CES 2026 live: Wild tech, weird gadgets, and the laptops everyone’s talking about
It’s time again: CES 2026 is here.
Consider CES a harbinger of the technological future. Every January, the industry descends on Las Vegas to raise the curtain on the products that will power the year to come. Not only will you gape at huge walls of cutting-edge OLED monitors and bizarre demos of all sorts of PC gear, but CES often serves as the big reveal for new generations of processors and the army of laptops you’ll find them in.
This year is no different, but what East What’s different is that for CES 2026, PCWorld’s team of PC experts will be blogging about the gaudy sights and new tech news live as we see it. The actual show kicks off on Tuesday, January 6, but many of the biggest blockbuster speeches will take place on Monday, and CES Unveiled will even feature a horde of giveaways on Sunday night. It’s a packed week, y’all, and the PCWorld team is here and ready to cover it all.
Check out our early primers on what we expect from major PC chip makers and laptops at CES 2026, then bookmark this page and check back throughout the week for the hottest announcements and craziest views from the show floor. Hopefully we won’t be too bothered as the announcements, interviews and briefings turn into a week-long fog.
It’s Vegas baby. Let’s be weird! ~Brad Chacos
A monitor that corrects dyslexia? The Lili Screen says yes
Mark Hachman / Foundry
Lili is here at CES 2026, claiming that its Lili Display is the first computer display designed specifically for dyslexic computer users.
It’s a 27-inch, 1440p display with a 75Hz refresh rate. According to Lili, the key to alleviating dyslexia is user-configurable flickering, which the monitor produces in combination with a user-specified brightness setting. The Lili Screen will ship in January for $649.
An associated Lili Lamp Reddit thread linked to this rather angry blog post (https://linguallog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=35144). He seems quite skeptical of the core technology without directly naming Lili. Basically, it’s an interesting product but deserves a thorough review and hands-on testing. -Mark Hachman
Dephy Sidekick: Like Deus Ex, but without implants
You gotta love the wild stuff at CES Unveiled. Like slightly bionic ankles!
The Dephy Sidekick straps over your legs and claims to improve your walking efficiency, relieving strain on your overused calves. Dubbed the world’s first wearable wristband, Dephy says the Sidekick “is lightweight, intuitive and designed to help you move further, faster and with less effort.” And it makes you look a little like Robocop from the knees up!
Luckily, Beth Skwarecki of Lifehacker (who writes great fitness and health articles) was wearing a pair when I visited the booth, so you can see what it looks like IRL. They’re big, but like the Cyber Fidget, in a good way – kind of like gunslinger holsters for your calves.
It’s hard to get a sense of the quality of Sidekick’s sidekicks without trying them out ourselves, but becoming a cyborg cross-country runner doesn’t come cheap. Although Dephy explicitly states that it is a lifestyle device, “not a medical device,” the Starter Pack costs $4,500. The representative I spoke to suggested that this could provide a lot of relief for people with pain and walking problems. I Suggest keeping an eye out for reviews, because if the Sidekick achieves what it claims (and another rep pointed out that Dephy is part of Nike’s Amplify project), the improvement in your quality of life could very well be worth it. -Brad Chacos
The Cyber Fidget is tailor-made for adult nerds
I work around CES Unveiled, where you’ll find row after row of vendors selling their wares and giving rad product demos. Very few of them have anything to do with PCs, but you will always find some very interesting gadgets to use and produce.
Case in point: the Cyber Fidget.
I was drawn to the killer ’80s retro vibe, but found myself trapped by the sheer variety of buttons to press and programs to try. You can even create your own wallpaper in a browser by connecting the Cyber Fidget to a computer! It’s quite large, and adult nerds (like yours truly) can tinker with this puppy’s code too.
The Cyber Fidget website describes it as “a machined aluminum pocket gadget that you can play and program with. Wi-Fi + Bluetooth, OLED display, LED, speaker, mic, slider, buttons and micro-SD – built on ESP32.” This means that it is “open and hackable”. Courting!
I think “Sign me up!” reading this, especially after holding it in both hands. If you think the same, you’ll soon be able to back the Cyber Fidget on Kickstarter. -Brad Chacos
Ozlo Sleepbuds: the nighttime headphones you dream of
Why wait to meet a manufacturer in person if they send you their equipment two weeks before the show? Ozlo offered to send me his Sleepbuds before our CES meeting, and OMFG, these sleep headphones are awesome.
The Ozlo Sleepbuds may look like regular headphones, but they’re so discreet that they’re comfortable enough to wear all night as a side sleeper. The idea is to play “masking” sound (think white noise) to muffle much more disruptive sounds like snoring or ruckus in the city.
Jon Phillips/Foundry
I scoffed before trying them, but they worked as promised during a recent rain and wind storm in San Francisco that hit my windows and skylights. I slept like a baby. On my side. Like I always do.
You can also stream your favorite content (podcasts, music, etc.) and the Sleepbuds’ sensors will detect when you’re falling asleep, then switch to your masking sound. The hardware doesn’t use active noise cancellation, but I found it to be so effective at noise cancellation that I had to turn down the volume to hear the “I have to go out!” » from my dog. moaned. You can buy them now, on sale, for $274. —Jon Phillips
Château Blanc²
On the Vegas Strip, White Castle is literally a white castle. Back to technology soon but 🤯 — Brad Chacos
Jensen welcomes crowds to Las Vegas
CES 2026 hasn’t started yet, but the signs are everywhere – literally. I’m not going to lie, seeing a 100-foot-tall digital display of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang smiling benevolently at the crowd from a gigantic techno-pedestal, in front of the high-end Forum Shops dedicated to ancient Roman emperor Julius Caesar, seems a little on the nose to me.
Don’t be surprised if AI is once again the major theme of the series, and Huang is certainly the kingmaker in this area. Look for Nvidia’s live keynote to go live at 1 p.m. Pacific Time on January 5. –Brad Chacos
