CES 2026 preview: What we're anticipating from tech's greatest convention in January
CES would not begin till January, however whispers of the merchandise and bulletins that may very well be in retailer for tech’s greatest annual convention have already began to take form. The CES 2026 present flooring is formally open from January 6 by means of 9, though the present kicks off with occasions on Sunday January 4 and a bunch of press conferences on Monday. As at all times, product demos, bulletins and networking might be occurring on the Las Vegas Conference Heart and surrounding lodges everywhere in the metropolis. As traditional, Engadget might be masking the occasion in-person and remotely, bringing you information and hands-ons straight from the present flooring.
Extra particular particulars and pre-announcements ought to trickle out as CES approaches, however within the meantime, we do know what firms might be internet hosting press conferences and what tech traits may rear their heads on the present.
What we already learn about
Press conferences and present flooring cubicles are the bread and butter of CES. The Shopper Know-how Affiliation has already revealed a searchable listing of who can have a presence on the present, together with a schedule of each official panel and presentation.
On Sunday, January 4, Samsung will kick-off CES with “The First Look,” a presentation hosted by TM Roh, the CEO of Samsung’s DX Division, on the corporate’s “imaginative and prescient for the DX (Gadget eXperience) Division in 2026, together with new AI-driven buyer experiences.”
That’ll be adopted by a number of press conferences all through Monday, January 5. LG is internet hosting its “Innovation in Tune with You” presentation to share “its imaginative and prescient for elevating each day life by means of Affectionate Intelligence” firstly of the day, Intel is launching its new Core Extremely Sequence 3 processors within the afternoon, Sony Honda Mobility is holding a press convention on its first automotive and AMD CEO Lisa Su will cowl AMD’s upcoming chip bulletins at a keynote handle that closes out the day.
On the week of December 15, the CTA added a keynote by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to its schedule. The occasion will happen on January 5 at 1PM PT and, in line with the web site, will final about 90 minutes. Based mostly on the outline on the itemizing, the presentation will “showcase the newest NVIDIA options driving innovation and productiveness throughout industries.”
Lastly, on Tuesday, January 6, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang will host Lenovo’s Tech World Convention at Sphere, utilizing the big and decidedly curved display screen to share the corporate’s “dedication to delivering smarter AI for all by always redefining how expertise can interact, encourage, and empower.” It’s price noting that Lenovo is the mother or father firm of Motorola, which nonetheless makes telephones and foldables that characteristic AI instruments, so it’s potential these units characteristic within the presentation as nicely.
Exterior of the formal introduction of latest merchandise and initiatives, studying the tea leaves of what was introduced final 12 months and what firms are reportedly engaged on, we will make some educated guesses at what we may see at CES 2026.
New chips from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm
CES is regularly the beginning of a cascade of latest chip bulletins for a given 12 months, and one of many first locations new silicon seems in actual client merchandise. AMD will seemingly use its keynote to introduce new variations of its Ryzen chips, together with the not too long ago noticed Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is predicted to supply higher single-threaded efficiency, and the Ryzen 9000G sequence, which may very well be constructed with AMD’s Zen 5 structure. The corporate may additionally use its CES stage to go over its new FSR Redstone AI upscaling tech.
Intel has already publicly introduced that it will launch its Panther Lake chips at CES 2026. The formally titled Intel Core Extremely Sequence 3 chips match into Intel’s general “AI PC” push, however are particularly meant for premium laptops. Based mostly on a preview from October 2025, Intel says the primary chip made with its 2-nanometer 18A course of will provide 50 p.c extra processing efficiency than earlier generations and for the chip’s Arc GPU, a 50 p.c efficiency bump from final technology.
Qualcomm can be rumored to be concentrating on laptops on the present, constructing on the work it is achieved transferring its Snapdragon chips out of telephones and tablets and into different forms of computer systems. The corporate’s Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Premium chips ought to begin showing in laptops at CES 2026, providing a take a look at the improved pace and AI efficiency the corporate promised in 2025.
Brighter, “more true” screens
Sony introduced a group of latest Bravia TVs in April 2025, changing the corporate’s flagship, filling in its midrange choices and including a brand new finances mannequin to the combo. The star of this up to date Bravia lineup is the Bravia 9, which incorporates a QD-OLED panel, however Sony seems to be prepping completely new show tech for 2026. In March 2025, Sony launched a brand new RGB LED panel that makes use of particular person Mini LED backlights coloured in pink, inexperienced and blue to supply even brighter, extra correct colours. In distinction to a QD-OLED, which filters a layer of blue natural gentle emitting diodes by means of quantum dots that change colour, Sony’s “Normal RGB LED Backlight Know-how” can get as vivid as a Mini LED panel while not having an additional filter layer or worrying about OLED’s issues with burn-in.
The corporate has already trademarked the identify “True RGB,” which may find yourself being what Sony calls this new taste of show if it decides to indicate them off at CES. It appears completely seemingly, as a result of CES is nothing if not a TV present — it’s a certain wager that we’ll see new TVs from the likes of LG and Samsung along with Sony. If the corporate would not introduce new show tech for its TVs, it does have a brand new 240Hz PlayStation monitor coming in 2026 that it may exhibit at CES as an alternative.
Sony is not the one firm hyped on vivid screens. Samsung is reportedly pushing an up to date model of the HDR10 and HDR10+ requirements that may very well be able to demo at CES 2026. The brand new HDR10+ Superior commonplace can be Samsung’s reply to Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2, which incorporates help for issues bi-directional tone mapping and clever options that robotically adapt sports activities and gaming content material. Samsung’s take will reportedly provide improved brightness, genre-based tone mapping and clever movement smoothing choices, amongst different enhancements.
Ballie Watch 2026
The ball-shaped yellow robotic lovingly referred to as “Ballie” has been introduced twice, first in 2020 after which once more in 2024 with a projector in tow. Samsung mentioned Ballie would go on sale in 2025 at CES final 12 months after which shared in April 2025 that Ballie would ship this summer time with Google’s Gemini onboard. But it surely’s almost 2026, and Ballie is nowhere to be seen. It is potential Samsung may make a 3rd try at asserting its robotic at CES 2026, however whether or not or not it does, robotics will nonetheless be a giant a part of the present.
Robotic vacuums and mops had been a significant spotlight of CES 2025, and it is protected to anticipate notable enhancements from the brand new fashions which can be introduced at CES 2026. Not each firm will undertake the retractable arm of the Roborock Saros Z70, however robotic vacuums with legs for rising over small ledges just like the Dreame X50 look like they might develop into the norm. Roborock may additionally exhibit its new Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Circulate, the primary of its robotic vacuums to characteristic a retractable curler mop.
Past simply traversing areas extra effectively, enhancing robots’ navigation is also a significant concern on the present. Distinguished members of the AI business are turning their consideration from giant language fashions to world fashions, which intention to provide AI a deep understanding of bodily house. These world fashions may very well be the important thing to creating robots, bipedal or in any other case, competent at navigating properties and workplaces, and can seemingly be a major speaking level at CES 2026.
We’ll be updating this text all through the month as extra rumors floor and new merchandise are confirmed — keep tuned for future updates!
Replace, December 11 2025, 11:03AM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate element on Lenovo being Motorola’s mother or father firm and the way the latter might need a component within the Tuesday presentation.
Replace, December 16 2025, 1:33PM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate the NVIDIA press convention, which was added to the CTA schedule inside the final two days.