic and unfortunate situation of people consuming more electricity to keep themselves cool with electric fans or air conditioning units. The latter, while effective in cooling, have even greater negative effects on the planet and your wallet, not to mention being inconvenient for their stationary designs. Stepping a bit away from its comfort zone, battery power station maker EcoFlow has launched its line of portable air conditioners, and its latest model steps up the game in both efficiency and sustainability.

Designer: EcoFlow

You’d be forgiven for mistaking the EcoFlow Wave 2 for one of the company’s power stations because they share the same design language. This sleek box, however, is meant to keep you cool anywhere you need it or, or even get you warmed up should the circumstances require it. While portable cooling is already a big advantage, its use of the R290 natural refrigerant helps minimize its carbon footprint, even in the worst heat wave. And like any EcoFlow product, you can also charge this using solar energy, continuing that clean and green theme.

ECOVACS Winbot W2

Even before “smart home” was a thing, robot vacuum cleaners were already rolling on some floors, sucking up dirt and undesirable particles from the ground. Floors and carpets, however, are not the only things that could use some automated help, and some parts of the house are, in fact, in greater need of some robotic assistance. ECOVACS is trying to corner the market in robotic window cleaners, and the new WINBOT W2 tries to take that niche product line to the next level.

Designer: ECOVACS

Using its suction power to cling to a slippery vertical window, the new WINBOT W2 delivers not only enhanced cleaning but also enhanced reliability. A new two-in-one composite cable does both retraction and release with a single cord, while the new multifunctional station provides a home where the robot can stay and recharge its battery. With a wider spray angle and three nozzles, the ECOVACS WINBOT W2 is able to reach more areas previously inaccessible to its predecessors, promising improved cleaning efficiency by as much as 30%.

Electrolux AEG 8000 SpahirMatt Induction Hob

When people talk about smart home appliances, most probably think of TVs, speakers, lights, and vacuum cleaners. The kitchen, however, is also in need of an upgrade, especially considering how many of the tasks can be easily automated. That said, one doesn’t need to go overboard with hi-tech features to make kitchen appliances better. Sometimes, just a single material change could have significant improvements in people’s lives.

Designer: Electrolux/AEG

That’s the kind of change that the Electrolux AEG Series 8000 SaphirMatt Induction Hob brings to the table, or to your kitchen rather. Most induction hobs have shiny and slippery glass surfaces, but this exquisite spin on a common sight in the kitchen uses a special kind of ceramic glass called SaphirMatt. In addition to bringing a unique matte texture that’s never before seen on any induction hob, this material also promises four times better scratch resistance, 80% less reflectiveness, and is even easier to clean than conventional glass tops. And, of course, it makes your hob easily stand out, adding a bit of class to your kitchen.

Fairphone 5

Smartphone makers try their best to make the most durable phones possible without making them look like miniature tanks, but that doesn’t mean they’re impervious to damage or immortal. These often expensive devices still meet accidents or require some repair after a few years, and that’s when the ugly truth about these beautiful phones is revealed. With very few exceptions, almost all smartphones are designed to be expensive or difficult to repair, especially on your own.

Designer: Fairphone

Fairphone has been one of those rare exceptions, and its latest iteration definitely steps up the game. While the Fairphone 5 still boasts the usually ethically sourced materials and easy repair process, what really makes it special is how it is catching up with mainstream specs. That list includes using a 90Hz OLED screen, dual 50MP cameras on the back, a 50MP selfie shooter, and 8 years of software updates. While it is likely to run into accidents or broken components, the Fairphone 5 is at least designed to make it easy to extend its life until you finally give up and move on.

Lenovo Legion 9i Gaming Laptop

Gaming laptops are a great way to not only enjoy content anywhere but also to make it, giving both gamers and creators a portable workstation for their needs. Physics, however, often puts a cap on these computers’ performance, especially when processors have to be throttled to prevent the laptop from overheating. Sophisticated cooling systems are a hallmark of desktops, but Legion is attempting to change that with its coolest gaming laptop yet, literally and figuratively.

Designer: Lenovo

The Lenovo Legion 9i is equipped with a Legion Coldfront integrated liquid-cooling system, a first for a 16-inch laptop, designed to allow you to push the machine to 230W TDP. An AI-tuned triple cooling fan system also helps keep the laptop cool even under the most intense gaming sessions or video rendering. What makes this laptop even more special is the use of forged carbon chips for its A-cover, not only offsetting the added weight of the liquid cooling system but also giving each Legion 9i a unique pattern and identity.

Lenovo Legion Go

Thanks to the success of the Nintendo Switch, handheld gaming devices have become popular again. It was only a matter of time before that trend landed on the PC market. From the Steam Deck to half a dozen small brands, handheld PCs have been trying to woo gamers off their desks and couches and tempting them with the idea of being able to play anywhere. As the world’s biggest PC maker, Lenovo is naturally not going to be left behind, and its new Legion Go is attempting to set the standard for handheld gaming PCs.

