9 CES 2026 highlights: The weirdest and wildest devices

CES is rarely delicate, and 2026 was no exception.

The annual tech showcase in Las Vegas presents real glimpses of the place client expertise is headed, alongside futuristic ideas that exist solely as a result of somebody discovered the best way to make them.

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

If you weren’t there to wade by way of the noise, demos, and occasional sensory overload, listed here are TK highlights that seize one of the best, 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 reasonably than theoretical. In testing the headphones, I discovered that my response time noticeably improved after utilizing Neurable’s PRIME system, even below less-than-ideal demo situations.

PRIME features like a brief guided meditation, backed by dwell mind information, which visualizes focus and cognitive load in real-time. Neurable executives framed it as “training your brain the same way you train muscle memory,” and whereas it’s not magic, the advance felt tangible sufficient to face out in a present filled with empty guarantees.

2. Lenovo’s rollable, extendable laptops

Lenovo’s rollable laptops have been much less about practicality and extra about proving the corporate can nonetheless do issues nobody else is prepared to try. As reported in Mashable’s hands-on story, the ideas embrace shows that bodily lengthen upward or outward on the push of a button, reworking a normal laptop computer into one thing nearer to a desktop monitor.

Lenovo reps described them as explorations of “adaptive screen real estate,” however the true attraction 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 essentially the most sensible cellphone at CES, however it was arguably essentially the most audacious. Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth obtained hands-on with the system 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.

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Samsung positioned the TriFold as a glimpse of what’s doable reasonably 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

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 have been lighter, sharper, and fewer gimmicky than earlier wearable shows, providing clearer visuals and fewer compromises when it comes to consolation and latency.

They’re nonetheless area of interest, however in contrast to 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 vitality in bodily kind. With a easy twist, the earcups rotate outward and remodel the headset right into a pair of transportable audio system, a function 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 Smart 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 Smart Play system provides sensors, lights, and sound to what are in any other case normal-looking bricks, reacting to motion, coloration, and placement in real-time.

In demos, automobiles revved when pushed, geese quacked when flipped, and full builds responded with no display screen in sight. Lego calls it the most important evolution to the brick because the minifigure, which seems like advertising hype till you see children racing sensible Lego automobiles to a finish-line trophy that is aware of who gained. “Lego Smart Play is the next exciting 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 no 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 whilst you suck on it. Yes, actually. As Stan Schroeder explains, the electronics are hidden within the stick, sending vibrations by way of your jaw straight to your internal ear.

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

8. Lepro’s AI soulmate Ami

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 system itself is a curved OLED cylinder with cameras for eye monitoring and depth, designed to make its animated avatar really feel “in the room.” I stay skeptical of AI companionship as an idea, however watching folks linger at Ami’s sales space, even with no correct demo as a result of noise, made the attraction clear. Unlike 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 a minimum of essentially the most sincere model of that concept.

9. Jackery Solar Mars Bot

The energy station model Jackery is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and it introduced some new innovations to CES 2026, together with the Solar Mars Bot. This is basically an autonomous roving energy station, which might search out the solar and recharge itself when it is low on energy.

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