External GPUs are rad but many need work — maybe they’ll take off now we’re throwing AI dollars at them? Gigabyte, Plugable, and newcomer Ugreen aren’t even calling them “eGPUs” anymore here at CES. Guess I can’t complain unless AI companies buy them all up.
*To be clear, this was with Intel’s XeSS upscaling, at 1080p resolution, with 4x frame gen — the actual framerate was a quarter of that. But the beefiest integrated GPU in Intel’s new Panther Lake chips never let the true framerate dip below 40fps, even unplugged, with settings that looked and felt good enough for single-player games.
Ace Combat in real life? This folding VTOL foam aircraft gives you a first-person view from inside a tiny toy fighter jet cockpit. A head-tracking DJI drone camera beams video to DJI goggles over DJI’s long-range O4 wireless tech; Fly Wing claims 60-minute battery life and nearly 75mph top speed. $2,000, tentatively in March, for the complete kit.
That might be a good thing, though? When Andrew covered the announcement, he pointed out USB-C connectors are not designed to take a lot of the pressure the Extreme Fit drive might take bumping into things, but the extra housing (see image two) might reinforce it.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Here it is next to the Framework Desktop and Corsair’s AI Workstation 300, each of which are plenty small on their own (4.5 liters)! Nvidia’s Spark, already on sale, might be slightly smaller? I saw one earlier but don’t have it to compare. AMD’s Halo is coming Q2 2026, no price yet.
Is there anything more CES than a fire-breathing winged lizard guarding glowing potions? Allison and I both had to gawk. “I also asked the guy at the booth what the crystals do and he was like ‘you know. decor,’” says Allison.
Today I toyed with the Lego Smart Brick, touted as the “most significant evolution” to the Lego system in 50 years, and I came away impressed. I have a whole hands-on preview story coming Wednesday, but here’s a whirlwind two-minute video tour of what it can actually do. (Also on YouTube.)