Designer: Lenovo

The Lenovo Legion Go immediately sets itself apart from the competition with its removable side controllers, not unlike the Nintendo Switch, and a built-in full-width kickstand for those who will want to play on a table anyway. It tries its best to cram as much of the console experience inside a small package, including configurable rear “paddles.” Lenovo’s experience goes beyond just the device itself, with Legion Glasses that give you a much larger screen when and where you need it. The added bonus is that this device comes from a reputable brand, giving some assurance and peace of mind when it comes to longevity and support.

LG 24-inch Built-in InstaView Oven

As one of the areas that sees a lot of work inside the house, there are plenty of opportunities to upgrade the kitchen experience. From smart appliances to AI-powered apps, preparing and cooking food shouldn’t be that big of a burden these days. At the same time, kitchen products also present an opportunity to create a more pleasing and welcoming atmosphere with their designs, and LG’s latest suite of built-in kitchen appliances delivers on both fronts.

Designer: LG

Of the new built-in kitchen package, the new 24-inch InstaView oven takes the spotlight not just because of its design but also because of its efficiency, rated at A++. That’s thanks to optimized heating control and a four-layered glass door that helps keep the heat in and conserve energy. The InstaView feature also lets owners check the food inside without having to open the door, further keeping the heat locked in.

LG StandbyME Go Lifestyle Screen

Watching videos on the go or outdoors has become a popular pastime, especially thanks to smartphones and tablets. Those, however, can’t recreate the experience of sharing those moments with others because of their small screens. Portable laser projectors do exist, but those always leave you at the mercy of your environment. A large but portable screen is still your best bet, and LG just revealed a design that is head-turning in every way.

Designer: LG

The LG StandbyME Go is practically a 27-inch touch screen that comes inside a suitcase. It comes with all the features you’ll need to enjoy videos and even games, whether outdoors or indoors, including a 3-hour battery life away from a power plug. You will not be carrying this around everywhere you go, of course, but having it always ready inside a car or van, ready for a weekend outdoor getaway, will definitely help fill in those empty and awkward moments of silence when you have nothing else to do.

Onyx BOOX Tab Mini C

E Ink devices have come a long way since the earliest days of the Amazon Kindle, and many such products have blurred the lines between eReader and tablets. With the arrival of color E Ink displays, the gap gets even smaller, opening the doors to more things you can do with the eye-friendly device. Onyx BOOX has been at the forefront of these innovations, and its latest color tablet brings all those desirable features into a more convenient package.

Designer: Onyx BOOX

It might be more accurate to call the Onyx BOOX Tab Mini C an Android tablet with an E-Ink screen, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. Although its 7.8-inch screen is smaller than the large BOOX Tab Ultra C, it doesn’t skimp out on the features. Plus, it makes the device more comfortable to hold for long periods of time, making it even more ideal for reading while still keeping the doors open for other activities, such as note-taking, web browsing, typing, and any other experience that Android apps can offer.

RingConn Smart Ring

Although smartwatches have finally found their place in our lives, some people are still on the fence about switching away from their beloved timepieces. Fortunately, if keeping track of your health is all that matters to you, there are other more discreet designs now available. Smart rings have started making their presence known, and RingConn is one of the brands that is pushing the envelope of what these wearable devices are capable of.

Designer: RingConn

Beautifully minimal yet fully featured, the RingConn Smart Ring has all the activity, sleep, and health-tracking features you could ever want. It doesn’t get in your way and lets you wear your favorite mechanical watches, a win-win situation for any style-conscious user. More importantly, however, RingConn doesn’t hide its functionality behind subscription fees, allowing you to access all the data and insights you need to live a healthier lifestyle.

Roborock S8 Pro Ultra

Robot vacuum cleaners are the predecessors of today’s smart home appliances, but it was only recently that these floor-cleaning machines have started to become smarter and more useful. In addition to self-navigation, these automated vacuum cleaners have also become more convenient in how they can clean themselves, minimizing the need for human intervention and exposure to harmful substances. In this regard, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra offers the ultimate hands-free convenience, letting you just relax knowing that you barely have to lift a finger to get that chore done.

Designer: Roborock

Roborock’s latest flagship has it all when it comes to self-maintenance. It can empty its dust and water bins, clean and dry its mops, and even refill its water, leaving you to only take out the trash when it finally gets full. And with its intelligent detection of floors and carpets, you can also rest assured that the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra will get the right job done as efficiently and as quietly as possible.

Samsung Smart Food Platform

Smart homes are smart not just because of the Internet-connected hardware but especially because of the software that ties the many pieces together. Automating when appliances turn on and off is one thing, but adjusting to a person’s needs and preferences really takes the cake. Nowhere is that more needed than in the kitchen, and Samsung is launching a new AI-powered platform that connects different pieces together to bring you the best recipes and meals to suit your taste and diet.

Designer: Samsung

Smart Food is primarily a software platform that helps you discover and customize dishes tailored to your personal preferences, with the help of AI, of course. It doesn’t stop at your smartphone, however, and integrates with Samsung’s other smart home products. It can show those recipes on the Bespoke Family Hub refrigerator screens, for example, and alert you if certain ingredients are running low. It can also set timers and preheat ovens, helping reduce the time and energy needed to make a scrumptious meal.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Foldable Phone

Although foldable phones have been around for a while now, it’s only recently that they’re finally taking root in people’s minds. That’s partly thanks to the “flip” style foldables that feel more approachable and look more fashionable. There are quite a few players in this segment now, but Samsung recently showed that it’s still ahead of the race with the Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Designer: Samsung

The latest clamshell foldable from Samsung improves many things, but its biggest claim to fame is the larger and more capable external Cover Screen. Samsung is also pushing the device as a fashionable accessory with its Flipsuit cases that use NFC to automatically change the phone’s Theme when they’re put on. That opens the door to branding partnerships and collectibles that many younger users will surely love.

