It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the center of modern smart home technology. While the first attempts were made before the turn of the century, CES halls have gradually welcomed more and more connected devices since the early 2000s, and CES 2025 is no different.
This year, I scoured the show floor to find the best of the best smart home devices, from the weird and wonderful to the more practical inventions that will shape the next few years of connected home technology.
Do you want your home to start working for you? Here’s my pick of the best smart home deals from CES 2025 so far.
Robot vacuum cleaners are becoming futuristic
One of the biggest smart home news at CES so far has been in robot vacuums, with fierce competition across the board from some of the biggest names in robot-assisted living.
This year things are intensifying; finally, major disruptions happening in the space that could actually happen in the market. This year that comes in the form of often bizarre but exciting hardware adaptations like Roborock’s robot vacuum with its sock-collecting arm, but more exciting than that is Dreame’s new robovac which can clear obstacles up to 4 .2 cm in one step, or 6 cm in height in two steps, thanks to what Dreame calls its “ProLeap system”. It’s one small step for Dreame, one giant leap for the Robovac genre.
Elsewhere, software is taking over with robot vacuums like the Eureka J15 Max Ultra, which uses AI to detect even hard-to-spot clear spills.
Smart beauty devices are coming to market
Beauty technology is booming, and CES 2025 is poised to open up some of the most exciting new frontiers in skincare technology.
My favorite so far has to be Samsung’s AI-powered micro-LED mirror, which scans your face to assess your pores, pigmentation, wrinkles and any redness and recommends a skincare regimen from this one. Samsung says that in the future, SmartThings-compatible beauty gadgets could also be compatible with the mirror, enabling even more comprehensive information and recommendations.
However, there’s also an honorable mention to L’Oréal’s new tabletop skin analyzer, which the brand claims will tell you everything about your skin’s past, present and future with a simple skin analysis process. five minutes. Savage.
Smart lighting and switches are getting smarter
Smart lighting appears poised to get a lot smarter, judging by some of the biggest announcements at this year’s CES. In particular, I was drawn to one of Govee’s latest smart lamps; a pixel panel (named Govee Pixel Light) that can use generative AI in the Govee app to create lit images. But that’s not all; you can also connect it to Govee’s sync boxes for enhanced immersive gaming. With compatible games, the Pixel Light will display game-related images, as demonstrated at CES with Mario Kart 8.
While not a CES announcement, Philips’ new generative AI assistant Hue also made waves in the news cycle this week, although details remain scarce; and Nanoleaf unveiled its subscription service, Nanoleaf Premium, which includes its new Orchestrator tool and Scenescapes.
Smart security for everyone
Smart locks haven’t really seen the breakthrough developments we saw a few years ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s been a boring year. I particularly like SwitchBot’s new user-friendly upgrade smart lock solutions, which improve on the first generation smart lock I reviewed a few years ago. The newer model is much sleeker in design and its sleeker design means you don’t sacrifice style for smart security.
Elsewhere, Phillips announced its first Matter-compatible smart lock and Ultraloq’s new smart lock was revealed to take advantage of iOS 18’s UWB, demonstrating the continued focus on creating solutions that work for a wider variety of consumers.
Domestic robots are ready to land
Weird robots are a mainstay at CES, but this year we got a sneak peek at some devices that will be commercially available.
Chief among these exciting developments is Samsung’s Ballie, which, after years of bland details and slight hardware and software tweaks, is expected to hit the market in 2025. It will be armed with a Full HD triple laser switchable lens projector . , a 2K camera on the rear and a 4K camera on the front, as well as LiDAR and Time of Flight (ToF) sensors.
Another frequent face at CES deserving an honorable mention is Yukai Engineering, with its bizarre lineup of robot companions like the Mirumi bag robot and Nekojita FuFu, the latter of which delighted my laryngitis-infected self with its ability to cool my tea.
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