These Are the Official 2025 Best of CES Winners, Awarded by CNET Group

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The biggest names in tech are gathered in Las Vegas this week to show off their new products and entice the world with solutions to some of our biggest problems -- and we get to choose the winners.

CES 2025 has brought big innovationsoutrageous concepts and impressive solutions to issues including sustainability, privacy, security and wellness. To find the very best among them, the CNET Group -- made up of sibling sites CNET, ZDNET, PCMag, Mashable and Lifehacker -- teamed up with the CTA as the official media partner of the Best of CES Awards. Based entirely on the input of our staff experts and editors, we've named the top products and services at CES and awarded them with the distinction of Best of CES. 

To be eligible, a product or service must be an exhibitor at CES 2025 and meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • Includes a compelling new concept or idea
  • Solves a major consumer problem
  • Is new or is an update to an existing product that sets a new bar in performance or quality

Nominees were submitted by CNET Group's editorial staff, with finalists voted on by a panel of editors in attendance at CES 2025. Here are the winners.

Best AI: Nvidia Cosmos AI model

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CNET

This could be the AI platform that enables innovators at CES for years to come. Cosmos is what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called "the world's first world foundation model," a previously missing link that will allow robots and autonomous vehicles to become much more capable. 

The problem it solves is that robots need a vast amount of training data to make them more useful. Cosmos can simulate that data with AI, taking digital models of roads, factories, homes and other physical spaces and transforming them into simulations that innovators can use to create the robots of tomorrow. 

Cosmos will likely run a lot faster on Nvidia chips. Nevertheless, we have to give Nvidia credit for its intention to open-source the Cosmos code and make it available on Github, as Huang announced in his keynote.

Runner-up: Gemini for Google TV


Best transportation or mobility: Honda 0 Series

Honda 0 Series prototypes at CES 2025
Honda

Straight out of a science-fiction movie, Honda's futuristic-looking electric vehicles are slated to reach North America by 2026 and will be manufactured on Honda's new battery platform in Ohio. The company claims the cars' thin battery will be able to charge rapidly in as little as 10 to 15 minutes. 

The 0 Series will be powered by a new artificial intelligence chip and the Asimo OS to deliver Level 3 self-driving (capable of taking full control and operating during select parts of a journey) after launch. 

Despite the prototype nature of the cars on hand in Las Vegas, Honda says the final designs will be close to what it showed. Pricing and other details are still to be determined, but this marks an exciting step forward for Honda and its EV program. 

Runner-up: BMW Panoramic iDrive with Operating System X


Best laptop: Asus Zenbook A14

Asus Zenbook A14 laptop sitting on a black table with a stack of books and a bowl.
Josh Goldman/CNET

The Asus Zenbook A14 blends a long-lasting battery and some unexpected features in a portable design. Its light-but-rigid Ceraluminum chassis has the durability of aluminum with the scratch-resistance of ceramic and is 100% recyclable. 

A Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor gives it Copilot Plus PC powers like AI summarization and text generation, intuitive photo editing and the ability to search your media with natural language. A rich collection of ports (including USB-C and HDMI 2.1) and wireless connections are complemented by cool touches like tap-and-slide touchpad controls for volume, brightness and track selection. 

Its OLED display looks gorgeous, its battery promises more than 30 hours of use and the whole thing weighs less than 2.2 pounds, making it the thinnest and lightest Copilot Plus PC yet. The X Elite model we saw launches next week for $1,099, with a Snapdragon X Plus model coming in March for $899.

Runner-up: Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable


Best TV or home theater: LG G5 OLED TV

CNET Editor David Katzmaier looks at an LG television at CES 2025.
James Martin/CNET

Of all the TVs we've seen this year at CES, the LG G5 looks the best -- literally. OLED technology powers the highest-quality screens on the market, and our experts agree this LG is the front-runner for best TV picture quality in 2025. 

LG says it's 40% brighter and has better contrast in bright lighting compared to its predecessor the G4, which was one of the best TVs of 2024. LG improved the remote and kept the sleek gallery design for an almost all-picture look. 

The company's M5 wireless TV has the same image quality but will be a lot more expensive because it uses wireless connection technology that most buyers don't need.

Runner-up: Hisense 116UX


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Best smart home or home tech: Roborock Saros Z70

robot vacuum holding sock on stage with base in background
Tara Brown/CNET

Finally, a robot that can pick up after us. This vacuum-mop hybrid can sense, pick up and put away your stray socks using its mechanical arm, marking an industry shift from object avoidance technology to object removal technology. 

Unlike so many grabby robots we've seen at CES over the years, this one is real, successful and actually coming to market, with a release slated for April this year. We spent hours watching it work in a live demonstration. At 22,000 Pa of suction, the Saros Z70 will be more powerful than almost any other modern robovac. 

It'll also be more expensive: Roborock teased a price around the $2,000 mark, making it undoubtedly a high-end luxury appliance. But we expect it to pave the way for a new (eventually cheaper) generation of robot vacuums that offer do-everything-for-me cleaning, and that's exciting to think about. Welcome back, Rosey from The Jetsons.

