CES 2023 wrapped up over the weekend, kicking off the flurry of tech-focused events planned during the first quarter of the year.

The 2023 edition also marked a full return to an in-person event in Las Vegas, but for those who are only starting their years this week (like we are), we have decided to do a roundup of the most notable announcements from CES 2023, highlighting impressive new hardware and interesting innovations.

So without further waffling, scroll down to see what piqued our interest from CES 2023:

BMW i Vision Dee

Last year the Bavarian carmaker wowed everyone at CES 2022 with its iX Flow, which featured a monochrome exterior wrap that could be programmed to change its design. For this year’s iteration of the event, BMW went a couple of steps further with its i Vision Dee concept car.

Here the futuristic mid-size sedan (seen in the header image above) takes the e-ink concept of last year and is now capable of supporting up to 32 different colours. Added to this is the fact that it is not only solid colours, allowing creative people to up with interesting designs for the vehicle too.

This is very much in the concept phase, so don’t expect the i Vision Dee on the roads any time soon, but it could serve as a blueprint for future vehicles.

Lenovo ThinkPhone and Yoga Book 9i

Next, we have two picks from Chinese company Lenovo.

We start on the mobile side of things and the announcement of the ThinkPhone, which as the name suggests takes inspiration from the brand’s ThinkPad notebooks. This includes a red coloured side button and an all-black colourway with a carbon fibre-esque finish.

The ThinkPhone is notable as it is a flagship device, sporting a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, 36 hours of battery life, 68W TurboPower charging, 50MP Ultra Pixel camera, and more.

With Lenovo mainly dabbling in the mid-range and foldable spaces up until now, perhaps the ThinkPhone will be leading the line if ever the brand decides to bring its smartphones to SA.

As for the other device, it is a dual-screen sporting Yoga Book 9i.

While Lenovo has done dual-screen before, along with foldable notebooks last year, the Yoga Book 9i is the company’s first dual OLED panel version, featuring two 13.3″ 2.8K OLED PureSight displays. These can be orientated like a regular notebook or flipped around as a singular tablet.

Added to this is the ability to be opened and propped up like a book, which coders will likely find useful, or attached to an external keyboard into a larger desktop-like setup.

It is the kind of design that we can see many notebook makers follow in the coming year.

Project Leonardo (PlayStation 5)

On the gaming side of things, PlayStation was on hand at CES 2023 to showcase its latest accessibility device, Project Leonardo, which is designed specifically for the PS5.

With accessibility being a key consideration for PlayStation these days, as we saw in the development of games like God of War Ragnarok, Project Leonardo is a pair of highly customisable controllers.

“It includes a robust kit of swappable components, including a variety of analog stick caps and buttons in different shapes and sizes. Players can use these components to craft a wide array of control layouts. And the distance of the analog stick from the gamepad can be adjusted to suit the player’s preference,” noted PlayStation of the device in a blog post.

Still in development, it remains to be seen when Project Leonardo will make its way into a fully-fledged device available to the public.

LG OLED evo series TVs

Now onto the more traditional announcements at CES – televisions. Here LG was in full force, debuting its new 2023 lineup of evo series TVs, which feature three models at this stage – the Z3, G3, and C3.

According to the South Korean manufacturer, this new lineup delivers higher brightness and greater colour accuracy than previous generations, along with sporting the α9 AI Processor Gen6.

“AI Picture Pro now offers improved upscaling for better clarity, and enhanced dynamic tone mapping, which helps reveal the depth and detail in every frame. AI Picture Pro also integrates a picture processing technology that detects and refines important objects, such as people’s faces, to give them a more lifelike HDR quality,” adds LG of the evo series’ computing capabilities.

We’ll have to wait to see when these new models will be available to purchase in SA, and indeed for how much.

Samsung Odyssey Neo G9

Lastly, it would not be a CES without mentioning Samsung. The brand had several new pieces of hardware on show, much of it aimed at the smart home user, but the device that most caught our eye was the Odyssey Neo G9 monitor, mainly as it carries the title of “World’s First Dual UHD Gaming Monitor” from Samsung.

“The gaming monitor delivers 7,680×2,160 resolution and a 32:9 aspect ratio in one screen for the first time,” says Samsung in a press release regarding its latest monitors.

“Its 1000R curved 57” screen uses quantum mini LED technology with VESA Display HDR 1000 specification to deliver superior imaging in any gaming environment, from shadows to bright scenes. The Matte Display reduces light reflection on the screen, minimizing distractions during the most intense gaming sessions,” it adds.

Boasting a refresh rate of up to 240Hz, it is also a waiting to see when the Neo G9 arrives locally. When it does though, given its size, specifications, and features, it will not come cheap.