Our unofficial, silly and meaningless CES 2025 awards, just for fun

CES (formerly Consumer Electronics Show) is The biggest tech convention of the year. It helps to create the conditions for this all the great gadgets We’ll see in the next 12 months. But between all the quadcopters, questionably benevolent robots, and devices with fancy flexible screens, there are lots of little things that make CES a unique event. To highlight some of the silly, stupid, and occasionally wholesome things we encountered at the show this year, we humbly present the very unofficial Dumb Fun Awards for CES 2025.

The cutest excavator – Komatsu PC01E-2

Komatsu’s PC01E-2 looks like a playground toy, except it actually works and is really darn cute. You want to go over and pinch the little bucket until it turns pink. But it’s not all fun and games, because this little excavator is designed to help with excavation – even in the tightest of spaces. In fact, it’s small enough to fit in most elevators. So if you find yourself in a situation where you need to dig on the roof, for example, Komatsu has you covered.

Most likely it is vaporware – FX Super One

In general, we try to be optimistic about new technologies. But since Faraday Future announced it first concept car in 2016In total, the company produced fewer than 20 cars. And for the enormous achievement of producing less than two dozen vehicles, the founder and CEO of Faraday Future went and gave themselves raises. Now at CES 2025, the company is attempting a comeback with its new line of FX electric vehicles, but without bothering to paint them. This special camouflage that car manufacturers use is usually intended to help hide the design of a vehicle before It will be announced and not made to look like a half-finished product at its own press event. However, it is probably far too generous to say 50 percent done. While there’s always a chance that a company can turn things around, don’t be surprised if you never see an FX Super One on the road.

If you ever need someone to sacrifice their fashion elegance for a story, he’s your man. And yet there’s no doubt that he’s the prettiest Dan, even with his photovoltaic-equipped, messy headdress.

Everyone is always worried about when our robot overlords will come and conquer us. However, these are the people we should probably be most worried about. That’s because during a demo of the Unitree robot, its homo sapien operator tampered with the controller, resulting in the robot essentially attacking our very own Karissa Bell. Human or robot, that’s just not right.

Most enchanting – Bathe

Originally, this list was intended to highlight interesting things we saw at CES that didn’t garner much praise (or hate) elsewhere, but then the Mirumi met its end won an award. But I don’t care. This robot is designed for one task: hold on to your arm and cutely stare at things while walking around. It’s basically a puffball with eyes and an attachment that can’t be denied. And I will protect and cherish it with my life.

Look, taking care of your skin is important. It is, after all, the largest organ in your body! But if traditional moisturizers, creams, and scrubs aren’t enough for you, I’m not convinced that Shark’s Red Light Mask is the answer. If I’m at home and my significant other comes out of the bathroom looking like fucking Doctor Doom, I don’t go to bed. I run out the door and call Reed Richards for help.

Chillest stand: AARP

The AARP describes itself as “the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans age 50 and older to make decisions about their lives as they age.” To encourage people to rush from booth to booth trying out all the new gadgets during CES, AARP decided to install an awesome pickleball court right on the show floor. Of course, young and old took to the net and casually hit balls back and forth, with everyone seemingly having a relaxed time in the middle of the biggest tech convention of the year. All the best to you.

Companies with the most FOMO – Jackrabbit

Las Vegas is an affront to Mother Nature. It’s an inaccessible city in the middle of the desert, full of temptations of all kinds and enough neon lighting to melt your brain. So if a company doesn’t want to fly to CES, we get it. But that doesn’t mean you can try to sneak into the spotlight by sending out email pitches saying you’re “perfect for CES but smart enough to skip it.” Either stop doing nothing and suffer with the rest of us, or shut up. So hey Jackrabbit, you say you’re fine with not being at CES. That’s cool, we feel the same way.

You know what sounds safe? An electric moped that transforms into a quadcopter, but only if you position the propellers and arms yourself. Even the basic model only has about 25 minutes of flight time. While the company claims it has a number of safety features, there is also a built-in parachute. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we can’t have air taxis and other hybrid air vehicles. But this thing doesn’t inspire confidence. However, if you have more guts than sense, please give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Not every computer part needs to be about achieving higher frame rates, and MSI proved that this year by developing a CPU cooler with an integrated turntable. What’s the point, you ask? Look at the happy little dragon sitting on his throne. Just look at him. But actually you could put anything there that makes you happy. The only sad thing about it is that this water block is just a concept and MSI has no concrete plans to offer it for sale. What crap.

We couldn’t decide which one was more unusual, so it was a tie in that category. For Dell, the new uniform branding is largely fine. After all, no one really cares about lines like Latitude, Inspiron and Optiplex. But killing off the XPS name, the only Dell sub-brand that ever really meant anything, is a step too far.

Meanwhile, Lenovo has created a ThinkPad without carbon fiber and without Trackpoint nubs to attract younger buyers who might not have an affinity for its classic black laptops. This is nothing short of sacrilegious. Granted, if you’re under 50 you might not care, but any nerd who grew up with rotary phones is probably pissed.

Greatest stand: Practical

CES is home to all kinds of sex technology, but despite all the vibrators and various toys, the cell phone booth somehow managed to be hotter than all the rest. That’s because the company not only displayed a selection of kinky gadgets, but also hired guests to spin the wheel and have a chance to take home a prize of their own. And if people eagerly waiting for the chance to take away a pleasure device so they can let off steam aren’t horny, then I don’t know what is. Just keep it in your pants until you get home.