CES 2026: Day One Update

CES 2026 has officially opened and further news from Las Vegas has emerged, which we cover in today’s update.

The consensus is that it’s turning out to be a rather disappointing year for CES, with little hardware innovation and AI and robotics dominating the headlines. The prominence of AI is unsurprising, and we’re encouraged that rather than just talking about AI-capable products, companies are now showing some real benefits from adding AI features. The smart home category is a good example, as we explore below.

Additionally, all leading AI players are moving from text-based models toward vision and action-based models. The focus is now on researching and developing vision- and real-world-focused models, which are key to emerging areas such as autonomous driving and robotics.

In robotics, the hype has primarily been around humanoid robots. However, as we cautioned in our preview of CES, humanoid robots are far from a commercial reality. The real action is in devices focused on specific tasks, such as robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers, with some devices performing more than one task, such as vacuuming and mopping.

We’ll provide a further update from the event tomorrow. Keep in touch with us on LinkedIn and subscribe to the CCS Insight blog to access our daily insights.

Ring Enhances Existing Products and Launches New Sensors

Amazon announced a range of new features and Ring devices, relying heavily on AI to protect not only a customer’s home but also cars and small businesses. These launches take security and safety a step further, offering analysis of behaviour, events, crowds and people across a range of activities.

Smart home security devices have historically centred on cameras, but Ring has announced the expansion of its smart home sensor products. The devices use the Sidewalk protocol, which runs on a mesh network powered by Bluetooth Low Energy, LoRa and 900 MHz technology, rather than Wi-Fi.

These devices have been grouped into three categories:

• Security, including motion sensors, contact sensors, glass-break sensors and a panic button.
• Safety, including a smoke and carbon monoxide sensor for integration with existing alarms; flood and fire sensors; temperature and humidity sensors; and an air-quality monitor.
• Control, including smart plugs, light switches, fan control and a remote for smart lights.

Ring’s new sensors bring further whole-home protection for customers in the US, particularly paired with its existing 4K camera and video doorbell suite and enhanced AI functionality. However, its announcements at CES 2026 extended beyond the home. The Ring Car Alarm, which also uses Sidewalk, enables users to monitor a vehicle’s location, with about 95% coverage in the US.

Amazon is also introducing an app store in the Ring app, enabling users to install third-party apps to use alongside existing Ring technology. Current announced apps lean heavily on AI and include options for small businesses, such as Spacture AI for shoplifting detection; Visionify, which uses AI for safety monitoring across a range of threats; Lumeo, which focuses its AI use on fall detection, safety and people counting — such as footfall in a store or in a queue. Other apps focus on the home, including PoolScout for pool safety and accident prevention, and Meld for analysing your pet’s behaviour while you’re away. Ring hopes this will allow customers to expand the usage of its devices beyond traditional security and enhance consumer engagement and stickiness to its products.

Ring also announced the Fire Watch feature, claiming to deliver earlier fire warnings and real-time information through the Neighbor section of the app. Videos are analysed for visible signs of fire and smoke, and the user is alerted upon detection. This is a sensible addition given the numerous wildfires in Amazon’s home market over the past few years.

Amazon has further leaned into its business protection offerings, announcing the launch of the Ring Mobile Security Trailer device, which includes Ring Elite. This portable trailer device features a 4K camera with a 360-degree field of view, AI detection and alerts, built-in solar power, and LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity. The device is designed for outdoor events, car parks, construction sites and more.

In line with the recurring theme of AI at CES, Amazon is adding the AI Unusual Events Alert feature to existing Ring cameras, enabling detection of unusual behaviour and events based on learned everyday patterns.

Enhancements to Fire TV and Alexa+ Extend AI Capabilities

Fire TV got an upgrade, with a redesigned interface that claims to offer up to 30% faster performance than the previous generation and better organization of apps and content. Amazon Ember Artline was launched as a “lifestyle TV”, including over 2,000 pieces of art for display and AI-powered art recommendations.

The long-awaited use of Fire TV for smart home security control and monitoring didn’t materialize, but the AI-enhanced Alexa+ assistant is now available on the web as well as existing mobile and voice channels. Amazon is positioning the assistant as a rival to AI chat bots like ChatGPT and Gemini, emphasizing “life management” and household organization through calendars, meal plans, shopping lists and more. It also announced further partnerships between Alexa+ and BMW, Samsung, Bosch and Oura.

Motorola Unveils New Smartphones

Motorola, part of Lenovo, debuted a new premium line of smartphones at CES, branded as Motorola Signature. The first phone in the range is described as “the brand’s most sophisticated smartphone ever” and uses premium materials, such as an aluminium frame. It has four 50-megapixel cameras and an AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Victus 2.

