9 CES 2026 highlights: The weirdest and wildest devices

CES isn’t delicate, and 2026 was no exception.

The annual tech showcase in Las Vegas provides real glimpses of the place shopper know-how is headed, alongside futuristic ideas that exist solely as a result of somebody discovered easy methods to make them.

Over the week, Mashable reporters fanned out throughout the showroom flooring, personal demo rooms, and off-site showcases to check what really mattered. From neurotech headphones that measurably improved response instances to wildly bold {hardware} ideas from Lenovo, CES 2026 provided no scarcity of gadgets price being attentive to.

Should you weren’t there to wade by way of the noise, demos, and occasional sensory overload, listed below are TK highlights that seize the most effective, weirdest, and wildest moments from CES 2026.

1. Neurable’s brain-sensing headphones

Neurable’s EEG-powered gaming headset was one of many uncommon CES demos the place the outcomes felt measurable relatively than theoretical. In testing the headphones, I discovered that my response time noticeably improved after utilizing Neurable’s PRIME system, even underneath less-than-ideal demo situations.

PRIME capabilities like a brief guided meditation, backed by reside mind knowledge, which visualizes focus and cognitive load in real-time. Neurable executives framed it as “coaching your mind the identical manner you practice muscle reminiscence,” and whereas it’s not magic, the development felt tangible sufficient to face out in a present stuffed with empty guarantees.

2. Lenovo’s rollable, extendable laptops

Lenovo’s rollable laptops had been much less about practicality and extra about proving the corporate can nonetheless do issues nobody else is keen to aim. As reported in Mashable’s hands-on story, the ideas embody shows that bodily prolong upward or outward on the push of a button, remodeling an ordinary laptop computer into one thing nearer to a desktop monitor.

Credit score: Lily Kartiganer / Mashable

Lenovo reps described them as explorations of “adaptive display actual property,” however the true enchantment was watching the mechanics work easily in individual. They’re nonetheless ideas, however unusually polished ones, the sort that really feel nearer to delivery than Lenovo is letting on.

3. Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold

Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold wasn’t probably the most sensible cellphone at CES, nevertheless it was arguably probably the most audacious. Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth received hands-on with the machine and described it because the closest factor but to sci-fi foldables, unfolding right into a tablet-sized show whereas nonetheless managing to fold down into one thing pocketable.

Credit score: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Credit score: Timothy Werth / Mashable

Samsung positioned the TriFold as a glimpse of what’s potential relatively than a mass-market product, particularly given its rumored $2,500 value. It’s a flex, however a deliberate one.

4. ROG Xreal R1 AR gaming glasses

Credit score: Xreal / Asus ROG

Xreal’s unreleased ROG Xreal R1 gaming glasses landed in that uncommon CES candy spot the place a product feels one era away from regular. They’re the world’s first AR glasses with a 240 Hz show, and a part of a partnership between Xreal and Asus ROG. In Mashable’s demo, the glasses had been lighter, sharper, and fewer gimmicky than earlier wearable shows, providing clearer visuals and fewer compromises by way of consolation and latency.

They’re nonetheless area of interest, however not like previous makes an attempt, these didn’t really feel like one thing you’d solely tolerate for 5 minutes on a present flooring.

5. TDM Neo Headphones

TDM’s Neo headphones are traditional CES power in bodily type. With a easy twist, the earcups rotate outward and remodel the headset right into a pair of moveable audio system, a characteristic that exists solely as a result of somebody determined it ought to. Mashable’s protection framed them as equal components impractical and pleasant, with surprisingly good sound high quality for an accessible value.

You don’t want them, however watching the transformation occur is undeniably enjoyable, and typically that’s sufficient.

6. Lego Good Brick

Lego displaying up at CES with one thing genuinely new wasn’t on my bingo card, however right here we’re. As Matt Binder and Timothy Beck Werth reported, Lego’s new Good Play system provides sensors, lights, and sound to what are in any other case normal-looking bricks, reacting to motion, shade, and placement in real-time.

In demos, automobiles revved when pushed, geese quacked when flipped, and full builds responded with out a display in sight. Lego calls it the largest evolution to the brick because the minifigure, which seems like advertising and marketing hype till you see youngsters racing sensible Lego automobiles to a finish-line trophy that is aware of who gained. “Lego Good Play is the following thrilling chapter in our Lego System in Play,” stated Lego CMO Julia Goldin, and for as soon as, that doesn’t really feel like an exaggeration.

7. Lollipop Star

CES wouldn’t be CES with out a product that makes you cease mid-walk and ask, “Wait, what?” Enter Lollipop Star, a literal lollipop that performs music by way of bone conduction when you suck on it. Sure, actually. As Stan Schroeder explains, the electronics are hidden within the stick, sending vibrations by way of your jaw straight to your inside ear.

At $8.99 a pop, this isn’t meant to interchange your headphones, nevertheless it’s additionally inconceivable to not respect the dedication to the bit. The corporate has partnered with pop artists so every taste comes with its personal tune, which one way or the other makes it much more absurd.

8. Lepro’s AI soulmate Ami

Credit score: Probability Townsend / Mashable

AI companions aren’t new, however Lepro’s Ami stood out by being unapologetically bodily and deeply unusual. From my expertise on the showfloor, Lepro brazenly markets Ami not simply as an AI assistant, however as an AI soulmate for lonely distant staff.

The machine itself is a curved OLED cylinder with cameras for eye monitoring and depth, designed to make its animated avatar really feel “within the room.” I stay skeptical of AI companionship as an idea, however watching individuals linger at Ami’s sales space, even with out a correct demo as a result of noise, made the enchantment clear. Not like chatbots buried in apps, Ami calls for area in your desk and your consideration. If we’re going to have AI companions in any respect, that is no less than probably the most trustworthy model of that concept.

9. Jackery Photo voltaic Mars Bot

The facility station model Jackery is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and it introduced some new innovations to CES 2026, together with the Photo voltaic Mars Bot. That is primarily an autonomous roving energy station, which may hunt down the solar and recharge itself when it is low on energy.

This bot adopted our tech editor across the crowded conference flooring, and we had been impressed with its retractable photo voltaic panels.