If CES 2025 was about the explosion of AI hardware, CES 2026 will be remembered as the year of “Perfected Input.” From the Las Vegas floor this week, the message from major manufacturers was clear: raw speed is no longer enough. The next generation of gear is defined by magnetic precision, audiophile-grade sound, and a massive shift in how seriously we take mobile gaming.
Whether you are a competitive shooter looking for zero-latency inputs or a retro enthusiast wanting to turn your phone into a GameCube, this year’s show had something for every type of setup. Here are the standout peripherals from CES 2026.
The most pervasive trend on the PC side was the total dominance of Hall Effect (magnetic) technology. Once a niche enthusiast feature, it is now the standard for flagship keyboards.
The Standout is the ASUS ROG Falchion Ace 75 HE. While rapid-trigger keyboards aren’t new, ASUS has refined the experience to an absurd degree. The new magnetic switches allow for an actuation point as low as 0.1mm, making strafing in shooters like Valorant feel almost telepathic.
The DIY option is for those who want customization without the soldering iron, the Corsair MAKR PRO 75 impressed us. It’s a “grown-up” DIY kit that brings hot-swappable magnetic switches to the mainstream, allowing users to fine-tune exactly how deep they need to press for a key to register.
Gaming headsets have historically been criticized for muddy bass and poor detail. CES 2026 finally killed that stereotype by borrowing tech from the studio world.
The Standout is the ROG Kithara. ASUS partnered with HiFiMan to bring Planar Magnetic drivers to a mainstream gaming headset. Unlike standard dynamic drivers, these use a magnetic field to vibrate a thin diaphragm, resulting in incredibly distinct audio separation. In a chaotic firefight, you don’t just hear an explosion; you hear the debris falling behind the bass of the blast.
Stick drift has been the plague of modern gaming, but 2026 might be the cure. We saw a massive move toward Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors – an evolution of Hall Effect that is even more power-efficient and precise.
The Standout is the HyperX Clutch Tachi. Designed for the fighting game community, this “leverless” (hitbox style) controller uses TMR sensors to guarantee zero drift and frame-perfect inputs. For traditional gamepad users, the Razer Wolverine V3 focused on wireless latency, working with LG to reduce Bluetooth lag to sub-3ms levels, making cloud gaming on a TV feel indistinguishable from a local console.
Perhaps the most exciting innovation happened in the mobile sector. The era of cheap, plastic clamps is over; the new wave of mobile gear is modular, ergonomic, and weirdly nostalgic.
The Standout: The GameSir x Hyperkin X5 Alteron. This collaboration stole the show by solving the biggest headache in emulation: button layouts. The controller features fully modular, hot-swappable face plates. playing a GameCube game? Snap in the big green ‘A’ button module. Switching to a shooter? Swap back to the standard Xbox layout. It adapts to the game, not the other way around.
The Innovation: The 8BitDo FlipPad. Finally, a controller for portrait mode. This device attaches to the bottom of your phone and flips up, effectively turning your smartphone into a classic clamshell handheld (think Game Boy Advance SP). It’s perfect for one-handed RPGs and vertical shooters that have been ignored by controller manufacturers for years.
