CES 2026 Day 0 Round-Up: There's A Whole Lot And We Haven't Even Started

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, is always a great way to kick off the new year, and this year looks to be no exception. I'm here on the ground tracking down the coolest tech I can find during my short stay here. Speaking of which, hat tip to Qualcomm, who is sponsoring my travel, lodgings, and food for my time here.

CES doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but I've already started scoping out cool stuff. So far, I've seen awesome accessories, new smartphones, and a large power station that could keep the lights on. But sorting out the really cool stuff from the rest of it is always a challenge. Fortunately, I have a number of really cool companies lined up to meet this year, so we're going to get started right away. Here's all the cool stuff I saw on the first media day, here in Las Vegas.

Continuing the trends of reporting on updates to my previous reviews, and products that have already been announced, Amazfit has a new version of the Active 2 that I wrote about almost a year ago. The one is called the Amazfit Max — Max because it's supposed to last for up to 24 days on a single charge. I've actually been wearing the watch for three weeks at this point (it officially launched on December 30th), and I've only had to charge it once. Technically, I charged it twice because I topped it off before I came to Las Vegas, but I realistically didn't have to.

The 24-day estimate seems high, but that's probably because I'm wearing it with the always-on display turned on. Naturally, that drastically cuts down on the battery life. I've been getting around 10 days or so on a charge, which is still very good.

The Amazfit Active series of watches also comes with Zepp Flow, Amazfit's AI assistant on board. It's a lot better than any assistant not named Gemini has any right to be. It's pretty fast and performs tasks well. It's honestly my favorite part of the watch — along with the battery life that is.

Earlier this year, Core Devices reemerged onto the scene with all new Pebble time pieces. At CES, the company is refreshing another of its older designs and introducing something new to the fold. First comes the Pebble Round 2. This is a refresh on the old Pebble Time Round, but with a much larger and higher-resolution screen that just looks better. The old round watch lacked a touch screen and had bezels you could drive a car around. The new version fixes all of that and adds in 10-14 days of battery life besides.

The other device is the Index 01, which is a very simple device. It's a ring with a button on it that you can talk into to record notes. What happens after that depends on how creative you want to get. On its face, it can simply be a memory recorder for taking in ideas. It can record for up to 2 minutes at a time and transfer the audio to the Pebble app. But there are some minor AI elements as well. For example, you can tell the Index to "remind me in 30 minutes to pick up milk from the store," and the Pebble app will transcribe that text and create a reminder in your designated reminders app — mine is Google Tasks, but you can use any app you want. You can also ask the ring what the weather is like outside, and it will return the result to you on your Pebble Watch. This is potentially very interesting and useful, but of course, I'll need a full review period to test things out. For the moment, I like the idea.

You know Clicks from the various looks we've taken at the company over the past two years since its debut at CES 2024. TL;DR: The company makes phone cases with physical keyboards that let you get that Blackberry experience on your Apple, Samsung, Motorola, or Google phone. Now, Clicks is going in a different, but very on-brand direction.

First up is the Clicks Power Keyboard, which is a MagSafe keyboard that connects to any phone with a MagSafe or Qi2 ring of magnets (including a case). Plus, it works in both landscape and portrait orientations, and it can even serve as a remote keyboard for other Bluetooth devices, like your keyboard or PC.

But the real highlight of the show, or at least the device that really appeals to me, is the Clicks Communicator, which is an Android Phone with a physical keyboard that is designed as a communication-first device. Ok, legally no one is allowed to call it a BlackBerry reboot, but if the keyboard case fits, wear it.

This is a very big gamble for the startup, but I'm all in. As a dual-wielding phone user myself, I could see myself using this phone in between review devices as a daily driver, with my iPhone 17 Pro Max in my other pocket. The two seem like a particularly powerful pair. We'll have to see, once I get my hands on it, if it'll work out that way, or if it's doomed to follow its muse into obscurity.

Nextbase has long been a leader in dash cams around the world, and now it's partnering up with an automotive manufacturer to get even more reach. The company entered an agreement with Mitsubishi to allow "buyers of new Mitsubishi vehicles to add Nextbase dash cams as part of their purchasing journey," according to the press release. TL;DR: When you buy a Mitsubishi, you'll have the option to add a fully installed dash cam to your car.

That's a big deal for Nextbase because adding a dashcam at the point of sale removes a lot of barriers for entry from the general dash cam space. First, you can have it fully installed, which, having installed several dash cams in my life, is not a small thing. Plus, adding a premium dashcam to your car can be expensive — Nextbase has dash cams for as much as $500, which is a lot on its own. Added to the price of a car, however, it makes the purchase price seem much smaller.

Suddenly, you're not choosing between zero dollars and five hundred dollars, but you're deciding between $30,000 and $30,500 dollars (or whatever the price is at the dealership), which is not nearly as big a debate. Overall, I love this move, and I'm excited for Mitsubishi owners — get those dash cams, y'all!

You may recall the EcoFlow whole home battery backup system I had installed in my home two years ago. That was the Delta Pro Ultra and the Smart Home Panel 2, which have been keeping the lights on in my home during that time. Well, EcoFlow is at it again, this time with the Delta Pro Ultra X. This was actually launched back in October, but EcoFlow is on the CES show floor with it. It's more powerful than its predecessor, and it's also expandable.

The big news, however, comes with the Smart Home Panel 3. The Smart Home Panel 2 is not compatible with the DPUX, which is a bummer, but that's not the only flaw it fixes. You'll recall, I had to have the Smart Home Panel 2 installed as a subpanel to my main electrical board because it only had 12 circuits, which isn't enough for a modern home. The Smart Panel 3 now has 32 circuits and is capable of powering an entire home, eliminating that pretty major pain point.

I will have the Smart Panel 3 and DPUX installed in my home in the coming weeks, so I may be able to write more about it then, but for now, it's good to see EcoFlow addressing some of my earlier criticisms.