Going into CES 2026, everyone knew that the main thing packed into devices, coming out of everyone’s mouth, and leading discussion would be AI. Yes and no. Sure, you’d be hard-pressed to find a device that didn’t tout its AI acumen. But there were also so many advances in hardware, material sciences, and old-school design tricks that have always made CES the exciting cornucopia of invention and tech prowess that it is. This list has plenty of devices that make big AI promises and some that are, yes, improved thanks to AI interfaces, but the best of CES in our eyes is about brilliant things that you want to use over and over again. Audio Technica’s AT-LP7X Is the Platonic Ideal of A TurntableIf you’re buying a turntable in 2026, it’s to get back to simpler times, to purer sounds, to a more present enjoyment of music. The AT-LP7X, which Audiot Technica showed off at CES 2026, is just that. No bluetooth (not necessary), no gears (this is fully manual), no edges (hewn off from predecessors like the acclaimed LP5X). This is a pure, clean high-end turntable — and we’re here for it. $999 at audio-technica.comLEGO Brings Us (Blessedly Screen-Free) Smart BricksLove it or leave it, LEGO’s Smart Bricks are here to stay. A trick that was arguably first introduced with a LEGO x Nintendo collab, the sound-making LEGO Bricks have been expanded — and first brought to market (smartly) with three new Star Wars sets. The Smart Bricks in question carry accelerometers, light and sound sensors and miniature speaker. Meaning? Luke’s Red Five X-Wing zooms, Darth Vader’s TIE fighter blasts, and the throne room duel now has sounds.Lego "Star Wars" SMART Play: Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter building set.lego.com; $69.00 (Darth Vader TIE Fighter); $89 (Luke’s Red Five X-wing), $160 (Throne Room Duel & A-wing)Samsung Cements Its Status As King Of The FoldSamsung is a leader in plenty of areas of tech, but when it comes to folding phones, it’s been lapping the competition for years. The durability, smoothness, and visual perfection of the last two generations of the Z Flip and Z Fold are unmatched. Now, with the Galaxy Z TriFold — a phone (or is it a tablet now?) that has one more layer to give you a proper 10-inch screen — it’s clear that Samsung is adding to its lead. Price TBD (~$2500 in South Korea), samsung.comThis Purifier Answers The Dream of Pet OwnersOwning a pet is messy. Pet owners all know this and downplay it all day long. But one mess we can’t ignore— and something that can legitimately impact our health — is its impact on our air quality. Yes, all that dander, fur, and skin that’s airborne from our pets is a little gross and even if we’re not allergic, it impacts our airways. Enter Dream, the supercharged, pet-focused air purifier, a CES award winner and idea that helps us all breathe a little easier. $200, dreametech.comBelkin Solves The Most Annoying Charging ConundrumWhy do Apple Watches, Airpods, and iPhones all require different chargers? You asked, Belkin engineers answered with the UltraCharge Modular Charging Dock. Why this brilliant 3-1 charger isn’t coming from Apple itself is the only question left unanswered. $130, belkin.comSegway Shows Off Its E-Bike ChopsWith the Myon and Muxi E-Bikes, Segway flexed its tech-disruption muscles and showed us what e-bikes can do. Case in point: The Muxi, a coming compact hauler with 80 miles of range can carry a kid (120 pounds or less with the $200 Passenger Kit), groceries (on the standard racks or add $30 for a handsome middle basket), and standard cupholders. The most disrupting part: The $1,700 pricetag. Take that, minivans. $1,700 base; segway.comGovee Makes Ceiling Lights The CenterpieceFile under things we didn’t think we needed until we saw it. The Govee Ceiling Light Ultra makes your most standard room light a dazzling display with a dense 616 pixel matrix, AI-generated content and pixel-level editing. Yes, it can be made white, but it can also mirror the stars in the sky. Pretty cool. Price TBD; govee.comThe Fastest Flippin’ Laptop AroundIf you’re looking for a powerful and sleek convertible laptop, MSI has your number. The Prestige 16 Flip AI+ is a two-in-one version of the flagship Prestige 16 Flip AI+ powered by Intel Core Ultra X9 Series 3 processors with a 16-inch OLED touchscreen, an audio jack (we’re here for this!), weighing just under 3 pounds and boasting multi-day battery life. On top of that, a 360-degree hinge and incorporated stylus make this a piece of hardware that give any tablet — or laptop for that matter — a run for its money.