CES 2026: Our Favorite Home Tech Products

It’s been a few days since we returned home from Las Vegas and CES 2026. Once again we roamed all over the city to see all the latest smart home and other new technology gadgets. We both came home exhausted, but it was another great year learning what’s new and catching up with our colleagues and friends to celebrate our shared love of innovation.

While most of the show seemed to be focused on humanoid robots and AI companions, we prefer to highlight our favorite products that offer some immediate benefits. I hate to report that it will still be a while before your robot butler will be able to completely take care of your laundry. 

Here are our favorite products from CES 2026.

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains links that may earn us a commission from Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Opinions and conclusions are our own.

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Thaasa Sunflower

We have seen plenty of air quality sensors at past events and have reviewed many of them in our own home. But we’ve never seen one as beautifully designed as the Sunflower, a portable air quality sensor designed by 17-year old La Jolla entrepreneur Matthew DuBois. 

The Sunflower measures Carbon dioxide, Relative humidity, Volatile organic compounds, and Barometric pressure all in one compact battery-powered sensor you can carry with you. Use it with the companion app to get alerts and take action to help you stay healthy and productive. And you can make it yours with a customized colored carrying case. 

This is actually Matthew’s second product he’s created and launched with support from his teachers at La Jolla Country Day School. Judging by the quality of the product and the attention to detail, it won’t be his last. The team even made the tiny Eureka Park booth one of the best looking we’ve ever seen. 

Thaasa expects to start shipping Sunflower in early 2026. You can sign up for more information at their website.

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WalkArrive Skateboarding Penguin

We saw dozens of AI-companions at CES this year, from anime characters in a bottle, to desk chatbots using your phone as an interface, to furry stuffed animals. But the only one I really want in my home is the Skateboarding Penguin by WalkArrive.

Just like every other companion, the Skateboarding Penguin is powered by an AI-engine so it can navigate around your home, interact with you and continuously learn to get to know you better. But unlike the others, this one looks and chirps like an adorable baby penguin. Now I can fulfill my dream of having my own lifelike penguin at home, without the need to feed it raw fish and clean up after it. 

WalkArrive expects to launch the Skateboarding Penguin during Q3 this year on Kickstarter.

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Piscisea Alpha Hybrid-Drive Reel

If you’ve ever been fishing in the ocean, or have watched someone else do it on TV, you can imagine that you have to be pretty strong to reel in one of those gigantic catches.

Sure, you can hire someone to haul in your fish for you when it starts biting, or even get a fully-electric reel that will pull it in for you. But where’s the fun in that? 

The Piscisea Alpha is the first hybrid-drive reel, blending the hank-crank experience with the power you need to haul in a fish up to 220 pounds. It lasts up to 8 hours on a single charge and it also pairs with action cameras so you can capture photos and video at the same time, even for the ones that get away. 

The Piscisea Alpha will be launching soon on Kickstarter.

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Emerson SmartVoice Home Appliances

While all of us tech early adopters have been upgrading our small home appliances with apps and connecting them to our favorite voice assistants, there is a whole other group of people who would love to be able to talk to their lamps, fans, and air fryers without connecting to the cloud and sharing their personal data.

The iconic consumer electronics company Emerson, founded in 1948 as Emerson Radio, is now partnering with IAI Smart to add voice remote capabilities into its product line, including fans, heaters, air fryers and headphones. Each device is embedded with a standard set of commands that you can use right out of the box, and you’ll never have to connect to an app or update the firmware. Best of all, none of the appliances cost more than $200. 

You can buy several products right now from their website or at major retailers and more are expected to launch in the coming year.

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GEMNS Energy Harvesting Sensors

In our smart home we have lots of different sensors measuring things around the house – temperature, humidity, doors and windows opening and closing, etc. While smart home protocols and battery technology have improved over the years, with so many devices, we are always changing batteries. Most importantly, for sensors that don’t get used very often, we want to make sure they work when we need them. 

At CES, GEMNS (short for generated electromagnetic motion) demonstrated several different sensors that work without batteries, harvesting the kinetic motion of a push, flip or press to activate the sensor and send the signal on demand. They had working prototypes of a button, door sensor, a water leak sensor and a smart door lock.

Right now these are just technology demos, not products you can buy, but we think this is an exciting area to watch and we hope some of our favorite smart home brands will start to incorporate this functionality into future products.

