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HDMI 2.2 is here
During CES 2025, the HDMI Forum, an industry association that works to improve and standardize specifications for HDMI systems, announced that HDMI 2.2 is coming this year.
The new standard will bring faster bandwidth up to to 12K resolution and 96Gbps. On a more reachable level, its promised to enable 4K resolution up to 480 frames per second or 12K at 120 fps.
For more details check out our article on the announcement.
12K Resolution may soon be possible
HDMI Forum announces HDMI 2.2 specification, sporting 96Gbps of bandwidth. That’s double the bandwidth if HDMi 2.1, and it will be available in a new Ultra96 HDMI Cable later in 2025. Better yet, you can even expect up to 12K resolution at 120 frames per second, and 4K at 480 frames per second.
We’ll have more details soon and an in-depth breakdown as more information becomes available.
Did you see our Hisense exclusive?
We were the first to test the massive Hisense 136-inch MicroLED TV. It doesn’t need a backlight and delivers 10,000 nits of brightness, 95% BT.2020 color coverage and infinite contrast.
Read a full rundown of that TV in our hands (eyes?) on piece. The 136MX MicroLED sounds like a lot of TV. And while Hisense says it’s consumer-ready, we’re curious how much it’ll cost. Between the advanced tech and large screen, we expect it to be for consumers willing to part with large amounts of money.
More on Hisense’s 116-inch TV
The 116-inch Hisense Trichromatic LED TV has a peak brightness of 10,000 nits and boasts 97% BT.2020 color space coverage. It’s powered by Local RGB dimming technology and promises better power consumption than QD-OLED sets.
It sounds like a tremendous TV that we can’t wait to try. It’s the most exciting thing announced by Hisense, but the company has MiniLED on its radar, which could be a big deal for the next few years of TVs and other displays.
This Samsung smart mirror helps you pick skincare products
Samsung showed off many products at CES 2025, including TVs. While those can be exciting, the prototype MicroLED smart mirror caught our attention.
It scans your face and recommends the right skincare products for your needs. Our own Kate Kozuch tried it out, and the image scan found erythema (a.k.a. skin redness) around her cheeks. It also showed her brand-name products on the MicroLED display, detailing why she might want to add them to her skincare routine.
While it’s a prototype, so we won’t be getting this in our homes soon, it sounds like something to watch if it even makes its way to the market.
Hisense RGB local dimming announced
Hisense announced what could become a major breakthrough in the TV industry. The company’s RGB local dimming display technology could be the next big thing.
The company says its high-performance RGB-MiniLED display technology has solved the main issues with RGB displays.
TriChroma LED TV will use Hisense’s local RGB dimming technology. We’ll be sure to get our eyes on it when we can, but the company promises higher color purity, color gamut, and color volume that surpasses OLED displays. It’s also eco-friendly, using 20% less energy than QD-OLED displays.
We saw Hisense’s ‘consumer ready’ 136-inch MicroLED TV up close. Hisense’s new RGB local dimming technology for TVs surpasses QD-OLED in several categories, including color gamut and color precision, and it’s coming to the Hisense 116-inch TriChroma LED TV. It’s the world’s first RGB-MiniLED TV, which we’ll be sure to check out when we can.
Hisense is No. 1 brand in 87-inch and above TVs in the US
Hisense has quickly become a company offering some of the best TVs on the market. Apparently, the increase in quality has been lucrative for the company, as it revealed that it’s the number one brand for 87-inch and larger TVs in the U.S.
Of course, 87-inch and above TVs are a small niche compared to 55- and 65-inch TVs. Still, it’s good to see that Hisense’s work improving its screen technology and brand recognition has paid off.
We’ll see if the company can make waves and take over from Samsung, LG and others in the smaller display sizes, but it’s taking steps in the right direction.
Smart thermostats can be cheap
Ecobee announced a super-affordable smart thermostat that could put other brands on notice. The new model, the Smart Thermostat Essential, costs $129, the same price range as the regular Nest Thermostat. However, it is far more competitive than the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, which costs $249.
It’s not without tradeoffs to get the price down — it will be made of plastic, rather than nickel being a major one.
The new thermostat will launch in March at all major retailers. If you want to learn more, read our full piece explaining what the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Essential brings to the table.
