Presenting the Best of CES 2017 winners!
Congratulations to all!
We debated. We argued. One of us even yelled. After a long night of going through our list of finalists, our editors have finally settled on our winners for the official Best of CES awards. Below is our list of winners for each category, including our Best of the Best and our People's Choice winner too. Congratulations to all our finalists and winners!
Best Accessibility Tech: Whill Model M
Whill's Model M is an electric wheelchair meant to boost mobility for people with disabilities. Powered wheelchairs have been around for decades, but this new version from Whill has a compact, sturdy design that allows people to move across different surfaces independently. The patented omni-wheel technology enables maneuverability and makes this wheelchair a clear winner in this category. -- Mona Lalwani, Senior Editor
Best Startup: Amber Agriculture
Plenty of startups promise solutions to problems that are either overblown or don't really exist, but we can't say the same about Amber Agriculture. With Amber's array of sensors, farmers can more easily check the quality of their stored grain and get their wares to the companies that make our food at the right time. Beyond ensuring these farmers get the biggest return on their crop yields, the ability to monitor for the conditions that lead to spoilage could eventually help whole countries deal with food supply issues. Long story short: Amber's is a savvy approach to a pressing problem most people don't even know about. -- Chris Velazco, Senior Editor
Best Digital Health and Fitness Product: Willow smart breast pump
The technology world is so dominated by men that it's so rare to see a gadget designed to solve a problem that's wholly the preserve of women. Willow has crafted a bra-worn breast pump that tackles an issue you rarely hear discussed here at CES. But this prize isn't just about rewarding a startup for helping destigmatize a sensitive topic; it's to recognize a company building something that could make many people's lives easier. In addition to being portable, with no outlet required, the device has a companion app that lets parents monitor their baby's nutrition -- ideal for when you're sleep-deprived and dealing with a hungry newborn. -- Daniel Cooper, Senior Editor
Best Wearable: Willow smart breast pump
Too many wearables exist for gimmicky reasons; only a few actually make our lives more convenient. Willow's smart breast pump belongs in the latter category. This thoughtfully designed device is for mothers who want to avoid being chained to a wall outlet while breastfeeding and instead have more time to themselves or to spend with their babies. -- Cherlynn Low, Reviews Editor
Best Automotive Technology: Honda Riding Assist
Once again CES has transformed itself into a de facto auto show. But amid all the future-looking, AI-based vehicles, it was the self-balancing Honda Riding Assist motorcycle that ultimately made the biggest impression. Using research from the automaker's UniCub mobility scooter and Asimo robot, the bike stays upright on its own without any help from the rider. It's a potential game-changer in terms of safety: Anything that keeps riders from tipping while preserving the thrill of cruising on two wheels is a spectacular invention indeed. -- Roberto Baldwin, Senior Editor
Best Home Theater Product: Dish AirTV
The Engadget team spent a particularly long time debating this category. In the end, though, AirTV's blend of streaming and over-the-air broadcast television won us over. The Sling TV guide neatly organizes live channels alongside Netflix, Android TV apps and whatever networks you can receive for free with an OTA antenna. Conveniently, there's also voice search built right into the remote. At $130, it's competitively priced too, and it's already available for purchase. What's more, you don't have to pay for Sling TV to use it. That means users get a whole lot of options in one place. -- Billy Steele, Associate Editor
Best Connected Home Product: Zera Food Recycler by WLabs of Whirlpool Corporation
The Whirlpool's Zera Food Recycler makes making your own fertilizer not only easy, but efficient. For urban gardeners or folks who just want to reduce the amount of waste they send to local landfills, the fertilizer-making device is one-button simple, turning food scraps into fertilizer in about a week. While the modern smart home is filled with devices that ultimately just keep people on the couch, the Zera gives people the satisfaction of knowing they're making the world a better place, one banana peel at a time. -- Roberto Baldwin, Senior Editor
Best Innovation (Disruptive Tech): Honda Riding Assist
For the second year in a row, automotive technology is taking our Best of CES Innovation award. Honda's Riding Assist is one of those rare pieces of technology that feels like magic when you first see it. And unlike much of what you see at CES every year, Riding Assist is genuinely new and has the potential to make things safer for motorcycle riders. This year often felt like a very iterative CES, which made the sheer "wow" factor of Rider Assist stand out even more. -- Nathan Ingraham, Senior Editor
Best Mobile Device: ASUS ZenFone AR
