The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas showcases some of the biggest tech releases of the calendar year, but tucked away within its halls are some equally notable, if lesser-known, products. Here are some of the weirdest devices we saw at CES 2025.
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HoverAir Pro Max
Emma Rowley / Foundry
You need a bit of skill and coordination to fly a drone, something I, an idiot, don’t have. There is no space on earth big enough to prevent me from immediately flying a drone into a tree. If there are no trees, I immediately fly it into the ground, or my face.
That might explain why the HoverAir caught my attention. In flight it is perfectly controlled and precise. It differs from traditional drones in that you don’t need any dexterity (or even a controller) to fly it. Choose the automatic flight mode and it recognizes, tracks and films you with ease, although it has nine more flight modes.
There are 4K and 8K camera options and the movie styles include track, bird’s eye view, zoom out, side track and slo-mo.
Best of all, you can launch and land the HoverAir from the palm of your hand.
Also, unlike traditional drones, the propellers are enclosed, so you can fold it up and put it in your pocket for transport.
The HoverAir Pro starts at $499 and the HoverAir Pro Max at $699. You can learn more about options and purchase from HoverAir.
We liked the Pro Max so much that we gave it a best of CES award.
The Trumpeter
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Do you long for the sound of a live trumpet playing in your home, but are you missing a trumpet player in your immediate circle of friends? Don’t worry: it’s a common problem. Finally a solution is near. It’s called The Trumpeter.
QRS Music Technology, one of the leading names in piano players (self-playing piano technology), has expanded into the world of piano players. The technology behind the brand’s device is absolutely stunning (and trumpeted). I’ll have to paraphrase the process.
QRS’s EmbouchAir wind instrument driver technology has a voice coil inside, which is connected to an amplifier, which in turn is connected to a processor. The processor listens to a piece of trumpet music and plays back the trumpet part via an AI chip, which is sent back to the processor. A sound file is produced and sent to the voice coil, which converts the sounds into air bubbles hey presto! the trumpet plays.
It’s incredibly impressive to me, as a person who is admittedly not versed in the world of trumpet playing, it seems like a niche product. There is a certain cachet in having a piano in the house, even without a piano player in the house, but does the same apply to a trumpet? I had to ask the QRS representative at the booth: do many people have unused trumpets lying around that they look at wistfully?
“A lot of people have trumpets in their closet from when they were in fifth grade, or grandpa’s trumpet. So you take the trumpet out of your closet, put on the mouthpiece, connect it to your piano and you’re done.”
It’s just that simple. Except for one small downside. The Trumpeter EmbouchAir will cost you a whopping $3,200. You’ll also need the PNO4 player piano system to use it, which costs another $3,000. And don’t forget the trumpet.
More information can be found on the QRS website.
Nékojita FuFu and Mirumi
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Of course, once you’ve solved your trumpet playing problems, you’ll be ready to tackle your next insurmountable crisis, which is chilling a hot drink or soup.
I know what you’re thinking: I’ll just blow it. But that’s exactly the kind of outdated behavior Yukai Engineering wants to eradicate. Here’s a use case. What if you need your mouth for – not for playing the trumpet of course – but for example for playing the flute, at the same time your drink needed refrigeration? It is a problem as old as time.
Soon you’ll be able to outsource this task to Nékojita FuFu, a plastic cat that hangs from the rim of your cup (or bowl – it’s multifunctional) and blows on your drink for you.
It’s an obvious solution, and we’re all idiots if we don’t think about it sooner. The crowdfunding for the FuFu will start in the summer of 2025. Read more.
Don’t get up from the floor yet because this next product will knock you down again. Meet Mirumi, also made by Yukai Engineering.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
I was drawn to Mirumi from across the floor of Hall C by its enchanting cuteness. “Tell me about this little robot,” I said (among some undignified giggling. I must emphasize: it is terribly cute).
“It moves its head randomly, but we think in the future this robot will look at you using some kind of sensor. But right now it’s random. No AI is used.”
I simply held on. “But what is it for?”
I’ll spare you the embarrassing conversation that followed, during which it slowly dawned on me that Mirumi is just a furry robot that hangs from your bag strap (or arm – again, it’s multifunctional) and moves its head.
The creators say that the overall appearance should be an imitation of a baby. It is unclear if they have ever seen a baby or know that they are not allowed to be attached to bags.
Despite all this, I still want one. That is Mirumi’s power.
Mi-Mo
Emma Rowley / Foundry
If Mirumi is at one end of the robot spectrum in terms of functionality, Mi-Mo is somewhere at the other end.
Mi-Mo may look like a lamp sitting on a table, but imagine the shock of those present when the piece of furniture sauntered over to them and raised a leg in greeting. Or at least that would have been the case if CES had taken place somewhere other than the bizarre city of Las Vegas, where attendees will likely be more surprised by all the tables that don’t.
Mi-Mo is a robot made up of multiple AI models that work together to make it respond to image recognition, voice recognition and more: it thinks and acts based on visual, audio and motion inputs. The vision model provides visual recognition and emotional expression, while the audio model provides speech recognition and synthesis.
And the nice thing is that users can adjust and expand the behavior patterns as they see fit. Anyone can develop applications for Mi-Mo. The waiting list for pre-ordering the developer kit is currently open. The makers are especially keen to get in touch with developers of AI models and AI robots.
Petal
Emma Rowley / Foundry
I’m going to end with a product that is simply delicious and healthy in every way. Petal was created by Wonder, who created the original Bird Buddy smart bird feeder. The brand has now turned its attention to smaller things, especially insect life.
Petal is a prototype of a wireless insect camera, shaped like a brightly colored flower, designed to attract pollinators. Wrap it around a branch or stick it in the soil and you can watch the comings and goings of insects in your garden. There’s even a leaf-shaped solar panel to charge it.
Petal is a 4-megapixel camera that records 4K video and comes with easily interchangeable lenses for wide-angle and telephoto options.
It will work well in combination with the brand’s other creation: Wonder Blocks. These are insect hotels that you can place in your garden or on your balcony and decorate with plants to attract the insects you would like to see up close. Wonder blocks include a bee hotel, insect hotel and butterfly feeder.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
There’s a companion app that lets you save and share photos and videos, and an AI chatbot that lets you request information about your garden visitors.
Petal and Wonder blocks aren’t available yet, but you can find out when you can buy them from Wonder.
