What CES 2025 got right (and wrong)
It’s been fun reading everyone’s recaps from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year and hearing different perspectives on what worked and what didn’t. Some are saying CES is dead, while others say it’s back in full force and better than ever. We found it was somewhere in between.
Who knows how many actually attended (CTA, the group that organizes the event, says 140K+), but there were definitely a lot more people in our orbit there this year than years past. There seemed to be a big influx of hardware industry folks this year in general, many of whom we hadn’t seen in years or only met online. This super-charged what is already the best networking event of the year and more than paid for the trip. Choosing not to have a dedicated booth meant we got to maximize the amount of time we spent cruising the floors of the show, getting valuable face time with clients, and catching up with members new and old from the informal collective.
We hosted a happy hour at the Punk Rock Museum for members, clients, and friends.
While the networking and quality of people in attendance was top notch, the show was another story. Over at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), it seemed like exhibitors showed up riding last year’s AI wave. There were a handful of gigantic booths with nothing but slogans and videos espousing the future virtues of AI. Most perplexing is that many of those booths were for pure software solutions, without a single consumer electronics product on display. It was very odd to see at the largest consumer electronics show in the world.
This booth was just a bunch of screens with graphics of server racks. Very strange.
Overall, neither Sam or I found much at the LVCC that caught our attention, and we left with what can only be described as buyers remorse for the day we lost trekking all the way over there and back. Note to self for 2026: Spend no more than half a day at LVCC.
The Venetian Expo Floor, where the exciting startups usually are, was better, but still felt a bit flat this year with lots of copycats and products capitalizing on tech trends from 1 or 2 years ago (smart rings, anyone?). Eureka Park, where the really-early-stage companies and international startups were, was super fun, chaotic, and weird (as always). South Korea had the biggest footprint of all the “international villages” in Eureka Park this year, but we saw more communities, countries, cities, and states in general with big booths populated by local startups. We were particularly happy to see the state of Indiana showing off their homegrown companies, like our client Echotec. Hopefully this is the start of a trend where communities pool resources to showcase their companies and inventors at the show.
Our friends at Jellop gave us a little corner in their booth right at the entrance of Eureka Park.
Before we get too far into 2025, we want to share some of the trends, products, and brands that stood out to us at CES this year. As I alluded to earlier, this is going to be very heavy on what we saw at the Venetian Expo Floor and Eureka Park. If you’re considering going to CES in 2026, we highly recommend focusing the bulk of your time and attention there versus the Convention Center.
Hot Take #1: Health and wellness dominated this year
This has been a rapidly growing category in hardware for years, as we’ve witnessed firsthand working with clients like Eight Sleep and Aescape. But it dominated the show this year, for better or for worse. There were collagen masks that make you look like Michael Myers while you rejuvenate your skin, body shapers that shake your fat away, and soooo many smart rings.
This technology has officially been commoditized. If you’ve been to CES before, you know that massage chairs are a staple feature of the floor. But this year was ridiculous. I swear 20% of the Venetian Expo was dedicated just to massage chair companies. Despite what seemed like one massage chair per CES attendee, I still couldn’t get a massage for myself. Maybe next year.
Massage chairs of the future.
Something that was interesting to see in this category was the emergence of sexual wellness as a major category of the show. Long hand for “sex toys,” sexual wellness has been gaining momentum at CES for a few years. I remember back in 2020 when there was a huge uproar over a single vibrator startup being at the show. Now companies like Sensera are winning best of show awards for their connected, AI-powered (whatever that means) devices.
Hot Take #2: Accessibility is growing in reach and importance
For all the knockoffs, copycats, and products that make you wonder “if you can, should you?”, there are always a few bright spots in the show that remind you of the transformative potential of technology. This year, we were really happy to see more focus on accessibility and products that help people with disabilities live healthier, happier, more independent lives.
Cosmo Robotics had one of my favorite booths of the show, where they were demoing their powered exoskeletons used in rehabilitation for children and adults. Really powerful stuff to see in person at the show. We enjoyed LG’s Design for All booth as well. Sam and I spent a bunch of time talking with their team about the line of accessible handles and accessories they’ve developed for their washers, refrigerators, and other appliances.
LG’s focus on accessibility was awesome to see.
It was really cool to see AARP’s Agetech Collaborative, which showcased a handful of startups including our friends Embrlabs. There was a bunch of cool technology in this booth, from pill-dispensing robots from Omcare to Mindmic’s technology that uses microphones in watches, phones, earbuds, etc. to track heart rate and monitor heart health.
Hot Take #3: Wonder (formerly BirdBuddy) stole the show with their booth.
The creators of BirdBuddy showed up in a big way at CES, now under the reimagined brand name of Wonder, and demoed their two new products: Petal, solar-powered cameras you can install throughout your garden to watch insects and plants, and Wonder Blocks, modular bug hotels and feeders for pollinators. To showcase these new products, Wonder designed what was hands-down the most beautiful booth of the show, truly inspiring wonder in me and Sam as we walked around it admiring all the little details.
Wonder built a garden in the middle of the expo.
It felt like we were in Honey I Shrunk the Kids and injected much-needed color into what is otherwise a very black, blue, and beige show. We absolutely loved their theme of bringing people closer to nature.
So much color (and cool products to boot).
Hot Take #4: Transportation tech focused more on what’s inside of the vehicle and less on the vehicle itself.
CES has become one of the biggest car shows in the country, but we found that much of the focus this year was more about the technology in the cars or used to make the cars versus. the cars themselves. There were numerous F1 cars on display for the sole purpose of showcasing simulation software, sensors, or innovations used to make them (like 3M showing off how their adhesives are used in cars and motorcycles).
AI even made it onto the cars.
This was particularly true with Oshkosh’s mail truck. It’s designed to effectively solve the unique problems faced by mail carriers operating these trucks every day — a classic example of form following function. It gets the job done and probably makes life easier for mail carriers, but the end result is a charmingly ugly vehicle (and a far cry from the flashy aesthetics that usually come with car expos).
Functional and duck-like mail trucks.
Hot take #5: AI companions and robots were everywhere, but nobody took the time to ask why.
Back on the topic of knockoffs and copycats: If there was a product category as prevalent (maybe even more so) than smart rings and massage chairs, it was robots of all shapes and sizes. There were dozens of brands hawking robotic pool cleaners and lawn mowers, our favorite being Yarbo’s modular yard maintenance line.
There were also countless companion robots that ranged from the cute and adorable, like Ropet, to the downright bizarre, like Mi-Mo’s part spider, part table robot that interacts with users using its “eyes,” “ears,” and “mouth”. While these products are fun to see and think about, we couldn’t help but wonder what they’re actually for, who’s going to buy them, and how (with so many copycats) any of these companies are going to compete. We’ll see how many come back for CES 2026.
Cool?
With that, we close the books on another CES feeling energized by all the new connections made at the show, but still wondering what the next big thing actually will be. Guess we’ll just have to come back in 2026 to find out. We’ll see you there.
informal is a freelance collective for the most talented independent professionals in hardware and hardtech. Whether you’re looking for a single contractor, a full-time employee, or an entire team of professionals to work on everything from product development to go-to-market, informal has the perfect collection of people for the job.