This good residence breakthrough allows you to management home equipment with out Wi-Fi (and its safety dangers)

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Emerson launched its SmartVoice know-how at CES 2026.
• SmartVoice gadgets do not require Wi-Fi or a hub; as an alternative, they use on-device voice management.
• The product line contains tower followers, heaters, air fryers, and electrical plugs.

Whereas good residence gadgets are a serious focus of CES, many of the tech we see usually follows a pre-established sample of requiring a hub or Wi-Fi to make the most of its options. Emerson, an American electronics firm, simply launched a brand new line of good residence gadgets that does one thing completely different. 

Emerson’s SmartVoice line of merchandise lets you management these gadgets with simply your voice, eliminating the necessity for Wi-Fi or a hub and, with it, the chance of cyber assaults. These merchandise function on-device voice management, which features a built-in microphone and speaker that reply to a wake phrase and a preset record of prompts. 

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Though this know-how could sound quite mundane, I used to be very impressed with the SmartVoice method. Many dumb gadgets, equivalent to followers, lamps, and area heaters, include small distant controls that usually get misplaced. SmartVoice allows you to management them by speaking to them, with out bringing Alexa, Siri, or Google Gemini — and the related privateness dangers — into your own home.

The brand new lineup of Emerson SmartVoice gadgets contains Tower Followers in 30-, 40-, and 42-inch heights; Fan-Heaters in 24- and 32-inch; Electrical Plugs and energy strips; and Air Fryers in 5.3- and 10-quart capacities. The air fryers function greater than 1,000 voice instructions, together with 100 cooking presets; the remainder of the gadgets can perceive greater than 40 voice instructions.

A lot of these gadgets have many purposes in a crowded and sophisticated market. Does having to attach an area heater or fan to Wi-Fi and obtain an app for the gadget sound extreme? I believe so. I do not need to overwhelm my Wi-Fi community with dozens of good gadgets, and even when there are good residence hubs that clear up this drawback, I additionally do not need to purchase 5 completely different hubs and use 5 completely different apps.

Additionally: The most effective and most helpful good residence tech I’ve seen at CES 2026

Any time you join a tool to your Wi-Fi, you are additionally exposing your self to cyber assaults, although there are steps you may take to reduce this danger. For the reason that SmartVoice line of merchandise does not go surfing, then it is also inherently safer than typical good residence gadgets. 

The SmartVoice line contains air fryers, plugs, energy strips, a heater, followers, and extra — each with a selected wake phrase, equivalent to “Fan,” “Heater,” “Emerson,” or “Fryer.” You may say, “Hey, heater, activate” or “Hey, heater, set a 30-minute timer.” The air fryers include preloaded recipes, so you may ask one to prepare dinner a baked potato, and it will set the temperature accordingly. 

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After testing the tech myself, Bluetooth is the one factor I want the Emerson SmartVoice line had. It would be extra handy if I may additionally use an app to manage the tech through Bluetooth, along with utilizing my voice or the gadget’s bodily buttons. That approach, I may flip off the area heater from my mattress if my husband is already asleep or flip up the fan in my children’ room with out waking them.