Best tech of CES 2025: Weird gadgets we kind of want, and wonderful ones we definitely do
Electrified spoons, solar-powered hats, robots galore and more -- this year's CES had it all.
Transparent TVs. Stair-climbing robot vacuums. Vacuums with robot arms. AI-powered everything. Just another January at CES, the consumer electronics show that used to be known as the Consumer Electronics Show. I'm attending in spirit, which is to say I'm armchair-quarterbacking this year's event — with ample help from the folks at Engadget, who have their boots on the Las Vegas ground. (If you want a flavor of what it's like to be there, check out their ongoing CES 2025 liveblog.)
As always, CES is home to a treasure trove of tech products — some of them cool, some "meh," some just plain bizarre. (I'll never forget the WheeMe rolling robotic back massager of a few years ago. Shockingly, that never made it to market.)
Below, I've rounded up the weirdest tech products of CES 2025 followed by some wonderful ones I'm genuinely excited about.
The weirdest tech products of CES 2025
EcoFlow Power Hat
Mad props to Engadget's Daniel Cooper for this opening line: "Another CES, another opportunity for the technology industry to lob a trebuchet's worth of molten lead at the last vestiges of my dignity."
How else to describe a product that's like Crocs for your head? The EcoFlow Power Hat is a fashion nightmare, something I wouldn't be caught dead wearing — unless I wanted to keep the sun off my face and the juice flowing to my phone.
Because, let's face it, your dome is the perfect place for solar panels, and the beach is typically bereft of AC outlets. The Power Hat sells for $129 and is available now (with a $40-off coupon!)
Kirin Electric Salt Spoon
There's no way to sugar-coat it: a low-sodium diet sucks. Technology to the rescue! The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon aims to make your food taste salty — without salt.
How? Oh, just a little zap of electricity applied to your tongue. From what I've read from folks who tested the product, it seems to actually work — though you have to hold the spoon with a kind of ham-fisted grip that doesn't sound too comfortable.
Of course, for anyone who's desperately missing the salt in their soup, so what? This could be a game-changer. Alas, the Kirin Electric Salt Spoon isn't currently (currently — get it?) available in the U.S.
Nutrix cortiSense
Turn your head and ... spit? In case you're not sure whether you're feeling stressed, this little gadget will tell you. It does so by analyzing cortisol levels in your saliva — and expects you to take the test four times per day. (My levels are rising just thinking about that.)
Look, I'm all for anything that helps me reduce my stress, but quantifying it is another matter. Although the tests are suitable for at-home use, Nutrix appears to have designs on businesses, the idea being to help combat workplace burnout. (Just a thought, here, employers: More time off?)
Read Engadget's spit take (eh? eh?) to learn more about the cortiSense.
Samsung Ballie
Originally unveiled at CES 2020, Ballie (rhymes with "WALL-E", hint-hint) is Samsung's rolling AI-powered robot that, um, does stuff. What stuff? Unclear. It incorporates both a camera and a projector, the latter capable of showing movies — assuming it can find a suitable place to park itself. (Here's hoping you've got some empty wall space and plenty of room in front of it.)
The little 'bot can respond to voice commands, control smart-home products and so on — much like your phone or any number of other devices. One interesting accessibility feature is floor-projected "buttons" you'd step on to interact with something or make a selection.
Samsung hasn't announced pricing or a ship date (other than "sometime in 2025"), but it did demo the product at CES. Beyond "Aw, how cute!", it remains to be seen what value Ballie might actually bring to the home.
Spicerr
Measuring out a bunch of different spices can definitely slow down your recipe prep. Spicerr is an automated dispenser that holds six interchangeable spice capsules. With a few taps of its touchscreen, you could sprinkle, say, a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon or a tablespoon of paprika.
The Spicerr doesn't grind, it just dispenses. It relies on proprietary, sealed capsules; it doesn't appear you can refill them with your own spices. And if you frequently have to swap capsules in order to meet specific recipe needs, are you really saving any time?
Product pricing has yet to be announced, but the company plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign following CES. My guess is it'll cost somewhere in the hundreds of dollars, with spice capsules selling for around $15-20 apiece. I think I'll just use my measuring spoons, thanks.