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Skip the Bin with Woodsy the Owl

Speaking of batteries, when you are done with your double and triple A’s, what do you do with them? What about your old phones and laptops? If you’re just throwing in your household trash, you’re putting your family and your community at risk.

At CES this year, my childhood friend Woodsy the Owl was back to help remind everyone of the dangers of throwing batteries in the bin. In the first seven months of 2025, there were more than 250 fire incidents at waste and recycling facilities across the U.S. and Canada—more facility fires than any other period on record.

Here in Northern California, we get a hazardous waste disposal bag from our garbage company that we use to collect our used household batteries. It’s important to tape up both ends and dispose of the batteries correctly to help prevent a fire in your own garbage can or in the truck.

By the way, in case you were wondering what happened to Woodsy, he was originally a 14-year old boy scout but he’s all grown up now. He’s got his own social media accounts and will continue appearing at in-owl events to educate us about the importance of battery safety.

To learn more and find out how to properly dispose of batteries where you live, visit https://batterysafetynow.org/.

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Razer Project Motoko Wearable AI Headphones

Smart Glasses are back in style again thanks to the popularity of Meta’s Ray-Bans. Companies from all over the world were demoing their own spectacles throughout CES this year. 

Razer demonstrated their take on wearable AI with Project Motoko, a set of headphones with cameras built in, not just for gaming but for everyday life. They believe that over-the-ear headphones are a much better form factor than glasses, since there is more room for better cameras and a stronger battery. Plus, as someone who wears contacts, I am not interested in wearing glasses unless I have to. 

Razer showed many different examples of how the headphones can help with work, play, working out and even cooking a meal with instructions in Japanese. They expect them to work with any of your favorite AI platforms. 

Project Motoko is a concept but Razer plans to bring their version of Wearable AI to market this year

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Iceplosion Home Slushie Machine

Who doesn’t love a fresh slushie? But how often do you get the opportunity to have one? You have to drive to your local gas station or convenience store, and hope they are serving your favorite flavor today.

What if you could have a slushie anytime you want, right from home? Welcome to Iceplosion, the world’s first carbonated home slushie machine.

The Iceplosion works with fresh water, single serve syrup cups and CO2 to make a fresh fizzy slushie or ice-cold soda in minutes. There are 20+ flavors available, in sugar and sugar-free versions. The machine will fit on most countertops and uses about the same energy per serving as an electric kettle. 

They expect to have a model available late this summer.

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Samsung Freestyle+ Portable Projector

Samsung skipped the Las Vegas Convention Center this year and instead set up their own demo area called the First Look to show off all of their innovations in televisions, home appliances, and of course Artificial Intelligence.

Our favorite of their new products was the small but mighty Freestyle+ portable projector. While we are mostly a standard television house, we have been trying out some different styles of portable projectors over the last few years and this new model from Samsung seems to address some of the problems we’ve seen so far. 

You can point the Freestyle+ at nearly any surface to project your content – walls, doors, or even corners, and it will automatically size and focus, even optimizing if there is a pattern underneath. It’s got 430 ISO Lumens of brightness and a built-in 360 degree speaker for great sound. Plus it plays content just like any other Samsung TV – so you can get over the air broadcasts or run your favorite streaming apps right from the projector.

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Skyted 320 Silent Headset

Have you ever overheard a confidential phone conversation in an airport, train or coffee shop, whether you wanted to or not?

Or maybe you’re working in an open-plan office and you have an overly loud or overly nosey cube neighbor sending you searching for an open conference room or out into the hallway to have a private conversation.

I was absolutely blown away by the Skyted Silent Headset at CES. I put on a regular set of headphones and the guy on the other end talked to me through his Skyted headset. I could hear everything perfectly, but no one around us could hear anything. He talked to me in a regular speaking voice and it was crystal clear. 

I’m not really sure how the technology works but we also had some trouble recording the sound of the demo next door, even though we could hear them just fine in person.

You can buy the Skyted 320 today from their website and fine-tune your experience with the SoundBubble app.

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Allergen Alert Portable Allergen Detector

250 million people worldwide live with food allergies. For these folks, enjoying a meal outside their own homes can range from uncomfortable to potentially life-threatening. 

To address this global health challenge, Allergen Alert is building a pocket-sized food allergen and gluten detector that can be used by individuals and families as well as restaurants, hospitals and hospitality services. 

Just take a small sample of the food with the single-use pouch, insert it into the mini lab and get a result in minutes. 

