In the world of consumer technology, Christmas comes in January. Not literally, but CES, which takes place right after New Year’s, usually hypes up gadgets at volumes that would make even Santa say, “Damn, that’s a lot, don’t you think?”
This year—to no one’s surprise—was no different, and if you’re the type of person who likes to stare at new technology, there was plenty to look at—and not all because of CES. For your browsing purposes (shout out to all the peeps), we went ahead and rounded up the best gadgets we’ve seen this past month, and boy, were there a lot.
I didn’t expect Lego to make it onto our monthly list of “best gadgets,” but here we are. At CES 2026 (the company’s first CES), Lego unveiled a smart brick packed with sensors, allowing it to interact with other smart tiles nearby. The result is a Lego experience with lights and sound unlike anything Lego has done before. And, Lego prioritizes discovery, allowing builders to explore by introducing smart bricks and tiles around the world. What happens when you put a T-Rex next to an X-Wing? There is only one way to find out.
On the other hand, it doesn’t seem right to make a clever Legos out of an old man shaking your fist at the sky in a certain way, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised by the possibility.
See the smart bricks at LEGO
Open-ear headphones are great in many ways, but if there’s one thing they lack, it’s noise cancellation. The reason for opening traditional wireless earbuds I didn’t there was a silence because they are not moving in the middle your ears—they sit outside. The mad geniuses at Shokz seem to have found a way to avoid all that, offering the latest wireless earbuds with “noise reduction” technology.
I tried the OpenFit Pro wireless earbuds on the show floor at CES 2026 and was impressed with their noise cancellation and sound quality. Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds have long been one of my favorite wireless earbuds, but Shokz seems poised to unseat Bose, especially since they’re new, cheap, and noise-cancelling.
See the Shokz OpenFit Pro at Best Buy
Leave it to Lenovo to up the ante in the tricky laptop game. This year, the company pushed the boundaries (no pun intended) with the laptop screen for gamers, turning its Legion Pro 7i into something ridiculous.
The Legion Pro Rollable expands from a 16-inch gaming laptop to an ultrawide of up to 24 inches in “field” mode. This isn’t Lenovo’s first experiment with a rollable screen, but it’s the first to gear everything rollable towards a gaming laptop. The wild part is that the Legion Pro Rollable might be made, too, at least if its ThinkBook Gen 6 Rollable is any indication.
After five long years, Apple has updated its AirTag, bringing several advantages to its tracker of legitimate objects only. First, there is a new Ultra Wideband chip, which allows the new AirTag to be detected from 50% farther compared to previous generations. There’s also improved Bluetooth and Precision Finding, which works with Apple Watch Series 9 or later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later.
If that wasn’t enough of an upgrade, Apple has also made its new AirTag louder—like, louder. According to Apple, the new AirTags are now loud enough to be heard “up to 2x farther” compared to the original.
Fortunately, Apple is pricing the new AirTag the same as the original, meaning you can get one for $29 or a four-pack for $99. Better and cheaper? Say no more.
See AirTag (2nd Gen) at Amazon
Fender Mix
Fender got into the wireless headphone game with the Fender Mix last month, and its first product looks like an incredibly strong start. Perhaps my favorite thing about the Fender Mix is that it comes with a hidden USB-C dongle inside the earcups that allows hi-fi playback with very low latency.
On top of that, Fender Mix is also modular, allowing users to replace the earcups, headbands, and battery if it starts to lose charge permanently, as batteries do over time. From my brief time listening to them at CES, they sounded pretty good, too. Fender may have licensed its name to these wireless headphones, but the Mix can prove that a little branding isn’t a bad thing.
It’s hard to believe, but Samsung’s three-screen folding is a real thing with a real price, we got a chance to see it for ourselves. At around $3,000, the Galaxy Z TriFold can and should push the boundaries, and from our hands-on experience, that’s exactly what Samsung is doing.
When folded, the Galaxy Z TriFold has a 6.5-inch cover screen, but when unfolded, it expands into a 10-inch tablet. Sure, this thing is still a tank when it’s closed, but when it’s fully open, it’s incredibly tight. There are still a lot of question marks that need to be answered before we can call the Galaxy Z TriFold an improvement (battery life, for one), but as far as phone innovation goes, Samsung has definitely given us something to be excited about.
See the Galaxy Z TriFold on Samsung.com
Lenovo doesn’t have all the fun in the wacky laptop world. Asus’ Zenbook Duo takes laptops to the next level (literally) with a dual-screen setup that stays upright. To unlock the power of the Zenbook Duo, all you have to do is remove the magnetic keyboard to reveal another OLED screen underneath and lift the whole thing up with the kickstand. Oh, and you can use it book style, too. Because, why not?
It’s more, but it’s also great if you’re the type of person who wants to work away from home but doesn’t want to leave the comfort of two monitors. Not to mention, it also performs incredibly well thanks to Intel’s Panther Lake chip. Of course, you’ll have to be cool with being That Guy, if you use the Zenbook Duo, but as long as you’re ready. to go therethere’s a lot to like in one of Asus’ wackiest laptops to date.
Racing simulations are perfect, but just because people are spending big bucks to get up close and personal with the IRL rubber burning experience doesn’t mean regular old controllers can’t have fun.
The GameSir Swift Drive shoves a steering wheel inside the controller, and while that might sound like a dubious idea, Gizmodo Staff Writer Kyle Barr got a chance to use the thing at CES, and the results are pretty good. Inside this controller, there is a miniaturized drive motor and three other haptic motors that provide tangible driving experience when using the wheel. Another key difference includes the use of a smaller nub instead of the right thumb, which should be fine since all you do is jog with the Swift Drive.
The GameSir Swift Drive won’t be available until the second half of 2026, and it’ll cost around $150, but if you’re looking for a better way to run with a regular controller, this could be your one-way ticket to focus.
It’s hard to get excited about work laptops, but that doesn’t mean they’re all created equal. Lenovo’s ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 is cut above. Sure, it’s not the most functional laptop you can buy, but it has a 3.2K OLED screen, an excellent keyboard, and it’s thin and light when it comes to workstations.
Like other ThinkPads, the P1 Gen 8 has all the charm of a jet fighter, but these are business laptops, after all. If you want something weird, you can buy one of Lenovo’s strange screen devices.
Is the Ikea donut lamp the world’s most high-tech gadget? No, no, it’s not. But sometimes style goes a long way, and the Varmblixt lamp has that in spades. While the previous version only came in amber color, the new version can switch between colors, which is great if you need to change the vibe. And yes, Matter is compatible.
It’s a bit pricey at $99, but to quote one Homer Simpson: mmm, donuts.
