It’s that time of the year again, when tech companies big and small unveil their biggest and best products in glitzy Las Vegas, Nevada. Yes folks the Consumer Electronics Show has come again, and much like last year, there’s a lot to take in. This year’s show had some surprises, like Razer’s Nabu fitness band, but it was still pretty predictable.

There were some genuine standouts during the show of course. Asus’ obvious attempt at grabbing the low end market via their ZenPhones is genuinely exciting, simply because they have a solid understanding of how to make products that has a good balance between price and quality. Their $99 or around Php 4300 4-inch ZenPhone will definitely ruffle some feathers once it makes its way down here.

The Razer Nabu and the Sony Core were two wearables that stood out in the sea of smart watches in this year’s CES. Both devices are mostly passive, collecting data that you’ll be able to use to (hopefully) improve your lifestyle. I liked both because they were small, unobtrusive and would possibly retail for around $100, or around Php 4400.

As far as cameras went, there wasn’t anything that blew us away, though Samsung impressed us with their attempts to stuff an NFC camera in every camera they revealed during CES. They also revealed the Galaxy Camera 2, which came in a funky,  retro look that we liked.

Speaking of Samsung, there were few revelations in their smartphone department, which is to be expected, considering Mobile World Congress is just a few weeks away. Nevertheless, the still unveiled super-sized versions of their Galaxy Note and Tab dubbed the Note PRO and Tab PRO, respectively. Touting massive 12-inch displays, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 p processors and LTE, it’s safe to say that these devices are aimed at the high end market, though only time will say if the newer, bigger (and bulkier) display size will prove a hit with consumers.

One thing I was actually impressed with was NVIDIA’s announcement of their Tegra K1 superchip. Seems  like the company is on a mission to transform every tablet and smart phone into a next generation gaming capable device. Powered by the same Kepler architecture as the fastest GPU in the planet, the Tegra K1 promises to deliver performance that surpasses the PS3 and the XBOX 360. Hopefully that performance pledge will be backed up by some semblance of usable battery life.

This year’s CES didn’t excite me as the previous years. Sure, there were a few notable gadgets strewn across the show, but there wasn’t enough magic this time around. I’m hoping that Mobile World Congress will be drastically different. Here’s to hoping.