SwitchBot S10 Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacs that combine sucking and mopping are pretty convenient, until the time when you need to take out the dirty water bins and refill the tank. While dust bins have designs that prevent your hands from getting dirty, there’s really no way around having to throw out dirty water on your own. That is until now. The SwitchBot S10 could very well be the smartest robot cleaner around, removing almost all the potential health hazards in maintaining the machine itself.

Designer: SwitchBot

The SwitchBot S10’s killer feature is how it can drain and refill its water on its own, thanks to a separate station that you can connect to existing plumbing. Along with its hygienic dust tank, cleaning out the vacuum has never been easier and safer. As a bonus, the SwitchBot S10 can even refill your humidifier’s water, presuming it’s the compatible SwitchBot Humidifier 2 that has also just been announced.

XGIMI Horizon Ultra 4K Long Throw Projector

Home projectors are becoming more popular these days as more people try to banish large TVs from their homes. There’s honestly quite a large number of options to choose from, making it hard to pick the best one for your needs. If you want a combination of performance, price, and beauty, however, the XGIMI Horizon Ultra is the one to beat.

Designer: XGIMI

Although it’s a long-throw projector, this stylish box is something you’d be proud to put on display anywhere in the room. It isn’t just good looks, though, because it also boasts bright and clear images thanks to the use of dual light sources. For all its features, it’s impressive that the XGIMI Horizon Ultra still comes in a compact form and with a price tag that puts its competitors to shame.

Yaber K300 Ultra Short Throw Projector

Regardless of their design, not many people might want or can afford to have a projector somewhere in the middle of the room. That’s the problem that USTs or ultra-short throw projectors try to solve, allowing you to put the box almost right next to a wall or screen. Again, there are many options in this segment, and the upcoming Yaber K300 will be challenging other players with its big projection and bright images.

Designer: Yaber

The Yaber K300 is the brand’s first laser project and it will be utilizing a triple laser technology from the get-go to deliver that much-desired visual detail. It can project a screen as large as 150 inches from a very short distance and features automatic focus and keystone correction. All of these are packed in a compact and stylish form that turns the projector into a decorative piece when not in use.

Yeelight Smart Cube Lamp

You don’t always need fancy and expensive gadgets to give your home or room an upgrade. Sometimes, all you need is the right kind of light to add a splash of color to your space and maybe inspire your creativity. There are plenty of smart lights with RGB colors that paint your room with colors, but Yeelight’s modular Smart Cube Lamp system puts an interesting twist to that concept.

Designer: Yeelight

Made of three RGB cubes that serve different purposes, the Yeelight Smart Cube system lets you mix and match spotlights, smooth diffused lights, and matrix lights to your preferences. The Cube Matrix, in particular, can be programmed to show different patterns, including a clock or some text. While they might not be able to illuminate the entire room, these cubes can definitely change or enhance the mood, bringing a splash of fun colors and designs to your space.

The post Best of IFA 2023: Top 20 Designs for Smarter Living first appeared on Yanko Design.

PROS:

• Strong sustainability efforts


• Excellent sound quality


• Distinctive design


• Easy to setup and use

CONS:

• Inconsistent spatial audio performance


• No Google Assistant support yet


• Single USB-C slot for both line-in and Ethernet


• Very expensive

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS

ERGONOMICS

PERFORMANCE

SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY

VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The Sonos Era 300 offers impressive sound quality wrapped in a unique, environment-friendly design, though its unreliable spatial audio performance makes its rather high price tag a bit harder to swallow.

There is a staggering number of wireless and smart speakers in the market today coming from numerous brands both big and small. But even before Amazon dumped the Echo on people’s tables, Sonos was already making a name for itself in the industry. With today’s confusing plethora of smart speakers, there is an urgent and critical need to stand out, and not just by looking different, though that also works for a brief period of time. Sound quality is almost a given, so the competition often turns toward new features and traits that set speakers apart. The new Sonos Era 300 has the trending Spatial Audio as its battle cry, but it’s far from being its most distinctive feature. In fact, it could even be its weak spot, so we gave it a test to check if it is truly worth its weight in gold.

Designer: Sonos

Aesthetics

From the very first moment you lay eyes on it, you can immediately tell that the Sonos Era 300 is not your run-of-the-mill smart speaker. Most of its peers would come in simple shapes like cylinders or boxes, but the Era 300 seems to have a different form depending on which side you’re looking at. From the front, it would seem like it’s a normal oval speaker, but looking at its tapered halves from other angles makes it resemble an hourglass instead. In addition to its large size, there is no way the Era 300 won’t catch your attention, though it’s debatable whether your appreciation of its design will be favorable or not.

