In the world of consumer tech, Christmas comes in January. Not literally, but CES, which takes place just after the New Year, tends to precipitate gadgets in volumes that would make even Santa say, “Damn, that’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
This year—to no one’s surprise—wasn’t any different, and if you’re the type of person who loves gawking at new tech, well, there was a lot to gawk at—and not all of it was thanks to CES. For your ogling purposes (shout out to all the oglers), we’ve gone ahead and compiled the best gadgets we saw this past month, and boy, were there a lot.
© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo
I didn’t expect Lego to make its way to our monthly “best gadgets” list, but here we are. At CES 2026 (the company’s first-ever CES), Lego unveiled a smart brick that’s packed with sensors, allowing it to interact with other smart tiles that are nearby. The result is an interactive Lego experience with lights and sound that’s unlike anything Lego has done before. Plus, Lego is prioritizing discovery, allowing builders to experiment by introducing smart bricks and tiles across universes. What happens when you put a T-Rex next to an X-Wing? There’s only one way to find out.
On one hand, it seems wrong to make smart Legos in an old man waving your fist at the sky kind of way, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued about the possibilities.
See Smart Bricks at LEGO
© James Pero / Gizmodo
Open-ear audio is great in a lot of ways, but if there’s one thing that it’s been sorely lacking, it’s noise cancellation. The reason that open wireless earbuds traditionally haven’t had noise cancellation is because they just don’t go in your ears—they sit on the outside. The crazy geniuses at Shokz seem to have found a way to sidestep all of that, though, giving their most recent open-ear wireless earbuds “noise reduction” tech.
I tried the OpenFit Pro wireless earbuds on the show floor at CES 2026 and was impressed with their level of noise cancellation as well as their sound. Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds have long been one of my favorite open wireless earbuds, but Shokz looks poised to unseat Bose, especially since they’re newer, cheaper, and they have noise reduction.
See Shokz OpenFit Pro at Best Buy
© Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Leave it up to Lenovo to up the ante in the wacky laptop game. This year, the company pushed the boundaries (no pun intended) with a rollable 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 orientation of up to 24 inches in “arena” mode. This isn’t Lenovo’s first experiment with a rollable screen, but it is the first time gearing the whole rollable thing toward a gaming laptop. The wild part is that the Legion Pro Rollable might actually get made, too, at least if its ThinkBook Gen 6 Rollable is any indication.
© Apple
After five long years, Apple has updated its AirTag, bringing a few perks to its only official item tracker. First, there’s a new Ultra Wideband chip, which allows the new AirTag to be located from 50% farther away 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 also made its new AirTag louder—like, a lot louder. According to Apple, the new AirTags are now loud enough that they can be heard from “up to 2x farther away” compared to the original.
Luckily, 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
© James Pero / Gizmodo
Fender made its entry into the over-ear wireless headphone game with the Fender Mix this past month, and its first product looks like a surprisingly strong start. Maybe my favorite thing about the Fender Mix is that it comes with a USB-C dongle stashed inside the earcups that allows for hi-fi playback with very low latency.
On top of that, the Fender Mix also focus on modularity, allowing users to swap out earcups, headbands, and the battery when it starts to lose charge permanently, as batteries do over time. From my brief listening time with them at CES, they sound pretty good, too. Fender might just be licensing its name for these wireless headphones, but the Mix may prove that a little bit of branding isn’t a bad thing.
© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo
It’s hard to believe, but Samsung’s tri-screen foldable is a real thing with a real price, we got a chance to see it for ourselves. At nearly $3,000, the Galaxy Z TriFold can and should push the boundaries, and from our hands-on time, that’s exactly what Samsung did.
When folded, the Galaxy Z TriFold has a 6.5-inch cover screen, but when unfurled, it expands into a 10-inch tablet. Sure, this thing is still a tank when it’s closed up, but when fully open, it’s incredibly skinny. There are still a lot of question marks that need to be answered before we can call the Galaxy Z TriFold a breakthrough (battery life, for one), but as far as phone innovations go, Samsung really gave us something to be excited about.
See Galaxy Z TriFold at Samsung.com
© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo
Lenovo isn’t having all the fun in the wacky laptop world. Asus’ Zenbook Duo takes laptops to new heights (literally) with a dual-screen setup that sits vertically. To unlock the power of the Zenbook Duo, all you have to do is detach the magnetic keyboard to reveal another OLED screen underneath and then prop the whole thing up with a kickstand. Oh, and you can use it book-style, too. Because, why not?
It’s over the top, but it’s also kind of awesome if you’re the type of person who wants to work away from home but doesn’t like leaving the comfort of two monitors. Not to mention, it’s also surprisingly performant thanks to Intel’s Panther Lake chip. Sure, you have to be cool with being That Guy, when you use the Zenbook Duo, but as long as you’re okay going there, there’s a lot to love in one of Asus’ wackiest laptops to date.
© Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Racing simulation is a whole thing, but just because people spend ungodly sums of money to get close to the experience of burning rubber IRL doesn’t mean regular old controllers can’t have some fun.
The GameSir Swift Drive shoves a steering wheel inside a controller, and while that may sound like a questionable idea, Gizmodo Staff Writer Kyle Barr got a chance to use this thing at CES, and the results are pretty great. Inside this controller, there’s a miniaturized drive motor and three other haptic motors that offer a more tangible driving experience when using the wheel. Other key differences include the use of a small nub instead of the right thumbstick, which should be fine since all you’re doing is racing with the Swift Drive.
The GameSir Swift Drive won’t be available until the second half of 2026, and it’ll likely cost around $150, but if you’re looking for a better way to race with a regular controller, this could be your one-way ticket to a more immersive experience.
© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo
It’s hard to get excited over work laptops, but that doesn’t mean they’re all created equally. Lenovo’s ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 is a cut above. Sure, it’s not the most performant laptop you can buy, but it’s got a 3.2K OLED screen, a great keyboard, and it’s relatively thin and light as far as workstations go.
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 wacky, you can buy one of Lenovo’s weird rolling screen machines.
© Wes David / Gizmodo
Is Ikea’s donut lamp the most high-tech gadget in the world? No, no, it’s not. But sometimes style goes a long way, and the Varmblixt lamp has that in spades. While a previous version only came in an amber color, a new version can shift between colors, which is great if you need to change up the vibe. And yes, it’s Matter compatible.
It’s a little pricey at $99, but to quote one Homer Simpson: mmm, donuts.
