5 Things at CES 2026 That Caught My Attention

CES has become the place where companies, both global giants and ambitious startups, come to show off what they believe the future looks like. Every January, Las Vegas is filled with bold ideas, glossy demos, and technology that feels like it’s leapt straight out of a sci-fi film. And to be fair, much of it is genuinely impressive, a reminder of just how far innovation has come.

But CES also has a habit of overpromising. Many of the most talked-about products are concepts rather than realities, exciting in theory but never quite making it onto shelves. Others fall into a familiar pattern: one company unveils a flashy idea, like a laptop with a retractable screen, and suddenly five more announce that they can do the same. Innovation becomes repetitive, and consumers are left waiting for products that may never actually exist beyond a showroom floor.

So rather than focusing on what looked futuristic for the sake of it, these are the gadgets and technologies from CES 2026 that genuinely caught my attention. Not just because they were innovative, but because they felt accessible, realistic, and close to something you could actually imagine using in everyday life.

1. ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo

ASUS has quietly become the gold standard when it comes to dual-screen laptops. This isn’t theoretical for them. I’ve used the Zenbook Duo before, and it remains one of those rare pieces of tech that feels futuristic while also being something you can genuinely buy, use, and rely on. So when ASUS announced that it was bringing the Duo concept into its gaming division, ROG (Republic of Gamers), it immediately made sense.

The thinking is simple: if the dual-screen experience works so well for productivity, why not apply it to gaming and high-performance workloads? The result is the ROG Zephyrus Duo, a dual-screen gaming laptop that feels less like a flashy CES flex and more like a natural evolution of something ASUS already does well.

Now, I’m not a hardcore gamer, but even from the outside looking in, it’s easy to see the appeal. The second screen isn’t there for novelty. It adds genuine utility, whether that’s keeping chat windows, maps, streams, or tools open without cluttering the main display. For gamers who multitask, stream, or create content alongside playing, this setup makes a lot of sense.

What also helps is that ASUS isn’t overpromising here. This isn’t a “someday, maybe” device. The Zephyrus Duo is slated to be available in Q2 2026, which immediately puts it ahead of many CES announcements that never progress beyond a demo unit behind glass. It’s powerful, it’s beautifully designed, and crucially, it exists as a real product on a clear timeline.

2. Hisense 116UXS RGB Mini LED Evo

Televisions are one of the clearest ways to track how far technology has come. From bulky black-and-white sets with antennas that needed a firm knock to behave, to ultra-thin panels that hang on a wall and double as smart hubs, the TV has quietly mirrored every major tech leap of the last few decades. We have moved from LED to OLED, unlocking true blacks and dramatic contrast, and now the industry is pushing into RGB territory.

It sounds deeply technical, and in many ways it is, but these advances are welcome. Better display technology usually means better picture quality, although it often comes with a trade-off, usually higher energy consumption. Modern TVs are undeniably more demanding on electricity than their counterparts from 20 years ago. That is where RGB Mini LED becomes interesting, not just because it looks good, but because it is more efficient. RGB Mini LED panels use less power than OLED while delivering brighter images, richer colour accuracy, and improved contrast.

Hisense’s 116UXS RGB Mini LED Evo, unveiled at CES 2026, stood out for exactly that reason. It is not innovation for innovation’s sake. By introducing a refined RGB system that adds cyan into the mix, Hisense is improving colour precision in a way that feels natural rather than exaggerated. The result is smoother gradients, better depth, and more lifelike tones, especially in everyday viewing rather than only in dramatic HDR scenes.

What makes the 116UXS compelling is not just its flagship credentials, although a nearly bezel-free design, an impressively slim profile, and a high-end integrated audio system certainly help. It is the sense that this technology is no longer stuck in concept form. Hisense has already begun scaling RGB Mini LED into more accessible models and screen sizes, signalling that this is not a one-off showcase piece destined to disappear after CES.

3. ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist

Retractable and rotating laptops are one of those ideas I instinctively want to roll my eyes at. They feel unnecessary, and destined to live out their days as CES talking points rather than real products. To be fair, I said the exact same thing about dual-screen laptops until ASUS came along and proved me wrong. So while I remain unconvinced, I am at least open-minded.

What works in the ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist’s favour is that it actually exists beyond the concept stage. Lenovo has taken this idea out of the experimental lab and turned it into something customers will be able to buy, use, and live with. The motorised dual-rotation hinge allows the screen to twist automatically, adjusting itself depending on posture, usage mode, or when you need to share your screen with someone across the table. It is smoother, quieter, and more refined than earlier concepts, which matters when moving parts are involved.

