All the new tech that caught our eye in Las Vegas

Over 4,000 exhibitors flocked to Las Vegas, Nevada this week to showcase their wares at CES 2026. The Engadget group, as normal, was out in full force protecting the present. The week started with press conferences from big firms on the present, principally crammed with AI buzzwords, imprecise guarantees and fairly little in the way in which of onerous information.

Multiple firm even determined to forgo saying issues throughout their conferences to make method for extra AI chatter, solely to publish press releases later quietly admitting that, sure, really, they did make some client expertise. It is applicable, I assume, that as we’re starting to really feel the knock-on value results of the AI business’s insatiable urge for food for compute assets — greater utility payments and machine costs — firms would slightly use their flashy conferences to bolster AI’s supposedly must-have attributes slightly than really inform the general public about their new merchandise.

We’re in no way AI luddites at Engadget, nevertheless it’s truthful to say that our group is extra excited by tangible merchandise that enrich our lives than iterative enhancements to massive language fashions. So, away from all the bombast of NVIDIA’s marathon keynote and Lenovo’s someway concurrently gaudy and uninteresting Sphere present, it has been a pleasure to guage the group of weird new gadgets, home equipment, toys and robots vying for our consideration.

Over the course of a number of days of exhaustive dialogue and impassioned pitching, our CES group has whittled down the tons of of merchandise we noticed to choose our favorites. Beginning with an preliminary shortlist of round 50 candidates throughout a various vary of product classes, we finally landed on 15 winners and our singular finest in present.

When you’ve been with us all week, keep tuned for lots extra to come back — regardless of publishing virtually 200 articles from the present already, there’s nonetheless lots we’ve got to inform you about. For now, although, listed below are our winners, every launched by the editor most accustomed to it. — Aaron Souppouris, Editor-in-chief

Greatest robotic: Switchbot Onero H1

We noticed a number of robots exhibiting off intriguing and helpful capabilities at CES 2026. Whereas a number of robots impressed us, there have been fewer firms prepared to commit to really making them obtainable. However Switchbot’s Onero H1, which we watched pick up clothes and cargo a washer, is a helper robotic the corporate intends to promote this yr.

The demo we noticed was restricted, however Switchbot claims it will possibly assist with an array of family chores (even when it would do them extra slowly than a human). It is also form of cute. The corporate hasn’t mentioned how a lot Onero will value, although it guarantees the droid will likely be lower than $10,000. An almost five-figure price ticket continues to be out of attain for many, nevertheless it at the least provides us hope we’ll see it someplace outdoors of the CES showfloor. — Karissa Bell, Senior reporter

Greatest accessibility tech: WheelMove

WheelMove presents a easy improve for handbook wheelchairs that might make it a lot simpler for the rider to navigate tough surfaces like grass and uneven dust paths. The add-on is affixed to the entrance bars of the wheelchair and may raise the small caster wheels off the bottom, along with offering energy help with 5 velocity choices. It is moveable, has a good vary of about 15 miles — with the choice to swap out its battery on the go — and will give wheelchair customers larger entry to areas that might in any other case be tough to maneuver about in. It will possibly additionally maintain the wheelchair from rushing up when an individual is touring on a downward slope.

This feels very very similar to a product that may really see the sunshine of day, and might be genuinely useful. It builds upon an present class of wheelchair equipment to deal with an actual concern in a method that does not overcomplicate issues, and would work with the wheelchairs folks already use. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend editor

Greatest TV: LG Wallpaper TV (OLED Evo W6)

I’ve seen loads of TVs at CES this yr, however few stopped me in my tracks like LG’s OLED Evo W6. It’s the resurrection of the corporate’s “Wallpaper TV,” however this time it’s even thinner (in regards to the depth of a pencil), and it’s now not tied to a soundbar. It additionally makes use of LG’s wi-fi management field to scale back cabling — the one wire you might want to disguise is the one for energy.