$1600, msi.comAnker’s Docking Station Has an Essential Trick Up Its SleeveAs the name implies, the Anker 13-1 docking station has all you want for your desk: Ethernet, Power, multiple USB-A & C ports, HDMI, SD, and headphones. But when you travel, you can remove a credit-card-sized port that allows you to carry a USB-A, C, SD, and HDMI port … basically in your pocket. It’s a game-changing trick for a docking station. $150, anker.comAmazon Aims to Upend the Art TVThe Amazon Ember Artline, the tech company’s new picture frame TV, is hardly a unique concept. Way back in 2017, Samsung’s The Frame brought forth the idea of having a TV that didn’t kill the feng shui of a room. It was beautiful and pricey — a status symbol that could really tie a room together. In 2026, the Artline represents the mainstreaming of the concept — at a time when TVs have grown ever larger and cheaper, our living spaces (statistically speaking) smaller, and our small screens taking on the more important entertainment roles in our lives. At $900 for a 55”, the price hasn’t exactly come down from Samsung, but hey, this is on Amazon — the competition is here.$900 for 55”, amazon.comA Projector That Goes Big In Very Small SpacesWe didn’t have “world’s smallest laser TV” on our list of must-have superlatives for CES 2026 but here we are — with a glorious little laser projector that we want in our homes. China’s JMGO’s O2S Ultra is a a tri-laser projector that can create a 100-inch image from 5.75 inches away. This engineering feat is as mind-boggling as the specs — that display offers 4K at 60Hz and thanks to Google TV 5.0, which runs the projector, it also handles autofocus, correction, and screen fitting. Quite the party trick. $2800, jmgo.comRazer’s Project Madison Pushes Gaming Chairs to Absurd HeightsA Frankenstein’s monster of gaming chair, tech that has been cobbled together to make headlines at CES, Razer has our attention. The so-called Project Madison chair is a pretty impractical gaming chair for any but the most impossibly dedicated, gimmick-loving, and well-funded gamers. But, hey, it’s CES, so let’s dream a little. Why can’t our chairs light up with 16.8 million colors, project 360 audio, and have the kind of multi-zone haptic feedback that helps you feel a hit as well as a change in gravity? Yes you can actually get the haptic feedback (the Freyja, $300) and speaker system (Clio, $230) now. But putting it altogether? Well, that’s what the floors of CES are for.Price TBD, razer.comLG Offers a More Flexible Soundbar ExperienceSoundbars are game changers. Techn journalists and audiophiles rightly tell us this all the time — but then you go shopping and realize it’s a whole thing. The compatibility issues abound, the placement often doesn’t work with all living rooms, and you usually have to go all in to get the best sound. The LG Sound Suite, powered by Dolby Atmos Flexconnect, lets you basically mix and match — pairing any of its wireless components including the M7 and M5 surround speakers, the W7 subwoofer, and the LG H7 soundbar. You can mix and match any of these and there are get 27 possible configurations, perfect for any space or for you to start small and grow. This flexibility means consumers can create the perfect setup for their space, the Dolby Flexconnect means the sound is, well, more flexible to any space, and you can add to it later, for a bigger and better sound. $1000 for the H7 Soundbar, $400 for the M7, $250 for the M5, and $600 for the W7 subwoofer; lg.comThe Controller That Turns Your Phone Into A SwitchIt’s finally years! OhSnap’s MCON mobile controller was teased at last year’s CES and the final form of this snap-and-play controller is in — and glorious. While the magnetic connection is crucial for this, the modularity is what makes it next level. You can snap your phone and play, or remove the plate that holds your phone and use it as a stand — sitting your phone on a desk while you play. To add to it all, there’s a $70 dock that can then connect this to a USB-C or HDMI port. It’s like a Switch 2 that’s fits in your pocket. $145, OhSnap.comSwitchBot Brings The Robotic Household Closer to RealityThe vision of a robotic household — with housecleaner and cook, companion and player — has long been a staple on the CES floors. The trick is, it’s always been a vision — impracticable and only partially created with robotics. SwitchBot’s demos show that, while still impractical for the 99%, the robotic household is really closer to reality than ever before (again, for those who can afford it). The video demo (here) ties it all together. And while the Acemate tennis companion will be getting the most pen (it’s cool, we get it), our eyes are on the