This year’s CES attracted more than 4,500 exhibitors vying for the attention of the press, the public, and potential partners. We were on the ground and narrowed down our “best of” list to 21 products and services we’re think could make it big in 2025. But we also got a sneak peek at a few prototypes that aren’t quite ready for primetime, but could make a splash in the years ahead. Read on for more about the most eye-catching concepts from Las Vegas.
MSI Project Zero X
(Credit: John Burek)
MSI Project Zero X emerged at CES 2024 (see our test build with the tech) as a means of cleaning up the inside of your custom PC build. The basic idea? Employ compliant PC motherboards (and specially designed PC cases with the proper cutouts) with all of the unsightly cable connectors on the back, keeping all that wiring out of sight. It made for a super-clean build appearance. (Asus has a similar but competing solution we also test-drove, dubbed BTF, for Back to the Future.)
(Credit: John Burek)
MSI’s next salvo is Project Zero X, which gets even more radical. Here, you can look at the PC interior from three sides unencumbered by cables; the Project Zero X motherboard has all of its connectors on the back surface, now including the I/O panel for the usual PC connections like USB, Ethernet, and audio. Clearly, this requires a redesign of the motherboard far beyond even the Project Zero or BTF efforts. Even the graphics card has its outputs back here through some kind of extension.
(Credit: John Burek)
The idea of putting your PC up against the wall like an art object or painting has its appeal. MSI even shrouded the motherboard itself with brushed-metal plates, hiding the PCB and surface objects like chipsets and SSDs in their M.2 slots.
Is it practical? MSI didn’t share the underlying platform (AMD or Intel) behind the prototype, but this could be the next battleground of the increasingly extreme PC-aesthetics wars? We’ll see. We hope so. –JB
Thermaltake IX300 and IX600 Immersion Cooling
(Credit: John Burek)
Desktop PC cooling can sometimes go to extremes–just look at the vast selection of all-in-one closed-loop liquid coolers on the market, or the more advanced ecosystems of fittings, tubes, pumps, and reservoirs now offered by mainstream makers like Corsair and Cooler Master. But no niche of the cooling world is more “out there” than immersion cooling–keeping components and circuits dipped fully in non-conductive liquid to enhance cooling performance. Usually, that kind of thing is up to experimenters and intrepid overclockers. Thermaltake, though, showed off work-in-progress versions of two retail-minded immersion cases, the smaller IX300 and larger IX600.
(Credit: John Burek)
These two radical chassis bring new meaning to the term “aquarium PC case,” but fish need not apply. The cases circulate the synthetic liquid between a main component chamber and a heat exchanger in the back of the case via hoses and pumps. The liquid can dissipate as much as 400W TDP in componentry, and an LCD panel on the case can monitor flow rates and coolant temperature.
Is it extreme? Oh, yes. Is it practical? We’ll see, but we’re seldom surprised when the hardcore goes mainstream; conventional liquid cooling was an exotic pursuit not that long ago. —John Burek, Executive Editor and PC Labs Director
MSI Modern AIO Concept
(Credit: John Burek)
Given the proliferation of dual-screen laptops, desktops with screens in them, and gaming handhelds, few classes of Windows devices are more overdue for a shakeup than the humble all-in-one (AIO) PC. MSI, with a prototype version of its Modern family of desktops, took some tentative steps in that direction at CES. The Modern AIO concept PC on display had a few slide-out tricks up its chassis. The pop-up camera on the top of the unit is not new (other AIO makers have adopted that trick already), but how about a pop-in, pop-out SSD slot?
(Credit: John Burek)
This design is just fundamentally a bay that accepts an M.2 SSD housed in a handy USB enclosure. (Of course, you could make the same data transfers with any old external USB-C port.) But we could see this being a handy, uncluttered way of transferring gigabytes or terabytes of data between a USB-equipped device and an AIO, via external drives that work as ordinary external SSDs, too.
Just above the SSD bay, the MSI prototype also housed a slide-out tray for phone charging via Qi wireless….
