Computex 2023 Best in Show: The most impressive tech we’ve seen
Computex is one of the biggest technology shows of the year, with a specific focus on computing products such as laptops, monitors, components and peripherals.
We’ve travelled over to Taipei in order to check out all of the latest gadgets announced at Computex 2023, and have scoured the exhibition halls for the most promising devices.
We’ve assembled this list of all of the devices to win a Best in Show award from Trusted Reviews, which includes everything from a special edition graphics card to a laptop seemingly sporting next-gen specs.
MSI Prestige 16 Studio / Evo
The MSI Prestige 16 was described as a ‘MacBook killer’ to me by an MSI spokesperson at the Computex 2023 booth. We’ve heard that description plenty of times before from various laptop manufacturers, and yet not one has been able to offer the same balance and high-end performance as the MacBook Pro.
The MSI Prestige 16 Studio / Evo may actually live up to that description though, with MSI claiming it has a target 24-hour battery life (with a 99Whr cell) despite being powered by Nvidia’s RTX 4060 GPU. Even the best laptops with those kinds of specs struggle to even hit the 10-hour mark.
MSI claims it’s able to achieve this stamina thanks to the excellent efficiency of a mystery processor. We know that it’s an Intel Core i7 chip, but MSI says it’s not from the current generation. With a target September 2023 release date, all signs point towards this being a processor from the upcoming 14th Generation, but we won’t get confirmation on that until closer to launch.
Asus ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD
The ROG Swift OLED PG49WCD is a massive (49-inch to be exact) ultra-wide gaming monitor, featuring a visually impressive QD-OLED panel with a 5120×1440 resolution.
We were enamoured by the level of immersion on offer here, taking in the gorgeous vistas of Forza Horizon 5 in glorious detail.
The monitor has a 1800R curvature, a 144Hz refresh rate, 1000-nit peak brightness and a zippy 0.03 GTG response time. Asus isn’t ready to reveal pricing just yet, but it’s no doubt going to be expensive considering the excellent specs and picture quality on offer.
£30 per month for the Google Pixel 7 and 100GB of data
The Pixel 7 is one of the best phones we’ve reviewed this year, especially for the price. Now you can get it for an incredible price that includes 100GB of data on the Three network for just £30 per month, making it even more affordable. If you’re a keen mobile photographer, it’s an ideal handset for you.
- Affordable Mobiles
- 100GB, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and no upfront cost
- £30 per month
Acer Swift Edge 16
The Acer Swift Edge 16 is one of the most impressive laptops of Computex 2023. It’s incredibly light for a 16-inch laptop, tipping the scales at just 1.23kg to make it dead easy to lift up with one hand.
It’s not quite as light as the LG Gram 16, but it has plenty of superb specs to make up for that, including a 3.2K OLED display, a seemingly speedy Ryzen 7040 Series processor and Wi-Fi 7 support so you can make use of the very latest wireless standard if you have a compatible router.
You won’t have to wait long for this promising laptop with Acer confirming that it will launch in July, with a starting price of $1299.99/£1299 which is surprisingly affordable considering the specs and screen size.
Mobile Pixels Geminos
Mobile Pixels is a tech company that specialises in creating dual-screen accessories for your laptop. For Computex 2023, it launched a new dual-screen monitor, which sees two 24-inch displays stacked on top of each other.
You can plug in a PC/tablet via the USB-C or HDMI port around the pack, and then open up two separate windows/apps to view them at the same time. Mobile Pixels also claims you can plug in two different devices at the same time too, so you could have a PS5 displayed on the top monitor and your laptop plugged into the other.
The monitor’s screen specs aren’t pulling up any trees with a 1080p resolution, LCD technology and 60Hz refresh rate. But the picture quality still looked perfectly fine in our books, while having a second screen certainly makes up for those limitations. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to purchase this monitor directly from a UK retailer just yet, but it’s still possible to order from the US.
