What to anticipate from tech’s greatest convention in January

CES is the January commerce present the place the tech trade kicks off the 12 months with a bevy of latest and notable bulletins — and it’s lower than per week away. The CES 2026 present flooring is formally open from January 6 via 9, however the enjoyable kicks off with occasions on Sunday January 4 and a number of press conferences on Monday. As all the time, product demos, bulletins and networking can be occurring on the Las Vegas Conference Heart and different motels everywhere in the metropolis. As typical, Engadget can be protecting the occasion in-person and remotely, bringing you information and hands-ons straight from the present flooring.

Extra particular particulars and pre-announcements are already trickling out as CES approaches, and because of the CTA’s schedule we additionally do know what firms can be internet hosting press conferences. We’re additionally utilizing our expertise and experience to foretell what tech developments may rear their heads on the present.

The CES 2026 schedule

Press conferences and present flooring cubicles are the bread and butter of CES. The Client Expertise Affiliation has already printed a searchable directory of who could 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.” Forward of that, although, Samsung has already outlined a wide range of extra specifics.

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 day by day life via 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 conference providing but extra particulars on its first automotive and AMD CEO Lisa Su will cowl AMD’s upcoming chip bulletins at a keynote tackle 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 (4PM ET) and, based on 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 Conference on the Las Vegas Sphere, utilizing the big and decidedly curved display to share the corporate’s “dedication to delivering smarter AI for all by consistently redefining how know-how can interact, encourage, and empower.” It’s value noting that Lenovo is the dad or mum firm of Motorola, which nonetheless makes telephones and foldables that function AI instruments, so it’s potential these gadgets function within the presentation as nicely.

Samsung and LG vie for pre-show publicity

As they sometimes do, some firms have already gotten a head begin on the CES information by publicly sharing their bulletins within the weeks main as much as January. LG, for instance, has mentioned it is going to debut its first Micro RGB television at CES. Whereas particulars are scarce, the corporate’s press launch for the LG Micro RGB evo did verify it has acquired certifications by Intertek for 100% shade gamut protection in DCI-P3 an Adobe RGB, and that it has greater than a thousand dimming zones for brightness management. And if PC gaming shows are extra your velocity, LG could have that coated, too, with a brand new line of 5K-capable gaming monitors on deck with built-in AI upscaling.

However LG’s not simply exhibiting off shows. The Korean multinational can even introduce a Dolby-powered modular home audio system and flex its automation muscle tissue with a humanoid home automation robot named CLOiD.

After all, Samsung refuses to be outdone by its hometown rival, and has additionally launched a pre-CES press launch doc dump. Samsung will be launching its own lineup of Micro RGB TVs at CES, for starters. The corporate already launched its first Micro RGB TV at CES 2025, which was a 115-inch mannequin obtainable for a cool $30,000. Subsequent 12 months, Samsung is increasing the vary with 55-, 65-, 75-, 85-, 100- and 115-inch fashions that use the subsequent evolution of the corporate’s Micro RGB know-how.

Samsung can also be countering LG’s 5K displays with a 6K model that goals to ship glasses-free 3D (one other long-time CES staple). It’ll be one among a number of new shows within the firm’s Odyssey gaming line.

And on the audio entrance, Samsung has teased a number of new soundbars and audio system, together with Sonos-style Wi-Fi streaming fashions name the Music Studio 5 and Studio 7.

Outdoors 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 are able to 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 just lately 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 also use its CES stage to go over its new FSR Redstone AI upscaling tech.

Intel has already publicly announced 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 process will supply 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 also be rumored to be concentrating on laptops on the present, constructing on the work it is completed moving its Snapdragon chips out of telephones and tablets and into different kinds 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 have a look at the improved velocity and AI efficiency the corporate promised in 2025.

Brighter, “more true” screens

As famous above, Samsung and LG seem like going all-in on Micro RGB show tech for TVs. Count on that to be an enormous buzzword at CES, with Hisense and Sony debuting new fashions, too.

Sony introduced a collection of new Bravia TVs in April 2025, changing the corporate’s flagship, filling in its midrange choices and including a brand new funds mannequin to the combination. 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 mild emitting diodes via quantum dots that change shade, Sony’s “Normal RGB LED Backlight Expertise” can get as vivid as a Mini LED panel with no need an additional filter layer or worrying about OLED’s issues with burn-in.

The corporate has already trademarked the title “True RGB,” which may find yourself being what Sony calls this new taste of show if it decides to point out them off at CES. It appears completely seemingly, as a result of CES is nothing if not a TV present — it’s a certain guess that we’ll see new TVs from the likes of LG and Samsung along with Sony. If the corporate does not introduce new show tech for its TVs, it does have a new 240Hz PlayStation monitor coming in 2026 that it may showcase 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+ Advanced standard could be Samsung’s reply to Dolby Vision 2, which incorporates help for issues bi-directional tone mapping and clever options that mechanically adapt sports activities and gaming content material. Samsung’s take will reportedly supply improved brightness, genre-based tone mapping and clever movement smoothing choices, amongst different enhancements.

And perhaps your future TV received’t want an influence wire, both: Displace can be exhibiting off a mounting possibility that features a 15,000mAh battery to juice up no matter big TV display you select to connect.

Ballie Watch 2026

The ball-shaped yellow robotic lovingly referred to as “Ballie” has been introduced twice, first in 2020 after which again 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. However it’s practically 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.

Robot vacuums and mops had been a significant spotlight of CES 2025, and it is secure to anticipate notable enhancements from the brand new fashions which are 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 appear to be they might develop into the norm. Roborock may additionally showcase its new Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow, the primary of its robotic vacuums to function a retractable curler mop.

Past simply traversing areas extra effectively, enhancing robots’ navigation may be a significant concern on the present. Prominent members of the AI trade are turning their consideration from massive language fashions to world models, which goal to offer AI a deep understanding of bodily house. These world fashions may very well be the important thing to creating robots — like LG’s aforementioned CLOiD — competent at navigating houses and workplaces, and can seemingly be a big 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 dad or mum firm and the way the latter might need an element 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.

Replace, December 23 2025, 7:28AM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate LG and Samsung’s Micro RGB TV bulletins, which had been made public previously seven days. The intro was additionally tweaked to mirror how quickly CES is at this level.

Replace, December 29 2025, 11:03AM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate further particulars on pre-announcements from Samsung, LG and Displace.