The company’s founder was inspired to create the product after her daughter suffered an anaphylactic shock and was hospitalized. They are testing the product now in restaurant kitchens and plan to start taking pre-orders for the device later this year.

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Feno Toothbrush

Over the last few years we’ve seen a lot of innovations in tooth cleaning – from the whole-mouth Y-Brush to smart toothbrushes with cameras and apps. Feno puts all these innovations into one package to create what they’re calling the World’s First Smartbrush.

The brush uses a True-Fit Mouthpiece that allows you to brush all your teeth simultaneously in as little as 20 seconds. It has a built-in scanner that captures images of your teeth and uses artificial intelligence to give you insights that can help you detect problems early. You can choose to share the results with your dentist or keep them private.

We also loved that the Feno charger keeps the brush dry and dust-free between uses. 

You can buy the Feno in one of their starter kits with everything you need from their website or on Amazon.

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Pila Mesh Home Battery

Sustainable energy solutions have been a trend at CES for the past several years and by now we have seen hundreds of portable and in-home batteries. But none have been as elegantly designed, inside and out, as the Pila. 

The Pila is a “plug and power” home energy and backup system that you can use individually or together to manage power outages or store energy to help manage your power more efficiently.  They come in four colors and can be stored vertically or horizontally to fit into your home’s aesthetic. For instance, you can put a Pila on top of your fridge and leave it plugged in to keep it going for up to a day or more in case of an outage.

Pila batteries not only look good, they come equipped with an intuitive app that will not only help you manage through outages, it will also let you know how your connected appliances are performing and alert you to anomalies. You can configure the batteries to store power from your solar system or harvest power at night when the rates are lower. 

You can reserve your Pila now from their website and the units are expected to start shipping in April.

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Jasco Enbrighten Wi-Fi and Matter Motion Sensing Switch

We have long been fans of smart products from Jasco. Over the years we’ve used both their Z-Wave and Zigbee in-wall smart switches and outlets throughout our house and integrated them in our smart home. We particularly love their QuickFit and SimpleWire technologies that make installation smooth. 

At CES this year they were showing off a new line of smart switches and outlets that use Matter over Wi-Fi.  We especially liked the MyBright smart dimmer switches that are a regular dimmer switch on top, with a hidden panel underneath that reveals extra functionality for geeks like us.

But I was most excited about the Motion-Sensing Smart Dimmer. It’s an all-in-one smart dimmer switch with a built-in motion sensor. We had the Jasco Z-Wave version of this in our master bedroom closet for many years until it died recently and no matter how many other motion sensors Mark tries to install in the closet, none of them work as well. I can’t wait for him to install this one. 

The new switches and outlets will be available later this year.

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FireAvert  Z-Wave Auto Stove Shutoff

If you have a stove in your home, chances are you have wondered whether or not you remembered to turn it off before you left the house. Kitchen fires are the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries in the United States, which inspired FireAvert founder and former firefighter Peter Thorpe to create his line of fire prevention products. 

FireAvert has been making auto shutoff systems for both gas and electric stoves for more than a decade, but this year at CES they announced a new version of their popular system that works with Z-Wave, so it can be integrated with popular home automation systems.

Once you install the FireAvert shutoff and connect it with your Z-Wave enabled smart home hub, you can do things like turn the stove off remotely, trigger a notification or an external alarm, or trigger other smart home devices like connected locks, security cameras or other devices.

The Z-Wave enabled FireAvert products are coming soon for both gas and electric ranges. You can sign up for more information from their website.

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Urtopia IoT Ecosystem

Urtopia makes a complete line of e-bikes for different types of riders – mountain bikes, commuters, folding bikes, cruisers. Last year at CES they were showing off the first ever e-bike to integrate with ChatGPT. While neat to demo, we didn’t really find it appealing.

This year Urtopia is upgrading their smart e-bikes to better integrate with two of their other companion products – the Aivela Smart Ring Pro and the Urtopia Carbon Smart Helmet. 

Using all three together, the smart e-bike can understand more data such as your heart rate and cycling performance to dynamically adjust the pedal assistance while you’re riding. Plus with the connected helmet with microphone you can fine tune the controls with your voice and get real-time navigation support. 

As regular road cyclists, we are really interested in trying the Carbon Helmets so we can stay in touch on the road, use the built-in directional lights and have the added benefits of fall detection and the premium carbon fiber build for the best protection and comfort.

