CES 2019: The Gadgets You Should Get Excited About (and the One We Can't Wait For)
/This year at CES it felt like you were truly stepping into the future of living. All of our devices are finally “talking” to each other, you can buy a TV that rolls up and hides away, machines fold your clothes for you, mirrors are getting smart, and cars were all electric. Oh and there was that helicopter 🚁
I narrowed down my favorites to the top dozen or so items that you should check out in 3 categories Health and Fitness, Baby & Kids, and Lifestyle. Read on and see what you need
HEALTH AND FITNESS
Suunto Fitness 3 Watch–
Suunto, the leader in watches for the ultras, the military, the crazy elites, has made one for the pavement pounder, the yogi, the runner in us all, and by-golly it’s glamorous! The watch is roughly the size of the Garmin Fenix 5S but thinner and slightly lighter. With activity tracking, sleep tracking, continual HR, water resitance, and connected GPS, this sleek package has everything you have come to expect out of a fitness tracker and a killer battery life of 30 hours/GPS which is unheard of!
Matrix PowerWatch 2 - I won’t even begin to tell you that I even slightly understand how this watch works. The sun and your body somehow power the watch. It’s cool, it’s cutting edge (for a watch - the technology has been used in other areas for a long time), and you need to check it out. DC Rainmaker has a much more detailed post if you need technical deets!
SportsArt – Have you ever wanted to get on your treadmill and power your fridge? The SportsArts Verde is the world’s first energy producing treadmill. As you run on the treadmill, it produces up to 200 watts of electricity per hour through electromagnetic and mechanical braking system (read more about the techy specs here).
JAXJOX Kettlebell Connect - A smart dumbbell! The KettlebellConnect can actually dynamically alter its weight, ranging from 12lbs to 42 lbs within the same device. This kettlebell is the perfect addition to your home gym - taking up minimal space for one of the must have pieces of gym equiment. It can also track your workouts and your progress, or take part in Pelaton-esque kettle bell classes with a subscription package. This is one smart dumbbell!
Aftershox XTrainerz - Diehards fans of Aftershox have been waiting for this announcement for a long time. A waterproof bone conducting headphone is on it’s way. Like their siblings the Trekx, the XTrainerz will utilize bone conducting technology to produce sound which allows you to hear ambient noise. Swimmers, especially open water swimmers, have been waiting for this for some time. Cons: Bluetooth cannot cross through water so you will have to preload your music or podcasts onto the headphones. Aftershox plans on shipping in late spring.
BABY & KIDS
Elvie and Willow – Two years ago Willow made a splash to the pumping world with the first ever hands free pump (to be sold in the US). This year, Elvie (the makers of pelvic floor trainer aka the kegel meister) brought their hands free pump to CES. For a working mom these discreet, crazy quiet, and dare I say convenient pumps are a game changer!
Bluesmart Mia2 - One of the most stressful this as a new parent (besides not sleeping) is whether your kid is eating enough. This simple little gadget will bring huge peace of mind to new parents. Place the baby bottle into the coozy-like silicone smart sleeve and the device will automatically track feeding times, amounts, and duration - so much easier than the manual tracking of 5 years ago! It also tell you the temperature of the milk or formula, whether you’re holding the bottle at the right angle to prevent gas, and if the milk or formula has expired. All that info then gets synced and stored into a mobile app so you never have to try to remember all the deets - because mommy brain is really, real!
Breathing Wear by Nanit - Tracking your baby’s wellbeing and development is a growing field. The Nanit Plus smart HD baby camera tracks a baby’s breathing and sleep movement and patterns (letting you rest easy that baby is having a good night). The camera’s sensors analyze baby’s motion from a bird’s-eyeview with the Nanit Plus baby monitor. Unlike other breathing trackers, the Nanit doesn’t need skin contact, instead the camera works with babies wearing clothing and wraps. So swaddle up that kiddo and you both an get a good night sleep!
LIFESTYLE
Volo Beauty Go Cordless – It’s about time someone updated this decades old styling tool! Pros: Volo utilizes quartz infrared light and heat that's gentler on your hair and the same lithium-ion battery cells you'd find in electric cars, making it far more energy-efficient. Cons: Short battery life (14 minutes on full heat, 24 on medium), on the heavier side weighing in at 2lbs.
Simple Human Smart Mirror – Remember your grandmothers lighted mirror? Well makeup mirrors are back and smart mirrors were all the rage at CES. From ones that can read your texts and tell you the weather to ones that can put filters on you and help you decide what makeup to wear. The SImpleHuman smart mirror, with its non-fogging glass and perfect colored lights toned to sunlight, is one that you will really use.
FoldiMate - Folding laundry ranks up there as nearly everyone’s least favorite task. I know I am dreading the day when my son’s clothes are full adult size and not so cute any more! Well until we all live like the Jetsons, the FoldiMate is pretty great. Just feed in your freshly washed clothes and out they pop nice and folded (not Marie Kondo style but folded nonetheless). This could be the very answer to every parent’s battle over getting your kid to fold the laundry!
LG Beer - the Keurig of making beer. No really. Pop in a pod follow the instructions and in 10-14 days you have your own home craft brewed beer. And you can put it from a mini tap. Not futzing around with bottling or worrying if it got skunked. Does it take some of the fun out of basement brewing? Sure. It it still fun? Yes!
Frame TV - as more and more of us move to open concept living nothing ruins a space like a big black rectangle on the wall. Enter the Frame TV. When you aren’t using it, this TV looks like a piece of art. Any piece that you upload to the TV. It is frame in Walnut, Black, or Pine, and sits flush against the wall givinv the look of a true piece of artwork. So you can say sianara to that black hole of a TV and hello chic room (just ignore the legos on the floor).
So you’ve been waiting for a flying car …
The Bell Nexus isn’t a flying car but it may be even cooler. Bell and Uber (and many many other tech companies) have been working together to outright revolutionize the helicopter and create the first fleet of air taxis. The Nexus is a hexicopter (it has 5 blades - those are rotating ducted fans like in the military Osprey - not traditional rotor blades) and seats 4 passengers and 1 pilot. The Nexus will run on clean fuel and have a flight radius of 150 miles and top speed of 150 mph. The goal is to have it operational by 2023 and have fleets in the sky in major cities shuttling people to and fro by 2025! The future is here … grab a seat.