The ZenFone AR is the first phone that doubles down on the future, promising both virtual reality (with Google's Daydream platform) and augmented reality through Google's Tango technology. No other smartphone does both. To do both features justice, ASUS has crammed in 8GB of RAM, three camera sensors and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 processor, all wrapped up under a 5.7-inch AMOLED display. In addition to everything else, the ZenFone AR is also very stylish, thin and light. With this phone, ASUS has a head start on the competition as it kicks off 2017. -- Mat Smith, Senior Editor
Best TV Product: LG OLED W-Series
LG's flagship OLED is our Best TV winner for the third consecutive CES. Even as the technology is popping up across other brands, as and LCDs continue to improve, this is still the best display we've seen during this show. Shifting its smarts and inputs to its Dolby Atmos soundbar enabled the "wallpaper-thin" design that makes it seem more like a window into another world than any TV we've seen before. With that, LG once again remains a step ahead of the competition. -- Richard Lawler, Senior Editor
Best Gaming Product: Razer Project Ariana
It won't be for everyone, but Razer's Project Ariana is an exciting option for gamers looking for more from their home setup. It's an extension of the gaming company's Chroma lighting project, but instead of just brightening up a keyboard, this is a 4K projector that expands your game outside of a monitor. Though Project Ariana is just a concept for now, Razer hopes to make the idea a reality by the end of the year. In a sea of laptops, mice, monitors and game streaming services, Project Ariana stood out. -- Aaron Souppouris, Senior Editor
Best Offbeat Product: Fisher-Price Smart Cycle
Given the breadth of the category and the sheer number of potential contenders, the offbeat category is always a difficult one to judge. This year, however, a single product stood head and pedals above the rest. We are, of course, referring to the Fisher-Price Smart Cycle. The bike's combination of activity tracking and STEM-based edutainment means that kids can exercise their bodies as well as their brains -- regardless of the weather outside. The ability to train the next generation's hearts, bodies and minds, all at the same time, makes for a potent learning tool and a clear winner. -- Andrew Tarantola, Associate Editor
Best Maker-Friendly Technology: Lego Boost
If we want people learning how to build for themselves, we might as well start when they're young. Lego has been doing that for decades, but its new Boost set lets you build five different motorized creations and program their actions with the accompanying tablet app. It's similar to Lego Mindstorms but much simpler -- created with younger builders in mind. Naturally, too, you can augment your creations with any other Legos you have tucked away in the closet. While this kit seems great for kids, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in checking it out myself. -- Nathan Ingraham, Senior Editor
Best PC: Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has everything we want in an ultraportable. It retains the refined style of the previous XPS 13, which itself was the best Windows laptop of both 2015 and 2016. This 2-in-1 can be folded over like a tablet and, thanks to Intel's latest CPUs, it's more powerful than similarly thin machines. If you've been waiting for the ideal convertible laptop, you'll want to seriously consider this one. -- Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor
Best Robot or Drone: UVify Draco HD
At CES this year we've seen a slew of drones, but UVify stood out for a number of reasons. Drone racing is becoming increasingly popular, but there are still many challenges for new pilots to get into the sport. UVivy's Draco dissolves many of those, with a modular, easy-to-repair design, high-quality live video feeds from the camera and assisted flight modes for learning. All of this, without compromising on race performance. -- James Trew, Deputy Managing Editor
Best of the Best: LG OLED W-Series
It's rare that a product truly blows us away at CES, but LG's W-Series OLED TV did just that. At just 2.6 millimeters thick across its entire body, it's the slimmest TV we've ever seen. It's not quite paper-thin, but it sure is close. And this isn't a case of style over substance either. Its picture quality is better than last year, and the TV also supports more HDR standards and comes with a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar (which also handles all of your inputs). The only downside? You need a flat wall to mount it; there is no stand.-- Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor
People's Choice Winner: Razer Project Ariana
Razer is, yet again, the winner of our People's Choice award! This time it's for Project Ariana, a 4K projector that expands your game beyond the confines of your monitor. The company has now won this category for four years running thanks to a remarkable get-out-the-vote effort and an ardent fan base. It won first place handily with over 40 percent of the vote, while NVIDIA's GeForce Now game-streaming service came in second and the LG OLED W-Series finished third. -- Nicole Lee, Senior Editor
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