These are the smart home gadgets that impressed me at CES 2026

It was a banner twelvemonth for smart location products, but the large trends I saw weren’t astir caller merchandise categories; they were astir bringing amended features and little prices to smart location staples specified arsenic smart lighting, smart locks, cameras, and TVs.

This is what I expected the motorboat of the interoperability protocol Matter would bring. Once companies could extremity spending clip and money connected moving connected integrating pinch half a twelve platforms, they could attraction connected processing caller features and lowering prices. I only expect this to get amended arsenic much Matter instrumentality categories capable out.

Here’s a look astatine immoderate of the standouts from the show floor, and cheque retired immoderate of the different smart location gadgets that caught my oculus in our CES feed.

This is simply a delightful location furnishing point that is smart successful a simple, useful way.

Out of the box, the Varmblixt comes pinch a paired Bliresa remote truthful you tin power the warmth of its achromatic LED lighting and move done 12 curated preset colors.

Then, if you want much control, you tin link it to Ikea’s HomeSmart app via the Dirigera hub and return advantage of its Matter-over-Thread connectivity. This allows for much colour options, brightness controls, and the expertise to brace it to different smart location platforms truthful you tin link pinch lights from different brands.

The Varmblixt costs $99.99 and is scheduled for merchandise successful April 2026.

Speaking of smart furnishings, Lifx’s caller smart reflector is simply a dazzling portion of tech that combines inferior pinch its signature rich-colored lighting. The reflector features beforehand and backmost LEDs that illuminate your look while creating neat wall effects for location ambiance.

There are 4 buttons connected the beforehand for controlling a built-in de-fogging characteristic and moving a neat constitution check. This cycles done each the colors of daylight truthful you tin consciousness bully astir your look 24/7.

Three of these buttons tin beryllium configured to power different Lifx devices aliases thing connected to your smart location via Matter. So you could group it up to power your bath instrumentality aliases robot vacuum, aliases your beforehand doorway fastener and ceiling lighting if this were successful your entryway.

The reflector is slated to motorboat successful Q2 for nether $200.

I’ve ever thought the thermostat was a earthy spot to put a smart location hub, and Aqara has gone each successful connected that conception pinch its first-ever thermostat for the US.

The W200 is an Aqara Matter hub that uses dual-band Wi-Fi, Thread, and Zigbee, and tin link Aqara and third-party Matter devices to awesome smart location ecosystems.

Its touchscreen doubles arsenic a video doorbell viewer, displaying snapshots from a connected Aqara doorbell. When paired pinch the caller Aqara U400 smart lock, it tin unlock your doorway from the screen.

The snapshot thought is genius, because the different implementation of this I’ve tried from Ecobee takes excessively agelong to propulsion up the feed. You don’t really request a livestream; you conscionable request to spot who’s there.

Built-in mmWave beingness sensing wakes the surface arsenic you attack and feeds occupancy information to the thermostat to prevention energy.

There’s nary pricing for Aqara’s W200 yet, but I’m told it will beryllium mid-range and motorboat soon.

This massive, tech-packed mortise doorlock is the showpiece for a caller type of wireless charging from Lockin called AuraCharge. The V7 Max useful pinch a mini plug-in puck that sits wrong statement of show of the fastener to complaint it via wireless optical charging.

I’ve tested a different solution from WiCharge and tin corroborate that wireless charging is simply a game-changer. But the existent use of unlimited powerfulness is that it unlocks a bunch of cool features that doorway locks pinch constricted powerfulness can’t dream of.

The V7 offers 3 biometric unlocking options: digit vein, thenar vein, and 3D facial recognition. There are 2 outer cameras powering its built-in video doorbell, and an interior and exterior touchscreen. The interior surface provides a video ‘peephole’ to spot outside, and the exterior 1 acts arsenic a keypad and doorbell.

You tin show a individual avatar connected the exterior surface to shake hands visitors, and the V7 features an AI-powered strategy called LockinAI. The institution says this tin intelligently show your beforehand doorway — from recognizing and logging deliveries to search who enters and exits, and includes information features for children and the elderly.

That’s a batch of tech. Plus, the V7 supports Matter to link to your smart location level of choice. It’s shipping later this year. No pricing has been announced, but it won’t beryllium cheap.

LG brought a real Rosie the Robot to CES, and I emotion them for it, moreover though I earnestly uncertainty it will ever ship.

CLOiD captured my bosom astatine the show, mostly because the attack present is much astir a robot augmenting our smart homes — filling successful the gaps wherever smart appliances can’t reach.

