Best in Show: Our Editors Pick the Top Products and Technologies of CES 2026

LAS VEGAS—Each January, CES transforms the Strip into a preview of what’s coming next—equal parts tech playground and crystal ball. It’s where breakthrough ideas make their debut, practical innovations unexpectedly shine, and plenty of “wait, that exists?” moments unfold. From smarter everyday gadgets to major advances in AI and robotics, this year’s show didn’t just suggest the future—it put it right in front of us.

(Credit: CNET Group)

Once again, in partnership with the Consumer Technology Association, we joined forces with our sister publications CNET, ZDNET, Mashable, Lifehacker, IGN, and Everyday Health to choose the official Best of CES Awards. Our team of roughly 40 experts selected winners in more than 20 official categories, designated in this story by a ‘Best of CES’ badge in the images below.

That said, these weren’t the only highlights of the show. Our full roundup of 24 winners spans even more categories, including our top picks for desktops, monitors, and more.

So without further ado, these are the CES products and technologies that have us most excited this year. Over the coming months, we’re looking forward to testing as many of them as possible—and sharing what we discover along the way.

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Best Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Modular laptop designs, offering greater serviceability and sustainability, are a definite trend at CES this year, and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a prime example. Lenovo’s flagship business laptop introduces its Space Frame design, which allows you to access and replace individual parts when something breaks, rather than needing to buy a whole new machine.

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Best Desktop PC: HP EliteBoard G1a

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

What is easily the most unique desktop design of the past several years is also not terribly original, as it revives a method of assembling PCs that we haven’t seen in decades. HP’s EliteBoard G1a uses mini PC hardware and techniques to bring back the keyboard PC, packing an entire mini desktop inside a portable keyboard. The keyboard comes in either hardwired or battery-powered varieties, and beneath the keys are AMD’s Ryzen AI 300-series processors, up to 64GB of memory, and up to 2TB of storage. An effective and comfortable keyboard in its own right, this approach to workstations could set a trend, depending on how it performs.

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Best Gaming: Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable Concept

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado )

Rollable OLED displays have been a thing for a couple of years, but they’ve been limited to enterprise laptops, if they ever even come out. The Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable concept uses this tech to bring ultrawide gaming to a laptop for the first time. Is the future rollable? We don’t know, but either way, it could make for the perfect portable battlestation.

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Best Graphics Card: MSI GeForce RTX 5090 Lightning Z

(Credit: John Burek)

Designed to handle 1,000 watts, the MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G Lightning Z is one of the most overpowered graphics cards we’ve ever seen. In addition to robust power hardware, it also features a liquid cooling system with a 360mm radiator and a solid copper water block that gives it exceptional thermal management, especially compared with the air cooler Nvidia set on its Founders Edition. To make the card look even more impressive, it also has a large 8-inch screen for displaying operating info or custom animations. While the card will be overkill for most gamers, it’s poised to be one of the best options for overclockers looking to push an RTX 5090 as far as it can go.

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Best Deep Computing Tech: Intel Core Ultra 300 (Panther Lake)

(Credit: Intel)

Intel’s Core Ultra 300 Series “Panther Lake” platform delivers bar-raising integrated graphics performance to the mass consumer market. The chip offers up to 12 new “Xe3” Xe cores for (by far) the best-ever integrated graphics performance from Intel silicon, enabling graphics and gaming workloads for a huge range of portable laptop categories through 2026 and beyond.

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Best Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Monitor

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado )

The Dell UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Monitor (U5226KW) is the latest manifestation of what seems to be a perpetual mission for the company: To push the envelope in monitor design and features. The U5226KW is a massive and full-featured behemoth. With an ultrawide 52-inch 6K screen and a vast selection of ports, it’s built for multitaskers who need to tap into multiple feeds and display content from several sources at once on one gigantic display. The high-contrast IPS Black panel features a 120Hz refresh rate and stellar sRGB and DCI-P3 coverage.

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Best AI: Lenovo Motorola Qira

(Credit: Lenovo)

Qira is Lenovo’s answer to Apple Intelligence, a hybrid AI assistant that leverages a mix of on-device processing and cloud-based models for a powerful personalized assistant available anywhere, even as you switch from the phone in your pocket to the laptop or tablet in your hand.

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Best Mobile Tech: Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

The culmination of Samsung’s efforts to make a sleeker and more versatile folding phone. The Galaxy Z TriFold is a true hybrid gadget that’s a standard phone when closed and opens up to a sprawling 10-inch display, making this a practical, two-in-one device that fits securely in your pocket.

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Best TV: Samsung S95H

(Credit: Celso Bulgatti)

The Samsung S95H is the most impressive TV we saw at CES for several reasons. Firstly, it’s 35% brighter than before. Secondly, it works as a wired TV (which is ideal for gaming) and has a wireless option (which makes for a cleaner look and enables more connections). Thirdly, it’s the first OLED that can display artwork from the Samsung Art Store—the S95H features anti-burn-in technology, enabling it to function like a Frame TV with even better image quality.

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Best Audio: Samsung Music Studio 5

(Credit: Samsung)

The Samsung Music Studio 5 features a 4-inch woofer and dual tweeters, housed in one of the most compelling designs we’ve seen in a home speaker. In addition to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, it supports the Samsung Seamless Codec for compatibility with other products in the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem.