Motorola is also using silicon-carbon technology, offering a battery with 5200 mAh capacity. This trend was started by other Chinese manufacturers like Honor, and we expect it to proliferate across all premium products in 2026. The phone uses Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 mobile platform.

This is a sensible addition to the company’s line-up given consumers’ growing shift toward premium smartphones. It will allow Motorola to more effectively compete with Apple’s iPhone Pro range and Samsung’s Galaxy S Ultra products.

Motorola also expanded its range of foldable devices. Historically, it has focused on flip phones, building on the heritage of the original Motorola Razr. At CES 2026, it unveiled the Motorola Razr Fold, which is similar to rival book-like products, including the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold, the Honor Magic V5 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7. When opened, it features an 8.1-inch 2K LTPO display.

The company joins a growing number of players focusing on this device design. With increasing rumours of a foldable iPhone in 2026, the category is one to watch, particularly as the flip design appears to be stalling. We believe that the fold approach has become more viable as manufacturers optimize the thinness of these devices, while external screens have grown larger. This gives the best of both worlds: a traditional smartphone experience combined with the extra screen space of a “mini tablet” when opened.

AMD Delivers “AI Everywhere, for Everyone”

AMD used CES to set out its AI credentials and tell a story of its positioning to deliver “AI everywhere, for everyone”. Although Nvidia inevitably captured the lion’s share of attention, AMD presented a compelling argument for its strengthening “end-to-end” capability to rival its Santa Clara-based rival.

Central to this was a showcase of how AI is being deployed using AMD technology in various industries, featuring partners including OpenAI, Luma AI, Liquid AI, World Labs, Blue Origin, Generative Bionics, AstraZeneca, Absci and Illumina. This was an impressive rundown that showcased AMD as the closest competitor to Nvidia from the data centre to the edge, in both training and inference.

Among the announcements were additions to its AI platforms with AMD Instinct MI440X GPU for enterprise deployments and a preview of its next-generation Instinct MI500 series GPUs for the data centre. This was supported by new Ryzen AI 400 series and Ryzen AI Pro 400 series chips, which will ship in PCs starting in January 2026 and compete with new silicon from Qualcomm and Intel.

CCS Insight believes that Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm’s positioning of their respective AI capabilities is a defining theme at CES. This is a takeover of a consumer hardware show and underlines how the value has shifted to the silicon, tools and platforms that are driving advancement. Nvidia remains in pole position, but AMD is becoming a real contender as an “end to end” competitor, with Qualcomm best positioned to maximize the opportunity for inference at the edge. Our thoughts on Nvidia and Qualcomm can be found in our analysis of day zero.

Xreal Extends Partnership with Google to Develop Hardware on Android XR

Following the announcements of the Xreal 1S and ROG Xreal R1 gaming glasses yesterday, Xreal revealed it’ll be extending its partnership with Google to develop further hardware on Android XR in the coming years. This makes Xreal the second hardware-maker to join Google’s Android XR operating system, after Samsung.

Xreal recently parted ways with Meta’s Horizon OS platform in favour of Google, which will undoubtedly see this as a big win. Android XR’s strengths lie in the integration with Gemini as well as Android’s wider reach across multiple devices.

As Meta curbs spending on its Metaverse and Reality Labs departments, the door will open for more brands to tie into Android OS. We expect this is the start of what will be a very productive year for Google — in both hardware and software — as the market for augmented reality (AR) devices and smart glasses rapidly accelerates this year.

Lenovo Turns Its Attention to Smart Glasses with AI Concept Glasses

Lenovo is the latest brand to dip a toe into the smart glasses space. Lenovo’s AI Glasses Concept offers a pair of smart glasses aimed for use in the workplace, integrating Lenovo’s proprietary AI platform, Qira. The glasses include a host of typical features, including live translation and image recognition. As competition in the market intensifies, Lenovo may find it tough, especially amid privacy and confidentiality concerns about AI devices that are always listening in the workplace.

Elsewhere, Solos announced the launch of its new AirGo V2 smart glasses, retailing at $299. As with many smart glasses from non-major brands, users can choose from a variety of AI agents to provide the standard array of features and communications services. We caution that the bulky arms are likely to limit the product’s appeal, and selling the charging case separately for a yet undetermined price could also frustrate potential customers.

AI, Cameras and Neurotechnology in Headphones

CES is often used as a launch pad for new headphones, and this year was no exception. Product launches at this year’s show include multiple new JBL models, Shokz’s noise-cancelling OpenFit true wireless earbuds, and high-end brand Focal’s first foray into over-ear wireless headphones. However, the more-conceptual designs included in some of the gaming headsets on display stood out.

