Innovative Smart Home Products Shown at CES 2025 – Part 2

But first a review:

CES is a major annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). It takes place every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year there are over 4,300 exhibitors and over 130,000 people are expected.

CES showcases the latest innovations and technologies in consumer electronics. The trade fair presents a wide range of products and innovations from industries such as:

On trend

“Africa” by Toto is repeated in the Namib Desert: Do we have to ask why?

• Consumer electronics (Smartphones, laptops, smartwatches)
• Smart home technology (home automation, household appliances)
• Automotive technology (Self-driving cars, in-car technology)
• Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics
• Health and fitness technology
• Entertainment and media technology

The event serves as a platform for companies to present new products, technologies and services. It sets the stage for trends in the technology industry for the coming year. CES is not open to the general public, but industry experts, media and analysts from around the world come here to see the latest technological breakthroughs.

Here are some other smart home products on display at this year's show:

Aqara is a leading manufacturer of smart home devices. Founded in 2009, Aqara sells products in over 170 countries and has over 11 million active users of its products. Aqara is introducing several new products at this year's CES:

• Panel Hub S1 Plus: The S1 Plus features a 6.9-inch touch panel that allows homeowners to control their entire smart home from a single interface. With the S1 Plus, a homeowner can wirelessly manage cameras, door locks, thermostats, lights, curtains and more. It replaces a single light switch in a home and can also be wired to control up to two lights. Finally, it can trigger scenes/routines, act as a Zigbee hub and act as a matter bridge for Aqara Zigbee devices. The Panel Hub S1 Plus is expected to launch in North America later this year.
• Touchscreen dial V1: The Dial V1 combines a rotary knob with a 1.32-inch round touchscreen to manage/automate up to two wired lights and enable control of additional smart devices and scenes. The watch face features haptic feedback, allowing users to intuitively control other Aqara smart devices. For example, a user can adjust the brightness and change the color temperature of lights, adjust the open/close position of curtains, and adjust the temperature set point of a thermostat. The Dial V1 has sensors for temperature, humidity and presence. The presence sensor can be used to activate the device's screen when someone automatically approaches.
• Touchscreen switch S100 US: This device combines multiple buttons and a 1.3-inch touchscreen to control up to two wired lights and wirelessly control additional smart devices and scenes. For example, the setpoint of a thermostat can be set using the touchscreen. The S100 supports the Matter smart home standard and can act as a thread border router in a home. The S100 features a presence sensor for proximity screen activation and a light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the touchscreen.
• Light switch H2 and dimmer switch H2: These intelligent switches provide Thread and Zigbee connectivity for interoperability between Matter platforms. They are designed for easy installation in any home, regardless of whether there is a neutral wire or not. Buttons can be used to wirelessly control devices and scenes via Aqara Home or other third-party platforms. The H2 US light switch has three variants: the 2-button and 1-channel version, the 2-button and 2-channel version and the 4-button and 3-channel version. Availability is expected in the first quarter of 2025. The Dimmer Switch H2 US is expected to be available later this year.
• Presence multisensor FP300: The FP300 combines passive infrared sensing (PIR) and millimeter wave sensing (mmWave) in a battery-powered presence sensor. The FP300 is material compatible and has additional sensors for light, temperature and humidity.
• Climate sensor W100: The W100 is a Matter-compatible indoor climate sensor with an integrated display and three buttons for controlling smart devices. In addition to room temperature and humidity, the display can show additional data such as local weather information or readings from a second Aqara climate sensor located in a different part of a home.
• Doorbell camera hub G410: The G410 smart doorbell offers 2K video quality, a 176° field of view, secure end-to-end encryption of live and recorded video feeds, and Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) support for streaming to third-party apps . The G410 can act as a smart home hub, integrating both Aqara smart home accessories and third-party Matter devices. It is compatible with major smart home ecosystems including Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings. Other features include battery or cable installation, on-device facial recognition, presence detection via an integrated mmWave sensor, and a wide range of cloud and local storage options.
• Hub M100: The M100 is Aqara's entry-level Matter controller. It features a compact form factor and can be powered by simply plugging it into any USB-A port. It includes Wi-Fi, Thread and Zigbee radios, making it compatible with all Aqara smart home devices as well as third-party Matter-compatible devices. It can also serve as a Thread Border Router and Matter Bridge for Aqara Zigbee devices.

Shortcut Labs is a Swedish company founded in 2013 as an incubator at KTH Innovation (KTH is one of Europe's leading technical and engineering universities). This is where the original Flic Smart Button, the world's first, was developed and launched on Indiegogo in 2014. This campaign raised nearly $1 million and had over 13,000 total supporters. To date, over 800,000 Flic Buttons have been delivered to customers.

Flic Duo

The new Flic Duo is much more than a battery-powered, intelligent two-button remote control. It combines the functions of the Flic Button and the Flic Twist. It includes two buttons, motion and gesture detection, and audio and visual feedback. The Flic Duo can be configured with six unique actions: press, double press, hold, hold and press, hold and rotate, and hold and swipe. Actions can be configured for smart home control, music and entertainment control, triggering routines, and more. The Flic Duo is compatible with Matter, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, SmartThings, Sonos, Philips Hue, LIFX, Spotify, Homey, Nanoleaf, IFTTT, Zapier, Google Chromecast, IKEA Home Smart and Slack.

Other security features of the Flic Duo at CES include:

• Fall detection
• Personal Alarm – One button can be configured to trigger an SOS alarm with real-time location sharing.

Mounting options include:

• A metal clip to attach to your pocket belt or with a lanyard around your neck.
• A magnetic wall mount.
• A waterproof case.

The final product of this two-part article series on smart home technology products shown at CES goes a step beyond the home and is one of my personal favorites. People may not realize that when I'm not writing about smart home technology, I can be found mountain biking in the summer and skiing in the winter.

E-Outdoor is a Swiss company dedicated to revolutionizing ski mountaineering through innovation and technology. E-Outdoor's flagship brand, E-SKIMO, brings technology to the backcountry skiing experience. The product brings electric assist technology to backcountry uphill skiing with a 10Nm gearless hub motor, a 240Wh lithium battery and a snowmobile-style tread pattern for any ski. The system offers:

• A reduction in effort by 30%.
• An increase in ascent speed of up to 80%.
• Up to three hours of run time per day on a single charge.

For many years, attempts have been made to develop systems that help skiers climb. The first patent for such a system was granted in 1964. However, due to the technical challenges involved, none of these systems have been manufactured to date.

E-SKIMO features include:

• Intelligent assistance: The climbing aid is triggered by sensors and motion-detecting inertial measurement units. The amount of support depends on the ski position and the weight/angle of the skier's heel.
• Lightweight design: A set of E-SKIMO assist devices weighs only six pounds. This keeps the user's skis maneuverable during the climb. Since the motor, battery and climbing harness are removed for the descent, there is no impact on the descent performance.
• Fast transition: For a quick transition between ascent and descent, the motor, battery and climbing profile can be easily removed. Once the system is removed and stored in a backpack, two retractable caps cover the holes in the ski base where the climbing profile has been laid. So there is no impact on performance on descents.
• Safety: Sensors in the skier's poles detect if the skier lets go of a pole during a fall, for example. This will immediately disable the support mechanism.

A video showing E-SKIMO in action can be found here.

E-Outdoor is working on partnerships with major ski brands to bring E-SKIMO to market.