(Pocket-lint) – The last 12 months or so have been unlike any other and that has had a profound affect on this year’s CES.

Being virtual-only for the first time, it meant we couldn’t tread the halls of the world’s largest trade show as we usually do, and therefore didn’t get to see as many products in the flesh.

But, we won’t let that stop us from giving you our rundown of the products we think will excite most in the coming year – the announcements from CES 2021 that you should keep an eye on.

This therefore is our list of the best tech launched during a quite unique CES.

Pocket-lint

Acer Chromebook Spin 514

The latest Chromebook Spin is the first to adopt AMD Ryzen processing, which should balance great performance with decent battery life.

It is well-made, in anodised aluminium and with a 360-degree hinge to turn it into a tablet. It also has a healthy amount of ports for great connectivity.

• Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (2021, AMD) initial review: Versatility is its charm

Pocket-lint

Acer Predator Triton 300 SE

A gaming laptop that doesn’t really look like one, the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE comes with a 14-inch 1080p display that sports an impressive 144Hz refresh rate.

It also has the cooling systems synonymous with gaming PCs, yet will suit college or the workplace as equally well.

• Acer Predator Triton 300 SE initial review: The everyday gamers’ laptop

Arlo

Arlo Touchless Video Doorbell

In these days of Covid-19 transmission and social distancing, Arlo has devised a doorbell that doesn’t need to be pressed to alert occupants.

The Arlo Touchless Video Doorbell uses AI and motion sensing to judge when someone is coming to the front door (rather than just wandering by), whereby it will sound the chime without needing any physical contact. An alert also tells the visitor that it has “rung” so there’s no confusion.

• Arlo announces Touchless Video Doorbell, cutting down on COVID risk

Denon

Denon Home Sound Bar 550

No only does the Denon Home Sound Bar 550 sport four 55mm dribers, two 19mm tweeters and three bass radiators, it can be expanded with optional other Denon Home speakers to make for a complete home cinema solution.

It’s all wrapped up in a neat package too. And Denon Heos compatibility means it can sit at the heart of a multiroom setup with ease.

• Denon’s Home Sound Bar 550 all-in-one soundbar is here to boost your TV’s audio

Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED

Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED

The Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED is rather unique in gaming laptop terms as it comes with a 1080p HDR AMOLED panel rather than traditional LCD.

That means it will present images with superb black levels and great, accurate colours. While HDMI 2.1 support enables it to feed the latest TVs too.

• Gigabyte’s Aero and Aorus laptops come with RTX 3080 and OLEDs

JBL

JBL Tour One

JBL is well known for its fun and funky headphones, but the Tour One over-ears take it in a new direction. They are aimed at the same market as the Bose QC 35 II and Sony WH-1000XM4 – commuters, business types and travellers.

That means they have an unassuming design and adaptive noise cancelling tech talents. And there is up to 50 hours of playback time on the battery to boot.

• JBL Tour One over-ears and Tour Pro+ TWS earbuds take aim at Bose and Sony

Lenovo

Lenovo Yoga AIO 7

This Lenovo all-in-one desktop PC comes with a 4K display that can be rotated at the touch of a button. That gives a more suitable aspect ration for looking at social media videos or browsing the web.

It’s no slouch in the computing stakes neither, with the ability to be spec’ed up to an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H Processor paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU.

• Lenovo’s Yoga AIO 7 all-in-one has a rotating 27-inch display

LG

LG G1 OLED TV

LG’s 2021 OLED TV range will be topped by a new version of its 4K G1 Gallery TV – a super slim panel that can sit almost flush against a wall.

As well as gorgeous looks and picture performance, the G1 also comes with webOS 6.0 and a new version of its Alpha 9 processor with even more AI skills. Plus, Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service will be playable on the new TV without the need for a separate Chromecast.

• LG announces new, more efficient G1 OLED TV series, updates to C1 series

Microsoft

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus

The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus expands on its immediate predecessor with renewed internal hardware.

It comes with a larger battery, removable SSD storage and upgraded 11th Gen Intel Core processing. The front and rear cameras are also upgraded, with 1080p video capabilities. Nice.

• Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 Plus has longer battery life and a removable SSD

Panasonic

Panasonic JZ2000 OLED TV

Pansonic’s flagship OLED TV for 2021 adds HDR 10+ Adapative tech to the brand’s already long list of impressive features.

HDR 10+ Adaptive not only gives you scene by scene adjustments for HDR content, it adjusts it based on your room’s ambient lighting. Add that to Dolby Vision IQ and Filmmaker Mode and you have a cinema standard set.

• Panasonic JZ2000 OLED TV is company’s 2021 flagship and spec’ed for next-gen gaming

Razer

Razer Blade 15

Not only can the latest iteration of the Razer Blade come with new Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics cards – even spec’ed up to the RTX 3080 – it gives you the option of a 4K display with a 165Hz refresh rate.

Even the base model has a 144Hz 1080p display – great at 15-inches. And a 4K OLED option is available too.

• Razer reveals Blade 15 and 17 laptops with 360Hz screens and next gen Nvidia RTX GPUs

Samsung

Samsung HW-Q950A

Samsung has a couple of high-end soundbars coming in 2021, with the HW-Q800A (pictured) adding Apple AirPlay 2 to an impressive feature set.

However, it is the Samsung HW-Q950A system with its staggering 11.1.4 channel setup that really grabs our attention. The separate, wireless rears now come with side-firing speaker units as well as up-firing for truly all-encompassing audio.

• Samsung’s 2021 soundbars include an 11.1.4-channel beast

Samsung

Samsung JetBot 90 AI+

The latest Samsung JetBot vacuum is not only packed with sensors, including Lidar, it comes with a charging dock that can extract all the dust and waste.

That way, you never have to empty the cleaner itself, with plenty of storage in the “bin” to only need your attention every “couple of months”.

• Samsung JetBot 90 AI+ has a messy name, but promises to smartly clean your home

Samsung

Samsung Q900A Neo QLED TV

Samsung has embraced Mini LED for its top-of-the-range QLED TVs this year and its Q900A is an 8K flagship worthy of the title.

It has “Infinity One” design to almost eradicate the bezel, while Object Tracking Sound (OTS) Pro audio ensures the aural experience perfectly matches the movement on screen.

• Samsung embraces Mini LED for 2021 8K and 4K Neo QLED TV range

Sony

Sony Bravia XR Master Series A90J

Sony’s latest sets have switched from Android TV to the more recent Google TV smart system, and they come with exclusive access to the brand’s new Bravia Core movie streaming service which provides 4K Blu-ray quality versions of films.

There is also a new Cognitive Processor XR tech inside that replicates the way a human brain sees images to perfect any flaws. The 4K A90J is our pick of the bunch.

• Sony’s latest Bravia XR TVs are designed to more closely replicate what you see and hear

Writing by Rik Henderson.