The shape that Sonos chose isn’t just for the sake of being visually different, though. For the designers, it’s the only shape that makes sense, given how the different drivers are arranged inside. There are two woofers, one on the left and the other on the right, and four tweeters facing up, forward, and sides. Their positions aren’t by accident, either, since each one has a specific role to play. The two woofers at the sides, for example, deliver powerful yet balanced bass, while the front-blasting tweeter takes care of vocals and high ranges. The tweeter at the top directs sound to the ceiling so that it would reflect back down to create a more believable spatial audio experience.

This extra-large Sonos speaker comes in black or white options, but it is the latter that has a more interesting story to tell. In line with its sustainability goals, the Era 300 uses 40% post-consumer recycled plastics, and those in the manufacturing industry know how the nature of the material can affect the final color. It’s difficult to hit the nearly pure white that some products have when using recycled plastics, so Sonos opted for a softer shade of white that happens to blend better with home interiors. Perhaps it’s time for the birth of a new “Responsible White” color.

It’s hard to argue that the Sonos Era 300 has a unique and quite memorable design that you won’t find on other speakers, though it’s debatable whether most will find it aesthetically pleasing. The best parts of its design, however, are the ones that you won’t see or even read about, like its sustainable design and innovative driver arrangement. Fortunately, those don’t detract from the speaker’s value as long as it actually sounds great.

Ergonomics

The Era 300’s large size may be justified, but that doesn’t exactly make it less problematic. At 4.47kg, it’s not something you’d move around a lot anyway, but it does mean you’ll want plenty of space for it on a shelf or table. A better option would be to put it on a very minimalist stand built especially for the speaker, though that will send you back around $169 on top of the speaker’s price.

Fortunately, you won’t be juggling it around so much to use it because all of its most important functions are either on its top or accessible through a paired mobile device. There are capacitive touch controls for playing, pausing, and skipping tracks, as well as a groove made for adjusting the volume. There’s a speech bubble icon there as well for disabling the voice assistant temporarily, but if you’re really concerned about privacy, there’s a hardware switch on the speaker’s back to mute the mic.

Setting up the Sonos Era 300 is just as easy. You just need to download the Sonos app on your phone, create or log into your Sonos account, and add the detected speaker there. You’ll need to connect the app with music streaming services if you’ll be using those as well, but the process will be pretty familiar to anyone who has handled Bluetooth speakers before. Sonos also has a special fine-tuning feature called Trueplay, where it can automatically change its settings depending on where it’s located in a room. It does so by listening to its own sound output using the built-in mic, which is as easy as just letting the app run the tests. For more accurate tuning, however, there’s an “advanced” manual mode that requires walking around the room with an iPhone or an iPad.

Performance

With no less than six drivers inside, you’d expect the Era 300 to sound fantastic. Fortunately, it doesn’t disappoint. The audio coming from the speaker is nothing short of phenomenal, with loud and full sound across the board and frequencies coming out clear and distinct. With how powerful the bass comes out, those not familiar with the Era 300’s specs might presume there’d be a subwoofer hidden somewhere. The angle of the drivers definitely creates that stereo effect, though the audio industry has started moving toward another direction when it comes to surround sound.

Spatial Audio is the new hype in the industry, promising a 3D surround sound experience without the multitude of speakers. It’s still in its infancy, but the who’s who of the market are jumping at the opportunity to blaze a trail, and Sonos is no different. In fact, you could say that Spatial Audio is the headlining feature of the Era 300, or at least it’s supposed to be. In practice, it sounds like one of the speaker’s very few flaws. The experience of Spatial Audio on this large audio equipment seems to be a hit or miss, depending on what you’re playing. Sometimes, the difference from the regular stereo version is as clear as night and day; other times, it might take a true audiophile to discern the nuances. There are even some cases where the Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio version sounds a little bit worse than the original because of the larger amount of reverb. This is especially true for music remastered to be compatible with Spatial Audio, and you will have better luck with newer pieces recorded with Spatial Audio in mind right from the start.

In short, the Sonos Era 300’s key feature seems to be its weakest, but that doesn’t erase the fact that it is still a strong and solid speaker without the Spatial Audio feature. The slightly good news is that there are still too few albums and services that offer Spatial Audio, so you can keep on enjoying quality sound from the Era 300. Unfortunately, that also means you might be paying for technology that you might be using most of the time anyway, which makes the cost of the speaker feel a little too steep.

While the speaker is already powerful on its own, disregarding the Spatial Audio spiel, it can also be used in tandem with other Sonos products for an even more immersive listening experience. For example, pairing two Era 300 speakers will create an actual stereo speaker setup, though you won’t be able to control which is the left and which is the right. If you want a more traditional 7.1.4 surround sound setup, you can combine a Sonos Arc, two Sonos Era 100s in the front, and two Sonos Era 300s in the back, though that will definitely burn a hole through your wallet as well.

As a wireless speaker, the Era 300 has support for almost all possible sources, from streaming services to Bluetooth devices. As a smart speaker, you can control it using your voice via Amazon Alexa or the company’s own Sonos Voice Control. In the past, Sonos speakers supported Google Assistant as well, but recent events seem to have muddled relationships between the two. Sonos thankfully included options for wired connections, but you might have to spend extra for that capability. There is a single USB-C port on the back for external sources, but you will need a USB-C to Line-in Adapter if you want to connect a traditional 3.5mm jack. The speaker can also connect via Ethernet, but you will have to buy the Sonos Combo Adapter for that as well.