Update, Jan. 9, 2025: According to a Spicerr representative, the device will sell for $129 during the campaign (including a 12-spice starter kit) and $159 after. Spice capsules will cost between $2.50 and $3.50 each and hold roughly 0.7 ounce. That's considerably less than you get in a typical container, but the rep points out that many spices expire before being fully used. The Spicerr capsules' sealed design ensures freshness for longer.
Swippit Hub
Ever wish you could drop your iPhone into something resembling a toaster and have it pop out with a fresh battery? That's the Swippitt Hub in a nutshell, but it doesn't replace the built-in battery (which would be impossible); it merely replaces the battery inside a special iPhone case.
Price for all this? The hub itself costs $450 and includes five batteries; the case will cost you another $120.
Hard pass. The hardest of passes. The case is bulky and ugly, and if I'm going to saddle my phone with something like that, I think I can manage swapping out batteries myself, thank you.
The wonderful tech products of CES 2025
Amazfit Active 2 smartwatch
Amazfit has an impressive track record of crafting robust smartwatches with affordable prices. So it is with the company's new Active 2.
Starting at $100, it features a 1.3-inch display in a stainless-steel case and comes with a ton of health/activity monitors: sleep, heart rate, auto-detection of over 25 exercises and more.
All this and a battery that's good for up to 10 days on a charge, according to Amazfit. The Active 2 is available for preorder now. Stay tuned for our hands-on review! In the meantime, check out Amazfit's other intriguing CES announcement, the V1tal. (It probably belongs in the "Weird tech" section.)
Circular Ring 2
To paraphrase Beyonce, if you like living, you should put a Ring 2 on it. Circular's new wearable offers not only the usual health-management features, but also ECG monitoring and FDA-cleared AFib detection — meaning it might just save your life.
And it starts with Circular's app, which can perform a ring size measurement right from your phone, thus ensuring you get the proper fit when ordering. That's pretty cool, and so is this: The Ring 2 can run for up to eight days on a charge.
Available in four finishes and priced at $380, the Ring 2 should ship by March of this year.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable
Do I need a laptop with a screen that can unfurl itself to become almost 50% taller? Probably not. Do I want a laptop that magically creates more viewable workspace for spreadsheets, Word documents, web pages and the like? Abso-freaking-lutely.
Unsurprisingly, you'll pay a hefty premium for this wizardry: The Rollable is expected to start at around $3,500 when it goes on sale later this year. Read more about this crazy concept made real.
Nuance Audio OTC Hearing Aid Glasses
If you wear glasses and need hearing aids, good news: Now there's a product that can improve your vision and hearing at the same time. Nuance Audio's eyeglasses are designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss; they use beam-forming technology to amplify conversations and reduce background noise — but you can also tweak the six embedded microphones so they amplify all sound.
Especially cool: When you take the glasses off, it disables most of the mics in order to preserve battery power (which is around eight hours, according to the company).
Alas, they're not yet available in the U.S., as the company is waiting on FDA approval. Until then, check out Apple AirPods Pro earbuds, which now offer impressive hearing-aid capabilities.
PocketBook InkPoster
I'm totally sold on the idea of an art TV, which doubles as a painting showcase when not being used for Netflix binges. However, they're expensive, their screens aren't exactly canvas-like and they have power cords that must be dealt with.
That's why I'm excited by PocketBook's new InkPoster lineup: framed color e-paper displays that run on battery. Expected to come in 13.3-, 28.5- and 31.5-inch sizes, they can show either curated artworks or your own digital photos. And PocketBook estimates you'll get up to a year on a charge, so plugging in a power cord should be only an annual chore.
There are many unanswered questions, including "when?" and "how much?", but I'm hoping this category catches on in a big way. Flawed though my existing art TV might be, I get a lot of joy from it. I want these things all over the house.
Related: The best art TVs for 2025
Shokz OpenFit 2
The original Shokz OpenFit made our list of the best open-ear headphones, so I'm jazzed to see (and hear) its successor.
The company had already crafted arguably the most comfortable headphones in this growing category; the OpenFit 2 aims to address the so-so sound quality (by including both a woofer and tweeter in each earpiece) and limited touch controls (by adding multifunction buttons).
Also on deck: Bluetooth 5.4, a big step up (and one that should address the audio/video lag issues I encountered in testing).
Available in black or beige and priced at $180, the Shokz OpenFit 2 is available for purchase immediately.
