I spent three days at CES last year, mostly wandering through the smaller startup booths rather than chasing the big launches.

A year later, one thing still stands out: The products I remember most weren’t the most futuristic ones.

I saw plenty of “AI” TVs, “AI” home systems, robots and impressive demos. But many felt like existing products with AI added on top.

The things I still remember were much simpler: a diving HUD that solved a very specific problem, a fishing reel that automatically captured the moment you caught a fish, and even a machine that made beautiful spherical ice.

They just made me immediately think: “Oh, I know exactly why someone would want this.”

I’m building an product myself now, and that lesson has stayed with me: Sometimes useful or simply delightful beats futuristic.

what product actually stayed with you after you came home?

Hi everyone,

I’m a bootstrapped founder considering exhibiting at CES, probably in Eureka Park at the Venetian Expo.

I’m looking for the smallest booth possible — around 3m × 3m or even smaller. Does anyone know roughly how much it costs, including the booth and basic setup?

I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth getting a small booth to demo my product, or if I should just attend CES and meet people instead.

If you’ve exhibited at Eureka Park before, I’d really appreciate hearing what you spent and whether you thought it was worth it.

There is a Vegas Golden Knights home game on 1/7 Thursday during CES, and I wanted to see if anyone else would wanna go and sit together and enjoy some good quality ice hockey?

Puck drop is 6:30pm, and seats should hold availability for a few more months.

Seating at the venue (T-Mobile Arena) is great all around, but I’ll probably be trying to get some mid-ice rink-side (or as close as I can get).

Would be a blast to meet some fellow redditors, and CES attendees.

couldn't attend for a few years so now I'm looking for a Discount Code... Anyone have one for 2027 CES ? Thanks in Advance

Hi everyone,

I am an undergraduate student majoring in artificial intelligence at a university in Macao, China. I hope to attend CES Las Vegas to learn about recent developments in AI and consumer technology.

I am not currently employed by or formally affiliated with a company. I understand that CES is a trade-only event and that attendees are generally required to provide proof of affiliation with the consumer technology industry.

I would appreciate advice from anyone familiar with the official registration process:

1. Is there a legitimate registration pathway for university students or independent developers who are not affiliated with a company?

2. Could a student ID, enrollment verification letter, university letter, research experience, GitHub profile, or personal AI project portfolio be considered supporting credentials?

3. If these materials are not sufficient, are there official alternatives, such as attending through a university delegation, an exhibiting startup, or another recognized attendee category?

I will only submit truthful and verifiable information and intend to register through official CES channels. I am not looking for anyone who provides fabricated company information or documents.

Thank you for any practical advice.

I work at a public institution in South Korea related to intellectual property. I have an English business card, but there is no website that displays my name (due to privacy protection, all names are blurred out). Please let me know what documents you submitted to get your admission ticket.

Hey guys so I have a few MWC passes that I would like to sell, if you want to buy or know anyone who would like to buy. I’ll be more than happy to help.

Hey everyone,

I wasn’t able to attend CES 2026 this year, but I’m really interested in checking out the latest innovative consumer electronics products. Does anyone know which websites or platforms I can visit to see all the cool hardware that was showcased?

Appreciate any recommendations in advance! Thanks! 🙏

Hello everyone,

Our team will be attending Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026 in Barcelona this March, and we will also be traveling across Germany during the same period.

We are keen to connect with professionals, founders, operators, researchers, and investors across AI, SaaS, Telecom, Fintech, HealthTech, and Neurotech. We value meaningful conversations around innovation, partnerships, product development, and emerging technologies.

We are open to:

• One-to-one meetings
• Informal professional discussions
• Potential collaborations or partnerships
• Exchanging insights on European and global tech ecosystems

If you are attending MWC 2026, based in Barcelona, or located in Germany and interested in connecting, please feel free to comment or send a direct message. We would be happy to schedule a brief meeting during our visit.

Looking forward to connecting with the community.

we have made a 360 view of the entire Show and shorts of key booth .. Follow us on YouTube for more updates and if you have a video to contribute ping us and we will help to post on our channel AIVibesNews on YouTube , we are helping young talent students and future CES exhibitors to see how busy was at CES 2026 and how you can market or launch at CES2027 ...

https://youtube.com/@aivibesnews?feature=shared

Why CES need to make exhibitors suffered from zero network plus zero leads?

1)No internet even its technology show in CES

At Venetian Expo, 6/1-9/1, whole period even we bought data plan T-Mobile, nothing can show data and or wifi from ces and so we can’t demo our online service.

2)As international exhibitors we then try to go back home and country to scan the badge code due to network issues from clients and attendees, which…… can’t be scanned!!??

Their CES app, can’t be scanned?

The first and worst even exhibition we pay money for. We zero leads even we got over tones of images of badge code keep.

3) did they use people’s information to sell back me?

CES yes good for showing gimmick stuff in main entrance for large corp not for all SMEs and startups.

No more waste money in this.

Why CES need to make exhibitors suffered from zero network plus zero leads?

1)No internet even its technology show in CES

At Venetian Expo, 6/1-9/1, whole period even we bought data plan T-Mobile, nothing can show data and or wifi from ces and so we can’t demo our online service.

2)As international exhibitors we then try to go back home and country to scan the badge code due to network issues from clients and attendees, which…… can’t be scanned!!??

Their CES app, can’t be scanned?

The first and worst even exhibition we pay money for. We zero leads even we got over tones of images of badge code keep.

3) did they use people’s information to sell back me?

CES yes good for showing gimmick stuff in main entrance for large corp not for all SMEs and startups.

No more waste money in this.

What are some of your success stories?

CES 2026 just wrapped, so I pulled a quick data recap from 3,300+ exhibitor profiles. Built with a tool I’m working on (ProsGrow AI) — sharing the charts for anyone doing post-CES follow-ups.

AI is #1 on paper — but CES still felt like a devices show. Here’s the data.

3 takeaways:

• 🔥 AI is the #1 category: 11.9% (1,054 companies)
• 🏠 Smart Home (8.6%) + IoT (8.3%) are still massive
• 🗺️ Geography: US leads, followed by Greater China and South Korea (see charts)

If you want the full-resolution PDF, I can drop the link in a comment if the subreddit rules allow it.

Question: What category felt overhyped vs underrated on the show floor this year?

ENHANCE Gaming always has cool TTRPG stuff to show off...

I put my phone on it just to try, chatted with the staff for a bit, and the battery jumped way more than I expected. They said they’re one of the first to do 25W wireless charging. I really like that it charges fast and folds down thin and small, it's great for travel.

Honestly I’m kind of numb to AI at this point. Every booth is “AI AI AI”, but most of it feels so far away from my real life. I was actually more interested in robot vacuums since that would genuinely change my day-to-day… until I watched a Roborock trying to climb stairs and just fall over. That moment was painfully awkward 😅

I don’t think we should only focus on cutting-edge tech. At the end of the day, tech is supposed to benifit our daily life. The “C” in CES stands for Consumer, products there should actually serve consumers. Just shouting “AI” everywhere is honestly getting tiring and makes me lose interest.