We found so many great new products this year at CES that we could have easily awarded 20 with a “Best of CES” designation, but alas, we could only pick ten. Here, in no particular order, are Gear Diary’s top 10 picks for Best of CES 2019.
Tivic Health ClearUP
If you suffer from sinus pain due to allergies, you’ll love this product. Without needing pills, nasal sprays, or a neti pot, the Tivic Health ClearUP uses “proprietary microcurrent waveforms that help you reduce allergy-related sinus pain. This small, handheld device delivers treatment that’s clinically-proven where 3 out of 4 experienced relief.” Carly gave it a quick test, and she said she could feel a difference. The ClearUP is FDA approved, and Tivic says you can use it up to 4 times per day, with each session lasting around 5 minutes. Retail will be $149, but if it works to relieve headaches it will pay for itself in productivity and fewer pain meds in no time!
Withings BPM Core
When is a home blood pressure cuff much more than just a simple way to measure your blood pressure? When it’s the Withings BPM Core, of course. The BPM Core can help you and your doctor identify a variety of cardiovascular diseases because the cuff empowers you to not only check your blood pressure daily in the comfort of your own home, but it also takes an electrocardiogram (ECG) and listens to your heart via a digital stethoscope (checking your valvular health) — all in one device. Because the Withings BPM Core is a medical-grade device, it is currently under review for FDA and CE clearance. Interested? The Withings BPM Core will go on sale in the second quarter of 2019 for $249.95.
Lenovo Smart Clock
The Lenovo Smart Clock is one of the cleverest and most fully featured we’ve yet seen. Lenovo has basically rolled the various tips for better sleep that are out there with a small Smart Display. The result is a bedside interface that lets you set up a smart home routine around your bedtime and wake-up. Instead of just being something tiny like a Google Home Mini or an Echo Dot, you get a compact bedside clock that can charge your phone and has a screen so you can see what time it is at 4 am without turning your phone on. Best of all, Lenovo includes a mute button on the Smart Clock — it won’t be listening for verbal cues if you don’t want it to, which is pretty brilliant. Look for it in Spring 2019 for $79.99.
HONOR View20
The Honor View20 is one of those phones that comes along and resets the feature bar by which other phones are judged. It’s impossible not to see one and want to just tilt it back and forth observing the gorgeous chevron finish appearing to move on its back. When you flip it over, you’ll admire the full HD 6.4″ display as well. Honor has crammed a 48-megapixel camera into the back, and a 25-megapixel front-facing camera for the world’s greatest selfies. The View20 is also as close to all-screen as possible; the only break in the continuous, gorgeous screen is the selfie camera in the upper left of the display. Under the hood is Android 9.0, a proprietary Honor processor, and at least 128GB of storage (exact storage specs will depend on carrier/region). All this helps to power the various AI features of that 48-megapixel camera, including 3D shaping, an AI video editor, and even a way to approximate calorie counts. The View20 will be out later this year, with exact dates and prices TBD.
Ring Door View Cam
The Ring Door View Cam is perfect for apartment dwellers who can’t add a video doorbell. This wire-free video doorbell allows you to transform your peephole into its own smart security device by adjusting it on top of your home’s peephole — without drilling or any permanent modifications. Installation is as simple as possible; you remove the existing peephole and then install the Ring Door View Cam in its place on each side of your door; next, you pop in the rechargeable battery and then removable face-plate and voila — the Ring Door View Cam will feature motion detection, two-way talk, 1080p HD Video, door activity detection, and night vision. Available later this year for $199, the Ring Door View Cam will be available directly at Ring.
