In Las Vegas this week The Consumer Electronics Show once again offered more than just new gizmos and gadgets.
More importantly, the event provided our team a preview of the path forward in Smart Home Technologies… highlighting the trends that will influence our clients’ research and development direction for new products and technology offerings.
This year’s standout theme focused on “friction reduction”.
Hands-free access, automated comfort, and health-forward features – all integrated into systems increasingly meant to pair together – to leverage existing Apple, Google, and Amazon’s smart home interfaces.
Smart Locks Offer the Latest in Intrusion Detection and Convenience
Aqara’s newest lock propels “hands-free” convenience beyond traditional proximity targets… leveraging Ultra-Wideband (UWB)technology for precise location and integrated trajectory awareness. In fact, the technology promises to determine the difference between approaching the door versus walking past it… offering multiple access options including fingerprint, passcode, NFC and voice, as well as app remote access.
One of the most common adoption barriers in traditional smart locks is battery maintenance. We appreciated this innovative technology that actually harvests ambient light – even in low-light or indirect-light conditions – designed to reduce “battery anxiety”. Offering improved peace-of-mind, the smart lock layers 3D facial recognition with liveness detection, together with an AI-driven fingerprint sensor.
The device unlocks extremely fast… while improving accuracy over time. With built-in Wi-Fi, voice assistant compatibility, the system was positioned as the state of the art “set it and forget it” home entry.
The V7 Max takes an even bolder leap forward: wireless optical charging designed to keep the lock powered continuously within range of a small plug-in transmitter… minimizing recharging and battery swaps altogether.
Beyond power, this is essentially a smart lock + video doorbell hybrid – pairing multiple biometric methods including palm vein recognition and facial mapping – with dual exterior cameras and touchscreens for inside/outside visibility. What’s more, AI-based scenarios can help to anticipate deliveries, while preventing theft.
Appliances are Evolving from “Smart Controls” to Smart Decision Support
GE Profile Kitchen Assistant
The time has finally arrived to reframe the refrigerator as a planning and inventory hub. This innovative appliance’s core feature is a built-in barcode scanner designed to recognize menu products while automatically creating shareable grocery lists… with brand, flavor, and size support for in-store use or direct delivery integration.
FridgeFocus is a camera system designed to monitor real-time views of crisper drawers, while an on-board touchscreen experience supports recipe discovery – ingredient add-to-list actions – and hands-free list management designed to reduce meal planning fatigue while minimizing food spoilage.
Superheat™ H1 – Heat That Pays You Back
It’s hard to imagine that a 50-gallon electric water heater has been paired with a virtual currency mining rig. In fact, the appliance has been engineered to repurpose computing heat… rather than allow it to vent, as waste.
“Excess temperature” is converted into usable hot water via an external heat-exchange system… while software monitors performance and energy output. Superheat frames an important macro construction channel direction: distributing computing infrastructure across homes and apartments – beyond mining – and into future cloud/AI workload management.
Toilets Are Now Health and Wellness Destinations
VOVO Smart Toilet Neo TCB 090SA
The bathroom now can be considered a daily wellness checkpoint. A built-in urine analysis sensor allows this smart toilet to track hydration – and general wellness indicators – displaying results on a wall-mounted monitor. For living-in-place and safety use cases, the device monitors usage patterns and can alert family members if the toilet hasn’t been used for an extended period.
Kohler Health Dekoda
Kohler has launched a smart toilet accessory in form of a Wi-Fi-enabled camera device that mounts inside the rim of many standard toilets. Using a combination of optics, spectroscopy and sensors, the technology analyzes bowl contents and delivers insights on hydration, gut health indicators, and blood detection. We’d like to emphasize that the camera is angled downward – to monitor the bowl contents – not the user. And that data can be encrypted and tracked over time inside the companion app… with multi-user support.
Comfort and Ambiance Leaps Forward in the Home
Eve Thermostat
Eve’s thermostat introduction celebrates the “no-subscription, no-cloud-required” arrival. As such, the device operates locally while supporting on-device or app controls, schedules and automation… without cloud dependence. The thermostat integrates with other smart home platforms – and its presence-based automation and visual Eco indicator – reinforces the move towards more simplified comfort systems.
Govee Ceiling Light Ultra
Govee’s Ceiling Light Ultra treats lighting like a creative canvas, built around a high-density LED matrix with individually controlled LEDs to create layered motion, patterns, and animations. The product emphasizes both performance (high brightness, tunable white range, high color rendering) and accessibility, using AI-driven text prompts to generate lighting visuals. DaySync points to the growing focus on circadian-aligned ambiance: lighting that automatically shifts across the day to match how people live, work, and recover at home.
We’re looking forward to leading our client brands and hosting industry influencers next month at IBS/KBIS. Will you be receiving the maximum return for your investment at the show? And do you have a strong post-event plan? With unmatched editorial relationships – and best practice in sales & marketing success – we’re happy to schedule a meeting with you in Orlando. Send an email to sk@kleberandassociates.com to get a New Year conversation started with our team!
If you enjoyed this review, you may want to take a look
at our legacy CES coverage from the most recent two years.
Smart Home Innovations | Trade Show Highlights from CES 2025
CES 2024: Smart Home Trade Show Report