Snapdragon X chip revealed at CES 2025
“The Snapdragon X Series portfolio offers the most powerful, intelligent, and power-efficient processors for Windows in their class, making Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon the ultimate choice for users who want a laptop that can do it all,” said Alex Katouzian, Group General Manager, Mobile, Compute, & XR (MCX) at Qualcomm.
That’s a bold claim, but it seems realistic, given Qualcomm’s success with Windows PCs through Copilot+. These AI PCs have problems, but from a pure performance perspective, they’re solid.
One issue with the Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite chips is the laptops’ price. With the new Snapdragon X chip, we could see AI PCs selling for as little as $600, which opens them up to far more people.
The weird side of CES 2025
Our Managing Editor, Kate Kozuch, joined the popular YouTube channel Cheddar to discuss some of the interesting health gadgets they’ve seen at CES 2025. And there are some weird ones, to say the least.
Perhaps this smart electric spoon is taking the cake for the health category’s weirdest (while still being useful) product. It makes food taste saltier, so you can eat healthier food that tastes how you like it. Check out Kate’s rundown of using it in our Kirin Electric Salt Spoon hands-on.
Follow us on TikTok
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We’re posting on TikTok about the best CES content, including our reaction to seeing LG push making a video call while driving. Follow along with our TikTok channel to get the CES experience like you’re there.
LG Gram AI
Of course, LG is working on its own chatbot. Called Gram AI, it works on LG devices and provides many of the standard AI features like scanning images and helping streamline workflows.
One thing’s for sure: LG set the tone for CES 2025 being all about AI. The consumer electronics company didn’t mention a single product without AI as a core part of the experience. Instead of focusing on specific TV models and how they’re better than in previous years, the company talked about AI in the TV. The same is true for cars, smart homes and every other category covered.
LG TV Voice ID is coming
LG introduced a new feature called Voice ID on its smart TVs, which lets you automatically switch to your profile and personalize the interface and picture settings using your voice. This is thanks to the Alpha 11 AI processor.
Essentially, the TV OS learns from the user and takes requests through voice. LG showed off an example of a user telling the TV the voice wasn’t clear, and the AI adjusted the sound to amplify the voice.
LG says it’ll create a next-generation AI TV experience, and the features it showed off could be just that.
Your car ‘sees’ you
LG also demonstrated a smart car that detected the driver’s emotions and even their vitals. It talked to the driver like a person, advising them to skip the coffee when their heart rate rose and even helped calm them down when they were stressed about a meeting.
An accident slowed down the driver, so the car suggested a new route. However, the route still wouldn’t have gotten him there on time, so the car patched him through to a video meeting.
The car will actually keep track of memories to show your journeys with a bunch of cameras. It showed an example of the driver looking at a mountain and the car, suggesting a memory of a trip to the mountain.
It seemed cool and kind of creepy. While driving with these cars seems like a game-changing experience, it also seems like we’re letting our car learn an awful lot about us.
LG and Microsoft partnership
LG announced an AI partnership with Microsoft, which will combine Microsoft’s AI solutions with LG’s popular consumer electronics. The goal is to enable more personalized experiences across LG’s appliances and consumer electronics. It’s all about predicting your needs and preferences.
While the firms didn’t discuss specifics, LG said it is confident that the partnership will elevate consumer experiences to new levels.
The company showed off a cute video of smart home devices talking to each other to ensure everything in the home runs smoothly. It even had a live demonstration of the smart home devices controlling the home automatically adjusted temperatures to accommodate the needs of family members.
It reviewed the schedule with the homeowner, including finding out that his mother had made a doctor’s appointment.
LG CES 2025 Press Conference is here
LG is holding a press event where the company is expected to announce all kinds of goodies. The company is known for its OLED TVs and other high-end devices.
The company already announced a battery-powered TV that doubles as a wireless smart display and we expect it to announce even more cool stuff along those lines during the event.
If you want to follow the event for yourself, you can watch at the YouTube link above, but we’ll let you know the biggest announcements as they happen right here.
Our global EIC is Mark Spoonauer is front and center for the LG CES 2025 press conference. Stay tuned for all the big news
Dave LeClair
Dave is following all of the CES happenings from frigid Connecticut.
Robots, robots and yet more robots
Watch Aria demonstrate her lifelike movements & features, showing how we create engaging robotic characters at #Realbotix.Learn more about us: https://t.co/vwGsLLJ6Ce🇨🇦 $XBOT 🇺🇸 $XBOTF$XBOT.V #realisticrobot #socialrobot #AIrobots #robotcompanion #AI #robots #TSXV #OTCQB pic.twitter.com/72FAcaWLtUDecember 30, 2024
As a journalist I get a lot of press releases every day and the number during CES goes up exponentially. I searched for CES Robots and found dozens just for robots, covering everything from companions to enterprise bots.