And better of all, the OLED Evo W6 options LG’s newest OLED expertise, which guarantees to be about 20 % brighter than earlier generations. Video demos appeared completely gorgeous, with all the great distinction and black ranges we’ve come to like from OLED. But it surely’s additionally a murals when it’s turned off, one which virtually disappears when considered from an angle. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior reporter

Greatest AI {hardware}: Delicate Voicebuds

Subtle’s Voicebuds are earbuds with a twist: They characteristic an AI mannequin that’s skilled to transcribe your voice precisely in very noisy environments, or when it is beneath a whisper in quiet areas. We’ve seen these items in motion on the bustling CES present flooring, the place they managed to transcribe a number of sentences amid the chaos. The one downsides is that the Voicebuds require web entry to make use of the very best transcription fashions, and you might want to subscribe to the Delicate app to make use of it. With out the app, it depends on a smaller native mannequin for transcription.

Whereas we nonetheless must put the Voicebuds via their paces, they’re intriguing as a result of we haven’t seen many genuinely helpful AI {hardware} merchandise. Plus, it’s been some time since we’ve seen a tiny startup ship {hardware} making an attempt to tackle the likes of Apple. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior reporter

Greatest good dwelling: IKEA Matter-compatible good dwelling

One of the best good dwelling gadgets I noticed at CES had nothing to do with AI or robots. It appears each different firm, from Bosch to LG to Samsung, had one or each of the buzzy applied sciences baked into their new good dwelling choices. However IKEA got here to its first CES with a easy lineup of fundamental, Matter-enabled good plugs, sensors, lamps and remotes at screamingly good costs. Operate paired with accessible pricing is type of what IKEA is understood for, so the lineup didn’t precisely shock me as a lot as make me recognize that somebody is lastly simplifying and democratizing good dwelling stuff.

There are 21 Matter-compatible gadgets in all. They embrace a $6 good bulb, an $8 good plug, a $6 good distant and a slew of dwelling sensors. A barely pricier ($15) globe bulb seems to be very beautiful. Lastly, there’s a sensible bulb you’d really need to have a look at — one which doesn’t value $50. One other standout is the BILREA distant management. Not solely is it an intuitive controller for IKEA’s good gadgets and new good lamps, it additionally has a magnetic mount so that you don’t lose the factor. Matter gadgets require a hub to perform. Right here, you’ll be able to both go for IKEA’s personal DIRIGERA or use a Matter hub you already personal. The brand new lineup ought to land at IKEA’s web site and shops someday in January. — Amy Skorheim, Senior reporter

Greatest dwelling theater: Samsung HW-QS90H

Many firms declare their soundbars have sufficient bass that you just don’t want a separate subwoofer. These guarantees hardly ever pan out, even when the corporate devises new technology to resolve the issue. With the HW-QS90H, Samsung is pledging to do the identical with its Quad Bass woofer system. These woofers transfer in two instructions, producing much more low-end tone than most soundbars are able to on their very own. What’s extra, Samsung included its Convertible Match Design tech that debuted final yr, so you’ll be able to lay this speaker flat or mount it on a wall and the built-in sensors will mechanically regulate the motive force output accordingly. So, for those who’ve longed for deep bass on a soundbar with out a big or ugly sub within the nook, you might lastly get your want later this yr. — Billy Steele, Deputy editor

Greatest audio: Shokz OpenFit Professional

With regards to open match earbuds, firms that declare to supply lively noise cancellation (ANC) normally don’t ship; It’s tough to successfully block exterior sound when your ears aren’t fully sealed off. Shokz is without doubt one of the few that has cracked the code with its OpenFit Pro. The over-the-ear hook design permits the earbuds to sit down outdoors of your ear for a transparent line to your environment. If you want a bit extra quiet, the corporate’s noise discount tech does effectively to silence reasonable sounds in a restaurant, workplace and extra. It’s severely spectacular how a lot noise discount you’ll get right here, and the truth that nothing is caught in your ear canals makes them very snug to put on. Plus, Shokz improved general sound high quality with new drivers, and tacked on Dolby Atmos for good measure. — Billy Steele, Deputy editor

Greatest out of doors tech: Tone Outdoor T1

Outside device firms have more and more proven up at CES, particularly those that supply a spread of battery-powered gear. Tone Outdoor isn’t your normal energy device outfit although; it’s a spin-off of the aerospace engineering firm Whisper Aero. Via its improvement of quieter electrical airplane engines, Whisper Aero realized its expertise had different makes use of. Enter the T1 leaf blower.

