What to expect from the biggest tech conference in January

CES would not begin till January, however whispers of merchandise and bulletins that could possibly be in retailer for the most important annual tech convention are already beginning to take form. The CES 2026 present flooring is formally open from January 6 to 9, although the present kicks off with occasions on Sunday January 4 and a slew of press conferences on Monday. As all the time, product demonstrations, bulletins and networking will happen on the Las Vegas Conference Heart and surrounding inns all through the town. As traditional, Engadget might be masking the occasion in particular person and remotely, bringing you information and insights straight from the present flooring.

Extra particular particulars and preliminary bulletins ought to emerge as CES approaches, however within the meantime, we all know which firms will maintain press conferences and which tech tendencies might rear their heads on the present.

What we already know

Press conferences and exhibit cubicles are the bread and butter of CES. The Shopper Know-how Affiliation has already revealed a searchable listing of who may have a presence on the present, together with a schedule of each panel and official presentation.

On Sunday, January 4, Samsung will kick off CES with “The First Look,” a presentation hosted by TM Roh, CEO of Samsung’s DX Division, on “the corporate’s imaginative and prescient for the DX Division (System Expertise) in 2026, together with new AI-driven buyer experiences.”

This might be adopted by a number of press conferences on Monday, January 5. LG is internet hosting its “Innovation in Tune with You” presentation to share its “imaginative and prescient of elevating on a regular basis life via Affectionate Intelligence” earlier within the day, Intel is launching its new Core Extremely Sequence 3 processors within the afternoon, Sony Honda AMDO will maintain a primary AMDCE automobile press convention, and Sussa Lissa. upcoming chip bulletins in a day-closing keynote.

Lastly, on Tuesday, January 6, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang will host Lenovo’s World Know-how Convention on the Sphere, utilizing the massive and clearly curved display to share the corporate’s “dedication to ship smarter AI for everybody by always redefining how know-how can have interaction, encourage and empower.” It is value noting that Lenovo is Motorola’s dad or mum firm, which nonetheless makes telephones and foldable units that function AI instruments, so it is doable that these units will even be featured on the launch.

Other than the formal introduction of latest merchandise and initiatives, by studying the tea leaves of what was introduced final yr and what firms are mentioned to be engaged on, we will make some educated guesses about what we’d see at CES 2026.

New chips from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm

CES is usually the beginning of a cascade of latest 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 lately revealed Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is predicted to supply higher single-threaded efficiency, and the Ryzen 9000G sequence, which could possibly be constructed with AMD’s Zen 5 structure. The corporate can also use its CES stage to go over its new synthetic intelligence augmentation know-how FSR Redstone.

Intel has already publicly introduced that it’ll launch its Panther Lake chips at CES 2026. The chips, formally titled Intel Core Extremely Sequence 3, match into Intel’s total “AI PC” push, however are aimed particularly at premium laptops. Based mostly on a preview from October 2025, Intel says the primary chip manufactured with its 2-nanometer 18A course of will provide 50 p.c extra processing efficiency than earlier generations and for the chip’s Arc GPU, a 50 p.c enhance from the earlier era.

Qualcomm can be mentioned to be focusing on laptops on the present, constructing on the work it is finished transferring its Snapdragon chips out of telephones and tablets and into different varieties 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 glimpse of the improved velocity and AI efficiency the corporate promised in 2025.

Brighter, “extra actual” shows.

Sony introduced a set of latest Bravia TVs in April 2025, changing the corporate’s flagship, rounding out its mid-range 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 includes a QD-OLED panel, however Sony seems to be making ready all-new show know-how for 2026. In March 2025, Sony launched a brand new RGB LED panel that makes use of particular person purple, inexperienced, and blue Mini LEDs to supply even brighter, extra correct colours. In contrast to a QD-OLED, which filters a layer of blue natural diodes that emit gentle via color-changing quantum dots, Sony’s “Generic RGB LED Backlight Know-how” can get as shiny as a mini LED panel while not having an additional filter layer or worrying about OLED burn-in points.

The corporate has already trademarked the title “True RGB,” which might find yourself being what Sony calls this new taste of show if it decides to indicate them off at CES. It appears completely doable, as a result of CES is nothing if not a TV present — it is a secure wager we’ll see new TVs from LG and Samsung along with Sony. If the corporate would not introduce new show know-how for its TVs, it has a brand new 240Hz PlayStation monitor coming in 2026 that it might showcase at CES.

Sony is not the one firm stepping into shiny screens. Samsung is alleged to be pushing an up to date model of the HDR10 and HDR10+ requirements that could possibly be prepared for demonstration at CES 2026. The brand new HDR10+ Superior customary can be Samsung’s reply to Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2, which incorporates help for two-way tone mapping and sensible options that robotically adapt to sports activities and gaming content material. Samsung’s take is alleged to supply improved lighting, genre-based tone mapping, and clever motion-smoothing choices, amongst different enhancements.

Ballie Watch 2026

The yellow ball-shaped robotic affectionately often known as “Ballie” has been introduced twice, first in 2020 after which once more in 2024 with a projector in tow. Samsung mentioned the Ballie would go on sale in 2025 finally yr’s CES, after which shared in April 2025 that the Ballie would ship this summer season with Google’s Gemini on board. Nevertheless it’s nearly 2026 and Ballie is nowhere to be seen. It is doable that Samsung might make a 3rd try to announce its robotic at CES 2026, however whether or not it does or not, robotics will nonetheless be an enormous a part of the present.

Robotic vacuums and mops had been the spotlight of CES 2025, and it is secure to count on vital enhancements from the brand new fashions to be introduced at CES 2026. Not each firm will undertake the retractable arm of the Roborock Saros Z70, however robotic vacuums with legs to face on small ledges just like the Dreame’s might turn into the norm just like the X5. Roborock may also showcase its new Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Circulate, the primary of its robotic vacuums to function a retractable curler mop.

Past merely traversing areas extra effectively, enhancing bot navigation may be a significant concern within the present. Distinguished members of the AI ​​trade are turning their consideration from massive language fashions to world fashions, which goal to provide AI a deep understanding of bodily house. These world designs could possibly be the important thing to creating robots, bipedal or in any other case, able to navigating properties and workplaces, and are more likely to be a significant speaking level at CES 2026.

We’ll be updating this text all through the month as extra rumors emerge and new merchandise are confirmed – keep tuned for future updates!

Replace, December 11, 2025, 11:03 a.m. ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate particulars that Lenovo is Motorola’s dad or mum firm and the way the latter might have a component in Tuesday’s launch.