I saw demos of CLOiD (slowly) folding laundry, loading a washer, putting nutrient successful the oven, and taking drinks retired of the fridge — but astir of its smarts travel from an LG ThinQ smart location hub built into its head.

This allows it to orchestrate each the appliances — group the washer to the correct setting, pre-heat the oven — without ever rubbing anything.

LG supports Matter and is simply a personnel of the Home Connectivity Alliance (an interoperability modular for location appliances). This intends that if CLOiD ever shipped, successful theory, it could activity pinch immoderate Matter aliases HCA-compatible devices successful your home. That would see appliances from manufacturers for illustration Samsung, GE, and Electrolux.

These inexpensive smart roller blinds are some stylish and easy to install, based connected a demo I saw. They usage Matter complete Thread, truthful they should connection agelong artillery life and simple, coagulated connectivity pinch whichever smart location level you choose.

These are an fantabulous illustration of really Matter is making it easier for manufacturers to bring caller products to market. GE Lighting bought high-end model curen institution J Geiger successful 2023 and retooled the merchandise to fresh a little value constituent and to alteration easy connectivity via the Matter standard, pinch nary request to build a proprietary hub aliases bridge.

Starting astatine conscionable complete $300 for a 24-inch-wide shade, they’re available now successful 2 colors, pinch the action of light-filtering aliases blackout.

We didn’t get the deluge of Matter-certified cameras I was hoping for astatine CES, astir apt because manufacturers are waiting for the platforms for illustration Apple, Amazon, and Google to adhd support. But Aqara’s dual-lens G350 indoor camera is 1 of the first to launch.

Supporting the new Matter 1.5 spec, the G350 besides doubles arsenic a Matter controller, Thread separator router, and Zigbee hub.

It’s a pan/tilt camera that offers 360-degree, 4K sum pinch a 9x zoom. Footage tin beryllium stored connected a microSD paper aliases pinch Aqara’s optional cloud, and theoretically via whichever Matter level you link it to. Samsung SmartThings has announced support, but it’s not clear precisely really retention will work.

Aqara’s Home Station M410, announced astatine IFA 2025, tin besides shop video footage and Aqara says it tin enactment arsenic a span instrumentality to propulsion feeds from older Aqara cameras into Matter.

GE Appliances’ first afloat smart fridge is 1 of the much thoughtful approaches I’ve seen to making a connected fridge useful successful the kitchen.

The GE Profile Smart 4-Door French-Door Refrigerator pinch Kitchen Assistant has a compact Android tablet built into the h2o dispenser that includes a shopping list, recipes, and repast readying features. A built-in barcode scanner and sound adjunct fto you easy adhd items to the list.

The database past syncs pinch GE’s SmartHQ app for shopping via Instacart. Additionally, a camera successful the fridge is trained connected the nutrient drawers. Seeing what’s successful my nutrient doors from the shop is decidedly a characteristic I tin spot myself using.

I don’t deliberation I’d find the barcode scanner useful — my market shop app remembers my past items – I do for illustration the sound power action for adding items to the database straight from the fridge. This worked good erstwhile I tested it and should make it easy for anyone successful the location to adhd to the database (she says wishfully).

Meal readying connected an 8-inch touchscreen embedded successful my fridge doorway feels finicky, but pursuing a look connected it could beryllium handy.

Also, GE says the sheet is easy replaceable; conscionable region 2 screws, and it will popular out. So you’re not stuck pinch outdated tech successful a $5,000 appliance.

Unlike some of my colleagues, I emotion a bully art TV, and Amazon’s Ember Artline is an inexpensive, good-looking replacement to Samsung’s Frame TV.

Plus, it has a built-in mmWave sensor that tin provender into your Alexa smart location and its Omnisense fusion platform. This could alteration routines, for illustration turning connected the lights and turning disconnected the TV erstwhile you get up from the couch.

The Ember (great name!) besides features a far-field microphone array situated successful a mini container nether the screen. Yes, the TV is an Alexa smart speaker. You nary longer request to usage a FireTV Voice Remote to springiness it commands for illustration “Alexa, move connected the TV” – conscionable talk straight to the screen.

A redesigned FireTV interface puts each your smart location controls successful their ain tab, and a shortcut fastener opens a broadside sheet to quickly cheque your connected devices, for illustration Ring cameras. This looks akin to the Google TV smart location panel, which I’ve recovered very useful.

These interface updates are coming to each FireTVs, and Amazon’s FireTV VP, Aidan Marcuss, told maine they scheme to adhd a Thread power to FireTVs successful the future. This could yet put the TV astatine the bosom of Amazon’s smart home.

The Ember Artline is coming this spring, starting astatine $899 successful sizes 55 to 65 inches.

Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge