Not every product shown at CES 2026 is a winner. Here are some of the more challenging items that that you may struggle to justify fitting into your personal technology collection.

Trade shows like CES are used to showcase the newest and greatest upcoming products in tech. However, with such a high number of products launching at the event, not all can be shining examples of things everyone should buy.

In some instances, what appears in the CES halls could be considered shovelware that may live as a brief fad before heading to the waste bin. For a select few, they are ideas that may seem like a good idea at first, but really are ill-advised the more you think about it.

Ceragem Balance AI Rejuvenation Shower System

Ceragem is a maker of FDA-approved medical appliances, ranging from massage beds to water purification systems. A lot of its products have a good reason to exist, but in the case of one, it really should have thought before making it.

Ceragem Balance AI Rejuvenation Shower System - Image Credit: CES Innovation Awards

The Balance AI Rejuvenation Shower System is effectively a smart mirror for your bathroom, used inside the shower. The concept is that it will turn showering into a precision beauty routine.

It will scan a user’s face to check its hydration, oil levels, elasticity, and pigmentation, performed in a contactless way using "near-infrared and spectral sensors." Onboard AI then adjusts the pH levels using electrolysis and adds vitamins and skincare ingredients using NFC-tagged cartridges, which improves your skin.

The problem here is that you’re asking an AI smart mirror to scan your face while in the shower. While the Consumer Technology Association’s description insists that it is "camera-free" in the very first sentence, it still doesn’t really help that it’s scanning your skin while you’re standing naked in front of it.

Sure, there are claims that it is "privacy-safe," but you can’t get away from it being a form of imaging device being used during a moment where the user is at their most vulnerable.

Astoundingly, it was a CES Innovation Awards Honoree in Beauty Tech for 2026.

Lollipop Star

Well-established industries can frequently turn to gimmicks to try and get more sales from consumers, in lieu of creating an actually better-tasting product. Sometimes, that results in a weird bit of edible technology.

The weird food product this time around is Lollipop Star, a musical lollipop that privately plays you pop songs while you suck it. There are three flavors and associated artists, with options including Ice Spice, Akon, and Armani White.

Lollipop Star - Image Credit: Lollipop Star

The idea is that the handle of the lollipop plays the music by vibrating. Thanks to bone conduction technology, those vibrations go through the edible bit, through your teeth and jaw, rattle your skull, and then reach your eardrums to convert it to sound.

Obviously, the use of bone conduction isn’t high-fidelity, especially since it’s starting from your teeth instead of nearer the ear. But alas, it’s the novelty of biting something and hearing music that’s going to drive sales here.

It’ll be an expensive novelty at $9 apiece, but also one that isn’t new either. You can already buy lollipops that are similarly styled from Amazonthat do the same thing.

It’s also quite telling that you are advised to put in some earplugs to properly hear the music. At that point, it’s less practical than putting AirPods in your ears, especially since you get a lot more choice on Apple Music.

Throne toilet computer

While the Apple Watch has certainly helped people get fit and to monitor their bodies, it mercifully stops short of doing a much deeper inspection. Of course, that doesn’t stop others from going all the way.

The aptly-named Throne showed off its toilet computer at CES. You’re reading that right: it’s a computer for the can.

Throne One with a handily long power cable - Image Credit: Throne

A compact unit that installs to the side of the white toilet bowl, just under the seat, Throne One monitors your gut health by checking out what comes out of it. It does so using "advanced optical and acoustic sensors," namely it takes a photo of your poop, and uses AI to analyze it.

That collected data is encrypted and "protected," with the AI insights then sent to your mobile device. Thanks to Bluetooth registration, it can keep track of the motions of up to six people.

It’s actually available to preorder for $339.99 with shipments expected from February. However, you will also need to shell out $6 per month for that analysis to take place.

Just don’t consider where they sourced the AI training data.

Desktop AI characters

Like it or not, people are starting to treat AI chatbots as companions, despite the messages in films like "Her" or the warnings of "Black Mirror." But, thanks to concepts like Cortana from the Halo franchise and other areas, the idea of a visual representation has started to take root.

Though efforts like Grok’s characters are anchored to smartphones for the most part, some companies are trying to expand the idea beyond the small screen. Onto other small screens, but living on your desk.

Lepro and Razer introduced similar-looking devices, consisting of a curved OLED screen on a stand that displays the representation of an AI character. In the case of Lepro, it promotes one such device as an "AI Soulmate" that’s always available on your desk.

Razer’s Project AVA is similar, putting a character into a transparent tube like your own private Star Trek transporter. It makes a 3D hologram effect to display a character, using onboard cameras and microphones to see and listen for your queries and comments.

The hologram could look like a Razer-branded blob, but then there are the characters that include a supportive gaming girl in cat ears, as well as a representation of the real eSports gamer Faker.

Just like the smartphone-based versions, you can talk to the characters in conversation, ask questions, perform tasks, or have someone cheering you on as you play a game. Except it’s a miniature person trapped in a tube on your desk.

That’s not creepy or weird at all.

We don’t know how much either unit will cost, but Razer insists its version will ship in the second half of 2026. It’s also inviting people to reserve a unit with a $20 deposit.

Of course, if you’re not quite ready for your own pint-sized 3D-like cheerleader, there are other options. There’s the Vinabot AI Talking Frame, which mashes up those digital photo frames with AI to create something similar, but flatter.

Glyde Smart Hair Clippers

Some may say that home hairdressing technology peaked with the Flowbee, and even then, the results depended on the "expertise" of the person wielding the vacuum cleaner attachment. Now, Glyde wants to make home hairdressing better by trying to work around the limitations of people who don’t really work with hair on a regular basis.

Billed as the world’s first smart hair clipper, the Glyde is an extremely over-engineered unit with various wheels, guards, and other moving parts that aim to avoid home hairdressing drama.

Normally, anyone attempting to use clippers for the first time will cause a massive chunk of hair to fall from their victim’s head. With Glyde’s app-controlled cutting element adjusting how close to the person’s scalp it goes, it can withdraw the blade before it can do any damage.

Glyde Smart Hair Clippers

This is useful for fades, where the hair is short lower down the neck but gets longer the further up the scalp you go. There’s an unsightly mask-band system the subject must wear, but this tells the clippers where the fade starts, further minimizing the chance of a bad cut.

It aims to be foolproof for more complicated techniques too. After selecting a cut from the app, the user is then guided on what to do step-by-step.

Obviously, Glyde is not going to convince those who frequent a barber shop on a regular basis. It’s very much aimed at people who do home haircuts all the time, such as families who do it at home to save a bit of cash.

Glyde may not be a seismic event in the world of hairdressing, but it may cut down the number of unwanted bowl cuts in the world.

If you’ve been following CES, you probably have some select choices yourself. Let us know in our forums!