Laptops, much like TVs, have come a long way. From bulky plastic slabs to ultra-thin machines with desktop-class performance, the evolution has been steady but rarely dramatic. Seeing a screen rotate, flip, and adapt in real time still feels like a small marvel, even if the practical use case is not immediately obvious for everyone.

Lenovo has at least grounded the spectacle in solid fundamentals. The 14-inch OLED display is sharp and fluid, the performance credentials are firmly business-ready, and the device does not sacrifice portability to make its point. This is not a fragile concept device, but a proper commercial machine aimed at real workflows, particularly presentations, collaboration, and hybrid work scenarios.

4. Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold

The evolution of phones is one of those things that feels completely logical and utterly ridiculous at the same time. We went from wired telephones bolted to walls, to pocketable slabs, to flip phones, to full-screen smartphones. Then we circled back to flip phones again, only smarter. And now, apparently, we’ve decided a phone should unfold into something the size of a small tablet and still live in your pocket.

The Galaxy Z TriFold is exactly that. It is Samsung’s first trifold device and only the second of its kind to exist after Huawei dared to go there first. That alone makes it noteworthy. It is not a concept, not a prototype behind glass, but a real product already on sale in select markets. Expensive, yes. Slightly unhinged, also yes. But undeniably impressive.

Durability is still the elephant in the room. This is early-generation trifold tech, and no amount of titanium hinges and reinforced layers can fully silence concerns about long-term wear. Samsung has clearly tried to get ahead of this by refining its hinge system, using two differently sized hinges that work together to create a smoother and more stable fold. The result is a device that feels thinner, more portable, and less like three screens desperately pretending to be one.

At its thinnest point, the Z TriFold is just 3.9 mm, which is frankly absurd when you remember it folds twice. Inside, Samsung has not held back. A customised Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, a 200 MP camera, and the largest battery ever fitted to a Samsung foldable make this feel like a flagship that just happens to bend reality a little. The three-cell battery system spread across the panels is a clever solution, ensuring balance without compromising endurance.

What makes the Galaxy Z TriFold compelling is not that everyone should own one. Most people absolutely should not, especially at its current price. What it represents, though, is far more interesting. It is a statement about where mobile technology is heading and how far manufacturers are willing to push form factors beyond the familiar rectangle.

5. LEGO SMART Play

If you had asked me which brands I expected to see flexing at CES, LEGO would not have made the shortlist. A toy company at the world’s biggest tech show sounds almost comedic on paper. And yet, LEGO SMART Play ended up being one of the most quietly impressive showcases of the entire event.

Rather than turning LEGO into a screen-first experience, which would have been the obvious and frankly disappointing move, LEGO has done something far more thoughtful. LEGO SMART Play enhances the physical act of building, transforming finished creations into interactive stories without replacing imagination with pixels.

At the heart of it is the LEGO SMART Brick, a single intelligent brick, sometimes used alone, sometimes paired with another, alongside SMART Minifigures and SMART Tags. Importantly, not every brick is “smart”. This is not a full rebuild of LEGO as we know it. Most of the structure remains classic LEGO, with the SMART elements acting as triggers that respond to movement, interaction and storytelling moments.

That balance is what makes this feel right. The technology is almost invisible. Sensors, accelerometers, light and sound detection, and a tiny onboard speaker are all packed into a chip smaller than a standard LEGO stud. The result is builds that react in real time, producing sounds, behaviours and surprises that respond to how a child plays, not how an app instructs them to play.

The debut LEGO SMART Play sets launching with Star Wars make perfect sense. Few universes lend themselves better to imaginative storytelling. Lightsabers hum, engines roar, familiar themes play, and iconic scenes unfold, all driven by physical interaction rather than screens. It is interactive, yes, but still deeply tactile and creative.

What makes LEGO SMART Play CES-worthy is not flashy specs or over-the-top futurism. It is restraint. LEGO has managed to integrate technology without compromising the soul of its product. 

CES 2026 was a reminder that innovation is not just about what is technically possible, but about what is practical, accessible and actually makes its way into people’s lives. Among the noise of concepts and speculative ideas, these products stood out because they felt real. Not perfect, not always necessary, but tangible glimpses of where technology is heading and, more importantly, what we will realistically be able to buy, use and live with. That, in a show as overwhelming as CES, is what truly makes something worth paying attention to.