The T1 is considerably quieter than most handheld gasoline fashions, clocking in at simply 52 decibels of peak noise on common. It’s additionally extra highly effective than most of them with 880 CFM of airflow quantity. The T1 can run longer too, and an upcoming backpack will lengthen run time for a number of hours. However crucial development right here just isn’t annoying your neighbors — or your self — when it’s time to do some yard work. — Billy Steele, Deputy editor

Greatest toy: Lego Sensible Play

Lego is consistently evolving, however hardly ever does it make as massive a transfer because it did with Smart Play. The system is designed to take customary Lego units and make them extra interactive because of a tech-packed Sensible Brick. These bricks have a tiny chip the scale of a Lego stud that permits issues like movement, coloration and proximity sensing. In addition they have a tiny speaker that additional helps deliver Lego builds to life.

The Sensible Brick is usually a clean slate, however pairing it with Lego’s Sensible Tags and Sensible Minifigures is what allows these new play eventualities. Unsurprisingly, Lego launched the Sensible Play system alongside Star Wars units that make these new immersive parts extra apparent. An X-Wing piloted by Luke Skywalker can get right into a dogfight with Darth Vader’s TIE fighter, and you will hear the engines roar to life, the characters exclaim as they arrive beneath fireplace and the spaceship explodes if it will get hit too many instances. And Sensible Play requires no setup, which means that the expertise packed into the Sensible Brick fades away and lets children (and youngsters at coronary heart) get all the way down to the enterprise of taking part in. You needn’t know the way it works — it simply does. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy editor

Greatest PC or laptop computer: Dell XPS 14 + 16

In a method, this award is for Dell’s newest flagship laptops but in addition the corporate itself. Final yr, Dell confirmed up with a new naming scheme for all of its hardware that included changing the enduring XPS line with the phrase “Premium.” And despite our objections, the corporate adopted via with the rebrand. However now at CES 2026, not solely has Dell admitted its mistake, it’s righting wrongs with two new members of the XPS family which can be precisely what we needed all alongside.

On the XPS 14 and XPS 16, we’re getting model new chassis that includes the most recent chips from Intel, beautiful tandem OLED shows and precision engineering that embodies all the things we cherished about XPS laptops from earlier years. Dell additionally streamlined its designs with the bigger XPS 16 dropping a whole pound in comparison with the earlier technology. The corporate even addressed various our earlier critiques by switching from capacitive contact controls again to a basic row of perform keys and reverting to segmented touchpads as an alternative of seamless glass ones that made it onerous to maintain monitor of your cursor.

However maybe the very best half is that Dell isn’t stopping right here, as a result of the corporate additionally teased a brand new model of its legendary XPS 13 slated for later this yr, the thinnest and lightest member of the household but. There are additionally placeholders for 2 extra XPS fashions slated to reach within the not too distant future. — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter

Greatest well being tech: Eyebot imaginative and prescient check sales space

Wouldn’t or not it’s good if getting an up to date eyeglasses prescription wasn’t as prolonged a course of as it’s proper now? Eyebot’s new kiosk is designed to automate the method of visiting a health care provider’s workplace to a few minutes rocking as much as a machine. It makes use of a mix of analog and digital wizardry to establish what you might want to see correctly very quickly in any respect. Even higher is that the prescriptions need to be signed off by a licensed eye physician, so you’ll be able to nonetheless depend on a level {of professional} rigor. We like Eyebot as a result of it proved itself in our assessments: its transient examination matched my professionally accomplished prescription from final yr. However its means to make efficient eye care accessible and inexpensive in a method that it isn’t at current is much more compelling than the tech itself. — Daniel Cooper, Senior reporter

Greatest gaming tech: ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo is massive, bizarre and doubtlessly awkward to arrange. However truthfully, what sort of gamer doesn’t need extra screens? Even for those who can’t use its second show in the midst of a firefight, extra actual property means additional room for Discord, construct guides or anything you would possibly want. Moreover, ASUS included not one however two good OLED panels with as much as 1,100 nits of brightness and coloration accuracy so good you gained’t have an issue modifying pictures or movies. You additionally get a ton of ports, and with assist for as much as an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU, the ROG Zephyrus Duo has greater than sufficient efficiency to deal with something you’ll be able to throw at it. — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter

Greatest cell tech: Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold

Samsung may need introduced the most recent iteration of its foldable smartphones in Korea, however CES was the primary likelihood for many people to see the Galaxy Z TriFold in particular person. It’s a 10-inch Android pill hidden inside a 6.5-inch smartphone type issue.

