Mark your calendars. On Jan. 7, 2026, CNET Group will announce the most comprehensive and compelling class of official Best of CES award winners yet. 

In 2025, we came together for the first time as a family of tech media brands to announce 11 Best of CES winners, hand-selected by the journalists at CNET, PCMag, Mashable, ZDNET and Lifehacker. Having discovered many fascinating new products at last January’s show, we’re going even bigger next year to bring the Best of CES 2026, presented by the CNET Group in partnership with the Consumer Technology Association. 

Next month, we’ll collaborate with friends from Ziff Davis brands IGN and Everyday Health for the first time to help us announce 23 winners across as many categories, with multiple finalists in each category:

• Best Age Tech
• Best AI
• Best Audio
• Best Deep Computing Tech
• Best Energy Tech
• Best Future Tech
• Best Gaming
• Best Kitchen Tech
• Best Laptop
• Best Mobile
• Best Parent Tech
• Best Pet Tech
• Best Robot
• Best Smart Home Tech
• Best Startup
• Best Sustainability
• Best Transportation
• Best Travel Tech
• Best TV or Home Theater
• Best Weird Tech
• Best Wellness Tech
• Best Yard or Outdoor Tech

and… 

What to expect from CNET Group’s coverage

While the world recovers from New Year’s hangovers, 74 of our journalists, social media producers and video professionals will pack our bags for Las Vegas. We’ll spend the first weekend of January scouring the show before anyone else arrives. By the time CES opens on Jan. 6, 2026, you’ll feel like you’re there, too. Our live blogs, social media posts and video from the show will give you inside glimpses at never-before-seen tech. 

On Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at 8 a.m. PST, CNET Group will announce the official Best of CES 2026 finalists. You’ll be able to visit CNET to see them all and read highlights on each product. 

If you’re lucky enough to attend CES in person, we encourage you to visit the CTA Main Stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Main Hall at 4 p.m. PST to watch our Best of CES Awards show live. CNET Editor at Large Bridget Carey and PCMag Mobile Editor Iyaz Aktar will invite experts from across our brands to join them on stage to review highlights of the show and announce and congratulate our winners. At 6 p.m. PST, we’ll update our main article on CNET to announce 22 category winners and the Best Overall award. 

Don’t worry if you miss that announcement. We’ll work with our partners at the CTA and all our sites and platforms to shout the winners from the mountaintops.

How to submit your product for Best of CES consideration

We’d love to consider any product you think deserves recognition as a best-in-category at the show. We have some rules for participation, though. The product or service must be an exhibitor at CES 2026 and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Include a compelling new concept or idea
• Solve a major consumer problem
• Is new or a significant update to an existing product that sets a new bar in performance or quality

As in past years, we can’t promise to respond to every submission, and our journalists will make the final call on which products win and which do not. But we’re eager to hear your take. If you’d like to submit a product for consideration, use this submission form and make sure to get it to us by Jan. 1.