The Consumer Electronics Show, known as CES, is the premier annual event for consumer brands unveiling new products. The sheer size of the event, taking place January 5-10 in Las Vegas, is difficult to comprehend, as is the Width of the products represented there. Smart home technology is such a big part of the pie that this year it has its own section of the event at The Venetian.
In a sense, when we talk about what we hope to see at CES, we are actually saying what we hope to see at CES next year, because most of the things at CES aren't quite ready for the mass market yet. While I've gotten a first look at what many companies will be releasing for CES in 2025, there are still a few types of products that I really hope to see more of.
More types of sensors for better automation
Sensors are an important part of a smart home toolbox and serve as triggers for various actions. Their usefulness depends on two factors: that they work reliably and that the automation software offers enough flexibility in use. There is still a lot of room for improvement in both factors.
There are many brands that offer sensors with poor reliability – especially those that measure water and temperature. So, in general, I would like to see more big brands in this space releasing basic sensors (motion, light, occupancy, temperature and water) that you can trust.
Aside from improving what we already have, there are some newer areas that smart sensors would like to explore. Given the explosion of smart lights we're expecting at CES, I'd like to see better and more sensitive light sensors that can detect a color change – I dream of being able to run automation where my robot mop is triggered by a sensor detecting that For example, the white tiles are no longer white due to dirt. I would also like to have sensors that compare indoor and outdoor air quality with more detailed information about where air problems are coming from, and weight sensors that can run automations based on weight change – for example, a sensor for food and water dishes that I have be able to tell how much my dog ate and drank today.
We already know that the most trusted name in sensors, Aqara, is rumored to be releasing a new presence sensor. As exciting as this is, I'd like to see more sensors from them – ones that push into new areas of imaging, like I mentioned above.
Important improvements in vacuum and mowing robots, please
This year I played with tons of vacuum cleaners, a few lawn mowers, and even a few personal robots like the Enabot. I assume that this year, as in previous years, we will see great progress in robot vacuum cleaners. I expect the suction power to be absurdly high and the robots to develop completely new capabilities. We had a stair-climbing robot last year, so I expect we'll see more robots with this kind of dexterity soon. Switchbot started toying with the idea of a robot vacuum cleaner as a household butler that transports water from the source to humidifiers, and I expect the company will continue to expand on this idea. If the robot can move water, what else can it move for you?
What I would like to see with robot vacuum cleaners is consistency in high-end models – by now they should all have a compartment for cleaning fluid on board the charging station, and they should all have the option to be controlled via remote control in the charging station app .
I would like to see robotic vacuum cleaner assistants disappear completely: they are unhelpful, uncultured, and just another unwanted voice in my house. Instead, I would like to see robot vacuum cleaners be better integrated into existing voice assistants.
I would also like to see robot vacuums take on baseboards. I'm sure this seems small, but brands obsess over how close their robots get to the wall and yet ignore the baseboards, which remain dirty and ignored. Narwal has started to address this problem, albeit in the simplest way possible, by attaching a muff to the robot that sweeps the baseboard, but that's not enough.
I expect we'll see a lot of robotic lawn mowers this year, which is exciting. I expect most mowers, like the Yarbo and Mowrator, will also do “more,” including collecting and dumping leaves. What I'm hoping for is more stability in mid-sized models, with stronger wheels that can easily handle slopes and hills, but with a tighter turning radius that won't tear up your lawn. I would like to see a fleet of small robot lawnmowers that are perfect for small lawns and can be sold at tiny prices. I wouldn't want more lawn prints that allow motifs to be mowed into the lawn. Although it sounded exciting, in practice it turned out to be pretty silly.
Will we finally get our personal robots this year?
Remember Samsung's Ballie? I would like this to be the year that real personal robots make it to the consumer market in a real way. So far I'm unimpressed with the ones I've tried. I have an Enabot that is supposed to follow my dog, but so far it keeps running into my washing machine. Personal robots don't have to do everything yet, but I really believe that these robots could provide emotional support and light physical assistance with household chores or technical tasks. But for this to succeed, a brand must (please) already bring a good product onto the market.
Better smart lighting throughout your home
In the last year, smart home technology has deeply infiltrated the new construction and renovation market. It's not enough to have a smart bulb or a lamp on a smart outlet, now everything from recessed lights to closet lights to permanent outdoor lights are smart. I hope the renovation market continues to grow, which benefits tenants.
I've noticed a massive uptick in entertainment lighting in the last year – floor lamps that can be any color, bendable foam lights that resemble neon lights, and even light curtains. After falling in love with my glowing Nanoleaf lights, I'd love to see more discoveries in indoor and office smart LED lights that look like they're for adults, not just kids. There's really no reason anymore that the lighting in your home can only be set to white, and when all of your lights can work together and create changing color schemes, your whole house becomes one big light therapy factory.
Where else can smart locks go?
Every time I think the smart locks have all been figured out, something new comes out that improves things yet again. The first facial recognition locks came out this year, then the palm pressure lock, and now it looks like Eufy is announcing a palm recognition lock. It feels like Star Trek.
My biggest wish for smart locks is that they work better when retrofitting older homes, which arguably need the most security. There are still many types of older locks that offer few or no smart lock upgrade options. I'd also like to see some smart locks that look like many of our homes: stately and sophisticated rather than cold and modern.
Better and safer smart cameras
This year, smart cameras have adopted a few trends: 24/7 continuous recording that's more informative than the clips we're used to. We also saw an explosion of off-grid cameras that worked well and only required solar power. The downside to these cameras is the amount of data they consume since they are not connected to WiFi.
I would like to see better compression of this video on off-grid cameras to make them more usable. I would also like to see the cameras become smaller and less visible. At the moment I'm only interested in PTZ (Point, Tilt, Zoom) cameras and wonder why anyone would buy anything else, so I would also like to see fewer static angle cameras. Ultimately, I hope to see better security around these cameras and real ways to secure the feeds.
Standards, hubs and automation
I don't actually want to, but I expect that many brands will try to relaunch their hubs as multi-hubs – that is, as platforms that not only control that brand's devices, but also allow them to integrate and interact with them All your devices allow devices from different brands.
Most people use Google, Apple or Amazon for this. Personally, I would prefer brands to focus on exceptional integration with existing large multi-hubs. Of course, I would see Matter – the connection standard that was supposed to revolutionize the smart home by doing away with all your smart hubs and apps so you only needed one – as a connection method in all new devices. The material took a long time to introduce, but I still believe in its potential.
I would also like to see automation become easier with our assistants and multi-hubs. While AI has started to play a role (Google recently added Gemini as a way to help with automation, but I found it cumbersome), automation remains pretty monotonous for most users. It's often said, “If this happens, do that.” It's difficult to run multi-step automations or dependent automations with more than one condition. I would like to see this change.