(Credit: John Burek)
We’ve seen Qi charging in the base of an AIO before. The innovation here is that your phone’s face is elevated and accessible at eye level while you’re at your PC and charging. Phone/PC interactions via tools like Intel Unison and its derivatives are more natural when the phone is mounted alongside, like an equal partner.—JB
Acer Project DualPlay
(Credit: John Burek)
This prototype gaming laptop technically first saw the light of day at the IFA 2024 trade show, but Acer says it has refined some of the parts and added features, including an RGB-lit perimeter stripe around the screen. The basic concept of DualPlay? This bulky Acer Predator-branded gaming machine has an enormous, removable touchpad that ejects at the press of a button. Flip it over, and the module is actually a handheld gaming controller with left and right banks of buttons and joysticks.
(Credit: John Burek)
Beyond that, you can snap off the left and right portions to create two mini-controllers you can use for two-player head-to-head matchups in fighting games and the like. Plus, speakers that pop out of the side of the laptop chassis pump out impactful audio for group play.
(Credit: John Burek)
Will Project DualPlay ever see the light of day as a real product? Who knows! But it sure is fun to play with as a break during the trade-show grind. —JB
Recommended by Our Editors
Zotac Zone Gaming Handheld (2025 Prototype)
(Credit: John Burek)
At last year’s Computex, Zotac was showing off its prototype Windows-based Zone gaming handheld, which ultimately launched in the US exclusively in MicroCenter stores. It had a bunch of features that were eyebrow-raisers at the time, including switches that governed the depress distance of the shoulder buttons. (For one, Lenovo’s new-at-CES Legion S has added those.) It was also built around AMD’s notebook-grade Ryzen 8000-series laptop CPUs. The battery life on the original device left something to be desired, Zotac noted, and its 2025 concept model shown at its CES suite ups the battery capacity.
(Credit: John Burek)
The more intriguing angle, though? Rather than going with the Ryzen Z2 family unveiled by AMD to little fanfare at the show (and which Lenovo’s next-gen Legion Go 2 will use), Zotac’s again opting for a laptop-class chip, here the robust Ryzen AI HX 370 and its integrated Radeon 890M graphics. It’ll be paired with 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD. Those are impressive specs for a laptop, never mind a handheld.
(Credit: John Burek)
Ultimately, will the specialized chips like the Z1 and Z2 class end up prevailing in the battle of the handhelds, or will the laptop-chip brigade have its say? We’ll see in the next generation of handhelds…like this one. —JB
Asus Ryuo IV SLC 360 ARGB
(Credit: John Burek)
On the border between a prototype and a commercial product, this Ryuo liquid cooler is ready to cool your late-model AMD AM5 or Intel Socket 1851 “Arrow Lake” CPU in style. Expect all the usual trimmings of a premium 360mm closed-loop liquid cooler, including radiator fans that snap together edge to edge; what you might not expect is the 6.7-inch curved OLED screen on top of the CPU heat block. The stunning panel features a 2K resolution, and it can even slide for the right angling and positioning for your PC build. The screen really pops and has a “naked eye” 3D effect.
(Credit: John Burek)
The Ryuo is an interesting complement to the emerging trend of PC cases with curved front glass we’ve seen at our last few PC trade shows. No pricing yet on this model; a few design details remain to be worked out, including how the OLED screen slides in place.—JB
Honda 0 Series
Honda 0 Series Saloon sedan (Credit: Emily Forlini)
Honda took the wraps off two upcoming electric cars at CES, the first vehicles in its “0 Series” line. The plan is to launch the 0 Series SUV and 0 Series “Saloon” sedan in North America in 2026, followed by global markets. Though still prototypes, the EVs will likely look similar to what Honda presented at the show, perhaps with some minor tweaks plus various packages and trim options. Honda has not confirmed pricing or range for the new lineup, though at CES last year, it outlined plans to offer a thin battery that can eventually charge in as little as 10-15 minutes.—Emily Forlini, Senior Reporter
(Credit: Honda)
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About John Burek
Executive Editor and PC Labs Director
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About Emily Forlini
Senior Reporter
