GamesRadar+'s best of CES 2026: all the gaming gadgets you need to know about this year

1. Hardware

GamesRadar+'s best of CES 2026: all the gaming gadgets you need to know about this year Best-lists By Tabitha Baker published 9 January 2026

The tech to watch this year

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This year's Vegas showground brought us insane monitor refresh rates, eye-watering TV upgrades, and a whole plethora of bizarre smart tech, but there are ten gadgets that should stand out to gamers first and foremost.

GameSir, Corsair, Asus, and Lenovo led the charge in 2026, bringing together accessories, new innovations, and clever updates that either push some of the best gadgets even further or introduce entirely new ideas. Between talking Lego bricks and rollable laptop screens, CES 2026 was a blur of product announcements and reveals. These are the top ten releases we'll be watching year-round, though.

Belkin Charging Case Pro for Nintendo Switch 2

(Image credit: Future)

The Belkin Charging Case Pro is a follow-up to the best Nintendo Switch 2 case we've tested so far. While the previous generation impressed us with its included power bank (and the recessed space to carry it), the new model goes a step further with an LCD display to quickly check your charge and a kickstand built right into the clamshell itself.

It's pricey, and $99.99 is certainly pushing the value line, considering separate cases and chargers can get you a similar experience for a little less. As far as functionality goes, though, this is the premium case to beat in 2026.

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Corsair Galleon 100 SD

(Image credit: Corsair)

Corsair won the top spot amongst the best gaming keyboards on the market right at the end of last year, and now the brand has finally announced the deck it should have made years ago. The Galleon 100 SD combines a mechanical TKL keyboard with a Stream Deck macropad experience. Those full-color LCD buttons sitting just to the right of the main keys essentially channel the might of the Elgato Stream Deck+ into a gaming keyboard - no need to purchase a secondary device here. Combine that with a full-color display, two additional control knobs, and the bountiful supply of available plugins, and this could be the powerhouse to shake up 2026's keyboard market.

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Lego Smart Brick

(Image credit: Lego)

The Lego Smart Brick is being heralded as the biggest shakeup to the brand's roster in years. A brick that contains a single chip smaller than a stud packed with accelerometers, sensors, lights, speakers, and more. Lego states this brick is packed with "more than 20 patented world-firsts" in its tech, but it's beginning its rollout with a series of Star Wars sets.

Luke's Red Five X-Wing, Darth Vader's TIE Fighter, and the Throne Room Duel & A-Wing kits will all come shipped with Smart Play technology, across the brick itself as well as minifigures and smaller plates. If it makes good on its promises, we're keen to see how it impacts the world of the best Lego sets on the market.

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GameSir Swift Drive

(Image credit: GameSir)

GameSir has long dominated conversations around the best PC controllers, but now it's coming for your steering wheel as well in 2026. The Swift Drive controller includes a miniature Direct Drive steering wheel in the middle of its face. The gamepad was actually born as a high school project, before being picked up by GameSir for funding and eventual release.

If everything goes smoothly, GameSir's new gamepad could offer a more affordable entry point into sim racing setups, dropping the bulky wheel base and pedal sets for a halfway-house solution that feels far more versatile.

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Asus ROG G1000

(Image credit: Asus)

Asus wants to shake up the best gaming PC market with its Asus ROG G1000 in 2026, but it's the holographic fans that caught our eye this CES. The brand suggests the G1000 is the first pre-built machine to utilize this newer aesthetic option, using lighting to produce a customizable visual effect while those fans whirr away. The tech itself isn't new, Coolify has its own holofans available for upgrades, and a few other brands have shown of holographic coolers at CES this year, but the rest of this rig is still pretty impressive.

You're getting up to top-line AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, and RTX 5090 components, and Asus has also stacked its G1000 with a massive 420mm ROG AIO cooler.

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GameSir / Hyperkin X5 Alteron

(Image credit: GameSir / Hyperkin)

We're back with GameSir, but it's tag teaming with Hyperkin for this one. The two brands collided at CES, introducing a modular controller with a scattergun approach to input styles. The GameSir / Hyperkin X5 Alteron wants to compete with the best mobile controllers, offering a full modular control scheme customizable with a whole range of different button configurations.

You've got your traditional sticks and clickers, but also GameCube and N64-style options for some retro goodness. Throw in customizable back buttons, rumble motors, and thumbstick height adjustment, and there's a laundry list of features to play with.

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8BitDo FlipPad

(Image credit: Phil Hayton)

The 8BitDo FlipPad is another mobile controller, but one that takes a very different approach to welcoming the retro revolution. This is a set of Game Boy-style buttons designed to sit at the bottom of a vertical screen, and it certainly looks the part. While GameSir is still sneaking around the periphery with its own set of clickers, 8BitDo's FlipPad connects directly via your phone's USB-C port rather than Bluetooth, and looks to offer a thinner hinge-based design.

Details remain light, but if you want an alternative to one of the best retro handhelds, it could well be a cheaper route to your Game Boy collection.

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Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable

(Image credit: Future)

Rumored just before the year ended, and now finally on show at CES, the Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable is the one concept product that truly shone on the showfloor this year. It's essentially a Legion laptop with an extendable OLED display taking that 16-inch form factor all the way to 24 inches when required. That's primarily being marketed towards high-level esports players, but the improvements to overall immersion among the best gaming laptops are difficult to ignore.

This one's still just an idea, but Lenovo has outfitted its panel with plenty of protections against that unfurling mechanism and has been showing off an RTX 5090 configuration in Vegas.

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JSAUX ModCase for Nintendo Switch 2

(Image credit: JSAUX)

A second Nintendo Switch 2 case making our top list? The JSAUX ModCase has good reason to be sitting next to Belkin on our wishlists. This is more of a grip shell than a full clamshell, and it comes packed with features that help alleviate some of the handheld's shortcomings. The most obvious is the magnetic charger holder.

The power bank itself isn't included, but a small rubber strap can attach directly to the back of the chassis and hold everything in place while you play, effectively doubling (or more) your playtime without introducing unwieldy wires. That comes with ergonomic grips, an extra cover for game storage, and a built-in kickstand.

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Audeze Maxwell 2

(Image credit: Future)

Last, but certainly not least, we've got the Audeze Maxwell 2. A long-awaited follow-up to one of the best gaming headsets for audiophiles on the market, and one that fixes two of the few flaws with the original. Of course, we're keeping those excellent planar magnetic drivers, but Audeze has widened the headband to better distribute the heftier weight of the device itself. Considering these cups proved uncomfortable after only shorter sessions, that's an incredibly welcome improvement.

Not only that, but the brand is also using its new Audeze SLAM tech in here. The tuning system essentially boosts bass while also offering a better spatial audio experience.

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We're also looking forward to all the new games in 2026, hopefully including some of the best PS5 games and best Xbox Series X games.

Tabitha BakerSocial Links NavigationManaging Editor - Hardware

Managing Editor of Hardware at GamesRadar+, I originally landed in hardware at our sister site TechRadar before moving over to GamesRadar. In between, I've written for Tom’s Guide, Wireframe, The Indie Game Website and That Video Game Blog, covering everything from the PS5 launch to the Apple Pencil. Now, i'm focused on Nintendo Switch, gaming laptops (and the keyboards, headsets and mice that come with them), PS5, and trying to find the perfect projector. 

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