The 4 Most Disappointing Tech Products Of 2026 (So Far)

New tech is dropping all the time. Every week seems to bring a handful of new products and gadgets, with new and old companies alike looking to make an impact on the industry. Sometimes you get massive hits, sometimes you get massive fails, but the worst products are those that simply disappoint. The type of tech that you might be looking forward to, but ends up leaving you feeling underwhelmed.

As someone who has been attending CES in Las Vegas for over the last decade, I've come across more amazing and strange gadgets than I can remember. Many have faded into obscurity, others have gone on to become part of the cultural zeitgeist, and some are only remembered for the disappointment they left us with. And while we might only be halfway through 2026, we've already got a number of releases that have us quietly sighing.

We've had massive products from established brands that cost thousands and claim to simplify our lives, and devices that have us shaking our heads over the environmental impact they potentially will have for a few minutes of fun. The following are just a few of the tech products that left us scratching our heads.

The Samsung Bespoke AI 4-Door Flex AI Family Hub refrigerator shows that the future might be a lot worse than the past. I've got a standard fridge in my home that's got French doors and does everything a fridge needs to do. In my garage I have an ancient fridge from the 1990s, still keeping drinks cold like a champ.

The thing that both of those fridges have in common is that they have handles that allow me to open them. The Samsung Bespoke fridge will run you $3,500 and removes the handle. Instead, you get voice-activated Auto Open Door technology allowing users to use their voice to open their fridge. That said, you can also touch the sensor near the fridge door to activate the automatic door.

Samsung says users will no longer have to wrestle the door to open it and can now simply use their voice. The problem is that it's all connected, meaning if you lose internet access, you lose the ability to access features in your fridge such as opening it by voice. You can still open it by hand, but with so many extra mechanical and internet-connected parts, this feels like a repair nightmare.

I'm a big fan of the Galaxy line of smartphones from Samsung, having recommended them for years. Each year usually brings a new model that does something cool and trumps what came before. So, imagine my disappointment with the recent release of the Samsung Galaxy S26. And others in the community have taken note with the phone getting roasted on sites like Reddit.

User Sajid_GG posted an image of the new Samsung Galaxy S26 against the half-decade-old Samsung Galaxy S22 comparing the cameras. The specifications are identical on paper, both smartphones featuring 50 MP main cameras, 12 MP ultrawide cameras, and 10 MP telephoto lenses. The rumors are that Samsung didn't upgrade the cameras and features this year over cost-cutting measures.

And when you compare the Galaxy S26 with the Galaxy S25 that it's meant to supersede, the improvements are so minimal that I'm left wondering why even release a new model this year. The Samsung Galaxy S26 is by no means a bad smartphone, it's just one that's a real disappointment to those who look forward to year-over-year upgrades. At least the Galaxy S25 will drop in price for those looking for a potential deal.

From the cost of RAM still being through the roof, to the prices of SSDs continuing to increase, it's not easy for laptop makers in 2026. And with the budget-friendly release of the MacBook Neo that's making waves, it seems like every laptop is now playing catch-up. The LG Gram Book is no exception, being a mid-range laptop from a well-liked line of ultra-portables.

The disappointment has a lot to do with the price-to-performance ratio. Users and reviews say the LG Gram Book comes in pretty underpowered, even for a basic laptop for office workers and students. The battery life also isn't all that great and strangely enough, it's a little too heavy at 3.64 pounds to probably be considered for the Gram lineup going forward.

In many other years the LG Gram Book would not be considered a bad laptop, and it isn't. The disappointment that many might feel is only highlighted when you compare it to the cheaper MacBook Neo. The LG Gram retails for $799, but you can find it cheaper online. But with the MacBook Neo dropping to $499 for students, it's hard to see the LG Gram Book as an alternative unless you are a Windows die-hard.

Lollipop Star got a lot of buzz at CES and beyond, being a lollipop that plays music inside your head through bone-conducting technology. It even got major attention on shows like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The technology is sound, no pun intended, but it's everything around it that left many feeling a great deal of disappointment.

The disappointing part is that the Lollipop Star is not only overpriced at $10 per stick, but that it's a single-use product designed and meant to be thrown away. That's a potential ton of plastic, electronics, and lithium batteries that will be ending up in a landfill after a few minutes of use.

The company even acknowledges this issue, with a representative stating during CES that, "You can't reuse the sticks after the candy is long gone, and you can't recharge it." And growing up in the battery age, one thing I remember being told is to never dispose of a battery in the trash over risk of starting a fire. And with some 5,000 fires per year linked to battery fires, Lollipop Star is not a star for telling users to toss it out.

When looking to find the most disappointing tech releases of 2026, we looked primarily to the experts in the field. We researched numerous reviews from various tech-focused publications, YouTube tech channels, and the firsthand experience of the writer themselves. We also investigated what the general consumer was saying about each of these products both before and after they were released publicly. Many of these releases came with a fair amount of hype behind them, and we tried to cut through that to find out what people were actually feeling about these products once they got their hands on them.