Onero H1, a cooking (sort of), dishwashing (pretty much), laundry-folding (looking good), coffee-serving (totally) bot that we can only imagine is going to improve by leaps and bounds with AI advances. It’s a vision of Rosey the Robot come to life. $10,000+, us.switch-bot.comIs That A Steam Deck In Your Keyboard?If anything can play Doom, can anything have a built-in Steam Deck? If so, we’d ask Corsair to engineer it. The compay’s Galleon 100 SD keyboard integrates an Elgato Stream Deck directly into their mechanical gaming keyboard, creating a device that lets gamers focus on nothing but the game. That is, if they’re not showing off their ridiculously awesome keyboard to their friends. $350, corsair.comMSI Claws Its Way to the Handheld SupremacySure, the Claw 8 AI+ Handheld has a beautiful new coat of paint (we really dig the blue), but can it best the Steam Deck? The competition is, happily, on. The 8-inch display and latest AMD chip make it a standout — and the 32GB RAM, and 1TB SSD are something to brag about. At this point, we are just happy that there’s competition in handhelds — to put out faster, slimmer and a bit more beautiful handhelds. $1200, msi.comSamsung Throws Down the Gauntlet With The Book6 SeriesThe “most advanced Galaxy Books series yet”? We’re listening. Powered by the all-new Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, Samsung’s new line of laptops, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra, Galaxy Book6 Pro and Galaxy Book6 are clearly taking aim at Apple. Just look at the sincerely stunning new design, compatibility with the Samsung family, 30 hours of battery life and bragging rights over having better AI features. Chalk this latest impressive laptop series up to healthy competition.Price TBD; samsung.comThe Audiophiles Come for the Gaming HeadsetAudiophiles have come for your gaming headset. The collaboration between gaming hardware giant Asus and headphone pioneers HiFiMan brings a hefty (nearly 1 pound) headset that scream thoughtful design (they’re very handsome) and quality. The Asus Rog Kithara may be the only gaming headsets you’ll get that come with a 3.5 mm, 4.4 mm, and 6.3 mm connector and have a steel headband, and they’re definitely the only ones with a HIFIMAN planar magnetic driver. The result should be an audible gaming experience that, the collaborators brag is ”as sound engineers and composers intend you to.” $359, rog.asus.comKlipsch Keeps Great Sound SimpleWith The Fives II, Sevens II, and Nines II, Klipsch continues to perfect the simple — and, we think, perfect — bookshelf speaker setup. All models feature Dolby Atmos® for rich, multidimensional sound, but the highest end The Nines II, which we most lust after, add DTS:X support and holds an 8" cerametallic woofer. All models offer a dedicated analog input with a built-in phono stage (yes, Klipsch is for vinyl lovers) and the new red oak veneer with a white is fire. (the traditional walnut and ebony veneers with black baffles are also available). $2,399.99/pair; klipsch.comA Rollable Laptop or the Rest of Us (Gamers)A 16-inch gaming laptop that expands to 24-inches at the touch of a button. That’s the pitch — and we’re sold. Lenovo showed off a concept at CES 2026 that’s too good to pass up — taking their Lenovo Legion Pro gaming laptops and giving their screens a wild ability to extend, and extend again. They’re pitching this as a gamer’s dream and, well, yes, yes it is. Price TBD, lenovo.comA Perfect Game Controller Moves To TV, Stays Perfect File this bluetooth gaming controller under: Want. The Razer Wolverine Bluetooth carries over the greatness of the V3 Pro, but built for the TV (specifically, LG TVs). Sub-3 millisecond response times, anti-drift thumbsticks, customizable dual click back buttons, and a design that tells us that all efforts were gone into engineering, not bells and whistles, makes Razer’s latest gaming controller the kind we want, nay, demand. Price TBD (but XBox’s version is $210), Razer.comHisense Reminds Us That Sometimes Bigger Can Be BetterOne of the great joys of CES are checking out the big TVs that can also deliver on picture quality. Usually it’s just engineering bragging rights — mine’s bigger than yours — but, like in the Hisense 116UXS, it’s also more colorful. The 116UXS uses RGB mini-LED tech, where, basically red, green, and blue LEDs are placed in each lens of a display. A ‘C’ to this, as they have added a fourth color, cyan, into the lens. (The company claims this new will cover 110% of the video broadcasting color space, more than any TV to day). Now, you just need a wall big enough to put it on.$30,000 hisense-usa.com