The smart home is finally growing up. After years of promising the future and delivering frustration, 2026 is shaping up to be the year when connected home technology actually starts making sense for everyday people.
At CES 2026—the world’s largest consumer electronics show that drew 148,000 attendees and 4,100 exhibitors to Las Vegas this January—the smart home wasn’t about gimmicks. It was about devices that work together seamlessly, cost less than before, and solve real problems you actually have.
Here’s what’s changing in the smart home landscape this year, and what it means for anyone thinking about upgrading their living space.
The Matter Revolution Is Finally Delivering
Remember when buying a smart device meant checking if it worked with your specific ecosystem? Those days are ending. According to The Verge, the interoperability protocol Matter is now delivering on its promise of universal compatibility.
“Once companies could stop spending time and money on integrating with half a dozen platforms, they could focus on developing new features and lowering prices,” notes Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge’s smart home reviewer. The result? Better products at more accessible price points across the board.
This matters because you no longer need to choose between Apple HomeKit, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa when buying smart devices. A Matter-compatible product works with all of them—and most new smart home devices announced at CES 2026 support the standard.
Robot Vacuums That Actually Climb Stairs
The Roborock Saros Rover might be the most impressive robot vacuum ever created. Unlike traditional robot vacuums that need to be manually moved between floors, the Saros Rover has wheel-legs that unfold when it encounters stairs.
“Imagine a person crouching, then straightening their legs to stand tall; this is what the Saros Rover looks like when its legs raise its body almost a foot off the ground,” reports ZDNET.
The robot can navigate up and down staircases, stopping at each step to clean it. It can even tilt, crouch, and hop as needed to avoid obstacles. While Roborock hasn’t announced pricing yet, the technology represents a significant leap forward for home cleaning automation.
Not to be outdone, the Narwal Flow 2 brings a different kind of intelligence. With 30,000Pa of suction power, this robot is smart enough to recognize objects on your floor and remind you of misplaced items. It uses AI to adjust cleaning behavior automatically—like decreasing noise when cleaning near a crib. The Flow 2 is expected to launch in April 2026 at approximately $1,500.
Smart Locks Get Wireless Charging (Yes, Really)
One of the most innovative products at CES 2026 wasn’t a flashy screen or robot—it was a smart lock that never needs its battery replaced or recharged.
The Lockin Veno Pro uses AuraCharge technology: an external device you plug in about four meters away that shoots an invisible light beam to continuously power your lock’s battery. According to Gizmodo, the Veno Pro is expected to retail around $350 when it launches this year.
For those wanting more features, the Lockin V7 Max includes palm vein scanning, facial recognition, and indoor/outdoor touchscreens with video cameras—though it’s expected to cost upward of $1,000.
Meanwhile, the Aqara Smart Lock U400 offers UWB (ultra-wideband) technology that automatically unlocks when you approach from outside—with sensors smart enough to know the difference between walking toward your door and walking past it. At $270, it also supports Apple Home Key and fingerprint recognition.
IKEA Makes Smart Homes Affordable
Perhaps the most significant development for everyday consumers is IKEA’s aggressive push into smart home territory. The furniture giant announced it’s transitioning its entire smart home line to Matter over Thread—the wireless protocol that lets devices form a mesh network independent of your home Wi-Fi.
The standout product is the Varmblixt, a pendant lamp that brings color-changing lighting to the masses. Out of the box, it comes with a paired remote to control 12 preset colors and adjustable white warmth. Connect it to IKEA’s HomeSmart app or any Matter controller, and you unlock full color customization and integration with other smart home devices.
The Varmblixt costs $99.99 and launches in April 2026—a fraction of what comparable smart lights from premium brands cost.
Safety Innovations That Actually Matter
Beyond convenience, smart home technology is making real progress on safety—particularly for older adults. According to the CDC, there are approximately 3 million emergency room visits annually due to older individuals falling, making falls the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries and responsible for 83% of hip fracture deaths.
New presence sensors like the Aqara Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400 can track up to 10 people simultaneously and trigger automations based on whether someone stands, sits, or lies down. This technology enables alerts if an elderly family member falls or remains immobile for too long—without requiring cameras that many find intrusive.
“For falls and presence detection, I saw some elegant solutions using radar instead of cameras,” technology consultant Ryan Herd told Forbes. “It’s non-intrusive, relatively small, and respects privacy while still delivering meaningful insights.”
Cooktop safety is another area seeing innovation. Products like iGuard and CTS Smart Kitchen Sensor can sense unsafe conditions and prevent kitchen accidents before they become disasters—a particularly important feature given that cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires.
