Out of the 4,400 exhibitors in Las Vegas for the massive consumer tech show, here are the best ones we found. As you might expect, covering the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas each year is a thrill for tech enthusiasts, as you get to kick the tires, so to speak, on gadgets and gear not commercially available for months or, sometimes, years. But when you're talking about 4,400 exhibitors, you bet there's no shortage of ho-hum products, blatant copycats, or ridiculous concepts. Still, within the vast convention halls housing CES, there are gems to be mined. When it comes to products I'd actually buy, the following are a few 2019 standouts for me so far.

The best-selling gadget of 2018 will surely be the Apple iPhone, which historically has been the world's biggest-selling product, to the tune of over 200 million units yearly. But when we asked over 1,000 consumers to pick the top tech gadgets of 2018, the iPhone didn't even make the top 5. In an exclusive SurveyMonkey/Audience poll for USA TODAY, they picked the Samsung Galaxy S9 phone as their top pick for the year, at 13 percent. The S9, the successor to last year's S8, is notable for having a camera that can shoot in lower light than the iPhone, expandable memory for when all those photos and videos say "memory full" and the ability to shoot video in super slow motion. Tied for second place at 10 percent are the Amazon-branded Fire TV Edition televisions, which offer channel switching and other functionality via the Alexa personal assistant.

Kids are clamoring for toys, toy, toys -- but your house is already over-flowing. Here's what to get them instead. Star Wars: Jedi Challenges lets users engage in lightsaber battles right in your living room. Everyone's asking me what tech toys to get their kids this holiday, and I have a ton of ideas because I've played with this stuff all year. Considering that companies spend about $17 billion annually marketing to children and teens -- and that our kids are bombarded with more than 25,000 ads on TV alone -- I always want to make sure I recommend tech toys that are as good for their brains as they are fun.

From the drone you can fly with a glove to the robot that teaches children how to code, BBC Click's Lara Lewington looks at some of the latest gadgets at London's Toy Fair.

Toys don't have to just entertain. They can help children learn, too. Columnist Jennifer Jolly shares her favorite smart tech toys. Now that it's officially fall, the chilly days of autumn are creeping in, outdoor playtime is waning, and the push for the hottest holiday toys is starting to really heat up. Before the "I've been such a good kid this year," even starts to go down, here's the scoop on what to look for.