Sustainability

Spatial Audio might be the Era 300’s key feature, but its strongest point might be the one that buyers might never know about. More than just a revolutionary new look, the speaker represents Sonos’ strongest sustainability effort as well, and it goes beyond just using some recycled material. Of course, that’s important as well, and both black and white versions of the speaker use 40% post-consumer recycled plastics, which is still a large portion considering how few speakers today even use recycled plastics.

Sonos, however, is taking a more holistic approach to sustainability, going beyond manufacturing and shipping and stepping into the “use phase” when the speakers are already in consumers’ hands. The company takes into account the greenhouse gas emissions generated by using the speaker itself, especially when they’re left on standby. To help reduce that figure, the Sonos Era 300 and its smaller sibling, the Era 100, use less than two watts of power when idle.

The very structure of the speaker itself was made with longevity in mind, even if you can’t easily repair the speaker yourself. The speaker was made to be easily disassembled at the end of its life so that parts can be quickly sorted and reused or recycled if possible. The Era 300’s grill uses velcro to attach to the system rather than being bonded to the frame directly. This would make repairs by authorized service providers a bit easier while also making it more convenient to refurbish speakers for sale later on.

And, of course, there’s the packaging, which uses 100% recyclable materials. Such materials often get a lot of flak for their durability, but Sonos has ensured that not only is the Era 300’s box more long-lasting, but that it also looks and feels as premium as the speaker that’s lying inside. There are plenty of smart speakers littering the market today, but only the new Sonos Era speakers can proudly claim they’re designed not to litter the planet.

Value

Getting straight to the point, the Sonos Era 300 is one expensive piece of audio equipment, though it’s not the company’s priciest product either. At $450, it sits well below the Sonos Five, which has been hailed as the speaker to beat in this family. At the same time, however, you can have two $250 Sonos Era 100 speakers to create a true stereo setup for just a little bit more. It’s always a matter of balancing the pros and cons, and, unfortunately, the scales tip slightly against the Era 300 in this aspect.

Make no mistake; the Sonos Era 300 is an excellent speaker, producing solid audio that can embrace you in rich tones on all frequencies. Its key feature, however, is Spatial Audio, and it’s the one area where the speaker doesn’t put its best foot forward, not for the lack of trying. When you consider that there are two other speakers that support this technology at half the price, you might easily feel that the Era 300 is a tad overpriced. That said, this is also Sonos’ most sustainable speaker yet, and a purchase of the Era 300 could also be seen as a sign of support for this effort.

Verdict

For years, audio engineers and musicians have been trying to find ways to recreate how we naturally hear sounds but using as few speakers as possible. The latest technology to attempt that is being marketed as Spatial Audio, and the Sonos Era 300 is one of the extremely few wireless speakers that try to deliver that to music lovers and audiophiles. That technology is still in its infancy, and it definitely shows in the inconsistent performance of the speaker, depending on the kind of music and how it was made to embrace Spatial Audio.

If you manage to overlook this one major flaw and its high price tag, the Sonos Era 300 definitely meets the expectations of a powerful, high-quality stereo speaker. Its unique design is definitely eye-catching, and its ease of use is a breath of fresh air in the midst of advanced but complicated smart speakers. Sonos definitely deserves kudos for its sustainability efforts that cover manufacturing, packaging, and even “use phase” emissions. It is definitely a solid performer, which justifies the costs a little bit. It just might be ahead of its time, given how the world isn’t completely prepared for Spatial Audio just yet.

The post Sonos Era 300 Review: Spatial Audio with a Heart first appeared on Yanko Design.

Mobile devices have long been a part of our modern lives, from the smartphones that are always in our hands to the smartwatches on our wrists to even the laptops that have become our reliable mobile work partners. Despite almost two decades since the iPhone paved the way for modern smartphones, these devices have mostly been seen as geeky products that are more obsessed with specs and features rather than the humans using them. Trends, however, have started to change, and the players in this industry have started paying closer attention to the value of design, almost to the point of making it the next buzzword. MWC 2023 is unsurprisingly filled with the latest mobile innovations and thought experiments, but it is also showcasing the growing design awareness among brands. This year, we’ve taken a tour of what’s up for show in Barcelona to bring you Yanko Design’s top picks for the Best Product Designs at MWC 2023.

ABLE Human Motion

We easily take our physical capabilities for granted until we suddenly see ourselves deprived of some of them. Some people, however, are not so lucky and might be born with some disability or encounter a tragic accident sometime in their lives. With today’s technologies, they shouldn’t have to be forever confined to a wheelchair or worse, and thankfully there are now many companies utilizing modern tools and techniques to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Designer: ABLE Human Motion

ABLE Human Motion, for example, is dedicated to helping people with walking disabilities enjoy life to the fullest. We’ve seen exoskeletons designed to give well-bodied people more strength to lift or move stuff, but ABLE Human Motion’s exoskeletons are instead made to give people back what they might have lost. Best of all, you won’t feel embarrassed wearing something sleek and well-designed, especially if it makes you look like some armored superhero in the process.

