Shipping Beats Showing
Every January, CES fills Las Vegas with gadgets that will "change everything." Most don't. They're concept devices, vaporware, or products that arrive two years late at triple the announced price. The show is better understood as a glimpse of what's possible rather than what's imminent.
But this year's CES included several products from established manufacturers with specific 2026 launch timelines. These aren't moonshots. They're products entering production lines now, with realistic pricing and clear use cases.
Here's what caught our attention—and when you might actually be able to buy it.
Samsung's Tri-Fold Gamble
The Galaxy Z TriFold dominated Samsung's booth, featuring a dual-hinge design that unfolds into a 10-inch tablet. Folded, it's roughly the size of a standard smartphone. Partially unfolded, it works as a book-style reader. Fully open, it's a productivity surface large enough for genuine work.
Samsung's foldable track record matters here. The company has shipped millions of foldable phones since 2019, iterating through durability problems that plagued early models. The Z Fold Special Edition uses Samsung's third-generation Ultra Thin Glass, which the company claims survives 400,000 folds—roughly 10 years of heavy use.
The tri-fold design addresses the main complaint about current foldables: they're either too small when folded or not tablet-enough when open. Samsung's solution adds meaningful screen real estate while keeping the folded form factor pocket-compatible.
Pricing wasn't confirmed, but expect premium territory—likely $2,000-$2,500 based on current Fold pricing. Samsung indicated a Q3 2026 release, which historically means September alongside the Note-style S series.
As we noted in our coverage of Lego's CES innovations, the most successful products at this year's show built on proven foundations rather than betting on unproven technology.
LG's Disappearing Television
LG's OLED W6 earned its "Signature" designation by being functionally invisible when mounted. At 3.9mm thick—thinner than most picture frames—the 77-inch panel appears to float on the wall. All processing, speakers, and connectivity live in an external box connected by a single cable.
The W6 continues LG's OLED Evo panel technology with a brightness increase to 3,000 nits peak, addressing the main criticism of OLED displays in bright rooms. The company also extended its burn-in warranty to 5 years, reflecting improved pixel longevity.
Picture quality claims aside, the W6's significance is aesthetic. TVs have gotten larger without getting more attractive. A 77-inch black rectangle dominates most living rooms. LG's approach treats the TV as architecture rather than furniture, disappearing when off and commanding attention only when appropriate.
The price will match the premium positioning—likely $6,000-$8,000 based on current Signature pricing. Availability is targeted for Q2 2026, with 65-inch and 83-inch options following later in the year.
AI-Native Laptops Go Mainstream
Every major laptop manufacturer at CES 2026 showcased machines with dedicated Neural Processing Units (NPUs) for on-device AI. The shift represents the first meaningful change to laptop architecture in years.
Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 includes an NPU capable of running large language models locally, without cloud connectivity. During demos, the laptop summarized documents, transcribed meetings, and answered questions about local files—all without internet access. For enterprise customers concerned about sending sensitive data to cloud AI services, on-device processing is significant.
Dell's XPS lineup now includes "AI Studio," software that uses the NPU for creative tasks. Photo editing with intelligent selection, video background replacement, and audio noise removal all happen locally. The demo showed real-time video enhancement during a video call, cleaning up poor lighting and removing background noise simultaneously.
HP's Spectre x360 emphasized privacy AI: on-device document classification that identifies sensitive information and suggests appropriate handling. The system can recognize documents containing personal data, financial information, or company secrets without ever uploading content for analysis.
These aren't concept features. All three manufacturers are shipping NPU-equipped laptops in Q1 2026, with prices starting around $1,500 for basic configurations. The AI features are optional—the laptops work normally without them—but represent where the industry is headed.
This follows the broader trend we analyzed in AI's pragmatic turn, where practical applications are replacing moonshot promises.
Wireless Earbuds Get Health Features
Sony's WF-2000XM6 earbuds include optical sensors for heart rate monitoring, positioning them as fitness trackers that happen to play music. The sensors work during workouts to track heart rate zones without requiring a separate device.
More interesting is the posture monitoring feature. The earbuds use motion sensors to detect head position and gently remind users when they're slumping. For desk workers who spend hours at computers, it's addressing a real problem—poor posture—through a device they're already wearing.
Samsung's Galaxy Buds 4 Pro offer similar health tracking plus body temperature monitoring. The company suggests the feature for cycle tracking and early illness detection, though medical claims remain limited pending regulatory approval.
Both are priced in the $280-$350 range with Q1-Q2 2026 availability. The health features add functionality without compromising audio quality—Sony's active noise cancellation reportedly improves over the current generation.
The Smart Home Finally Gets a Brain
Samsung's SmartThings Station consolidates multiple smart home functions into a single device: Matter hub, Thread border router, speaker, and local AI processing. The on-device AI enables automations that respond to complex conditions without cloud latency.
"If the motion sensor detects movement in the kitchen after midnight but the bedroom occupancy sensor shows someone is still there, turn on the kitchen lights at 10% brightness." That kind of contextual automation currently requires complex programming or cloud processing. Samsung's approach handles it locally with natural language setup.
Google responded with a refreshed Nest Hub Max featuring improved local processing and camera-based gesture controls. The device can detect household members by face and adjust settings accordingly—showing one person's calendar when they approach versus another's.
Amazon's Echo Hub integrates as a wall-mounted control panel with an 8-inch touchscreen. The device serves as both an Alexa endpoint and a central control interface, reducing the need to speak commands for quick adjustments. Price point is $180, available now.
PC Gaming Gets Portable
The handheld gaming PC category expanded significantly. Asus's ROG Ally 2 improves on the original with AMD's newest mobile chip, promising 40% better performance in the same form factor. Battery life extends to 3 hours for demanding games—still not great, but improved.
Lenovo's Legion Go 2 adds a detachable controller option, converting to a tablet-style device for non-gaming use. The company positioned it as a travel entertainment system rather than purely a gaming device, recognizing that most users want multipurpose capability.
Pricing ranges from $600-$900 depending on storage and display options. Both devices ship Q1 2026, competing directly with the Steam Deck while offering Windows compatibility for a broader game library.
What Didn't Make the Cut
Several CES announcements earned headlines but lack clear paths to market. Sony's holographic display prototype impressed but has no announced price or availability. BMW's color-changing car paint is years from production. LG's rollable laptop remains a concept despite multiple years of demos.
These products demonstrate what's technically possible, which is CES's purpose. But for consumers looking to buy rather than dream, they're distractions. The products in this article represent technology that's production-ready and priced for actual purchase.
The Bottom Line
CES 2026's most significant theme wasn't any single product—it was the mainstreaming of AI processing in everyday devices. Laptops, earbuds, smart home hubs, and phones all gained on-device AI capabilities that work without cloud connectivity.
The other clear trend: premium products getting more premium. Samsung's tri-fold phone, LG's disappearing TV, and AI-native laptops all target buyers willing to pay for meaningful improvements. The days of spec-sheet competition are fading; differentiation now comes from capability and design.
For most buyers, the practical upgrades—earbuds with health tracking, smarter home hubs, better foldables—represent incremental improvements worth waiting for. The future announced at CES 2026 is arriving in months, not years.