Acer Aspire Vero 15
Acer has made a huge push on sustainability for Computex 2023, with the Acer Aspire Vero 15 standing out as the most impressive.
A remarkable 40% of the chassis is made up of post-consumer recycled plastics (PCR for short), while Acer has cut down the CO2 emissions in order to create this portable by 30%. It also has an OceanGlass touchpad and 100% recyclable packaging.
Specs seem promising away from sustainability too, with a 15.6-inch 1080p screen and up to i7 Intel Core processor. And best of all, it’s relatively affordable with a starting price of just $699.99/€899. Not only are you getting a seemingly good laptop for your money, but you can feel good about helping the planet while you do so.
Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98
We’re cheating a little by including the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 router, as it was first shown off at CES 2023 earlier this year. But with Computex itself giving it an award, and having a major presence at the Asus booth on the show floor, we thought we’d make an exception.
The Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 is the world’s first Wi-Fi 7 quad-band gaming router, providing speeds of up to a whopping 25,000Mbps. And with MSI and Acer both launching Wi-Fi 7 laptops at Computex, it won’t be long until you can actually buy a device that supports these breakneck Wi-Fi 7 speeds.
Thanks to Wi-FI 7 support, this router can offer a new 32,000MHz bandwidth and 20% higher throughput than preceding models. If you want to play online games with the fastest internet speeds possible, then this is the router to look out for.
MSI Alpha 17
The MSI Alpha 17 is one of the very first gaming laptops to sport AMD’s new Ryzen 7945HX processor, which packs a mighty 16 cores and 32 threads. AMD claims it’s, on average, 10% faster than rival Intel chips.
This is also one of the world’s first Wi-Fi 7 laptops, allowing you to take advantage of the latest and greatest wireless standard, so you won’t have to worry about lagging performance. There’s an Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU under the hood too, ensuring a high-end graphics performance.
Let’s not forget about that huge 17-inch screen though, which has a Quad HD resolution and 240Hz refresh rate, resulting in a well-rounded package for gamers across the globe.
Acer Connect Vero W6m
We really weren’t kidding when we said Acer has gone all in on sustainability for Computex 2023, as it’s also launched an eco-friendly router.
The Wi-Fi 6E tri-band mesh router is made up of 30% PCR plastic and features an Eco Mode which can control when connected devices go to sleep if they’re deemed to be idle.
It may not be a cutting-edge router in terms of performance, missing out on the new Wi-Fi 7 standard, but it’s great to see Acer expanding its sustainable Vero range beyond laptops.
Asus ROG Matrix RTX 4090
Computex 2023 always has a big focus on left-field PC components, and the Asus ROG Matrix RTX 4090 is easily one of the most intriguing of the lot. This is the world’s first graphics card to use a liquid metal thermal compound instead of thermal paste.
You’ll also notice that the graphics card doesn’t have any fans built into it, instead using the bundled triple-fan radiator that it connects to. With such extravagant cooling, there probably isn’t another RTX 4090 card on the market that can claim a higher boost clock.
Since this graphics card is part of ROG’s Matrix family, this is sadly just a limited edition, so only a lucky few will be able to order it. But it’s nevertheless a remarkable innovation for graphics cards, and something we hope is explored more in the future.
MSI Commercial 14
Business laptops can often be accused of being a little boring, prioritising security above all else. But while the MSI Commercial 14 still provides hardware-based security through TPM (Trusted Platform Module), it’s also got a slew of features to make it a more interesting portable.
MSI has confirmed the laptop will feature both NFC and a smart card reader. Specs looks promising elsewhere too, packing up to an i7 Intel Core processor and a 14-inch 1080p screen. It will flaunt an eco-friendly design, with the keyboard chassis made up of PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) and over 90% of the packaging designed with recycled paper.
Sure, it may not be the most exciting laptop on this list, but we’re glad to see business portables making a big sustainability push, and so it undoubtedly deserves a place on the this list.