Now, however, is a good time to recap and put together all of the best smartphones and tablets announced during the show. What make a smartphone or a tablet worthy of being on the list, you ask? Well, solid build quality and a list of high-end specs would be a good start, although not all gadgets need to be like that in order to be impressive. Now go check out our list and see whether your CES 2013 favorites are present.
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Out of all the smartphones announced during CES, the Sony Xperia Z was by far the most anticipated. And indeed, our high expectations were met, although we kind of knew what was coming our way weeks prior to the handset's announcement. Luckily, we did get to spend some one-on-one time with it during our Sony Xperia Z hands-on, and the initial impression we got was, as expected, quite positive. Needless to say, we can't wait until we get to review Sony's latest flagship as soon as it is launched in March.
Sony Xperia Z
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Hey, you haven't forgotten about the Sony Xperia ZL, have you? For the most part, it is just as capable as the Xperia Z, equipped with a 5-inch 1080p screen, 13MP camera, and a speedy quad-core processor, yet drops the resistance to dust and water damage in exchange for a slimmer waistline.
Sony Xperia ZL
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And here we have the Huawei Ascend D2, which is another smartphone that offers it all – from the 5-inch 1080p display and 13MP camera to the quad-core 1.5GHz processor and huge 3,000mAh battery. All of these goodies are packed into a meticulously crafted body.
Huawei Ascend D2
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The heart of the Lenovo IdeaPhone K900 is a snappy Atom Processor by Intel with two cores running at 2GHz. If early benchmarks are to be trusted, this might be the fastest piece of silicon installed under the hood of a smartphone to date. Mouth-watering features like a 5.5-inch 1080p screen and 13MP camera by Sony have not been forgotten. The high-end package is complete by the device's slim chassis made out of stainless steel and polycarbonate.
Image Courtesy of Venture Beat
Image Courtesy of Venture Beat
Lenovo IdeaPhone K900
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This list would not be complete without the ZTE Grand S, which is surely among the slimmest smartphones equipped with a 1080p screen. It might very well be among the fastest as well, given the fact that inside it runs a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chip. Although no announcements have been made yet, ZTE is open to bringing its high-end offering to the U.S. market in partnership with an interested carrier.
ZTE Grand S
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Yup! It is a device by Alcatel. The brand brought to CES what might be referred to as its first high-end smartphone – the Alcatel One Touch Scribe X. It looks quite promising on paper with its 5-inch display, 1.4GHz quad-core processor and 12MP camera, and its build quality seemed decent as well while we were giving it a quick hands-on review. If Alcatel manages to bring the One Touch Scribe X to market at a competitive price, it might have a winner on its hands.
Alcatel One Touch Scribe X
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Although it is neither a smartphone nor a tablet, we should mention Project Shield by NVIDIA as was among the most exciting devices announced at CES 2013. Thanks to the powerful Tegra 4 processor running inside it, the gadget could potentially be one very powerful video game console blessed with the ability to run Android applications.
Project Shield game console
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And speaking of the Tegra 4, here's the first device powered by it besides NVIDIA's Project Shield. It is a 10-inch tablet made by Vizio, of all brands, also equipped with a promising 2,560 by 1,600 pixel display. Hopefully, its maker will manage to bring the tablet to market in a timely manner.
Tegra 4 tablet by Vizio
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Every tablet that is designed to withstand as much beating as the Panasonic Toughpad JT-B1 deserves respect. It is not only highly durable, but it is also resistant to dust and water damage. Too bad you'll have to spend a heap of money to get one as it is priced at $1199.
Panasonic Toughpad JT-B1
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If we take a look at the other side of the price spectrum, however, we'll see the Acer Iconia B1. Seriously, the tablet has nothing to impress you with when it comes to specs, but it is definitely dirt cheap (at least as far as tablets go). Priced at about $150, it will be far cheaper than other 7-inch tablets, such as the Google Nexus 7, making it a potentially respectable competitor.