What’s different this year though is the move away from robot vacuums and lawnmowers, towards humanoid robots and “embodied AI”. These take tools like ChatGPT and give them a human-like face.
I have more than one email inviting me to “interview a robot”!
One of these came from ElliQ which builds a companion bot for older adults as a caregiving solution. It looks like a lamp with a neck and head piece. It has a light to highlight it is speaking and can converse with your loved one.
Realbotix invited me to review the “future of AI companionship” in the form of its hyperrealistic humanoid robots. These are full-bodied bots that connect with humans on a new level. The company aims to create androids “indistinguishable from human beings”.
Outside of companions and slightly creepy humanoids, we also have more lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners and delivery bots coming to market this year — all at CES.
Intel’s brand new Core Ultra chips just landed
Intel has just announced three brand new additions to its Core Ultra family at CES 2025. Now we have the 200U for budget PCs, the 200HX for high-end gaming systems and the 200H — which is supposed to sit somewhere between the two.
You can check out the full specs for every card that’s on the way here. But the simple matter is we’re looking at better performance and power efficiency, alongside improvements to neural processing (for AI) alongside better controls (and less antagonism with Windows 11) for gamers.
Samsung announces Vision AI at CES 2025
Samsung beat Apple to the punch when it came to smartphone AI as Galaxy AI was already up and running on the Galaxy S-series before Apple Intelligence appeared on the iPhone 16 family. Now, Samsung is expanding its AI offering outward to its video and audio products through what it calls Vision AI.
The company describes it as a platform for creating AI-powered screens that “enrich everyday life”, basically by taking the features from Galaxy AI on a smartphone and putting them onto a television. For example, the new tools will be able to translate foreign language TV shows and movies in real time or instantly serve up more information on whichever actor or location is on-screen. Imagine watching a cooking show and getting a list of the ingredients to a recipe pulled up and sent straight to your phone.
“Samsung sees TVs not as one-directional devices for passive consumption but as interactive, intelligent partners that adapt to your needs,” said SW Yong, President and Head of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics.
“With Samsung Vision AI, we’re reimagining what screens can do, connecting entertainment, personalization, and lifestyle solutions into one seamless experience to simplify your life.”
Follow us on TikTok!
One of the best ways to keep up to speed on all the announcements at CES this year is to follow us on TikTok. The Tom’s Guide team is on the show floor capturing all the latest news on the best gadgets and giving our thoughts on TikTok, so you can actually see how these products work in real life.
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Hisense debuts stunning 136-inch MicroLED TV
CES is always the best place for the latest TV tech and Chinese brand Hisense has got me very interested for what’s in store. The brand believes it can make MicroLED available for ordinary customers with its 136MX MicroLED TV — which measures in at 136-inches and boasts AI features courtesy of the company’s VIDAA smart TV platform.
The really interesting part will be the price, which Hisense has yet to divulge. That’s annoying, but the brand’s U8N MicroLED TV is currently our pick for the best TV you can buy in part because of its “wildly reasonable” price — $1,499 for a 65-inch model.
So I’ve got both my fingers crossed that CES 2025 gives us even more great TV tech at realistically affordable prices.
Forget folding phones — we now have a folding projector
The best foldable phones have become a firm favorite here at Tom’s Guide but we also have a soft spot for the best projectors — and I’ve just seen a gadget that blends them together. The Aurzen ZIP is an HD projector with a Z-style tri-folding design that means it shrinks down to slip easily into a pocket or bag.
The projector works with MagSafe stands and the company claims it boasts a 1.5-hour battery life on a single charge. However, to achieve that you’ll have to keep the brightness at 60 lumens rather than the max 100 lumens it can offer.
It charges via USB-C but will actually wirelessly mirror your phone for content so, providing you’re charged up, there’s no need to carry any extra wires. The Aurzen ZIP is being showcased at CES but is set to launch on Kickstarter “soon” with an anticipated March release date and $400 price.
A new ring to rule them all?
The Circular Ring 2 has emerged from the CES show floor to challenge the dominance of the Oura Ring 4 with two key features: on-finger ECG readings with FDA-cleared atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection and a potentially revolutionary new digital sizing process.