AI-Powered Appliances Get Practical
AI in the smart home is moving beyond voice assistants to genuinely useful applications. Samsung’s new refrigerator line can inventory the foods stored inside and provide customized recipe options based on what you actually have—a feature the industry has promised for years that’s finally becoming reality.
Google TV is introducing generative AI features that transform how you interact with your television. Beyond standard smart home control, your TV can now edit photos, create videos with AI effects, and generate sports briefs complete with a sportscaster voice. These features will roll out as free updates to TCL Google TVs initially.
The key distinction in 2026 is “cognitive AI”—on-device decision-making that doesn’t require uploading data to cloud servers. As Forbes notes, this technology is showing up in robotic lawn mowers, kitchen appliances, and wellness devices, enabling faster responses and better privacy.
Smart Lighting Gets Creative
Lighting remains one of the easiest entry points to smart home technology, and 2026 brings some genuinely innovative options.
The Govee Ceiling Light Ultra features a 616-pixel LED matrix under its cover that can display images, not just colors. At CES 2026, reviewers saw it display a rotating Earth animation—far more detailed than previous smart lights could achieve. The Matter-compatible light offers 5,000 lumens of brightness and full color customization.
Philips Hue announced Spatial Aware, a feature that uses your smartphone’s camera and LiDAR sensor to identify where Hue lights are positioned relative to each other. This enables scenes where colors spread naturally across a room—like a sunset where one light serves as the sun and surrounding lights display radiating shades of orange, pink, and red based on their actual position. The feature launches in spring 2026 for owners of the Philips Hue Bridge Pro.
For something more functional, the LIFX Smart Mirror combines a bathroom mirror with front and back LEDs. Four buttons control a built-in defogging feature and a “makeup check” mode that cycles through all daylight colors so you can see how you look throughout the day. Three buttons can also be configured to control other smart devices via Matter. Expect it to launch in Q2 for under $200.
Wellness Tech Enters the Home
The $6.3 trillion wellness industry is increasingly integrating with smart home technology. CES 2026 showcased several innovations that bring spa-level experiences home.
Ceragem’s AI Rejuvenation Shower System uses a smart mirror with near-infrared and spectral sensors to scan your face—assessing hydration, oil levels, elasticity, and pigmentation without contact. The AI then adjusts pH through electrolysis, softens water via ion exchange, and dispenses vitamins and skincare ingredients using NFC-tagged cartridges.
DeepScent won a CES Innovation Award for what it calls “the world’s first smart home platform that creates personalized, emotionally adaptive scent experiences using artificial intelligence.” The system integrates with smart lighting, audio, and environmental sensors to adjust scents dynamically—energizing mornings, enhancing gatherings, or creating calm depending on context.
Is a Smart Home Worth It in 2026?
The honest answer: it’s more worth it than ever, but still not for everyone.
The major frustrations of past years—devices that don’t work together, expensive ecosystems that lock you in, complicated setup processes—are genuinely being addressed. Matter compatibility means your investment in smart devices is more future-proof. Competition is driving prices down. And practical features like fall detection and cooktop safety offer real benefits beyond convenience.
According to the National Association of REALTORS, smart homes are often worth more than comparable homes without smart devices, and buyers are willing to pay more for smart features even if other areas are outdated.
That said, the technology still requires some comfort with setup and maintenance. Privacy considerations remain important—particularly as more devices include cameras and AI processing. And the upfront cost, while decreasing, still represents a significant investment.
As technology consultant Ryan Herd put it at CES: “As a technologist, it’s the Super Bowl. The question that arises though is simple: How does this actually help me?”
In 2026, smart home technology is finally starting to answer that question with practical solutions rather than just promises.
What to Buy Now vs. Wait
If you’re ready to start building a smarter home, here’s a practical buying guide based on CES 2026 announcements:
- Buy now: Matter-compatible smart plugs, lights, and sensors. IKEA’s new lineup offers excellent value when it launches in April.
- Buy now: The Aqara Smart Lock U400 at $270 offers excellent features for the price.
- Wait and see: Stair-climbing robot vacuums like the Roborock Saros Rover—impressive technology, but wait for real-world reviews and pricing.
- Worth the splurge: Presence sensors like the Aqara FP400 for homes with elderly family members—the safety benefits justify the investment.
- Skip for now: First-generation AI appliances—let the technology mature before investing thousands in smart refrigerators.
The smart home of 2026 isn’t about having the most connected house on the block. It’s about selectively adopting technology that solves real problems in your daily life—and for the first time, there are genuinely practical options to choose from.
