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CES 2026 is here. The official event kicks off on Tuesday, and ZDNET’s team of experts has already gotten a good look at some of the most exciting tech stories coming out of Las Vegas.
Also: CES 2026: Live updates
As ZDNET’s health and wearables editor, I’ve been running along the Vegas Strip, talking to health and technology brands about their new products, and getting properly excited about what’s next in the consumer health and wellness space. Below you’ll find a list of the coolest and most compelling products I’ve seen so far. I’ll be updating this list throughout the week, adding my favorite devices that wowed me — and including hands-on demos when possible.
Going out to eat at a restaurant with a serious food allergy can be complicated. Those allergic to common ingredients often have to over-explain to waiters and double-check their plates to ensure they won’t get an allergic reaction after taking a bite of their food. While restaurants aim to avoid cross-contamination, accidents can still happen.
Allergen Alert is taking the guesswork out of cross-contamination. This square device samples your order inside its pouch, smashes the sample, dilutes it, and then assesses the sample for traces of lactose or gluten. Allergen Alert CEO Antoine Burgaud says it’s FDA-approved and already being used in Michelin-starred restaurants to check cross-contamination.
Also: This handheld device could save you from your next allergic reaction – here’s the pitch
The allergy-detecting device will launch in mid-2026, testing for lactose and gluten. Burgaud aims to add more common allergens to Allergen Alert soon.
Vivoo’s smart pad is one of those classic-CES conceptual picks that doesn’t have much concrete information nor an availability timeline. But if we can suspend disbelief for a second and lean into the idea that this smart menstrual pad could turn period blood into data insights, then we’d get the FlowPad.
As I explain in my news story, the FlowPad looks like your run-of-the-mill menstrual pad but is built with a microfluidic diagnostic layer underneath that directs menstrual blood into biomarker zones for testing fertility, ovarian health, and perimenopausal hormones. The results of the test show up in Vivoo’s app after a user scans the pad’s results through their phone camera or enters them manually.
The pH indicator on the back of the pad can uncover insights into overall vaginal health, like a balanced or unbalanced microbiome. It could also serve those with for fertility and conception, and perimenopausal and menopausal customers can use it to stay on track with hormone treatments.
Also: This menstrual pad takes period blood and turns it into data diagnostics
This smart scale does more than measure and track your weight gain or loss. The Withings Body Scan 2 assesses hypertension risk, ECG, cardiac efficiency and reactivity, arterial stiffness, metabolic efficiency, and more. In less than 90 seconds, the Body Scan 2 measures and delivers these biomarkers to you.
Also: Withings’ new scale gives its most detailed health reading yet
Withings says the guidance offered through the scale and app is helpful during periods of cardiometabolic imbalance, whether that’s chronic stress, a sedentary lifestyle, weight gain or loss, or menopause and perimenopause.
If you work at a desk all day, you might not be outside for long enough to reap the benefits of daily sunlight. Near-infrared light is one component of sunlight that keeps your energy up, your mood boosted, and your skin acne- and wrinkle-free.
Also: This near-infrared light could bring the benefits of the sun to your laptop monitor
Sunbooster attaches to your monitor, laptop, or tablet and projects near-infrared light as you work in front of it for around two to four hours each day. You can track daily sunlight dosage on the device, which has three near-infrared lights inside. The company behind Sunbooster, SunLED Life Science, is also prototyping a phone case and a monitor with near-infrared light, turning screen time into sun time.
Pebble returns with its second-generation smartwatch almost 11 years after its first-gen debut. The Pebble Round 2 is almost as thin as the Pebble Time Round and delivers 10 days of battery life.
Also: Cult favorite Pebble returns with Round 2 watch – and it’s nearly analog
Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky wanted to make the smartwatch as thin and analog as possible, with a larger, more readable e-paper display.
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