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 In addition to its annual soundbar updates, Samsung debuted two new home speakers at CES 2026. The Music Studio 5 and 7 are Bluetooth and Wi-Fi units designed to blend in with your home decor thanks to their minimalist look. They certainly don't look like your typical speakers, and Samsung has packed them with features that it says will ensure optimal sound quality from each one.
The Music Studio 5 has a four-inch woofer and two tweeters, and a sound profile that's optimized by AI Dynamic Bass Control. The design is an interesting interplay between a circle and a square, but the speaker delivers crisp, clear sound — even in the roar of a CES demo area. The Music Studio 5 will also come in a smattering of colors, which could lend a pop to a bookshelf. Controls line the top edge, including one-touch access to Spotify.
Samsung Music Studio 7Billy Steele for EngadgetIf you're looking for something more robust, the Music Studio 7 is a 3.1.1-channel unit that's capable of four-direction spatial audio and high-resolution listening. Samsung says you can enjoy tunes at up to up to 24-bit/96kHz and the speaker can be used as part of a turntable setup. The sound here is more robust as I heard noticeably more bass from the 7 than on the 5. The various control buttons are up top here as well, positioned near the front of the speaker for easy access.
You can also use up to four Music St
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 LG usually announces its CES TV lineup well ahead of the show, but this year the company had a surprise at CES 2026: The return of its ultra-thin "Wallpaper" TV. Now it's toting a gorgeous OLED screen and wireless connectivity, and it's about as thin as a pencil. We got a chance to check out the Wallpaper TV in action during a CES preview event, as well as the previously announced Gallery and Micro RGB sets. LG still has its typically OLED and LED sets around, but it's clear that 2026 will be filled with intriguing TVs for a variety of consumers.
LG's 2026 Wallpaper OLED TVDevindra Hardawar for EngadgetThe Wallpaper TV (LG W6)If money were no object, I'd want a 100-inch LG Wallpaper TV in my family room immediately. It looks shockingly thin in person — almost as if it's some sort of sci-fi prop — and it delivers the rich colors and dark levels we expect from OLED. Cable management is also a cinch, since it requires just a single power cable. The A/V inputs are handled by LG's One Connect box, which you can position wirelessly up to 10 meters away from the TV.
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 There's a good chance you spend more time talking to your phone's virtual assistant, or dictating text with your voice, instead of actually calling people these days. But, as convenient as voice input can be, you don't want to be the obnoxious person shouting commands to Siri or ChatGPT in a quiet library. And you probably won't have much luck dictating an email in a room with toddlers screaming and Peppa Pig blaring on the TV. (Ask me how I know.)
At CES 2026, the startup Subtle is unveiling its solution to those issues: Voicebuds. While they look like a typical pair of wireless earbuds, they feature a custom AI model that lets you dictate text below the sound of a whisper. Additionally, they can also filter out noisy environments so that you don't have to shout for dictation and voice commands. The Voicebuds seem similar to the WHSP ring we saw at CES 2024, which let whisper to your phone, and they also compete with other AI earbuds like the Notebuds One.
Subtle Voicebuds.SubtleSubtle claims its Voicebud
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CES 2026 is already shaping up to be an interesting year for robots. But while some companies are chasing humanoids that can help you do stuff, there are also a surprising number of robots whose main job is to be cute and keep you company.
Japanese startup Ludens AI is showing off two extremely adorable robot companions at CES. Cocomo is an autonomous robot pet that can follow you around the house and respond to voice and touch. It has a fuzzy, egg-shaped body, but the version we saw at CES was wearing an orange suit with ears that made it look a bit like a teddy bear. It was moving around on a wheeled base, but it also has tiny legs if you prefer to carry it around and hold it.
Cocoo's exterior is meant to stay close to human body temperature at 98.6 degrees fahrenheit and the company says it will rise up to 102 degrees in "high contact" situations like hugging it. And while Cocomo can interact and respond to your actions, it "speaks" with hums and other sounds rather than words.
— Karissa Bell (@karissabe) January 5, 2026
We didn't get to witness many of its abilities in action due to the loud environment, but Ludens says that Cocomo is designed to bond with its owners over time. "Cocomo engages through spontaneous gestures, imitation, and gentle initiation - learning what makes you laugh, what comforts you, and when to surprise you," the company says.
Ludens didn't share pricing or availability info for Cocomo, but has a waitlist where
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There are a slew of keyboards and apps that help people learn how to play the piano, but a small company called PopuMusic is showing off an intriguing set of products at CES to make the process easier. PartyKeys and PartyStudio are a 36-key MIDI keyboard and MIDI / Bluetooth speaker that pair together in seamless fashion. The PartyStudio is particularly interesting because it has a built-in library of 128 instrument tones and more than 50 different drum machine patterns. Naturally, it works with the PartyKeys, but any MIDI keyboard can connect to it and use those sounds.
The PartyStudio and PartyKeys both use NFC to connect to each other — you can just tap and hold the keyboard up to the speaker for pairing. You can connect up to three devices using MIDI over Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE MIDI) as well as a fourth using a wired connection. If you have more than one keyboard, meanwhile, you can connect them together with NFC as well — you can pair three keyboards together total, giving you a huge 108-key surface to play.
Both the PartyStudio and PartyKeys have an understated but appealing look to them (they're available in black or white) and feel quite substantial and well-made. PopuMusic has been releasing hardware via Kickstarters campaigns for a few years now, so even though they're a relatively small and new company they have some experience in this department. The speaker seems to hit a nice balance of portability and power; it has two tweeters and two woofers and weighs in at 3.75 pounds. It's about 13.5 inches wide, 5.2 inches tall and 4 inches deep, so it's not a tiny speaker you'll just throw in your bag, but it still feels easy to tote around thanks to its attached handle.
The other trick that the PartyStudio and PartyKeys have is on the software side. Using a companion app, multiple people can play along with a song. The light-up keyboard can show you what to play, and if you have multiple people playing each keyboard can display compli
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