CES, the yearly confab for tech heads in Las Vegas, has always been a must-attend for gadget geeks — and 2025 is no exception. There are robo-vacuums and robo-lawn mowers. There are superfast phone chargers that look like toasters. And of course, there are robot dogs — some of them furry and cuddly, and some with scary, rotating radar faces. Here’s a rundown of this week’s latest hits.
Barkeep, I’ll have a double
ADAM, a robot bartender with a striking resemblance to Baymax from Disney’s “Big Hero 6,” has been creating a stir this week as it uses squiggly-shaped arms to sling highballs to CES patrons.
Among ADAM’s customers this week have been Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang – who had fun mimicking the robot’s arm gestures in his trademark black leather jacket – and Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s “Mad Money.”
Cramer got served an unspecified electric-green concoction over ice, took a sip and responded with an approving, “Cheers! Thank you, ADAM!”
Debuted at CES 2024 by Richtech Robotics, ADAM can also brew coffee and even chat with customers – although at this stage its banter appears to be a bit stiffer than its arms.
“I’m ADAM, your friendly robot barista. Let’s caffeinate!” the robot greeted one patron. “Did you know I can make over 50 types of drinks?”
“Feeling adventurous? I can whip up something special for you,” ADAM told another. “Let me get that perfect brew for you.”
Flying off into the future
It’s time to load up the kids in the van and head out of the city – for a weekend in the family flying car.
China-based Xpeng AeroHT debuted a six-wheel minivan that acts as a “Land Aircraft Carrier” for a modular flying car that rolls out the back and can be loaded up and brought back home for recharging.
The three-axle vehicle, whose sharp-angled body looks like a boxier version of a Tesla Cybertruck – carries an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL – basically a massive, six-propeller drone that can carry a human passenger.
The 21st Century take on the Winnebago is set to retail at a cool $280,000. Since its first prototype flight in 2024, the company has received more than 2,000 pre-orders.
Riding on sunshine
The Aptera – an eye-catching, three-wheeled electric vehicle outfitted with Lamborghini-style scissor doors – uses the sun to provide a full charge with an advertised range of up to 40 miles.
With solar panels embedded across its teardrop-shaped body, the makers of the Aptera claim it can deliver 11,000 miles per year of free driving without the need to wait at a gas station or charging station – or worry about your environmental footprint, for that matter.
Nevertheless, the company was vague about commutes on cloudy days or on cutthroat expressways. Did we mention it looks really cool?
Barking up the right tree
Tombot Inc.’s hyper-realistic dog robots can manage an impressive puppy dog look – complete with a tilted head and perked-up ears. Designed to provide comfort for older adults with dementia while “reducing the need for psychotropic medications,” the Labrador Retriever lookalikes can wag their tails, pant, and make assorted cute puppy sounds, from whimpering to barking.
Still, the Tombots, which cost around $300, are truly lapdogs – as in, they can’t walk, jump or climb. So owners will have to pick them up and move them from the sofa to the couch to the bed and back. Work!
On the other end of the spectrum, Unitree’s Go2 robot dog can run, jump, climb the stairs and even do handstands and dance various jigs. The tricks are impressive, even for a dog bot with a suggested retail price of $1,600.
However, the AI-powered, shiny aluminum quadruped is anything but cuddy. While the Go2 seems to be pitched as a companion, its face is occupied by a rotating Lidar sensor that – in addition to helping the Go2 navigate a path through the woods – also looks like a sinister, rotating meat grinder.
Purr-fect gifts
LG’s AeroCatTower is for owners of fuzzy felines who insist on impeccable air quality – and who also prefer not to have a big, otherwise useless air-purifying tower in their living room.
In short, it’s an air purifier that doubles as a cat tree, with a heated seat at the top and attachable steps that can help older felines climb up. The cleaner releases clean air at a lower rate when a pet climbs into the seat to avoid disturbing any cat naps.
While that’s nice, it also might raise questions about how thorough the device really is. Still, the AeroCatTower can clean pet dander and measure your pet’s weight at the same time – actually making it a 3-in-1 device. There is no price or release date yet.
Even more hiss-terical is Yukai Engineering’s Nékojita FuFu – a mini cat-shaped robot that latches onto the edge of hot tea cups and soup bowls – and blows on them to cool them down.
The portable, rechargeable device has an internal fan that pushes cool air through a tiny mouth to cool a steaming cup of joe down 30 degrees in three minutes – about six times faster than letting it sit out. It’s expected to launch sometime in mid-2025 and cost about $25 – a bargain versus heat-reducing coffee mugs that cost $70.
Charging stations
Swippitt unveiled a fast, cable-free charging system that swaps your phone’s depleted battery for a fully charged one in a staggering two seconds.
There are a few catches. 1) The thing is the size of a toaster, and looks like one, too. 2) It requires you to insert your phone inside a battery holster that amounts to a bulky-looking case that stays on the phone. 3) The “recharging” amounts to the machine switching out the case.
Still, with the ability to store five spare cases, there’s a certain appeal to dropping your phone into the toaster on the way out the door in the morning and grabbing it with a new change of clothes. The toaster is $450 and the cases are $120.
Robo-cops — for your home & lawn
Vacuum robots are more advanced than ever, but the latest iterations have some notable limits to the fresh tricks they’re advertising.
Roborock’s Saros Z70 is the first mass-produced robovacuum with a foldable five-axis mechanical arm that can move obstacles out of the way, clean previously hard-to-reach spots, toss tissues in the trash and move socks back to the closet.
But the bot is irritatingly slow – taking about one minute just to pick up a single sock. The price is not yet known, but they are expected to ship by June.
Dreame’s x50 Ultra robovacuum boasts that it can climb stairs – that is, if the steps are two inches tall. It is selling for $1,300 by pre-order – putting it at the very top of the robovacuum price range with a fairly useless perk as its tagline.
Meanwhile, the Segway Navimow X3 Series is a small, flat, circular bot on wheels. But instead of vacuuming your floor, it mows your lawn outside, using artificial intelligence to create a 3D map of it.
Customers can mark off-limit areas in the Navimow app. It will likely cost upwards of $3,000 – the cost of earlier models, and about the price of a riding lawn mower. Unlike traditional mowers, the latest Navimow is whisper-quiet – so no more headaches.
Unless, of course, someone tries to walk off with the portable. It comes with theft alarms and a GPS tracker just in case.
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