Cute robots, lightweight EVs and a surprisingly quiet leaf blower are among the tech that stood out as the show winds down. Two OlloBots -- one with a long furry purple neck, making it about two feet taller than the other -- are pictured on a light purple floor, in front of a screen displaying a closeup of a child playing with blocks. Even as CES 2026 wraps up soon, there's no shortage of standout hardware hiding in plain sight. From genuinely quieter yard tools to ultra-light EVs and companion robots that want to remember your family, Day 3 was all about tech that felt a little more considered -- and in some cases, refreshingly practical. If you can't get enough of CES, be sure to check out our picks for best of CES 2026, which highlights the most impressive new tech we've seen in Las Vegas.

The first CES announcements are already landing before the show floor opens. CES 2026 is still a day away from officially opening, but Sunday, January 4, delivered the first real wave of news. As has become tradition, the pre-show slate set the tone for the week ahead, anchored by Samsung's annual First Look press conference and CES Unveiled, the latter of which where hundreds of companies previewed products before the show floor opens on January 6. Samsung once again dominated the early conversation with its First Look event, using the stage to outline how it sees AI shaping everything from TVs to home appliances in the year ahead. Rather than focusing on individual specs, Samsung framed its 2026 lineup around adaptive experiences, with screens and devices designed to respond more intelligently to their environment and the people using them.

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Under the spidery lattice of Berlin's Funkturm radio tower, the IFA 2025 consumer electronics expo spills through every lair and level of the Messe grounds. These century-old show floors began as broadcasting industry exhibition halls and never stopped mutating. I have a diagram to guide me, but it might as well be a Zelda minimap leading me through this boss fight masquerading as a building. It's a series of architecture you operate: escalators are levers, skybridges, secret passages; many different doors, literal puzzle switches unlocking the next gear reveal .

If you are in Cologne this week, you will find the place overtaken by cheerful nerds, as Gamescom, the world's biggest gaming event, descends upon the city once again. Over 300,000 people are expected to visit the Koelnmesse to play upcoming games and enjoy each other's company, to the extent that it's possible to enjoy anyone's company in a giant crowded convention hall with woefully insufficient food options. The event began, as is now tradition, with a showcase of games (pdf) whose publishers could afford the hundreds of thousands of euros necessary to show a trailer on an official livestream. As ever, I am here to spare you from watching a full two hours of trailers and pick out the most interesting stuff. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was the big opener: our reporter Alyssa Mercante got a full introduction to its futuristic military paranoia, which you can read about later this week.

CES is a great place to check out all sorts of upcoming tech for the year, but it's often the wildest gadgets that steal the show. The conference hosts thousands of exhibitors, all vying for attention, and you really never know what they're gonna come up with. And this year's show did not let us down. So without further ado, here's the weirdest tech at CES 2025 that we encountered -- all of the crazy (and crazy useful) devices we spotted out in the wild of the show floor. Just keep in mind, weird doesn't necessarily mean bad -- we actually want to buy some of these!

Unlike some of the robots we've seen at CES 2025, Mi-Mo doesn't have a face, but it still looks a little familiar thanks to its resemblance to the iconic Pixar lamp. Mi-Mo is still just a prototype, but there are some interesting ideas behind the unusual-looking robot walking around the show floor. The creation of Japanese firm Jizai, the company describes it as a "general purpose AI robot" that "thinks and acts" on its own. It has a built-in camera and microphones, which allows it to move around and respond to voice prompts and commands. It runs on multiple large language models that enable its voice and image recognition capabilities.

I tried to go into meeting Mirumi with a heart of steel. There are a lot of cute robots at CES every year, that is a given, and you can't just let yourself get wooed by every puppy-eyed bot that looks your way. But boy did I melt immediately when that silly little thing locked its gaze on me, then bashfully tucked its head away. Mirumi is the latest bizarre-but-endearing robot from Japanese startup Yukai Engineering, the company responsible for the Qoobo cat-tailed pillow and the finger-nibbling kitty plush, Amagami Ham Ham. All it does is stare at you and move its head around a little until you've successfully been tricked into a few moments of happiness.

Time to get into the habit of writing "2025" instead of 2024, and the year may have just begun, but the Engadget team is already working hard for CES 2025. This weekend, many from the Engadget team will be flying to Las Vegas, where we'll be covering tech's biggest annual conference. We've scoured our bursting inboxes, full of pitches from companies that are planning to be there, and meticulously filled out copious spreadsheets with upcoming launches and appointments for briefings and demos. Based on our experience, as well as observation of recent industry trends, it's fairly easy to make educated predictions about what we might see in a few days. Over the years, the focus of the conference has spanned areas like TVs, cars, smart home products and personal health, with a smattering of laptops and accessories thrown in.

The holiday season has barely begun, but some of us are already getting ready for CES 2025. Shortly after New Year's Day, many from the Engadget team will be packing our bags to fly to Las Vegas, where we'll be covering tech's biggest annual conference. As usual, our inboxes are already flooded with pitches from companies that are planning to be there, and our calendars are filling up with appointments for briefings and demos. Based on our experience, as well as observation of recent industry trends, it's fairly easy to make educated predictions about what we might see in January. Over the years, the focus of the conference has spanned areas like TVs, cars, smart home products and personal health, with a smattering of laptops and accessories thrown in.

The holiday season has barely begun, but some of us are already getting ready for CES 2025. Shortly after New Year's Day, many from the Engadget team will be packing our bags to fly to Las Vegas, where we'll be covering tech's biggest annual conference. As usual, our inboxes are already flooded with pitches from companies that are planning to be there, and our calendars are filling up with appointments for briefings and demos. Based on our experience, as well as observation of recent industry trends, it's fairly easy to make educated predictions about what we might see in January. Over the years, the focus of the conference has spanned areas like TVs, cars, smart home products and personal health, with a smattering of laptops and accessories thrown in.