- You probably won’t want to bring these award winners into your home.
The CES 2026 trade show recently took place in Las Vegas. At the annual event, tech companies exhibited their latest products and most advanced innovations.
And then there were these things.
Every year, a group of tech and right-to-repair advocates hands out the “Worst in Show” prize to the stupidest, most pointless, or environmentally negligent products showcased at CES. The reluctant recipients are often products that add unnecessary complexity to basic tasks or are so niche that no one in their right mind would ever buy them.
The Worst in Show award isn’t about bullying small manufacturers, though. This year, massive tech players, like Samsung and Amazon, got their fair share of scathing feedback.
Here are eight winners of the CES 2025 Worst in Show award by category. Such an honor!
Privacy — Amazon Ring AI
In the Privacy category, the award goes to the product deemed most likely to violate your right to personal privacy in fascinating ways. This year’s winner was the latest iteration of the popular Amazon Ring video doorbell.
The Amazon Ring AI adds a bunch of new AI-powered features to the doorbells and surveillance cameras. They come with such capabilities as facial recognition, video-stream search functions, movable surveillance towers, and an interface for third-party apps.
All these features require collecting heaps of data for them to function. There’s just one unanswered question — who has access to this data?
In particular, the potential of even more invasive third-party apps harvesting people’s data was highlighted as a risk. According to Electronic Frontier Foundation director Cindy Cohn, the Amazon Ring AI pushes the idea that “more surveillance always makes us safer,” even in the privacy of our own homes.
Security — Merach UltraTread Treadmill
Although it kind of overlaps with the Privacy category, the Security Worst in Show award highlights products that have gaping holes in their data protection efforts. That questionable honor went to the Merach UltraTread Treadmill with an integrated AI Fitness Trainer.
The AI-infused treadmill monitors the user’s biometrics, behavioral data, and other details. The AI Trainer, then, gives feedback and suggestions based on the user’s performance.
Once again, that’s a lot of data being pulled out of your workout, and you, of course, need to create a user profile (and probably subscribe to a paid service). And apparently, there are next to no safeguards to protect any of it.
“We cannot guarantee the security of your personal information,” the manufacturer Merach admits in its own privacy policy.
Yeah, maybe stick to a regular treadmill.
Environmental Impact — Lollipop Star
The Environmental Impact category puts the spotlight on the most wasteful product of the annual show. Without a doubt, this year’s clear winner was Lollipop Star.
This thing is basically a vibrator and Bluetooth-equipped lollipop stick. You turn it on, connect it to your music player, and then it vibrates in your mouth as you eat the lollipop, supposedly transferring sound to your ears through your jawbone.
And once you’re done with your treat? The whole thing, batteries and heavy metals included, flies into the trash.
“The product is both non-rechargeable and single-use, turning a moment of novelty into yet another hard-to-handle piece of e-waste,” the justification for the award read.
Repairability — Samsung Family Hub Smart Fridge
In the repairability category, the nominees include products that go out of their way to add point of failure while also espousing consumer-hostile practices that prevent people from fixing what they own. This year, the winner was the Samsung Family Hub Smart Fridge.
Handing out the award, right-to-repair advocate and iFixit co-founder Kyle Wiens pointed out that Samsung’s fridge adds dozens of potential failure points to a thing that’s just supposed to keep your food cool. The ginormous touchscreen, voice-controlled door, Samsung’s notoriously glitchy software, and many other unnecessary features all mean your fridge could transform into an oversized paperweight in an instant.
“I would not trust a Samsung fridge farther than I could throw it,” quipped Wiens.
Enshittification — Bosch eBike Flow App
If you’re not familiar with the concept of “enshittification,” it’s the process of a developer or manufacturer making their product intentionally worse, less user-friendly, and — well — shit over time. Think of a mobile app that eventually starts locking previously free, useful features behind an increasingly expensive subscription — that’s enshittification.
The winner was the eBike Flow application by German engineering company Bosch, specifically its bike lock feature. You can lock the bike’s mechanics, rendering it immobile to prevent theft.
The problem is that the whole system now relies on pairing all of the bike’s components with your app. If Bosch detects unsanctioned parts, they reserve the right to lock down your bike.
Also, the user agreement allows Bosch to change at will what is considered an unacceptable part or just improper rider behavior. Your bike is entirely at the company’s mercy, basically.
‘Who Asked for This?’ — Bosch 800 Personal AI Barista
Would you look at that? Bosch got a double prize! In the “Who Asked for This?” category, which highlights utterly pointless products, we have the Bosch 800 Personal AI Barista as a winner.
The Bosch 800 Barista machine comes with internet connectivity, a voice assistant, various levels of paid subscriptions, and more. You can have a lively chat with your coffee maker first thing in the morning.
Does that sound awful? That’s what the judges thought, too. You’re already sour and irritable before your morning joe, and the last thing you need is your coffee maker to start blabbering.
Additionally, the Barista machine comes with Bosch’s draconian user agreement, highlighted in the Enshittification category. The company could turn any one of your talking coffee maker’s pointless features off at any time, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
People’s Choice — Lepro Ami AI
The People’s Choice Worst in Show award is handed to the product that the CES audience votes as the… Well, worst. The winner this year was the Lepro Ami AI.
According to the manufacturer, this AI companion gadget/toy will be your digital soulmate. It sits on your desk, observes you with a camera, and chats to you to brighten your day.
The public, however, wasn’t thrilled about the idea of the camera and microphone being always on. They felt the thing is nothing more than a 24/7 AI-powered surveillance device invading your home or workplace.
How’s that for a soulmate?
Overall Worst in Show — Samsung Family Hub Fridge
Finally, we have the award for the overall worst, most terrible product showcased at CES. Unfortunately for Samsung, this award went to their Family Hub Smart Fridge as well.
In particular, the judges drew attention to the total disconnect between what a fridge is supposed to do and what the Samsung fridge does. Your refrigerator keeps your food from perishing by keeping it at a cool temperature — and that’s all it probably should do.
However, the Samsung fridge adds the aforementioned voice-controlled door (with door actuators of questionable quality) and the requirement of a constant internet connection. No Wi-Fi, no sandwich for you.
Of course, the thing has “AI Vision” that tracks what’s in your fridge. As if opening the door and checking what’s there was too much trouble.
Oh, and the huge touchscreen displays ads unless you pay for a premium subscription.
For some more ridiculously pointless gadgets, check out our list of 11 tech innovations that solved problems nobody had.