Circular doesn’t have the might of Oura or, for that matter, Samsung and its subscription-free Galaxy Ring but there’s certainly lots more room in the smart ring market for a new challenger. Circular is preparing to launch its redesigned Ring 2 through a crowd-funding campaign in mid-to-late January before shipping in March.
EXCLUSIVE: I was the first to see Hisense’s 136-inch ‘consumer-ready’ MicroLED TV
It’s been a busy day of TV news, but we’re excited to be the first to tell you about the Hisense 136MX MicroLED TV. I traveled to Hisense’s HQ in Qingdao, China last year to check it out ahead of CES, and the dazzling display definitely caught my attention. MicroLED is still very niche, but Hisense planting it’s flag in the space might help drive prices down and make the technology more mainstream in the years to come. Make sure you check it out in the YouTube video above, and stay tuned for more announcements on the Hisense front from CES 2025. — Kate Kozuch
WowMouse is the missing piece in spatial computing
You know me, and you’ve already read about how I think spatial computing needs a lot more time in the oven. One of the main obstacles is around the hardware — making it small enough on your face to be a pair of glasses while giving you that spatial gesture-based interaction.
Meta Orion does this with a wrist strap that can detect gestures, and WowMouse just replicated it using your smartwatch. Previously, it was just for Android, but at CES, the company announced it’s not available on iOS, Windows and Mac too. Just connect it and you can move your hand around as the on-screen cursor and pinch to click on things.
It’s cool in practice! But of course it feels a little gimmicky in use on a phone or laptop. The real future of this will be when spatial computing becomes more of a thing. Maybe they can talk to Xreal to get the ball rolling? — Jason England
These smart glasses have a tiny invisible display
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The Halliday Glasses are unlike any smart glasses I’ve seen before. It has a tiny display in the upper right corner of the frame that can help you do everything from real-time translations and play music to answer questions on the fly using what the company calls proactive AI.
Say you’re having a conversation with someone. The Halliday might factcheck that person in real time or answers that comes up using it’s near-eye display module that’s the equivalent of a 3.5-inch screen. You can even use these glasses as a teleprompter.
The Halliday glasses have built-in controls on the right arm, but you can also control them via a ring so you don’t have to constantly touch your face. At $499, these smart glasses are not cheap, but they have potential for peripheral vision intelligence. — Mark Spoonauer
Do you miss Guitar Hero? LiberLive’s got you covered!
I’ve played guitar since I was 12 years old, and loved Guitar Hero ever since too. However, I can freely admit that Guitar Hero ended up being a bit of a flash in the pan.
However, LiberLive C1 doesn’t just keep that trend going, it is a foldable and portable live music party all in one dynamic instrument.
The first-ever stringless smart guitar has all the chords up its neck, a huge speaker system including a 3-inch woofer, and a 6-hour battery life to play to your heart’s content. Plus, it can interact with your phone to create playable rhythm games to your favorite songs. — Jason England
This spoon makes food saltier with electricity! Here’s how…
No, you did read that correctly. Kirin’s salt spoon does something pretty incredible for those who are looking to reduce their salt consumption and improve their heart health.
Simply turn it on, choose your intensity, and the spoon puts a mild electrical current through the food to enhance the sodium particles and enhance the flavor. We’ll wait to test it properly, but this is a smart idea!
Say “hello” to Samsung’s new TV lineup
It’s CES, so of course Samsung has a slew of new TVs to launch! From its new OLED lineup to a bunch of 8K screens and even a Frame Pro that has turned even our most staunch hater into an appreciator, there’s a lot to love coming here.
Ever wanted a lamp that follows you around?
If the Pixar lamp mercilessly stomping the “i” wasn’t scary enough, the Mi-Mo AI Robot brings to life a relentless table lamp that will stop at nothing to pursue you.
I am of course being dramatic. This autonomous bot is actually pretty cool! Essentially, it’s the next step of smart home gadgetry as a small desk that can follow you round with a user-customizable AI model and interpret voice commands too. Currently, it’s available as part of a dev kit.
Welcome to CES Unveiled!
Brace yourself, things are going to get interesting! CES Unveiled is usually the home of some of the most interesting announcements you’ll find at the show. So lock in as we’ll bring you the most fascinating gear.