Lora DiCarlo Osé Device
This is a first for us, but if we are going to consider health devices for a “Best of” award, we would be remiss to not include the Lora DiCarlo Osé device. “Osé is the only product designed for hands-free blended orgasms. Using advanced micro-robotics it mimics all of the sensations of a human mouth, tongue, and fingers, for an experience that feels just like a real partner. No need for buzzing, desensitizing vibrations. It even flexes and adapts to your body for a personal fit that hits all the right spots – because there are better uses for your hands.” If the Osé works as promised, it will put a tremendous amount of power in its user’s hands, and that is something we fully support. The Osé will be available in Q3 this year; pricing will be in the neighborhood of $250-300ish.
Alienware Area-51m Laptop
Among the Alienware Area-51m‘s jaw-dropping specs are these: up to an 8 core processor, a narrow-bezel display, the ability to overclock the graphics chip, and 64 GB of RAM. The Area-51m has all the goodies you’d expect in a gaming notebook, including an LED-backlit keyboard and power buttons, Alienware Command Center software, and programmable lighting loops so you can make the Alien logo on the back change colors. From a more technical standpoint, the computer is reinforced with magnesium to reduce weight but maintain rigidity, and the computer does clock in at a positively svelte (by gaming standards) 8.54 pounds. This computer is so powerful, that it is being called a gaming desktop-laptop! No word yet on pricing, but the new Area-51m will ship at the end of January 2019.
NetGear Orbi (RBK50) Wi-Fi System with WiFi 6
The Orbi Whole Home Wi-Fi System which utilizes patented Fastlane3 technology was already pretty spectacular, but it will soon be available using 6th generation Wi-Fi, 802.11ax, or Wi-Fi 6. The Orbi Whole Home Mesh WiFi system covers homes up to 5,000 square feet with super-fast WiFi for all of your connected devices. Orbi creates one seamless network so that as you move from room to room, your signal doesn’t drop, and it allows you to stream and game even faster with up to 3 Gbps combined WiFi speeds.
This next generation Orbi Wi-Fi system is ideal for households with a multitude of connected devices running high-bandwidth internet for HD/4K video streaming, always-on smart home devices and video monitoring security systems, which stream HD/4K to mobile devices. With an Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi system using Wi-Fi 6, your network will now be ready to effortlessly support these ultra-high-speed bandwidth-hungry applications, as well as others such as interactive VR games, 4K live sports broadcasts while also continuing to support all legacy Wi-Fi devices.
Orbi with Wi-Fi 6 is expected to be available on the Orbi RBK50 series in the second half of 2019.
Jabra Elite 85h
The Jabra Elite 85h takes Jabra’s years of experience and packs it into relatively small over-the-ear headphones. With great sound, amazing battery life and powerful ANC, the Elite 85h are in a league of their own. They feature SmartSound, which is driven by AI technology and lets the headphones adjust to a changing environment. The Elite 85h include access to Siri and Google Assistant without pushing any buttons, their battery will last to 32-hours with ANC activated and 35 hours without ANC, and you can personalize your sound with the Jabra Sound+ app. Available in black, titanium black, gold beige and navy, the $299 Jabra Elite 85h look fantastic, and they sound great, too!
Hüpnos Sleep Mask
Snoring can be a deal-breaker for some relationships. It can force one partner to sleep on the couch or even mean separate bedrooms are necessary so that the non-snoring partner can get enough rest. Assuming your favorite snorer doesn’t have sleep apnea, which needs a whole different type solution, the Hüpnos can help with that loud, sleep-disturbing snoring. The Hüpnos uses an accelerometer to determine your sleeping position and sensors to determine if you’re snoring. If you’re snoring and on your back, it will try to gently vibrate so you shift, and if you continue to snore, it will apply gentle pressure to open your airways and reduce your snoring. Either way, it’s a gentle way to guide you into a better night’s sleep. The cover is machine-washable, and the strap is adjustable, so you can play with fit until it is perfect for you. The companion app tracks your sleep and allows you to note patterns and changes so you can adjust your nighttime routine ahead of sleep to further improve the process. Hüpnos was a successfully funded Indiegogo campaign, and it is selling now through Indiegogo for $120 with an estimated April delivery.