Runner-up: BioLite Complete


Best sustainability: Flint Paper Battery

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Katie Collins/CNET

A battery made out of... paper? Singaporean startup Flint claims it has created a more sustainable, affordable and scalable solution to traditional lithium-ion batteries. 

The key component is cellulose, which acts as a natural medium for ion transfer between the anode and cathode. They're fully flexible and can be shrunk down to the size of a coin battery or embedded in a smartwatch strap. And when they're done being used, they decompose in six weeks. 

In early January, Flint secured $2 million in seed funding to run a pilot project this year, one step closer to a dream of sparing the Earth from the mining and drilling for finite lithium.


Best gaming: Lenovo Legion Go S

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Josh Goldman/CNET

The Lenovo Legion Go S stands out among current and upcoming gaming handhelds for its operating system and what it could mean for the entire category. 

While it'll be available with Windows 11, Lenovo will also offer a version with Valve's SteamOS, making it the only non-Valve-built portable to officially run SteamOS. That's big news for anyone looking for a Steam Deck alternative. 

The Legion Go S lacks the larger Legion Go's detachable controllers and has a smaller, lower-resolution screen, but it has a few helpful design tweaks like two USB 4 ports on the top, Hall Effect joysticks and an interior with more workspace for upgrading the storage. The Go S will also be the cheapest Legion Go device when it ships in May, starting at just $600. 


Best wellness or fitness tech: Ozlo Sleepbuds

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David Carnoy/CNET

Ozlo Sleepbuds aren't just comfortable earbuds for sleeping -- they can actually help you get a better night's sleep. 

They're designed to be flush with your ear, which means you can sleep on your side without feeling them pressing into you. That also prevents them from falling out of your ear. 

Sleep-enhancing perks include biometric sensors in the earbuds that can track your sleep, sensors in the case that can identify potential sleep interruptions in your room, an in-ear alarm that won't wake up a sleeping partner and a 10-hour battery life, so you won't wake up to a dead battery notification. 

You can even play sound directly from the Sleepbuds, without connecting to another Bluetooth device, which means you won't even have to look at your phone before going to bed. 

Runner-up: YoctoMat


Best mobile: HMD OffGrid

A black hand-sized device with buttons on the side and a clip on top sits on a green field under the open sky.
HMD

The vast majority of phones are essentially useless without a cell signal. That's where HMD's new OffGrid accessory comes in. The $200 dongle lets any Android phone or iPhone send text messages and contact emergency services by connecting to satellite networks. 

A few recent phones like the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9 come equipped with satellite connectivity, but most consumers only upgrade their phones when their current device breaks or needs replacing, so this accessory gives older phones the ability to constantly stay connected -- which could be life-saving in some cases. The catch is that you'll have to subscribe to HMD's monthly service, which starts at $80 a year. 

Runner-up: TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper


Best privacy or security: Ultraloq Bolt Mission

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Maria Diaz/ZDNET

The Ultraloq Bolt Mission is the most impressive and secure smart lock we've seen to date. It's also the first smart lock to come to market to support ultrawideband technology, giving it the capability to sense your location within inches as well as the spatial awareness to know if you're inside or outside your door. It's truly hands-free unlocking, similar to keyfobs on cars. 

As backups, it also offers NFC for tap-to-unlock entry, and it has a keypad and a traditional key mechanism as well. It includes 128-bit AES data encryption, IP65 weather resistance and BHMA Level 1-certified durability. It supports Wi-Fi, Matter, Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Samsung SmartThings. Perhaps best of all, it has a battery life of up to one year. 

Runner-up: Lockly Prestige Duet Series


Best weird tech: Kirin Electric Salt Spoon

Kirin Electric Salt Spoon
Emmett Smith/Mashable

There was no dearth of surprising technological applications at CES 2025, but the booth that got everyone's attention was hands-down the Kirin Electric Salt Spoon. This rather large spoon sends an electric current to your tongue to make your food taste saltier. 

The idea is noble: Get food to taste better without adding unnecessary sodium to your diet. The solution is downright unexpected. In our taste test, we were able to detect a slight difference, but from what we heard from others who tried the demo, the results varied. This one is already available for sale -- in Japan. It should come to North America this year.

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11:47

Best overall: Nvidia Cosmos AI model

neo-beta-nvidia
Nvidia

This choice was clear: Nvidia Cosmos demonstrates the biggest and boldest ambition we've seen at CES 2025 for how technology could help people and communities in the years ahead. While Nvidia is known for its computer chips, Cosmos is a software platform that taps generative AI to fill the biggest gap keeping robots from becoming more useful. 

As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says, "In order to train a robot, you need a lot of data," and that's what Cosmos promises to create. There are already signs of its future influence: Huang announced a partnership with Toyota, the world's biggest car manufacturer, that will use the program's advances to build next-gen self-driving cars. 

We're excited to see which companies -- large and small -- will be next to take the leap, using Cosmos to solve big problems and create new products that weren't possible until now.

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