I’m back from a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas for CES 2026! Like last year I managed to crank out four dispatch videos along with a bonus episode that I posted last night.
You can see the full playlist here.
Like the last couple of years, this show felt very incremental insofar as new innovations were concerned. Robotics were plentiful, but very few were useful beyond doing some visually impressive demos. For example, this robot struggled with a the relatively simple task of folding laundry.
Another theme was concern over memory pricing. Deep pocketed AI companies are gobbling up all of the silicon they can find which is dramatically increasing prices for consumers and manufacturers alike. Micron recently shuttered their 30 year old Crucial consumer memory line. Every company I spoke with, large and small, is very concerned about this issue and some note that the worst has yet to be felt by consumers. What’s worse is that there is no end to it in sight.
This year’s coverage wasn’t sponsored. Everything you saw from CES this year was made possible by all of you! That includes everyone who watched and subscribed, along with those of you have contributed to the channel. That support mattered more than ever, because CES is expensive, time-consuming, and physically demanding, especially when you’re doing it solo.
By my math, CES 2026 coverage cost me around $2,500. That includes flights, hotel, food, and a lot of Uber and Lyft rides around Las Vegas. I stay at one of the lower-cost CES hotels and take advantage of the free CES shuttle when I can, but there are still plenty of events and off-site locations that require Uber or Lyft. Going alone keeps those costs manageable, and between ad revenue, affiliate links, and viewer support, I should roughly break even. Bringing additional people would change that equation dramatically, which is why many larger channels rely on sponsorships.
Sponsorships are a tricky subject at CES. I’m not opposed to them in principle, but most of the offers aimed at smaller creators come with editorial strings attached—covering specific booths, submitting footage for approval, or spending time on things that aren’t particularly interesting to viewers. I’d consider a sponsor if it genuinely improved the quality of the reporting without compromising independence, but those opportunities are rare.
From a workflow standpoint, my goal at CES is all about quick hits and efficiency. I shoot everything live, on location with my iPhone, and try to keep editing to an absolute minimum so I can get videos out quickly without staying up all night in a hotel room. That approach drives nearly every decision I make, from how I shoot to what gear I carry.
Audio is the biggest factor. The show floor is loud—often overwhelmingly so—and clean sound matters more than anything else. That’s why I stick with a handheld microphone, even though it’s not fashionable and some viewers wish my hands were free. There’s a reason TV news crews still use stick mics: they work. They isolate voices naturally, and they save time in post. For my purposes, reliability beats aesthetics every time.
The rest of the setup is intentionally simple. Fewer components mean fewer things to forget, lose, or troubleshoot while running between halls and events. The phone-based workflow continues to hold up well, and storage hasn’t been an issue on my 256GB iPhone.
This year also reinforced how much planning matters. When I was deliberate about which areas and events to cover, the reporting felt stronger and more focused. When I wandered without a plan, the results were mixed. Viewer suggestions were incredibly helpful, but relying on comment threads alone made it easy to miss good ideas. For next year, I’m planning to set up a more structured way to collect booth and topic suggestions from viewers so I can reference them quickly on the floor.
I also want to do more advance research before arriving—especially on the larger exhibit halls of the show. CES rewards preparation, and the better the groundwork, the more efficient the days become once you’re there.
As always, feedback is welcome. Hearing what worked and what didn’t helps shape how I approach future coverage. And if you’re new here, stick around—CES may be a big moment each year, but the rest of the calendar is filled with reviews, nerdy experiments, and tech commentary the same way it’s always been.