The leap from the almost-square display ratio of Samsung’s previous foldables to roughly 4:3 is a significant enchancment. It is a machine that I might fortunately watch complete films on. There’s extra horizontal area to learn, extra room to kind and extra vivid, vivid AMOLED all the things. Unfurling the perimeters is extremely satisfying and, maybe as a result of it’s thicker, it has a reassuring heft, too. The remainder of the spec sheet displays one other trendy Galaxy cellphone with a 200-megapixel essential digicam and the most important battery but in a Samsung foldable.

It’ll doubtless be costly although. Samsung hasn’t confirmed pricing within the US, however primarily based on its launch value in Korea, it might be round $2,500. — Mat Smith, UK bureau chief

Most promising idea: Lenovo Legion Professional Rollable

Idea gadgets are onerous to guage as a result of even those with a ton of potential is likely to be too tough to make or too area of interest to deliver to market. However with the Legion Pro Rollable concept, Lenovo created one thing with a easy but highly effective premise: A gaming laptop computer with a display that will get wider on the contact of a button.

To make the Legion Professional Rollable, Lenovo took a daily Legion Professional 7i after which swapped its customary 16-inch show for a versatile one that may increase all the way in which as much as 23.8 inches — with a bonus cease in between. This implies you may have the choice to select from 16:10, 21:9 and even 24:9 relying on the state of affairs, which appears like an unbelievable method to improve racing video games, flight sims and anything that may make the most of additional huge facet ratios. Granted, when its display is absolutely deployed, it does look a bit ungainly. However of all of the ideas we noticed this yr at CES, the Legion Professional Rollable is the one we hope survives to turn out to be a correct retail product sometime. — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter

Greatest rising expertise: IXI autofocus lenses

IXI’s autofocusing glasses had been a late addition to our discussions, however we had been impressed by what might be a big development in spectacle expertise — one thing that’s been largely static because the Nineteen Fifties. IXI’s glasses characteristic a sublime, distinctive, cameraless eye-tracking system that makes use of ultra-low-power LEDs and photodiodes to exactly monitor the consumer’s eye motion and focus convergence. This knowledge drives a liquid crystal lens layer, enabling a spotlight swap between close to and much distances in roughly 0.2 seconds. Focus your gaze elsewhere, and your glasses return to their regular prescription. Consider them as a high-tech tackle the usually thick and clunky multifocal lenses we’re at the moment caught with.

IXI is now finalizing the manufacturing course of, creating manufacturing and gaining the required medical certification to promote its glasses, nevertheless it has already struck offers with lens producers in Europe. The corporate has a busy yr forward because it turns its expertise right into a client product. — Mat Smith, UK bureau chief

Greatest in present: Lego Sensible Play

There’s maybe no place higher than CES to focus on how rapidly business tendencies die. Through the years the present has been a driver of cornerstone applied sciences just like the VCR, DVD, flatscreen TVs, PDAs and extra. Some tendencies stick, some do not.

Lego might virtually be seen because the antithesis of the standard CES product: The corporate’s core idea of artistic play has remained in place all through its lengthy historical past, boosted by a gradual and ongoing evolution of block sorts and model tie-ins.

Introduced at its first-ever CES press convention, Smart Play represents a considerate integration of expertise to the basic toy. A tiny chip the scale of a single Lego stud permits the corporate’s Sensible Bricks to sense what’s round them, opening up new methods to play. The system will debut with a trio of Star Wars units, however we’re positive Lego has plans for a variety of licensed and unlicensed choices.

Our group immediately fell in love with Sensible Play, and Deputy editor Nathan Ingraham had the chance to each construct some units and speak with among the folks behind the expertise. Amid parental anxieties about screentime, it is refreshing that Sensible Play would not require an app or a display to get began. Children can simply get constructing. — Aaron Souppouris, Editor-in-chief