9 cool yet totally unnecessary gadgets at CES 2025


There are hundreds, if not thousands, of new gadgets unveiled throughout the yearly CES convention, but these nine devices caught our attention – for right and wrong reasons.

1) AI-powered earbuds

OSO’s earbuds aren’t your typical headphones. Not only are they powered by artificial intelligence, but they also win the award for the cutest earbuds.

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The cute headphones with the little emotive face act as your personal AI assistant. Powered by Laxis AI, your new artificial assistant can interact with you like Siri or Google Assistant does.

With a premium AI plan, your AI assistant can become personalized using OpenAI and Anthropic’s technology.

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Our creative producer, Josh Murphy, had the opportunity to interact with these AI earbuds.

He said that they can record conversations and phone calls and transcribe any chats. The earbud’s transcription tool can transcribe in 41 languages, including Mandarin and Hebrew.

While you can’t play movies on this tiny little screen yet, a representative did hint that this feature may be coming in the future.

These buds are $149 on Kickstarter but may cost upwards of $249.

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2) Human-centric car lighting

With the aim of improving driver safety, Hyundai’s new lighting concept changes how we interact with our vehicles.

Josh saw the vision firsthand and explained how the lighting system works.

He said that there’s a projection on the arm rest in the middle of the vehicle that shows you a number of small squares.

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By sliding your finger up and down or left to right you can change the lighting scheme of the entire vehicle.

Drivers can even upload images, and the technology will extract the colors from those images for use in their cars.

A Hyundai representative said that there’s no official release date for the lighting concept, but as we’re already seeing it now, the concept may become a reality sooner rather than later.

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3) The monitor that bends

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LG presents the world’s first bendable monitor, the UltraGear GX9 series, which can go from a flat screen to a 900r curvature with just a click of a button.

With the crispy, clean OLED monitor with 5K2K resolution, you’ll get roughly 10 million pixels and the ultimate resolution with this monitor.

As it is an OLED screen, the LG representative who Josh spoke to said that it's brilliant for gaming, photo editing, and video editing.

While the price and release date of this piece of tech remains a mystery, an LG representative said that this particular model has garnered a lot of attention and that LG’s bendable models have become a fan favorite.

Bendable gaming monitor
By Cybernews

4) Honda’s AI car

The Honda Zero Saloon features Honda’s proprietary Osmo OS system powered by AI. The car manufacturer says it will be the world’s first level three autonomous self-driving vehicle.

This vehicle will supposedly be completely autonomous, meaning no need for human intervention. Josh says it has plans to be the world’s first “eyes off” vehicle.

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While the Honda Zero Saloon will require the driver's focus and hands on the wheel, this will be the first car that needs little to no human interaction.

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At CES 2025, we caught a glimpse at the Honda SUV, which will be released in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, the Saloon will be released in the latter half of 2026.

The price of the vehicles remains a mystery.

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5) Transparent screen

LG is back at it again with more gadgets. This time it's the world’s first transparent TV screen.

The company’s Signature OLED T transparent TV is only available in the 77-inch size, an LG representative said at CES.

Josh got to see this TV firsthand, and what we see is a curtain that actually rolls down to reveal the transparent design.

The screen is wireless and features a connect box that will communicate with the TV. So anything you have plugged into that system will talk to the TV.

You can actually buy the LG Signature OLED T TV now, but it’ll cost you $60,000.

Transparent monitor CES 2025
By Cybernews
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6) The gaming console without joysticks

At CES 2025, Atari debuted its Gamestation Go console, similar to that of Nintendo’s Switch console – just without joysticks.

Instead, the console features a wheel controller, a paddle, a classic keypad, and shoulder buttons.

These controls will actually light up to let you know what you need to play with when playing certain games.

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The Gamestation Go has a 7-inch screen and stereo sound. The console also includes HDMI ports for connecting it to your TV and a Micro SD port for firmware updates.

Josh spoke to an Atari representative who said that new and old games like Centipede Recharge and other games from the Atari Recharge and other collections will be featured on the device.

If you’re into retro game consoles (without joysticks), you could buy this for the humble price of $149.99. However, it might just be another gimmick that collects dust.

The Gamestation Go should be released in quarter three of 2025.

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Image by Atari
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7) Exoskeleton for hikers

Whether you’re traversing Mount Everest or going on a simpler hike around the mountains, one thing’s for sure: you’re bound to get tired.

So, instead of stopping to take a break, why not just strap into your handy exoskeleton and let the tech do the work.

This is the Hypershell, a durable exoskeleton made for hikers. The Hypershell was created to support hikers by boosting their lower limb strength and reducing physical fatigue.

My colleague and avid hiker Konstancija Gasaityte tested the Hypershell PRO X out for herself.

Konstancija trying exoskeleton CES 2025
By Cybernews

Upon viewing, Konstancija was skeptical about the device, but once she tried it on, she soon felt the benefits. “I could instantly feel it supporting my lower back and knees,” she said.

Giving you a little push along the way, the Hypershell could support hikers when they’re in need. However, from this side of the pond, it seems like a novelty that could set you back a good $800 plus.

Hypershell exosceleton model
Image by Cybernews

8) Back-flipping four-legged robots

UniTree has designed a Quadruped dog-like robot that can traverse rugged terrain and even do back flips.

Variations of Unitree’s four-legged robotic friends have been used by the Chinese military, with some showing them carrying guns on their backs.

This use case makes the most sense, but I’m still unsure as to why you’d need a robot dog that can do backflips. Especially one that’s going to cost you thousands of bucks.

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9) AR glasses

The X1 by XREALis are immersive entertainment glasses that connect to your phone or laptop so that you can watch a movie, TV show, or live event through these glasses.

There are even 3D renderings that appear that show you how many players are on the football pitch, as well as other statistics.

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There’s even the ultra-wide screen function that can be used when you need a larger workspace or want to be fully immersed in the content you’re watching. XREAL may even be considering prescription glasses.

While augmented reality glasses can be fun, as demonstrated by the failings of the Apple Vision Pro headset, AR headsets and glasses aren’t exactly a necessity.

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