The Greatest Good Residence Tech at CES 2026

No sensible lock has all of it, however the V7 Max feels prefer it’s shut. Wi-fi optical charging, palm and finger vein scanning, facial recognition, Matter assist, and indoor and outside touchscreens and video cameras—all in a slick-looking, slender mortise door lock—make it some of the compelling sensible locks on its method to the market. Will or not it’s costly? Oh my, sure—Lockin hasn’t introduced pricing, however its predecessor, the V5 Max, started at 39,990 New Taiwan dollars, or round $1,270 U.S. {dollars}.

Good thermostats have nearly completely been the area of Nest and Ecobee for years, however Aqara debuted what may very well be a banger of an alternate at CES 2026: the Thermostat Hub W200. It’s greater than only a thermostat; it has a millimeter wave presence sensor (that’s the type that may inform if an individual is within the room even when they’re sitting nonetheless), can work as a video doorbell monitor with Aqara video doorbells, and capabilities as a wise house hub for each Aqara and third-party Matter units. Aqara can also be the primary firm to announce compatibility with Apple Residence’s new Adaptive Temperature and Clear Vitality Steering options.

Govee’s new Ceiling Light Ultra lies in a murky space between sensible gentle and show, because of a 616-LED array of lights sitting beneath its plastic cowl. With these, the 21-inch gentle can present vibrant colours, certain, however it may possibly additionally show photos with much more element than one thing like its Curtain Lights. In consequence, at CES 2026, I might make out the fuzzy animated visible of a rotating Earth slightly below this Matter-compatible gentle’s cowl. There was a whole lot of lighting on the tech present, however the Ceiling Gentle Extremely was essentially the most fascinating that I noticed, by far.

Signify’s Philips Hue didn’t have something in the way in which of latest merchandise to point out, however nonetheless managed to impress me with its new SpatialAware feature. The characteristic helps you to use your smartphone’s digital camera and LiDAR sensor to establish the place Hue lights are positioned relative to 1 one other, as a way to use that data in scenes. Within the firm’s CES 2026 suite, that meant that one scene unfold colour over many lights in order that they resembled a sundown. One brighter, yellow gentle served because the solar, whereas the remaining shades of yellow, orange, pink, and crimson appeared to radiate out from that to the opposite lights, their hue relying on the place they had been within the room. The characteristic is coming in spring 2026, however solely to homeowners of the Philips Hue Bridge Professional.

The Saros Rover can climb and clear stairs, one thing robotic vacuum firms have been racing to realize in recent times. That doubtlessly beats even what I noticed only a few months in the past with the still-unreleased Eufy Marswalker or Dreame Cyber X, each of that are little mech fits/headcrab-likes that permit separate robotic vacuums drive up and down stairs to get between flooring, however not clear the steps themselves. At CES 2026, we noticed the Saros Rover actually might climb and clear stairs (very slowly). In fact, whether or not it’s price paying nonetheless many 1000’s of {dollars} that Roborock will presumably ask for the Rover is dependent upon whether or not or not it’s really a great robotic vacuum in addition to.

Aqara, which already makes the FP2, among the finest millimeter wave presence sensors I’ve used, is stepping up its sport with the Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400. For the uninitiated, presence sensors are a bit like occupancy sensors, however extra exact and capable of inform if somebody is within the room even when they’re not transferring, and might set off automations primarily based on particular areas of a room. The FP400 builds on that by having the ability to observe as much as 10 folks directly, and by triggering automations primarily based on when somebody stands, sits, or lies down, in keeping with the corporate. Like previous Aqara presence sensors, it’ll be Matter-compatible. Aqara didn’t announce a launch date or pricing.