Honor Magic Vs

It might still baffle people as much as awe them, but foldables are slowly but surely becoming more common in the market. Samsung still remains the most familiar brand in that niche market but was never the only one. Due to some rather colorful circumstances, however, Huawei’s foldable phones barely made it outside of China. Fortunately, its former subsidiary is helping bring its legacy to the global market, and it’s posing a challenge to Samsung’s dominance.

Designer: Honor

The Honor Magic Vs, an updated version of the brand’s first foldable, carries a mix of specs and features that definitely stir things up a bit. Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold, there is no gap when the phone is folded shut, a trait that is becoming more common among non-Samsung foldables. Its external display is interestingly curved at one edge only, making it visually distinct from other horizontal foldables. It isn’t perfect, of course, but another player in the market creates variety and good competition that will only help foldables grow.

HTC Vive XR Elite

Meta seems to be playing with fire when it comes to its metaverse vision and even its Quest line of VR hardware. It might have the luxury of playing around, but HTC is all-in on the extended reality or XR industry, whatever buzzword you might call it. On the heels of the Meta Quest Pro, HTC unveiled its own standalone Vive XR Elite headset, offering a design that seems to take us closer to that ideal minimalist eyewear painted by science fiction and Hollywood.

Designer: HTC Vive

As the product’s name suggests, the HTC Vive XR Elite takes the headset beyond just virtual reality, sprinkling a bit of augmented reality into the mix. Its more impressive feat, however, is being able to cram even better hardware inside a more compact design that makes you feel like you’re wearing large glasses rather than ski goggles. It’s still far ways off from sleek Tony Stark shades, but it represents a significant step forward in a market that has seemingly stagnated of late.

Huawei Watch Buds

The popularity of wireless earbuds only confirmed what we had known all along, that most humans have become terrible at remembering even the simplest things. Now people are likely to lose one of two buds, forget the charging case at home, or forget to charge the buds before going out. These accessories aren’t smart enough yet to remind you of all those things, so one stopgap measure it make sure they’re always with you all the time, always charged, and ready to go when you need them.[/caption]

Designer: Huawei

The new Nokia 5710 XpressAudio solves that by turning the phone into the buds’ charging case, but obviously, that can’t happen with our very thin smartphones. Huawei’s solution is to put the buds inside a smartwatch instead, creating a locket-like cover that reveals teeny earbuds charging inside. Sure, the design makes plenty of compromises, and it looks almost comical to a certain degree. It’s hard to deny, however, that the novelty certainly has appeal, especially if you’re the type to fancy yourself as a secret agent with spy tools hidden inside their timepiece.

Huawei Watch GT Cyber

Although many decry how smartwatches present fake luxury, there are definitely benefits in having the ability to change a watch face to fit your style or even your changing mood. That’s only true for the display, though, since you’re practically stuck with whatever watch body you purchased. At most, you can swap out straps for other colors or materials, but the chassis for the watch itself remains unchanged.

Designer: Huawei

The Huawei Watch GT Cyber tries to change the status quo by letting you swap out cases as well. Granted, the available cases all look more like stylish tanks, but the idea itself is probably something worth exploring. It does require a healthy ecosystem of case makers to meet the varied tastes of consumers; otherwise, it remains a design experiment with no future in sight.

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 (woven Flax Cover)

Unless you’re going for a gaming heavyweight, chances are you’d want a laptop that’s sleek and stylish, almost like a luxury item you’d want everyone to drool over while you work in public. Plenty of laptops do fit that bill with their brushed metal or shiny covers, but nothing grabs the attention better than something that’s not common fare as far as laptops go. That “wow” factor is definitely what the new ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 is going for, particularly with its brown, fabric-like cover that’s sure to turn eyes and heads around you.

Designer: Lenovo

This material, however, isn’t just eye-catching. Made from 100% agricultural product harvested from Flax plant fibers, this woven Flax material increases the new laptop’s sustainability prospect while also making it stand out with its unique elegance. This material is bonded to the top cover, which itself is made from 75% recycled aluminum. Thankfully, the ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 isn’t just a pretty face, either, and it possesses the best that Lenovo has to offer for businesses and consumers alike.

ThinkPhone by Motorola

Motorola is one of the oldest names in the mobile phone market, predating even the smartphones that now rule the land, but now it is also under the ownership of yet another giant that has the lion’s share of the PC market. Given its history and pedigree, it was really only a matter of time before these two worlds collided in a very particular way, so the arrival of a ThinkPad-branded Motorola phone was both surprising but also long overdue.

Designer: Lenovo

Unlike a typical smartphone, even those made by Motorola, the ThinkPhone wants to make its association with the popular laptop brand obvious. From the iconic branding to the diagonal patterns running across its back, this phone wants to stand out visually among the rest of the crowd as something meant for serious business. It also has plenty of integration features with Lenovo’s ThinkPads, so its intention to be a mobile partner to those laptops is also unambiguous and clear.