LG’s newest lifestyle TV has 4 hours of battery life and a collection of accessories
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Kate back again with what is already probably my favorite surprise reveal of CES 2025. This wild TV concept seen in the TikTok above is the StanbyME 2, and it’s basically a giant 27-inch portable tablet (except it’s called a TV — important difference, don’t get it wrong.) It comes with a rolling base, but then the screen itself detaches and can be accessories with different straps and stands for total portability. It has 4 hours of battery life (one more than the original StanbyME) and upgrades from a 1080p to a 1440p resolution. I know I say this about a lot of cool tech but I truly mean it when I say I need this. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s one of my favorite qualities of a gadget launched during the show. — Kate Kozuch
Want to go really big? Go Laser TV
We love OLED and QLED TVs, but if you want the biggest possible picture you’ve got to check out the Hisense L9Q. This laser projector will be available alongside five differently sized Ambient Light Rejection (ALR) screens: 100, 110, 120, 136 and 150 inches.
You also get a very impressive 5,000 lumens of brightness, and the L9Q has a built in 6.2.2 surround sound system that supports Dolby Atmos for a truly immersive home theater experience. — Mark Spoonauer
A robot vacuum that can pick up your socks
We’ve seen robot vacuums that can empty themselves and double as mops, but we haven’t seen anything like this. The Roborock Saros Z70 has a robotic arm that can detect lightweight obstacles like socks and move them out of the way on the fly.
Inside the body of the Saros Z70 is a telescoping robotic arm with a claw at the end. If the robot vac detects something like a sock, shoe or other small object, it can automatically extend its arm, pick up the object and move it to a specified location — like a laundry basket.
In a demo we saw the device wasn’t perfect, but this was a prototype. And note that the weight of the object is limited to 10.5 ounces. But this robot vac could make your life easier when it debuts in May or June. — Mark Spoonauer
Belkin’s nifty new charger gives your iPhone that classic point-and-click feel
I never thought a charger would be one of the coolest first announcements out of CES, but then again I’ve never seen one that’s such a seamless blend of design and utility. Belkin’s tage PowerGrip gives your iPhone that classic point-and-click feel, using the form factor of a DSLR camera to pack a MagSafe charger, phone stand, and wired charger in a tiny, nostalgia-fueled package.
Going on sale in May for a yet-undisclosed price, it’s compatible with the iPhone 12 or newer and comes in five beachy colors: powder blue, sandbox, fresh yellow, pepper and lavender. With it coming out just in time for graduation season, something tells me we’re going to be seeing this on a lot of the best iPhones come summer. — Alyse Stanley
Smart glasses may finally have their year
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Hey, it’s Kate Kozuch here! The hype around smart glasses at CES 2025 is off to a strong start. Although the Chamelo Aura color-changing tinted frames I showed off in the TikTok above have been out for a few months, they recieved a CES 2025 honoree recognition, and I understand the hype. With the press of a button, the tint changes between four total colors and they last for weeks on one charge. There’s going to be no shortage of smart glasses/wearable announcements this week, so be sure to stay tuned.
(Also, shamless plug, be sure you’re following Tom’s Guide on TikTok so you don’t miss any of our highlights from the show!) — Kate Kozuch
LG unveils G5 and M5 OLED TVs
A new year means a new Consumer ElectronicsShow, and we’re here to cover all the biggest announcements from CES 2025! We’re kicking off with big news from LG.
The company just announced two 4K OLED TVs for 2025: the G5 and the M5. The LG G5 is a follow-up to the G4, the brand’s impressive flagship OLED TV from last year, while the LG M5 (a successor to the M4 OLED) once again makes use of a future-facing wireless technology that puts all of the TV’s inputs on a separate box, transmitting audio and video to the M5’s OLED display with nary a hitch in signal.
And, should these two TVs live up to their pedigree, what an OLED display it will be. Last year’s G and M Series models leveraged LG’s Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology, which harnesses tiny lenses that refocus light for better overall brightness. It’s unclear whether the G5 and M5 will make use of this impressive OLED tech, but I’m sure hoping they will, as it’s a serious difference-maker.
Gamers will appreciate that both the G5 and the M5 come with a particularly compelling set of features that includes FreeSync Premium and G-Sync compatibility, but it’s the G5 that’ll catch serious gamers’ attention. Its native refresh rate is 165Hz — up from last year’s 144Hz spec. The M5 is still holding steady at 144Hz, however. — Michael Desjardin