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Best Robot: Boston Dynamics Atlas

(Credit: Katie Collins)

Of the many humanoid robots to debut at CES 2026, it’s the Atlas from Boston Dynamics that stands out as the best of the bunch. The prototype version demoed at the show impressed us with its naturalistic walking gait. Meanwhile, the sleek product version is ready to be deployed into Hyundai manufacturing facilities later this year, where it might just work on your next car.

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Best Smart Home Tech: Roborock Saros Rover

(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)

The Roborock Saros Rover can traverse the biggest obstacle for robot vacuums: stairs. It’s the first model that can navigate to different floors by itself without the help of a separate attachment. It pulls off this feat thanks to a pair of bendable legs that it controls independently to avoid obstacles. It can even clean stairs as it climbs, making it one of the top smart home gadgets we saw at the show.

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Best Kitchen Tech: Ecoldbrew

(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)

The Ecoldbrew combines a portable grinder and brewer into a compact gadget that whips up a batch of cold brew coffee in five minutes. The cleverly designed device slots onto its own thermos, but it’s a common size, so you can easily attach it to the top of your thermos if you have one that you love. Slated to launch on Kickstarter soon, it starts at an affordable $99.

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Best Yard or Outdoor Tech: Beatbot AquaSense X Ecosystem

(Credit: David Watsky)

Beatbot has introduced the world’s first self-emptying pool robot cleaner. In addition to its industry-leading navigation and suction, the AquaSense X ecosystem eliminates the most tedious chore associated with robot vacs—cleaning the debris baskets filled with soggy leaves, slime, and bugs. The standalone cleaning dock empties debris into a disposable bag in a bin waiting below. Next, it rinses the internal mechanisms with fresh water fed from an attached hose, keeping the filter, debris baskets, and vents clear and clean.

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Best Wellness Tech: Peri

(Credit: Angela Moscaritolo)

Perimenopause affects people transitioning to menopause, and is commonly marked by symptoms such as anxiety, hot flashes, and night sweats. Peri is a wellness wearable designed to track those symptoms, and help you make informed decisions about how to manage them – whether that’s through lifestyle changes and supplements alone, or hormone replacement therapy.

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Best Age Tech: Tombot Jennie

(Credit: Angela Moscaritolo)

Designed to comfort seniors with dementia and help combat loneliness, Tombot’s Jennie is a charming little robotic puppy. It’s equipped with sensors and motors, allowing it to move its head to look at you, raise its eyebrows, wag its tail, and bark when asked if it wants a treat. Seniors at a memory care facility we visited loved Jennie—and we do, too.

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Best Assistive Tech: Dephy Sidekick

(Credit: Allie Chartoff/Dephy)

Robotic exoskeletons designed to assist with walking are a major trend at CES, and the best one I tried is from Dephy. Described as “bionic footwear,” the Dephy Sidekick works like an extra calf muscle, lifting your heels with every step, making it easier to walk. I found it surprisingly comfortable, lightweight, and effective in my testing. If you’re used to sitting out on sightseeing tours and other social events due to anxiety over walking, it might give you the boost and confidence you need to participate.

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Best Transportation: Strutt Ev1

(Credit: Strutt)

There’s plenty of talk about autonomy in cars, but Stutt brings the next-generation technology to an accessible application. The Ev1 mobility scooter from Strutt can map and then navigate spaces autonomously, allowing people to get around via voice commands. It can also autocorrect manual navigation to prevent bumping into obstacles. This is the rare device that combines mobility, accessibility, and autonomy, and it’s hard not to be impressed.

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Best Parent Tech: Coro

(Credit: Maria Diaz)

Coro feels like a product that should have existed for years. It solves the problem of measuring how much your baby is eating in a simple and meaningful way. I wish it were around when my babies were young.

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Best Pet Tech: Satellai Collar Go

(Credit: Satellai)

Satellai’s new collar (Satellai Collar Go) and software (Petsense AI) are proactive tools that could flag subtle behavioral shifts in your dog before they become obvious health problems. It can also warn you when your dog has left your yard and retails for a reasonable $79.

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Best Energy Tech: Willo

(Credit: Willo Technologies)

After developing alignment-free wireless power for two years, Willo demonstrated the ability to deliver power over the air for multiple devices simultaneously, regardless of their position or movement. This represents a breakthrough in energy technology, offering wireless charging without the need for a coil, dock, or pad.

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Best Startup: Allergen Alert

(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)

This might save lives. A French startup has created a $200 portable device to test food samples for allergens. The startup, Allergen Alert, only had mock-up devices at CES, but it’s licensing the tech from French biofirm bioMérieux. If the startup can successfully implement food testing, the impact could be substantial. Expect it to arrive in the second half of this year.

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Best Future Tech: Lego Smart Play System

(Credit: Lego)

A single 2-by-4 Smart brick, part of the new Lego Smart Play system, is equipped with light, sound, and proximity sensors, enabling new ways to play. The small block, along with the even smaller snap-on tab that provides instructions, can drive anything from lightsaber duels to board games. It adds color and sound effects based on what you build and how you play.

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Best Weird Tech: Lepro Ami, the AI Soulmate

(Credit: Lepro)

Having a tiny animated girl living on a small screen inside a physical cylinder case is certainly very weird. Lepro’s new AI companion, Ami, is exactly that. It’s not quite an AI assistant meant to help with actual tasks. It’s an AI designed for a lonely person seeking some interaction. The characters dance and gyrate inside the case and can do so at the user’s request as well, upping the weirdness factor.

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