We live in an era where “dumb” appliances are going the way of physical media: directly into the landfill of history. Nowadays, if a new gadget isn’t smart and doesn’t do at least two unexpected things, it often doesn’t even get past the R&D stage. One of the knock-on effects of this phenomenon is that the devices and gadgets we see at shows like CES are getting increasingly bizarre, often laden with weird functionality that no one asked for. However, many of these devices never make it to market, so even if you were curious about them, you’ll never get the chance to buy them.
That said, there are a handful of these oddities that do sneak through and actually see a commercial release, and some of them are even genuinely useful (optimistically, we’d like to think there’s a correlation there). These are some of the craziest, most interesting, smart home gadgets to make it out of the lab and onto store shelves.
Smart fridges that do more than just chill
Smart fridges have been showing up at CES for so long they’ve become a cliche, but the good thing about tech cliches is they get iterated on over and over again and, inevitably, some of those iterations are actually convenient.
One of the coolest (pun intended) new features showing up in smart fridges is transparent touchscreens that let you peek inside without having to open the door, like LG’s ThinQ InstaView line, which CNET reviewed back in 2016. While at first glance this may seem like a pointless gimmick, not having to open the door to check what you need on your next grocery run can save significant power, and therefore money, over the lifetime of your fridge.
Another cool feature appearing increasingly in smart fridges is customizable temperature zones. These fridges, like this slick model from Fisher and Paykel, can not only keep foods at the perfect serving temperature but can also extend the lifespan of produce by keeping it in an ideal temperature range for preservation.
Self-cleaning litter boxes for feline friends
Hate scooping litter? Whisker’s Litter Robot enables you to ditch that chore
“The best part of owning a cat is cleaning the litter box,” said no-one, ever. Luckily, manufacturers have cottoned onto the fact that dealing with excrement is the worst part of owning a cat, and self-cleaning boxes are becoming more ubiquitous.
Models like this AI-powered box from CatGenie not only automatically flush away waste, they wash and dry litter granules, saving you money on cat litter over time. Other options, like PetSafe’s SmartSpin, go a step further and can track metrics about your cat’s health, like how often they’re using the box and their weight, and report directly to an app.
CNET’s Ry Crist also loved the Whisker Litter-Robot 4, praising the easy setup, helpful app and automatic sifting and cat sensing, though it doesn’t work well for cats that weigh less than three pounds and costs a princely $699.
Smart mirrors that do your makeup (and more)
By now, you’ve surely heard of exercise mirrors that can guide you through a workout and track your fitness progress, but what about one that can analyze your skincare routine and give you real-time tips on applying your makeup?
No longer exclusively the domain of dystopian science fiction, smart mirrors like Capstone’s Connected model not only feature a touchscreen and voice interface options, but can even download and run discreet apps over Wi-Fi.
You can overlay a YouTube makeup tutorial from your favorite MUA influencer while you listen to music and check your Insta, all from the comfort of your bathroom sink top. Instead of fumbling with your phone while you’re trying to apply mascara, the latest smart mirrors let you check the weather or traffic on your route to work completely hands-free.
Voice-activated coffee makers for the perfect brew
The K-Cafe Smart can do much more than your average single serve coffee maker.
But why stop at checking the weather? If you also want to start brewing your coffee while you’re in the midst of your morning bathroom routine, the latest smart coffee makers have you covered.
Take the Specialty Drip Coffee Maker from Café, which not only includes voice-to-brew technology but also packs in fun extra features like the ability to customize brew strength, a smart filtration system and an app that allows to start brewing coffee even when you’re on your way home.
If a truly high-end brew is more your speed, consider the Miele Milk Perfection 6360 smart espresso maker. While it’s a premium-priced, high-end appliance, the 6360 justifies its price tag with granular options like the ability to adjust brew strength either by the coarseness of the grind of the quantity of coffee used for a shot. It also lets you store up to eight of your favorite specialty drinks so you can brew them up with the touch of a single button and can also make hot water for teas at four different temperatures customized for different varieties of teas.
Naturally, it comes with app support for nearly all of its features, so you can savor a taste of Italian excellence without ever stooping to physically touching a coffee machine like a plebe.
Smart ovens that cook for you
The Breville Mini Smart Oven had my favorite display out of the bunch.
Not to be outdone by their cooling counterparts over on the smart fridge side, new smart ovens are bringing the heat by making almost every step of meal preparation easier. While they haven’t (yet) invented a model with arms that will pre-assemble the food for you, ovens like the Brava Smart Oven are like ten appliances packed into one compact countertop chassis.
They not only let you choose between baking, roasting, air-frying, toasting and a plethora of other options for applying heat to organic material, they can even guide you through recipes, one step at a time. The era of looking at your phone or (shudder to think) flipping through an actual hardcopy recipe book are over, and the Brava Smart Oven’s screen reader option means laudable accessibility for the blind or visually impaired. Also, similar to some smart fridge’s adjustable temperature zone, ovens like the Brava model let you cook multiple ingredients, each requiring different temps or cook times, all at the same time.
Robot vacuums bring us the Jetsons future we’ve always craved
So, remember how I said they haven’t invented a smart oven with arms yet? The same can’t be said for robot vacuums, where Roborock has brought the retro-future that children’s cartoons have been predicting for 60 years.
Meet the Saros Z70, a robot vacuum with a retractable five-axis mechanical arm. This OmniGrip arm can move small objects out of the vacuum’s way, pick up trash and debris and even lift items like slippers so that the vacuum can clean underneath them. When CNET saw the demo at CES 2025, we liked the feature so much that we gave it our Best of CES Award. It’s not available for sale yet, but by all indications, Roborock does plan on bringing it to market.
We also liked the Dreame X50 Ultra robot vacuum, which can deploy a pair of legs to clear small barriers up to 2.36 inches. Our team at CNET Lab is currently hard at work testing it on an obstacle course, but you can currently already buy it for $1,699 if you don’t want to wait.
Smart toilets that analyze your health
If you’re the sort of type-A personality that worries about wasted time on the toilet, fret no more. A smart and productive bathroom experience, only the purchase of a smart toilet, smart shower and smart sink away. Of these, the smart toilet is definitely the one that catches our attention.
The modern smart toilet doesn’t just include pedestrian features like self-cleaning; many, like the Numi from Kohler can connect to Alexa or other smart assistants to allow you to create the perfect, soothing environment or adjust settings like the strength of the built-in bidet wand. You can modify everything from the type of spray, water pressure and temperature and even pulse and oscillation strength for either front or rear washing.
If that’s not enough, the Numi includes hands-free lid and seat control, and even the ability to craft a customized light and soundscape with up to five presets, so each member of your household can make every trip to the bathroom an immersive escape from the vicissitudes of modern life.
The future of weird smart home appliances
A smart home isn’t complete without a smart kitchen. Our countertop appliances include the June Intelligent Oven, which can be controlled by Alexa. Also available is the Hestan Cue, a smart induction cooktop that teaches you how to cook,
The proliferation of weird gives us hope for the future of the smart home landscape which, if things go well, won’t fall victim to the kind of homogenization and zero-risk, all-vanilla strategies we see in some other sectors of tech. With the AI “renaissance” we’re currently in the grips of, and continuing developments in robotics, we’ve closer than ever to a world where we’re never required to go physically into the kitchen again.
In the meantime, we’re blessed by the fact that more and more of the strangest ideas ever to haunt the CES show floor are actually making it to store shelves, so get out there and buy weird.
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