A notable example was Razer’s concept headset, currently referred to as Project Motoko. It combines a Razer gaming headset with Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered generative AI and a dual-camera system, with one camera mounted on each earcup. By using visual input, the on-board assistant can interpret a first-person view of what’s on a gaming monitor, enabling prompts like “how do I beat this boss?” or “what should I build next?”. Razer’s marketing also positions the concept beyond gaming, showing it guiding users through recipes and summarizing pages of a book.

Many of these uses overlap with AR glasses, but we believe headphones could be more practical. Headsets are less-visually intrusive, offer more physical space for sensors and computing power, and are already a widely adopted product rather than a new device category. That said, some of the same challenges remain as with smart glasses, particularly regarding privacy and the role of outward-facing cameras. The headset was positioned as a concept, but Razer said it intends to launch the product later this year.

Neurotechnology also appeared in the gaming headset market. Neuroscience company Neurable was demonstrating a HyperX gaming headset with integrated electroencephalogram, or EEG, sensors that can track the wearer’s focus, cognitive load and reaction speed using AI-driven signal processing. The demonstration was focused on professional gaming, enabling training and performance optimization, which is becoming increasingly relevant as competitive gaming and e-sports continue to become more professional. However, we believe the technology will be more useful in other sporting, training or defence applications.

Yet More Rollable Display PC Concepts from Lenovo

Like many events in recent years, devices with rollable displays were on show at CES 2026. Notably, Lenovo demonstrated a laptop PC with a rollable display that wraps around to the outer side of the lid, called the ThinkPad Rollable XD. This means the exterior part of the rollable display can still add utility even when the display isn’t expanded, including when the laptop PC is closed.

Lenovo also showcased the Legion Pro Rollable Concept laptop, the display of which can be expanded horizontally from 16 inches to 24 inches. We believe it could work well at a desk, but less so on a train or plane.

However, like many devices shown at CES that lack a price or release date, these devices may never ship in this form.

Wearable AI Reemerges in Pendants, with Concepts from Samsung and Motorola

With the well-documented disaster that was Humane’s AI Pin now well in the past, the wearable AI companion category remains challenging to address. However, concept designs from Samsung and Motorola at CES 2026 could revitalize the segment.

Samsung’s AI Pendant features a 1.4-inch OLED screen and is ultimately a voice-controlled AI assistant that hangs round the neck, and the Motorola device has no screen but features a camera to capture what the wearer sees. Both products remain conceptual, although Samsung’s product feels much more likely to be released than Motorola’s.

These products are orientated around the “no phone” philosophy, aimed at reducing screen fatigue and encouraging users to interact with AI in a more conversational manner. We remain doubtful about the mass-market opportunity of these devices, especially as they ultimately compete with smart glasses, which are proving very popular and resemble an accessory that people already use.

Other products we’ve seen at the show in the same vein include the Amazon Bee, a wrist-worn device that tracks emails, conversations and other shared information like calendars to act as the user’s AI agent. SwitchBot’s AI MindClip is a device more akin to the Humane AI Pin, as it clips to the user’s collar or lapel and records and transcribes everything it hears.

Privacy concerns abound for all devices in this segment and are likely to hamper their near-term uptake. The current success of smart glasses — effectively the same product with a wider range of uses and in a more familiar design — suggests that these products are unlikely to thrive in the agentic AI world.

Infinix Brings Satellite Connectivity to Entry-Level Smartphones

Infinix announced that its Note 60 smartphone will feature satellite communication. Details on the specifics remain sparse, although we note this is certainly among the first of its type to be launched among entry-level phones. To date, satellite features have been available only on premium Apple, Samsung and Google devices for emergency messaging. Infinix’s solution is likely to be powered by a proprietary system using a Chinese geostationary satellite constellation. Notably, it supports two-way voice calls and offers projected coverage of two-thirds of the Earth’s surface. We believe this could mark the start of a wider, potentially more rapid roll-out of satellite communication solutions in other entry-level smartphones and devices.

Emotional Intelligence in Artificial Personas Raises Significant Questions

Emotionally intelligent AI has started to emerge into the mainstream over the past 18 months. AI companion apps, designed to mimic connection and intimacy rather than drive productivity, had been downloaded over 220 million times by mid-2025, according to Appfigures.

Lepro’s Ami companion, announced at CES, takes things one step further by creating an always-on, always-listening character displayed on a physical, curved OLED screen that can track your eyes and follow you around the room. Marketed explicitly as a soulmate, not a companion, we believe this will merely exacerbate the modern world’s challenges with loneliness and isolation. Major safeguarding issues have been flagged before about chat bots and other AI tools that actively encourage harmful behaviours among lonely users, particularly children. For all the possibilities of AI, allowing vulnerable users to become attached to non-sentient, digital personas, platonically or romantically, must be seen as a red line in the industry.

We’ll provide a further update from the event tomorrow. Keep in touch with us on LinkedIn and subscribe to the CCS Insight blog to access our daily insights.