It’s the first time we have had a physical CES event in two years, and it has been a great success. Companies came out to display their latest innovations as well as futuristic devices and technologies, many of which would become mainstream in the not-too-distant future. From the weird and quirky – read color-changing cars – to the more mundane stuff, you will have it all at the Consumer Electronic Show. Mentioned here are some of the more interesting tablet devices that were launched at this year’s edition of the CES.
Lenovo Tab Extreme
Everything about the Tab Extreme is in the superlative. It’s big and burly, with enough grunt to take on even the most accomplished of laptops. It comes with a large 14.5-inch OLED display that is lit up by 3,000 x 1,876 pixels. The display supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ technologies and has a 120 Hz refresh rate. Under the hood lies a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC paired with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add more storage via microSD cards. A large 12,300 mAh battery keeps the lights on and is backed by 68W fast charging tech.
The Tab Extreme also comes with a 13 MP + 5 MP camera combo at the rear while the front gets a 13 MP ultra-wide angle shooter. The tablet supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth v5.3 wireless connectivity besides also featuring a Display Out and a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, the latter capable of reverse charging as well. There are also eight speakers on board that support Dolby Atmos and have been tuned by JBL. The tablet comes with external attachments such as the Tab Extreme Keyboard and the Tab Extreme Folio. There is also the Precision Pen 3 that will let users make input directly on the tab’s display.
Lenovo said the Tab Extreme will be ready to storm the US markets by the end of the year and will sport a price tag of $1,199.
Lenovo Smart Paper
There is the digital note-taking device segment that has come up off late and is buzzing with activity already. Catching up with the others, Lenovo too has an e-note device to offer in the form of the Lenovo Smart Paper which again happens to be the rebranded version of the Yoga Paper e-note that Lenovo introduced in China late last year. Also, it’s the first stand-alone E Ink device the company has come up with. Previously we have seen a couple of its ThinkBook series featuring a secondary E Ink display.
Coming to specs, the Lenovo Smart Paper sports a 10.3-inch E INK Carta HD display having a resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels and 212 PPI pixel density. The display is front lit which automatically adjusts to ambient lighting conditions to allow for an optimum reading experience at all times. The display also has a matte screen layer on top which makes for a non-slippery surface and allows for a more realistic writing experience. The bundled stylus offers 4,095 levels of pressure sensitivity besides having just 23ms latency.
Powering the Smart Paper is a Rockchip RK3566 processor paired with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. There is a 3,500 mAh battery on board and supports Bluetooth 5.2 and USB-C connectivity. The device runs Android 11 but comes with a host of software improvisations that makes it well-suited for note-taking and sharing. The Smart Paper can also be wirelessly connected for use as an external display. It offers more than 70 note-taking templates and supports OCR as well as real-time language translation. Other features include conference recording, converting speech to text or handwriting to text, and so on.
In fact, the Lenovo Smart paper is also pegged as a great Kindle Scribe alternative and has the Amazon e-note covered save for that brilliant 300 PPI display for the Scribe. It is already on sale in the US for $400.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Twist
The Lenovo ThinkBook series almost always came with a twist and this time they really meant it. For the new ThinkBook Plus Twist features a centrally hinged display that can be twisted around to show either an OLED or an E Ink display as the need might be. More specifically, it comes with a 13.3-inch OLED panel having 2.8K resolution, 400 nits of brightness, and a 60Hz refresh rate. Twist around the display and you will be greeted by a 12-inch front-lit color E Ink panel that supports both touch and pen input and has a 12Hz refresh rate.
Powering the device is the latest 13th gen Intel Core processor. It supports Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity besides also offering a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports. It comes with an FHD camera along with dual mics with a smart noise-cancellation feature. The ThinkBook Plus Twist offers a fresh new take on the two-in-one segment slated for launch in June this year and will start at $1,649.
TCL NxtPaper 12 Pro
The TCL NxtPaper 12 Pro happens to be another of the more interesting launches of CES 2023. The new NxtPaper 12 Pro stands out from the rest in that it comes with an innovative color e-paper display that makes it extremely eye-friendly. The company said the display comes with a special multi-layer filter system which reduces glare while the harmful blue light emission is reduced by 61 percent.
The tablet otherwise comes with a 12.2-inch 60 Hz color LCD display having 2160 x 1440 pixels resolution, 370 nits of brightness, and a 3:2 aspect ratio. On the other side of it lies a MediaTek Kompanio 800T (MT8771) processor that is coupled to 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, with the microSDXC card slot letting you add more storage if needed. Power comes from an 8,000 mAh battery that is backed by 18W fast charging support. The accompanying stylus offers 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity.
Connectivity options with the NxtPaper 12 Pro include Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 though there is a 5G cellular model of the tablet also on offer. It comes with twin 8 MP cameras on the front while the rear gets a 13 MP sensor. The tablet comes pre-loaded with the Android 12 OS and supports several modes. For instance, there is a special reading mode that makes the display monochrome and is ideal for reading e-books and other digital content. It otherwise can be used for regular office work as well.
TCL Nxtpaper 12 Pro is priced at $499 while the 5G cellular model will set you back $549.
Samsung Flex Hybrid
Samsung has shown off a unique tablet concept in the form of the Flex Hybrid at the just concluded CES 2023 event, one that comes with a display that is both foldable as well as rollable. So, it’s like a small book to start with but opens up to reveal a tablet form factor. Then again, the right bezel can be pulled out which will make the display stretch out further. As per what Samsung revealed during the presentation, the Flex Hybrid tablet unfolds to reveal a display spanning 10.5 inches though the same can be stretched out to add another 2.4 inches to the display. Samsung however didn’t reveal what the internal specs are going to be like when it’s going to enter mass production, if at all, and what it might cost and so on.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.