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VovoGO Electric Portable Bidet

We’re used to seeing smarter and smarter toilets every year at CES and this year was no exception. But now that Americans are getting more used to the benefits of bidet toilets and seats, we don’t want to be stuck with plain old toilet paper (or worse!) when we’re on the road. 

At CES, Korean manufacturer Vovo highlighted their electric portable bidet, the Vovo GO, a sleek personal device you can take with you anywhere. It’s great for work, travel, camping or anywhere you need it. It’s a sleek design that comes in black or white and with its own personal carry case so you can carry it with you, discreetly.

The Vovo GO is available to buy now on the Vovo website or on Amazon.

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Wilfa Performance Evo App Control Coffee Maker 

Wilfa is a new brand to us but has been a leading Norwegian appliance maker since 1948. They are bringing some of their high-quality, beautifully-designed home appliances to the US this year and highlighted them at CES.

Since we are coffee lovers and technology geeks, the Wilfa product we are most excited about is the Performance Evo App Controlled Coffee Maker. The Performance Evo is designed to brew coffee with precise flow, timing and temperature control, much like the pour-over process. You can choose one of the pre-sets for Cold Brew, one cup, full carafe, or tailor it exactly to your specifications with the Wilfa App. 

The app will also let you schedule your morning brew, notify you when it’s ready and remind you to clean the machine. Speaking of cleaning, the Wilfa’s BrewFresh system is designed to remove every last drop of water, so you don’t wind up with any gross old water in your next cup.

The Performance Evo with App Control is expected to be available in Europe soon and in the US later this year.

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Reolink AI Box Local In-home AI for Reolink Cameras

We’ve been using home security cameras in and around our home for many years now. As the technology has evolved from simple motion detection to AI-enabled features like person, pet and vehicle detection, it’s gotten a lot easier to keep an eye on what’s really going on when we’re not home.

Even with all these AI features, it can still be hard to scroll through so many kinds of alerts, especially if you have a lot of cameras with different technology generations. You may want to know if your kid arrived home safely from school or if a contractor showed up to do a project in your yard. And of course you want to know when the most urgent things happen, like a break in or a fire.

By adding the Reolink AI box into your home and integrating it with your other Reolink cameras (excluding 4G models), you will be able to do things like natural language searches and alerts – for instance, you could search for things in the footage like dogs climbing over a fence, or a man carrying a clipboard and wearing a black hat. The AI box will also describe events and add security levels from 1 to 4, helping you sort through things that are the most important. 

The Reolink AI Box will be available soon.

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CAMBI Telephoto Smart Binoculars

Last fall we went on an expedition cruise to Patagonia, where we got the opportunity to see lots of beautiful scenery including wildlife and birds ( including penguins). We had complimentary binoculars to use and were able to take a class on how best to use them.

I had never really used binoculars very much and I was thrilled with how much more I could see with just a few tips from the experts. But as novice wildlife viewers, we had no idea what we were looking at most of the time, unless we happened to be near Jeff the bird guy, a walking encyclopedia of different species and their unique calls.

The CAMBI Telephoto Smart Binoculars take the experience to a whole other level. Not only are they professional level binoculars, they can capture high resolution photos and provide real-time AI insights into what you are looking at. Imagine looking up at the stars, seeing a real time map of the constellations, and snapping an incredible photo to share. 

The CAMBI binoculars have a built-in 50 Megapixel camera sensor and an on-board custom large language AI model for immediate feedback without having to connect to the cloud. It displays the AI insights while you’re viewing with its advanced Augmented Reality projection system.

The CAMBI team expects to launch the product on Kickstarter this summer. You can sign up at their website for more information.

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Better Mobile Experience SolidSafe Air Mobile Powerbanks

Since we’re using our devices to the limit when we’re on the go, we are all relying more and more on mobile power banks. And we’re always looking for the slimmest, most powerful and longest lasting to carry with us.

At CES, Better Mobile Experience has introduced several new product lines to not only make these batteries slimmer and longer lasting, they want to make them safer as well. Traditional lithium batteries use fully-liquid electrolytes that are at higher risk of swelling or ignition. 

The BMX team has developed a new safer type of battery, engineered with semi-solid state chemistry. The SolidSafe Air technology allows the company to build ultra-thin and ultra-safe new portable power banks, for use in a number of new slim chargers for iPhones, Watches, AirPods and other Mag-Safe devices.

The SolidSafe Air powerbanks are expected to be available in Q2 of this year.

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That’s a wrap for our favorites from this year’s CES. We look forward to reviewing many of these and letting you know how they really work. Stay tuned!