CES 2026: What to expect from the biggest tech show this year

The New Year is almost here and you know what that means. the world’s biggest annual tech event kicks off in just a few days.

yes CES 2026 is scheduled to kick off on January 6th in Las Vegas, Nevada, bringing together tens of thousands of enthusiasts to see what’s new in the world of consumer technology. We’ll see a whole new breed of TVs, new foldable phones, self-driving cars, weird gadgets, powerful chips, and lots and lots of AI and robotics announcements. Not surprisingly, there are several the top tech trends we expect in 2026.

Mashable will be in Las Vegas to cover CES 2026 as it unfolds. For now, let’s take a look at what we can expect to see from this year’s biggest shows.

Micro RGB TVs

Can they achieve OLED-like picture quality at a lower cost? It remains to be seen.
Credit: LG

Forget OLEDs and QLEDs. this year you’ll mostly be hearing about Micro RGB TVs. Two TV giants, Samsung and LG, have pre-announced their line of Micro RGB TVs which have hit the market this year in various sizes. We still don’t have a verdict on how good they are, but you can read about the technology that powers them. explainer

Of course, all the other major TV manufacturers will also be present at CES 2026. Sony is likely to show off its True RGB TVs, new mini-LED TVs that promise higher brightness and contrast with more accurate colors (not all).

We’re also likely to hear a lot of talk about new HDR formats; Samsung announced its HDR10+ Advanced, the company’s answer to Dolby Vision 2, back in October, which is slated to launch in early 2026.

Folding phones

Why fold your phone once when you can fold it twice?
Credit: Samsung

CES isn’t exactly a phone show, with most major companies preferring to unveil their flagships at separate events. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t see a bunch of new devices, and we’re betting many of them will be foldable.

Samsung, for example, just released its first tri-folding phone, the Galaxy Z TriFoldbut the company is in the news to work on another folding device it’s not a new iteration of its Galaxy Z Fold. We don’t know if that one will be on display at CES 2026, but we’re sure Samsung’s booth will feature at least a few new devices with a foldable display.

So does Motorola a rumor to launch a book-style foldable phone at CES; a first for the company (Motorola already sells the flip phone-style foldable Motorola Razr).

Robots, robots everywhere

Roborock’s Qrevo Curv 2 Flow already combines a vacuum with a self-cleaning roller, but we bet the company has something more advanced up its sleeve.
Credit: Roborock

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is banking on the company Optimus the robot will be the next big thing, and other tech companies are taking notice.

One major company that has already announced a new robot is LG. The company will launch its CLOiD home assistant robotwhich is designed to improve the quality of your life by performing “a wide range of household chores”. We don’t have any photos, reviews, or a release date for this one, so forgive us for not getting too excited until we know more about CLOiD.

Samsung has a robot called Ballie that it keeps relaunching at CES (originally started in 2020followed by A 2024 remake), and we wouldn’t be too surprised if the company brought a new version to CES 2026.

Companies like Roborock are likely to show more advanced ones robotic vacuum cleaners. Since we’re on the subject of the smart home, we’re also likely to see new, smarter home security cameras among other smart home gadgets.

And while we can’t reveal more at this stage, we do know for sure that there will be several companies bringing new robots, humanoid and non-humanoid, to the show.

Self-driving cars

These would look good in front of my garage.
Credit: Honda

Look, it’s CES. There will be cars. And if you’re launching a car these days, it better be self-driving.

We already know that the joint venture between Sony and Honda (Sony Honda Mobility or SHM) will present its retro-futuristic electric vehicles at the show. These will have Level 3 autonomy, and we’ll likely learn more about specs like range and charging times.

Mobileye’s autonomous driving force will also hold a keynote on January 6, with CEO Amnon Shashua talking about the company’s future technology roadmap.

In general, we expect many announcements related to self-driving technology, whether in the form of new cars, new AI smart devices and chips for autonomous driving, or the further expansion of robotaxi services.

Powerful new chips

Intel’s Core Ultra series 3 (codenamed Panther Lake) chips will go on sale in January 2026.
Credit: Intel

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will deliver a keynote on January 5th, and while that doesn’t mean we’ll see major new products, we’ll likely learn more about Nvidia’s strategy to drive the AI ​​revolution. One rumors claimed that Nvidia might launch new GeForce RTX 50 Super series graphics cards at CES, but later reports say the launch has taken place late until the end of the year.

AMD is likely to introduce new Ryzen chips, including the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D. Intel has announced in advance the announcement of its Panther Lake chips, which will officially launch at CES. Qualcomm is releasing its Snapdragon X Elite and X Elite Extreme chips inside laptops for the first time. In short, you don’t have to worry about your next computer, phone or tablet being underpowered (if you can enable RAMie).

AI everything

This should come as no surprise. Every tech event in the past few years has had a strong AI focus, or at least an overtone, and we expect to see more this year. AI will be specified by chip manufacturers. Automakers will swear by it. Every robot, phone, tablet, and home security camera we see at CES 2026 will likely have a brand new AI brain powering it. Unfortunately, even news TVs can boast of smart artificial intelligence to enhance and enhance the intelligence picture.