CES 2023's coolest products you can actually buy
It’s not all concepts and next year’s gear – some CES innovations are already for sale
CES 2023 has come and gone, and as usual we saw products and ideas that ranged from practical to outlandish. It gave us a glimpse into the future while also telling us where we are now, and for many of the products, one of the first questions on everyone’s mind is: when can I buy it?
For some of the stuff showcased, the answer is never, while others will be available in that nebulous cloud we call the future. We’re not talking about those things today. Instead, these are our favorite products shown at CES 2023 that you can buy right now – either by pre-order or outright – so you can upgrade your home, office, car or video gaming room today.
Bird Buddy
The Bird Buddy at CES 2023 stole my heart. At a show filled with pointy, RGB-laden futuristic technology, here came this delightful little product with two primary goals: one being to let you see and identify adorable birdies up-close-and-personal with a bird feeder-mounted WiFi smart camera. The other to use the camera’s data to help scientists track populations of those birds, potentially helping keep those populations healthy.
The Bird Buddy isn’t new to CES – it was also shown there in 2022 – but this seemed to be its year. It had a mini-moment during the event, so it gets an honorable mention with all the new stuff. Whether you’re a hardcore bird-watcher or a casual featherhead, you can get the Bird Buddy now, for $199, during its on-sale pre-order at the website.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the first of the RTX 40-series GPUs to cost under a thousand dollars, but it manages to outperform all expectations. This is without a doubt the best GPU for anyone with a 1440p gaming monitor that wants to max out all of their games.
The graphics card does come with the controversial 24-pin power connector, but that shouldn’t keep you from grabbing the graphics architecture behind some of the best gaming PCs around right now. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is available right now, starting at $799.
Garmin Dash Cam Live
Because Garmin is one of the only dash cam manufacturers most people have heard of, there isn’t a ton of innovation happening in the space, since anything it makes will sell regardless. Still, the Dash Cam Live is a step forward, incremental though it is. It may not be 4K-capable like the reputable Nextbase 622GW, but it shoots in 1440p with HDR and a 140-degree view, which is more than enough for most uses.
The main sales pitch, however, is the addition of LTE connectivity. Now you can add a Garmin dash cam to your cell phone plan for a small monthly fee, whereas before you needed a Wi-Fi connection to transfer footage and snapshots to the cloud. You can also track its location and receive theft and parking guard alerts through the Garmin Drive app on your phone.
The Garmin Dash Cam Live costs $399.99, which may be a tough pill to swallow considering the additional recurring charge from your mobile carrier. For those on a budget, Garmin also offers more affordable options like the Dash Cam Mini 2 and the wireless Dash Cam 47.
OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock
OWC makes some of the best docks and hubs for professionals and hobbysts alike, and at CES 2023 we saw a key portability upgrade in the new OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock: its power supply is built-in.
That may not seem like a huge deal if you’ve never used one, but powerful docks like this one tend to have massive external power supplies that make them a pain to carry. Besides that, the Thunderbolt Go has 11 ports to expand your laptop’s connectivity to (on the back) three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, two 10Gbps USB-A ports, an HDMI port and a 2.5 GbE ethernet port. The front side has an additional 10Gbps USB-C, one USB-C 2.0 port, an SD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio input/output.
Razer Leviathan V2 Pro gaming soundbar
The new Razer Leviathan V2 Pro is an over-the-top gaming soundbar that uses a combination of head-tracking and beamforming audio to create a virtual soundstage that targets your ears, even as your head moves around while you play. What does that mean? It means it simulates surround sound with one speaker bar, and uses head-tracking to make sure the sound is consistent, wherever you move your head.
Considering all the fancy tech packed inside, you’d expect the Leviathan V2 Pro to be pricier than its predecessor, the Razer Leviathan V2, and you’d be right, but not by as much as it could be – you can pre-order it now, subwoofer and all, for $399 at Razer’s site.
GE Profile smart stand mixer
Someone made a smart stand mixer. It’s called the GE Profile smart mixer – and it’s kind of wild.
If you’ve ever tried making dough without a stand mixer, you’ll know how handy these are. What GE did with the Profile goes beyond just mixing, by adding an LCD screen and a WiFi chip, as well as voice compatibility with Alexa and Google Assistant and a built-in smart scale. If you’re looking sideways at that list, I don’t blame you – my first thought was the smart scale sounds useful but everything else was just confusing.
But there could be something to it: GE says its motor is smart enough to shut off before you over-mix your project or goad you to continue if it’s not yet mixed enough. Presumably, you’ll have to tell it what you’re making, of course, and hopefully it doesn’t require you to use its guided recipes to achieve this.
I’m not saying run out and buy it – it’s almost $1,000 and WiFi and smart appliances have a shaky relationship as it is. But if you have the spare cash and bad luck with dough, maybe it’s worth a look.
BMW i7
Since its inception, the 7 Series has been BMW’s answer to the Maybach S-Class sedan. And with the i7, it’s beaten Mercedes-Benz to the punch in the move to EVs. At CES 2023 cars were a breakout category, a result of increasing pressure from US state legislators for car companies to bring their emissions down to zero by 2035 – or in the case of Washington, 2030.
Starting at nearly $120K, the BMW i7 should see to it that the one percent are able to ditch the internal combustion engine (just like us!) – without skimping on extravagant luxuries. While it’s still plenty capable of darting past most cars on the street, the i7 doesn’t come close to the unconstrained performance of the Tesla Model S Plaid, both of which you can find for around the same price depending on trim level.
But the 7 Series offers all the essentials its ultra-wealthy owners must have – everything from a retractable 31-inch 8K display in the rear cabin to massage seats and alarmingly dark curtains you can adjust using the massive infotainment display in the center console. For those of us in a tax bracket that can’t afford a personal driver, however, the all-electric BMW i4 starts at a much more palatable $51,400.