5 devices that appear ridiculous till you really see them

CES 2026 began with a bang in Las Vegas, with cubicles in each nook and cranny of the occasion bringing tech improvements that will make your jaw drop out of pleasure.

As it at all times does, CES has a knack for bringing the quirkiest improvements to the world’s consideration. The ones you wouldn’t suppose would possibly exist in your wildest goals.

This yr’s standout examples show that generally essentially the most helpful breakthroughs come wrapped in sudden packages. Here’s a peek at 5 weird devices that may depart you flabbergasted.

1. Lollipop Star

Imagine slurping a lollipop to hearken to your favourite music monitor.

The Lollipop Star is an $8.99 single-use lollipop that performs music; it seems like a gimmick at first. However, it makes use of bone-conduction know-how – the identical precept present in listening to aids and specialised audio gadgets – to ship sound by way of vibrations quite than audio system.

Developed by Lava Tech Brands, Lollipop Star makes use of piezoelectric parts vibrating at ultrasonic frequencies to transmit audio straight by way of contact.

When you are taking a chunk, the vibrations journey by way of your jawbone on to your interior ear. Spectators at CES described experiencing a tingling sensation, adopted by music rising of their heads quite than by way of their ears, creating a distinct sensory expertise.

The product launched in three flavors, every paired with unique tracks unavailable elsewhere: Ice Spice’s “Munch” (peach), Akon’s “Beautiful Day” (blueberry), and Armani White’s “Mount Pleasant” (lime).

The audio high quality isn’t notably spectacular, however the actual worth lies in offering a memorable expertise for shoppers who’ve by no means tried bone conduction know-how.

2. Roborock Saros Rover

Since time immemorial, shoppers have requested for vacuum cleaners that may climb stairs. Roborock lastly delivered on the requirement with its brand-new Saros Rover robotic, designed with articulating legs that assist it climb over obstacles.

Moving in frog-like motions, every leg can increase and reposition itself like people. During the demos, the vacuum cleaner intentionally descended onto every step, vacuumed the floor, and repeated the method. It took roughly three minutes to go up 5 stairs, which could sound like quite a bit. B

But then once more, Roborock has traversed uncharted territory with a climbing vacuum cleaner that may deal with each carpeted and spiral stairs, in order that they deserve their due credit score.

The Saros Rover addresses a significant drawback in multi-story properties that impacts hundreds of thousands of households. In doing so, it’s opening a completely new area of interest market section that at present lies untapped.

3. C200 Ultrasonic Chef Knife

At first look, the C-200 seems like pure kitchen gimmickry — a vibrating knife. But the engineering behind it’s extremely critical. The blade vibrates over 40,000 instances per second utilizing piezoelectric ceramic crystals, creating ultrasonic resonance within the blade itself quite than shaking the deal with.

That resonance dramatically reduces friction, helps you to slice paper-thin components with virtually no strain, and prevents meals from sticking to the blade. It’s silent, secure, and appears like a standard knife in hand – besides testing reveals it could possibly reduce effort by as much as 50%.

Made of Japanese AUS-10 metal, the 8-inch knife features easily even when it’s unpowered. After activation, it elevates the on a regular basis slicing expertise and is a useful product for aged customers with disabilities.

4. Honor Robot Phone

A smartphone digital camera that bodily extends on a robotic arm sounds fragile, impractical, and over-engineered. Only you perceive the system behind it.

The design consists of a 3-axis stabilized gimbal mounted on an articulated mechanical arm, with AI-powered topic monitoring, permitting the digital camera to autonomously comply with customers with out exterior tools.

The Honor Robot Phone combines two fastened cameras together with the transferring gimbal digital camera, referred to as vast and telephoto. This mixture creates a multi-camera setup that enables customers to file skilled movies with out partaking their palms.

This permits easy dwell streaming, automated framing, and even area of interest options, reminiscent of star monitoring for astrophotography, all with out tripods, exterior gimbals, or digital camera operators.

5. D.O.N VITAL Belt

D.O.N’s VITAL Belt launched a distinct strategy to wearable well being monitoring by monitoring important indicators from the stomach. The belt makes use of millimeter-wave sensing, with out establishing any direct contact with the pores and skin.

The machine holds a number of patents because the world’s first belt-type sensing wearable and measures respiration, pulse, and physique motion by way of clothes.

Unlike smartwatches or rings, the VITAL Belt integrates into an merchandise folks put on every day. The stomach gives sensing benefits unavailable to wrist-based wearables, enabling extra delicate detection of respiratory patterns, stress indicators, and postural imbalance.

Conclusion

These 5 merchandise share a standard perception: they appear implausible at first look, but reveal their worth as soon as skilled in the fitting context. The most significant innovation doesn’t come from showcasing new know-how, however from making use of it to constraints others have ignored.

At CES 2026, the improvements that matter most aren’t at all times the flashiest or essentially the most completed. They’re those that quietly reset expectations and depart you questioning why these issues had been ever accepted as unsolvable within the first place.