The Best of the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show

CAMPING GEAR

The 2024 Consumer Electronics Show took place in Las Vegas this past week, with thousands of tech companies on hand to unveil a staggering number of new products. Unsurprisingly, AI and VR were the buzzwords (buzz acronyms?) most commonly heard on the show floor, although plenty of TVs, laptops, electric vehicles, and other gadgets were on display as well.

The GearJunkie team spent several long days combing the Las Vegas Convention Center halls, looking for the latest tech to enhance our outdoor adventures.

We found plenty of drool-worthy gadgets at the show, along with a few that left us scratching our heads. But by the time we left the event, there were a few standout products that we couldn’t wait to get our hands on.

Our Top Picks in Tech Gear From CES 2024

Jackery Rooftop Tent With Solar Panels

(Photo/Jackery)

Jackery’s big reveal at CES wasn’t a new power station. Instead, the company showed off a rooftop tent with 1,000W solar panels. That’s enough to generate about 5kWh per day, powering everything from portable coffee makers and refrigerators to laptops and smartphones. The tent is currently just a prototype, but Jackery expects to start producing a consumer version later this year at a price yet to be determined.

EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra

Jackery and Goal Zero didn’t introduce any new power stations at CES, but EcoFlow introduced a powerful new model. The Delta Pro Ultra is a backup power solution for your home, cabin, or RV, offering up to 90kWh of capacity. That’s enough electricity to run most houses for up to a month.

The base unit offers 6,144Wh and can produce 7,200W of output while accepting as much as 36,000W of input from solar panels alone. The device and its expandable battery packs are available now, with the inverter starting at $5,799. For a limited time, early adopters can save $800 off MSRP.

Bluetti AC180T Power Station

Bluetti also showed off a new power station, albeit one with more modest specs. The AC180T offers a 1,433Wh capacity and 1,800W output with a max surge of 2,700W.

Those are fairly pedestrian numbers, but what makes this unit stand out from the crowd is its removable battery packs. The power cells can be hot-swapped in and out of the device as needed, in theory, giving it nearly infinite power storage.

We’re told those same batteries will power other future Bluetti products, including a portable refrigerator that the company displayed in its booth. Pricing is unavailable; watch for it coming soon.

Urtopia Carbon 1 Pro E-Bike With ChatGPT

(Photo/Urtopia)

If you think we exaggerated when we said artificial intelligence was everywhere at CES, think again. Case in point, a company called Urtopia introduced a new e-bike with an AI assistant powered by ChatGPT. While this sounds like a gimmick, it seems surprisingly useful.

The chatbot can create personalized riding routes, track a rider’s performance and fitness metrics, answer questions, provide weather updates, and more. The bike also has built-in LTE networking for over-the-air updates, GPS tracking, and theft-deterrence features. It comes to the U.S. in March with a price tag under $3,000.

Garmin HRM-Fit Women’s Heart Rate Monitor

For years, female athletes have had to make do with heart rate monitors that were designed for men. But Garmin is rectifying this oversight with the HRM-Fit, a device designed to clip onto a medium- or high-support sports bra. This approach provides more accurate readings and is more comfortable to wear, too. The device is available now for $150 — and our female running editors are stoked to try it.

Scosche PowerUP 600

(Photo/Kraig Becker)

We’ve seen portable battery packs that can jumpstart a vehicle before, but the Scosche PowerUP 600 is the smallest we’ve come across yet. The unit is roughly the size of a smartphone and can generate up to 600A of power, allowing it to start 4L gas and 2L diesel engines even when their batteries are completely dead. Not bad for a device that easily fits inside your glove compartment. The gadget goes on sale in late January with an MSRP of $120.

Segway Navimow Robot Lawnmower

(Photo/Segway)

Robot lawnmowers aren’t entirely new, but they were definitely more prominent at CES 2024. At least five or six companies had new models on display, but none were more impressive than the Navimow from Segway. (Yes, that Segway!)

The AI-powered lawn care assistant interfaces with your smartphone to learn the boundaries of your yard and automatically stays within the perimeter. It also uses an onboard camera to avoid obstacles and detect edges, adjusting its route accordingly. Segway says it will start shipping in March of this year; MSRP is unknown.

Catalyst Dog Collar for AirTag

The brand introduced a new dog collar at CES with a built-in waterproof case designed to securely hold an Apple AirTag. This allows iPhone owners to track their pup’s whereabouts at all times, making it much easier to find them should they sneak out of the yard or wander away from the campsite. The collar will come in small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes and ships later this month for $40.

Pebble Flow Electric Travel Trailer

While this trailer concept got out in November 2023, there still weren’t any actual units built yet. So, one of the highlights of the show was getting a tour of the Pebble Flow all-electric travel trailer in person.

The high-tech camper includes 1kWh of solar panels that feed power to a massive onboard battery pack built to provide energy independence while camping off-grid. The vehicle also has a suite of electric appliances, air conditioning, heating, and a comfy bedroom that converts into an office. The model we saw is a prototype, but the company hopes to go into full production starting in 2024.

Goal Zero Alta Series Portable Refrigerators

(Photo/Kraig Becker)

After a 4-year hiatus, Goal Zero was back at CES with some interesting new products on display. The company’s biggest reveal was a line of portable refrigerators that are available in two sizes. Both the smaller Alta 50 and larger Alta 80 are impressively built and can maintain an internal temperature ranging from -4 to 50 degrees F.

The Alta 80 can reportedly hold up to 130 cans of your favorite beverage and has two climate zones with individual temperature settings. Both models will be available on January 30 for $800 and $1,000, respectively.

Verdict From CES

Goal Zero and TAXA Outdoors; (photo/Kraig Becker)

These were the products that impressed us the most on the floor at CES 2024. These products expand on the current trends in AI, power generation, and innovative, efficient solutions to bringing tech off the grid.

We hope to get our hands on these devices and provide full reviews once they become available. Stay tuned for our thoughts once we’ve had a chance to put this exciting new tech through its paces.

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