Acer Iconia B1
Best of CES 2013
Out of all the smartphones announced during CES, the Sony Xperia Z was by far the most anticipated. And indeed, our high expectations were met, although we kind of knew what was coming our way weeks prior to the handset's announcement. Luckily, we did get to spend some one-on-one time with it during our Sony Xperia Z hands-on, and the initial impression we got was, as expected, quite positive. Needless to say, we can't wait until we get to review Sony's latest flagship as soon as it is launched in March.
Best of CES 2013
1. Sony Xperia Z
Out of all the smartphones announced during CES, the Sony Xperia Z was by far the most anticipated. And indeed, our high expectations were met, although we kind of knew what was coming our way weeks prior to the handset's announcement. Luckily, we did get to spend some one-on-one time with it during our Sony Xperia Z hands-on, and the initial impression we got was, as expected, quite positive. Needless to say, we can't wait until we get to review Sony's latest flagship as soon as it is launched in March.
2. Sony Xperia ZL
Hey, you haven't forgotten about the Sony Xperia ZL, have you? For the most part, it is just as capable as the Xperia Z, equipped with a 5-inch 1080p screen, 13MP camera, and a speedy quad-core processor, yet drops the resistance to dust and water damage in exchange for a slimmer waistline.
3. Huawei Ascend D2
And here we have the Huawei Ascend D2, which is another smartphone that offers it all – from the 5-inch 1080p display and 13MP camera to the quad-core 1.5GHz processor and huge 3,000mAh battery. All of these goodies are packed into a meticulously crafted body.
4. Lenovo IdeaPhone K900
The heart of the Lenovo IdeaPhone K900 is a snappy Atom Processor by Intel with two cores running at 2GHz. If early benchmarks are to be trusted, this might be the fastest piece of silicon installed under the hood of a smartphone to date. Mouth-watering features like a 5.5-inch 1080p screen and 13MP camera by Sony have not been forgotten. The high-end package is complete by the device's slim chassis made out of stainless steel and polycarbonate.
Image Courtesy of Venture Beat
Image Courtesy of Venture Beat
5. ZTE Grand S
This list would not be complete without the ZTE Grand S, which is surely among the slimmest smartphones equipped with a 1080p screen. It might very well be among the fastest as well, given the fact that inside it runs a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chip. Although no announcements have been made yet, ZTE is open to bringing its high-end offering to the U.S. market in partnership with an interested carrier.
6. Alcatel One Touch Scribe X
Yup! It is a device by Alcatel. The brand brought to CES what might be referred to as its first high-end smartphone – the Alcatel One Touch Scribe X. It looks quite promising on paper with its 5-inch display, 1.4GHz quad-core processor and 12MP camera, and its build quality seemed decent as well while we were giving it a quick hands-on review. If Alcatel manages to bring the One Touch Scribe X to market at a competitive price, it might have a winner on its hands.
7. Project Shield game console
Although it is neither a smartphone nor a tablet, we should mention Project Shield by NVIDIA as was among the most exciting devices announced at CES 2013. Thanks to the powerful Tegra 4 processor running inside it, the gadget could potentially be one very powerful video game console blessed with the ability to run Android applications.
8. Tegra 4 tablet by Vizio
And speaking of the Tegra 4, here's the first device powered by it besides NVIDIA's Project Shield. It is a 10-inch tablet made by Vizio, of all brands, also equipped with a promising 2,560 by 1,600 pixel display. Hopefully, its maker will manage to bring the tablet to market in a timely manner.
9. Panasonic Toughpad JT-B1
Every tablet that is designed to withstand as much beating as the Panasonic Toughpad JT-B1 deserves respect. It is not only highly durable, but it is also resistant to dust and water damage. Too bad you'll have to spend a heap of money to get one as it is priced at $1199.
10. Acer Iconia B1
If we take a look at the other side of the price spectrum, however, we'll see the Acer Iconia B1. Seriously, the tablet has nothing to impress you with when it comes to specs, but it is definitely dirt cheap (at least as far as tablets go). Priced at about $150, it will be far cheaper than other 7-inch tablets, such as the Google Nexus 7, making it a potentially respectable competitor.