Nokia G22

Today’s smartphones are beautiful and powerful pieces of technology, but all that becomes pointless when the battery dies out, or the screen gets cracked beyond use. Repairing phones is expensive and difficult, but it doesn’t exactly have to be that way; just that the current mobile industry has been set up that way. There are few champions of longer-lasting and easier-to-repair phones, and HMD Global just joined that club with the new Nokia G22.

Designer: HMD Global

Unlike the excruciatingly tedious and nerve-racking processes you’d see in teardown videos, it only takes a guitar pick and a screwdriver to open up this phone. Five minutes is all you need to pull out the battery and 20 minutes to replace a broken screen. It’s not exactly a trivial process, at least not yet, but it’s exponentially better than what we have as “standard” today. Hopefully, this trend will catch on so that we can have beautiful phones that last for years, no matter how many times you accidentally drop them.

Nothing Phone (1)

The phone (1) gets an honorary mention here for doing what no other phone company has managed to do with their debut product… make a big, industry-wide splash. While industry giants merely dismissed the Nothing phone (1)’s Glyph Interface as just a gimmick, it was surprising to see companies like OnePlus, Realme, and Unihertz copying the lighting feature on their own phones, announced at MWC this week. Major win for Nothing and its founder, Carl.

Designer: Nothing

The phone (1) is just the beginning for this new fledgling brand, and it gets the award for its impact, but also for holding its title of being the Flagship killer. Available now at just $299, the phone (1) is an absolute steal, with its drop-dead gorgeous design, more-than-average chipset, and impressive battery-life upgrade thanks to the new NothingOS 1.5 update. Of course, the transparent back and Glyph Interface still have our thumbs up, and we can’t wait to see what future devices will look like.

OnePlus 11 Concept

OnePlus’s claim to fame was that it Never Settled for mediocrity, trying to push the limits of what a smartphone can deliver without pumping the price up too much. Although it couldn’t stem the tide of market prices forever, it continues to be the outlier among its peers. It’s also one of the few brands willing to make seemingly crazy and outlandish experiments that may or may not become a real product. After the disappearing camera act of the OnePlus Concept One, the company is setting its sights on something cooler, literally and figuratively.

Designer: OnePlus

In a nutshell, the OnePlus 11 Concept’s Active CryoFlux is like PC liquid cooling for phones used to create a stunning visual effect. The concept phone’s clear back becomes something like a light show as the icy blue cooling liquid flows through pipes and around the circular camera bump. It’s definitely quite the sight to behold, and OnePlus naturally makes big claims about its effectiveness in keeping a phone cool, allowing it to maintain good frame rates longer. If it does become a retail model, it will definitely appeal to mobile gamers that might want something a bit different from the usual RGB designs.

OPPO Find N2 Flip

Although book-type horizontal foldable phones are definitely jaw-dropping the first time you see them, even Samsung admits that the clamshell-type foldables are more popular and approachable. Whether it’s because of their more familiar form or because of their more accessible price tag, the likes of the Galaxy Z Flip are expected to make up the majority of sales in this category. Ironically, there are even fewer players on this court, which makes OPPO’s belated challenger also more significant.

Designer: OPPO

Like its horizontal sibling, the OPPO Find N2 Flip pushes the envelope with what you can do with this kind of foldable. It offers a larger external screen and a more competitive set of cameras, packed together with flagship-level hardware and a nearly crease-less display. There are a few kinks here, and some missed opportunities there, but for a first attempt, it’s definitely a laudable move forward for the entire market segment.

OPPO Air Glasses 2

The high-profile failure of the Google Glass made many companies a bit warier of turning regular specs into AR-equipped devices, but that dream never really died. The industry now seems to be better prepared for this kind of wearable, and some are setting expectations right. It’s not going to be the hi-tech secret agent device of fiction, but the OPPO Air Glass 2 definitely takes the cake for being one of the most discreet smart eyewear around.

Designer: OPPO

Lightweight and sleek, the OPPO Air Glass 2 focuses (no pun intended) on a set of features that is more relatable rather than fancy, including real-time translation and captioning, navigation, and, of course, some messaging. The display seems like it’s embedded in the lens itself, but you can actually change it to use corrective lenses for those with eyesight problems. It’s admittedly less sensational than other AR glasses, but it is ultimately more practical and more approachable for regular consumers.

Qualcomm Snapdragon AR and XR Platforms

Although the rhetoric around the metaverse seems to have died down a bit, companies are still pushing the envelope in making the technologies empowering it more accessible. That means more headsets and glasses that try to deliver an extended reality experience without weighing us down or making us look laughable in public. There are quite a number of devices now that offer these capabilities without tying you down to a stationary desktop or laptop, and many of these standalone VR, AR, or XR wearables are unsurprisingly powered by Qualcomm’s processors.

Designer: Qualcomm

Qualcomm is the world’s leading silicon maker for mobile devices, but the large Snapdragon family doesn’t just cover smartphones, tablets, or even laptops. It also powers wearables, from smartwatches to this new generation of headsets and eyewear that carry their own computing power inside of them. As these devices get sleeker and more fashionable, it won’t be surprising to see Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR and XR dominating this market as well, powering the gear that will make the metaverse, or whatever its name will be, our next real universe.

realme 10 Pro Coca-Cola Edition

Smartphones are no longer just hi-tech tools to make our lives easier, they have also become tools for self-expression. People slap on stickers, skins, and cases not just for protection but also for show, displaying their favorite colors, characters, brands, and much more. Some smartphone makers have tried to tap into this trend, and realme just one-upped everyone else with a partnership you never saw coming.

