The Finest Sensible Residence Tech at CES 2026

No good lock has all of it, however the V7 Max feels prefer it’s shut. Wi-fi optical charging, palm and finger vein scanning, facial recognition, Matter help, and indoor and outside touchscreens and video cameras—all in a slick-looking, slender mortise door lock—make it one of the vital compelling good locks on its method to the market. Will or not it’s costly? Oh my, sure—Lockin hasn’t introduced pricing, however its predecessor, the V5 Max, started at 39,990 New Taiwan dollars, or round $1,270 U.S. {dollars}.

Sensible thermostats have nearly solely been the area of Nest and Ecobee for years, however Aqara debuted what might be a banger of an alternate at CES 2026: the Thermostat Hub W200. It’s greater than only a thermostat; it has a millimeter wave presence sensor (that’s the sort that may inform if an individual is within the room even when they’re sitting nonetheless), can work as a video doorbell monitor with Aqara video doorbells, and capabilities as a wise house hub for each Aqara and third-party Matter units. Aqara can also be the primary firm to announce compatibility with Apple Residence’s new Adaptive Temperature and Clear Vitality Steering options.

Govee’s new Ceiling Light Ultra lies in a murky space between good mild and show, because of a 616-LED array of lights sitting underneath its plastic cowl. With these, the 21-inch mild can present vibrant colours, positive, however it might probably additionally show photographs with much more element than one thing like its Curtain Lights. In consequence, at CES 2026, I may make out the fuzzy animated visible of a rotating Earth slightly below this Matter-compatible mild’s cowl. There was a whole lot of lighting on the tech present, however the Ceiling Mild Extremely was probably the most fascinating that I noticed, by far.

Signify’s Philips Hue didn’t have something in the best way of recent merchandise to indicate, however nonetheless managed to impress me with its new SpatialAware feature. The function enables you to use your smartphone’s digital camera and LiDAR sensor to determine the place Hue lights are positioned relative to 1 one other, with a purpose to use that info in scenes. Within the firm’s CES 2026 suite, that meant that one scene unfold coloration over many lights in order that they resembled a sundown. One brighter, yellow mild served because the solar, whereas the remaining shades of yellow, orange, pink, and pink appeared to radiate out from that to the opposite lights, their hue relying on the place they had been within the room. The function is coming in spring 2026, however solely to house owners of the Philips Hue Bridge Professional.

The Saros Rover can climb and clear stairs, one thing robotic vacuum firms have been racing to attain in recent times. That probably beats even what I noticed just some months in the past with the still-unreleased Eufy Marswalker or Dreame Cyber X, each of that are little mech fits/headcrab-likes that permit separate robotic vacuums drive up and down stairs to get between flooring, however not clear the steps themselves. At CES 2026, we noticed the Saros Rover actually may climb and clear stairs (very slowly). After all, whether or not it’s value paying nonetheless many 1000’s of {dollars} that Roborock will presumably ask for the Rover will depend on whether or not or not it’s really a very good robotic vacuum apart from.

Aqara, which already makes the FP2, top-of-the-line millimeter wave presence sensors I’ve used, is stepping up its recreation with the Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400. For the uninitiated, presence sensors are a bit like occupancy sensors, however extra exact and in a position to inform if somebody is within the room even when they’re not transferring, and may set off automations based mostly on particular areas of a room. The FP400 builds on that by with the ability to observe as much as 10 individuals without delay, and by triggering automations based mostly on when somebody stands, sits, or lies down, based on the corporate. Like previous Aqara presence sensors, it’ll be Matter-compatible. Aqara didn’t announce a launch date or pricing.