We may only be a month into 2026 but a key trend that stands out – for both good and bad reasons – is the emergence of home robots. Many of them were seen walking around CES 2026 which took place in early January, and they were all the talk of the town. Well, I wish we weren’t – and here’s why.
As AI continues to take over the home, I think it was only a matter of time before robots were introduced. There have long been rumors about LG introducing a home robot, and earlier this year, we finally saw a home robot in action.
As part of their ‘Zero Labor Home’ vision, LG has developed i LG CLID. Powered by AI, LG CLOiD uses AI and visual language models to perform household tasks. It has a head, body, arms, hands and a wheeled base that allows it to move, while the arms and hands can hold objects.
At the head of the LG CLOiD is its ‘brain’ which is equipped with a chipset, sensors, the speakerdisplay and cameras. This technology and voice-based production AI are used to recognize objects, perform actions, talk to you and make facial expressions.
(Photo credit: LG)
Another home robot that made its appearance earlier this year was SwitchBot inero H1. Another full-size AI-powered robot like LG’s CLOiD, the SwitchBot onero H1 learns and adapts to its environment and your needs using OmniSense VLA. It also has a wheeled base, head, arms and body, and is designed to open, organize, and hold and push objects.
Again, videos shot by an attendee saw the SwitchBot onero H1 in action picking up clothes, going to the washing machine and loading the clothes before closing the door. People have noted that the SwitchBot onero H1 is very slow and takes about 2.5 minutes to complete tasks, and although these home robots are still in the early stages of development, it seems that slowness will be a big problem.
(Image credit: SwitchBot)
The main purpose of home robots is to save time by doing things for you, but looking at the LG and SwitchBot robots, I’m not sure they save much time at all. In my opinion, I get very impatient waiting for a home robot to fold my clothes, especially when it would take me half the time to do it myself!
Of course, there are other areas where I see home robots being useful, especially for people with disabilities or mobility issues. Tasks that involve moving around and picking things up can be difficult for some, so a home robot can remove this difficulty.
But – and this is a big but although it might be expected – I don’t think these home robots are cheap. LG and SwitchBot have remained tight-lipped about pricing and availability for now, though SwitchBot said the onero H1 will be available for pre-order soon.
To put things in perspective, robotic vacuum cleaners – a well-received device in the home – can be up to £1,000 / $1,000, so I can only guess how much full-fledged home robots will cost. Of course, we’ll have to wait to see what the next stages of home robots are but I’m definitely not holding my breath for them.
