CES 2017: Samsung brings gaming laptops, QLED TV

Samsung already revealed its 2017 A series of smartphones earlier this week, but what did it have on offer for CES 2017? Well, no more phones, but it did bring some interesting wares anyway.

For starters, the company announced its first gaming laptops in the form of the Samsung Notebook Odyssey. Available in 17.3-inch and 15.6-inch variants, the laptops pack full HD screens (why no 1440p or 4K?), up to seventh generation i7 chips and a maximum of 32GB of RAM (or 64GB for the 17.3-inch model).

Samsung hasn’t disclosed the graphics card of the larger model, but the 15.6-inch version is packing a GeForce GTX1050 card. The company is also claiming that the Notebook Odyssey can produce a “cinema-quality” HDR video experience, but it’s unclear which HDR standard it supports.

Gaming laptops, QLED TVs and Chromebooks were shown by Samsung at CES 2017

It’s not the only laptop hardware revealed by the company, as it showed off the Samsung Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Pro, supporting the Google Play Store.

Both devices feature a 360 hinge, 2400×1600 touch display, two USB Type C ports and integrated stylus. They’ll also feature 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage, but the Plus will pack an unspecified ARM processor while the Pro will tote an Intel Core M3 chip.

The Chromebook Plus has a US$450 price tag and will be available in the USA next month, while the Pro model has a “spring” launch date with no pricing revealed. Of course, don’t expect these devices in South Africa, as Samsung SA pulled sales of its laptops several years ago.

Otherwise, the company also used the CES spotlight to reveal an LTE-capable version of its Gear S3 smartwatch.

Forget OLED TV?

But arguably one of the biggest announcements took place in the TV arena…

The Korean firm took the opportunity to introduce what it calls a QLED TV, in the form of the 75-inch Q8C television. The company says it added metal material to quantum dot technology, so what are the benefits of this?

“Samsung QLED TV takes Quantum dot technology to new heights with advanced light efficiency and stability, as well as a wider colour spectrum than ever before,” the company wrote in its press release. “The new QLED TV also features truly deep black levels, perfect 100% colour volume when measured with DCI perfect match, and HDR optimal brightness of 1500 — 2,000 nits.”

The company also revealed a way to take on cable clutter, with a single “nearly invisible” cable running from your TV to a nearby box. Users will need to plug their peripherals into the box, with the single cable doing the rest.