Designer: realme

You can definitely try to force some associations between smartphones and the world’s most popular beverage, but the realme 10 Pro Coca-Cola Edition is definitely special even without that. The mere fact that it’s weird and quirky speaks to the youthful and energetic vibe that both brands are aiming for. The phone itself is actually well-designed, and the attention to detail extends even to the smallest thing, like a SIM tray ejector in the shape of a bottle cap. It doesn’t hurt that the hardware is quite competitive as well, so die-hard Coca-Cola fans won’t feel left behind if they get their hands on this limited edition collector’s item.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series

There are definitely many people that dislike how it diverges from the “vanilla” Android experience, but there’s no denying that Samsung is pretty much the leader of the Android market across many tiers. That doesn’t mean they always put out a winning flagship, like the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, but they do have notable designs every so often. Although the Galaxy S23 series offers upgrades across the board, it looks almost similar to its 2022 predecessor, which is actually part of what makes it great.

Designer: Samsung

Rather than coming out with something different for the sake of being different, Samsung seems to have settled down on a more familiar and more stable design language that will become its DNA, at least in 2022 and 2023. This strategy has made the iPhones easily identifiable, even if you miss the telltale logo on the back. Additionally, the Galaxy S23 is a refreshing dose of minimalism at a time when smartphone camera bumps have become obnoxiously big. Hopefully, Samsung will stick to this classic look, even for just one more round.

Tecno Phantom V Fold

You know that foldable phones have made it big when even brands you might have never heard of start launching one. Tecno is a relatively younger and smaller player in the global scene, but it’s making a leap of faith by launching its first-ever foldable phone internationally from the get-go. The formula for horizontal foldables hasn’t exactly changed in the past four years, so it’s interesting to see newcomers that can bring fresh ideas to the table.

Designer: Tecno

The Tecno Phantom V Fold’s defining feature is pretty much its camera design, something you won’t see on any of its kind. The constrained spaces of foldable phones have pretty much limited where you could place components like camera sensors, so it is quite surprising that Tecno managed a feat that bigger brands have failed to accomplish. Whether that will be enough for it to grab sales, only time will tell, but it has definitely raised the bar for future foldables.

Xiaomi 13 Pro

Although we interact with our phone’s screens nearly 100% of the time, it’s really their backs that give them their character. Some manufacturers have taken that to heart perhaps a bit too much, creating camera and back designs that are truly eye-catching, though not always in a good way. Less sensational and simpler designs can sometimes be more memorable, and the new Xiaomi 13 Pro tries to walk the fine line between the two extremes with a unique yet minimalist design.

Designer: Xiaomi

The phone’s camera bump is admittedly big, but it tries to create the illusion of a smaller size by visually dividing it into three parts. That also has the effect of emphasizing each camera’s unique strength, especially because of their association with Leica. The back cover is also made from “medical-grade bio-ceramic material,” and while you won’t be able to see the difference, your hand will appreciate the softer touch. Of course, the Xiaomi 13 Pro also has premium specs, so you’d be getting your money’s worth both in looks and in performance.

Xiaomi AR Glass Discovery Edition

It seems that one of the most numerous mobile devices at this year’s event is smart eyewear. From full-on headsets like the HTC Vive XR Elite to more discreet glasses like the OPPO Air Glass 2, there is no shortage of wearables that offer all kinds of mixed reality experiences. This market segment is starting to get crowded, to Xiaomi is quickly making its presence known with an AR headset that could be one of the lightest of its kind.

Designer: Xiaomi

The Xiaomi AR Glass Discovery Edition might be a mouthful, but it practically encases the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 inside a magnesium-titanium alloy and carbon fiber frame. That’s the same powerful processor that runs in the bulkier Meta Quest Pro but in a lighter body that only looks like oversized sunglasses. It still has to make room for hardware, of course, especially since it functions standalone without connecting to a computer. It’s still lighter than most AR and VR headsets but promises nearly the same capabilities without burdening your head too much.

ZTE nubia Pad 3D

3D is becoming more than just something you see in movies or games. With the advent of mixed reality technologies and experiences, the role that 3D objects play has become a little more significant. Most people presume that enjoying 3D content would require wearing a headset or at least some special glasses like those you’d use in cinemas. There are now some TVs and even a few laptops that will let you see “real” 3D content without having to wear those glasses, but ZTE is presenting something that is more portable and potentially more usable by everyone.

Designer: ZTE

The nubia Pad 3D is perhaps the first tablet of its kind to enable viewing stereoscopic 3D content without any eyewear. It leverages Leia’s technology and ecosystem to power its features, not just for viewing 3D content but also transforming plain 2D content, like streamed videos, into something you view in 3D. The large 12.4-inch slate has dual cameras front and back to also allow users to become creators as well, generating 3D visuals from real-world objects or even their faces.

The post Best of MWC 2023: Mobile Gets Design-Conscious first appeared on Yanko Design.