The Best of CES 2018 awards: Alphr’s pick of the best products and innovations at this year’s CES

CES is the largest technology showcase in the world. It’s a place where some of the best and most bizarre creations come together under one roof and the world’s biggest tech companies flex their creative muscles for 2018.

That makes it the perfect place to highlight our pick of the tech for the year ahead. Like the mainstay of our site, the Alphr Best of CES awards are here to pick future-facing products that, in time, will have a big impact upon our personal and professional lives.

So, without further ado, on to the awards!

Best of CES 2018 Awards:

Best Automotive Tech winner: Fisker Inc. – EMotion

The Fisker EMotion won our Best Automotive Tech award thanks to its multiple innovations within the electric and autonomous vehicle industries. Tipped to have a minimum range of 400 miles on a single charge, with a top speed of 161mph and superfast charging that’ll give you a range of 125 miles in just nine minutes, the Fisker EMotion is clearly a top-tier EV made for the future.

Fisker Inc. also states that the EMotion will begin production in 2019 and it’ll be equipped to become the first Level 6 autonomous vehicle on the road.

The real technological innovation comes in the form of Fisker Inc.’s solid-state Lithium-ion battery. Capable of cooling efficiently despite its tightly packed cells, it’s an incredibly dense power pack wrapped in an ultra-light military-grade casing. Fisker plans to build graphene-based batteries but they won’t arrive until 2023.

You can read lots more about the Fisker EMotion in our write up from CES 2018

Best Innovation winner: Razer – Project Linda

Razer always likes to unveil some incredibly ambitious prototype at CES. Last year it was a triple-screened laptop, and this year it’s a Razer Blade-like laptop powered entirely by a Razer Phone.

The Razer Phone sits in place of a laptop touchpad, with the device screen replacing the input device. The Razer Phone’s Snapdragon 835 and 8GB RAM power a 13.3in Full HD screen and run a desktop-like version of Android. It’s similar to the Samsung DeX, except in a truly portable form factor.

Razer wins our award for Best Innovation at CES 2018 thanks to its clever approach to creating a seamless and stylish way to turn your smartphone into a lightweight computer.

You can read more about Razer’s Project Linda in our write up from CES 2018

Best Wearable winner: Matrix Industries – PowerWatch X

Fitness trackers may have taken off significantly over the last couple of years, but smartwatches have not. This is due, in part, to the faff of having to charge a watch battery every day or two to simply tell the time and get some notifications. Thanks to Matrix Industries’ PowerWatch X, that’s no longer the case.

The PowerWatch X may not be the most feature-filled of smartwatch on the market, but it wins our Best Wearable award because it requires absolutely no charging, harvesting energy from the heat of your body.

You can read more about Matrix Industries’ PowerWatch X in our write up from CES 2018.

Best App winner: Here & Virgin Hyperloop One – Hyperloop app concept

Virgin Hyperloop One isn’t a transportation reality just yet, but thanks to a collaboration with mapping company Here, we finally have a vision of what it would be like to travel on a hyperloop.

The app, powered by Here’s latest SDK, takes a user through the journey of ticket purchase and the navigation process. It also gives us an idea of just how widespread Virgin Hyperloop One sees hyperloop technology spreading.

It may not be available to consumers just yet, but it’s an excellent collaboration between two of the world’s most interesting companies in industries that have plenty of growth potential.

You can read more about Virgin Hyperloop One and Here’s app in our coverage from CES 2018.

Best Robot winner: Euveka’s shape-shifting mannequin

Euveka’s invention is one of those things that is so brilliantly simple, you can’t believe it isn’t already a thing. When designing clothes, you need a mannequin to get the size and shape right, but no two humans are the same, so you need dozens of mannequins. Euveka’s changes shape at the touch of a button, letting you tweak the height, thigh size, hip diameter, waist, chest, bust and shoulders at the touch of an app button. It can go from being a thin 5ft child to a 6’3” pregnant woman in seconds

This is handy for fashion studios, but could also be invaluable for everything from healthcare to the military (bullet-proof apparel is not a one-size-fits-all project.)

You can read more about Euveka in our coverage from CES

Best of Show winner: HTC Vive – HTC Vive Pro

The winner of our most coveted award at CES 2018 is HTC Vive with the HTC Vive Pro and its new Wireless Adapter accessory.

HTC Vive has always been at the forefront of VR in both consumer and business spaces since its launch in 2016. Now, two years later, HTC Vive has taken feedback and adopted a whole manner of changes to make the HTC Vive Pro yet another tantalising prospect for both developers and users alike. What’s more, by upping screen resolution by nearly double that of the HTC Vive, the Vive Pro creates even more realistic and immersive VR experiences. Combine this with the Wireless Adapter accessory (which works on both Vive and Vive Pro) and you’ve got yourself an indispensable, and totally wireless VR experience that just can’t be beaten.

Congratulations HTC Vive for another excellent VR product to help push the medium forward.

You can read more about the HTC Vive Pro in our coverage from CES 2018.