What to anticipate from tech’s greatest convention in January

CES does 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 number of press conferences on Monday. As at all times, product demos, bulletins and networking will likely be taking place on the Las Vegas Conference Heart and surrounding inns all around the metropolis. As ordinary, Engadget will likely 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 ought to trickle out as CES approaches, however within the meantime, we do know what corporations will likely be internet hosting press conferences and what tech tendencies might 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 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 (System 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 conference on its first automobile and AMD CEO Lisa Su will cowl AMD’s upcoming chip bulletins at a keynote handle that closes out the day.

Lastly, on Tuesday, January 6, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang will host Lenovo’s Tech World Conference at Sphere, utilizing the big and decidedly curved display screen to share the corporate’s “dedication to delivering smarter AI for all by continuously redefining how expertise can have interaction, encourage, and empower.” It’s value noting that Lenovo is the mother or father firm of Motorola, which nonetheless makes telephones and foldables that function AI instruments, so it’s doable these units function within the presentation as properly.

Exterior of the formal introduction of latest merchandise and initiatives, studying the tea leaves of what was introduced final 12 months and what corporations are reportedly engaged on, we will make some educated guesses at what we might see at CES 2026.

New chips from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm

CES is incessantly 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 probably use its keynote to introduce new variations of its Ryzen chips, together with the not too long ago noticed Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is anticipated 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 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 also be rumored to be concentrating on laptops on the present, constructing on the work it is carried out moving 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 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 combo. The star of this up to date Bravia lineup is the Bravia 9, which encompasses 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 purple, 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 by means of quantum dots that change shade, Sony’s “Normal RGB LED Backlight Know-how” can get as brilliant as a Mini LED panel without having an additional filter layer or worrying about OLED’s issues with burn-in.

The corporate has already trademarked the identify “True RGB,” which might find yourself being what Sony calls this new taste of show if it decides to point out them off at CES. It appears completely probably, 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 might exhibit at CES as a substitute.

Sony is not the one firm hyped on brilliant 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 can be Samsung’s reply to Dolby Vision 2, which incorporates assist 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 generally known 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 season with Google’s Gemini onboard. However it’s almost 2026, and Ballie is nowhere to be seen. It is doable Samsung might make a 3rd try at saying its robotic at CES 2026, however whether or not or not it does, robotics will nonetheless be an enormous 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 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 appear to be they may grow to be the norm. Roborock might additionally exhibit 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, bettering robots’ navigation may be a significant concern on the present. Prominent members of the AI business are turning their consideration from massive language fashions to world models, which intention to offer 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 houses and workplaces, and can probably 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 mother or father firm and the way the latter might need a component within the Tuesday presentation.