What to anticipate from tech’s largest convention in January

CES is the January commerce present the place the tech trade kicks off the yr with a bevy of recent and notable bulletins — and it’s lower than every week away. The CES 2026 present ground is formally open from January 6 by 9, however the enjoyable kicks off with occasions on Sunday January 4 and a bunch of press conferences on Monday. As all the time, product demos, bulletins and networking will likely be taking place on the Las Vegas Conference Heart and different lodges all around the metropolis. As ordinary, Engadget will likely be overlaying the occasion in-person and remotely, bringing you information and hands-ons straight from the present ground.

Extra particular particulars and pre-announcements are already trickling out as CES approaches, and due to the CTA’s schedule we additionally do know what firms will likely 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 ground cubicles are the bread and butter of CES. The Client Know-how Affiliation has already revealed a searchable directory 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 (System 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 each day life by Affectionate Intelligence” initially 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 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 (4PM ET) and, in keeping with the web site, will final about 90 minutes. Primarily based 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 massive 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 price 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 units function within the presentation as properly.

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 stated it would 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% colour 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 pace, LG can 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 displaying off shows. The Korean multinational may also introduce a Dolby-powered modular home audio system and flex its automation muscle tissues with a humanoid home automation robot named CLOiD.

In fact, 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 out there for a cool $30,000. Subsequent yr, 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 expertise.

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 considered one of 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 recent merchandise and initiatives, studying the tea leaves of what was introduced final yr 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 ceaselessly the beginning of a cascade of recent chip bulletins for a given yr, and one of many first locations new silicon seems in actual shopper merchandise. AMD will possible 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 might 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 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 total “AI PC” push, however are particularly meant for premium laptops. Primarily based 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 focusing 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 sorts 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 pace and AI efficiency the corporate promised in 2025.

Brighter, “more true” screens

As famous above, Samsung and LG look 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 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 pink, inexperienced and blue to provide even brighter, extra correct colours. In distinction to a QD-OLED, which filters a layer of blue natural gentle emitting diodes by quantum dots that change colour, Sony’s “Common RGB LED Backlight Know-how” can get as shiny 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 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 possible, as a result of CES is nothing if not a TV present — it’s a positive 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 new 240Hz PlayStation monitor coming in 2026 that it may showcase at CES as a substitute.

Sony is not the one firm hyped on shiny screens. Samsung is reportedly pushing an up to date model of the HDR10 and HDR10+ requirements that might 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 routinely 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.

And perhaps your future TV received’t want an influence twine, both: Displace will likely be displaying off a mounting choice that features a 15,000mAh battery to juice up no matter large TV display screen you select to connect.

Ballie Watch 2026

The ball-shaped yellow robotic lovingly often known as “Ballie” has been introduced twice, first in 2020 after which again in 2024 with a projector in tow. Samsung stated Ballie would go on sale in 2025 at CES final yr after which shared in April 2025 that Ballie would ship this summer time with Google’s Gemini onboard. Nevertheless it’s almost 2026, and Ballie is nowhere to be seen. It is potential Samsung may 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 have been a serious 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 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, bettering robots’ navigation is also a serious concern on the present. Prominent members of the AI trade are turning their consideration from giant language fashions to world models, which goal to provide AI a deep understanding of bodily house. These world fashions might be the important thing to creating robots — like LG’s aforementioned CLOiD — competent at navigating houses and workplaces, and can possible 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 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.

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 have been made public up to now seven days. The intro was additionally tweaked to replicate 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.