We’re on the bottom at CES in Las Vegas all week to sift by means of the hype and discover the merchandise that ought to truly be price your cash this yr. Check out our guide to CES 2026 for our newest hands-on impressions proper from the present flooring.
Lego has an extended historical past of merging its beloved bodily constructing bricks with digital options. In the previous, builders have been in a position to scan iconic characters from all of cinematic historical past into the Dimensions video games, convey Mario to life with an interactive Bluetooth determine and even use augmented actuality to hunt for ghosts with Hidden Sides. Now, Lego is bringing the end result of this know-how and play options to a galaxy far, distant with its new Smart Play system.
With its unveiling at CES 2026, I had an opportunity to see precisely how Lego is upgrading its Star Wars collection with lights, sounds and different interactive play options.
Lego set the stage at CES 2026 by evaluating its new Smart Play system to the creation of the Minifigure. That’s a fairly daring assertion to make when you ask me. The Lego Minifig is likely one of the most iconic toys of all time, perhaps much more than conventional Lego system bricks themselves. To say {that a} new reveal is on par with one thing that has basically outlined the previous 50 years of Lego is as daring because it will get. So what precisely is it?
Lego Smart Play is a new lineup going ahead that imbues the bricks you’re used to with lights and sound results. It’s a step up from having a Lego set that interacts together with your smartphone or pill, which we’ve seen up to now; it’s extra akin to the Super Mario lineup that pairs with the titular interactive determine, just far more spectacular. And extra importantly, it really works all on its personal, while not having to depend on your sensible machine. The system is comprised of three primary items: There’s the Smart Brick (which is the brains of the operation), in addition to the companion Smart Minifigures and Smart Tiles. All of those components come collectively so as to supply brick-built starfighters that react in actual time to battling one another and epic lightsaber duels that monitor whether or not the Jedi conquer the Sith.
To circle again on the Smart Brick itself, Lego has packed a sequence of sensors right into a typical two-stud-by-four-stud brick. If it weren’t for its clear housing, you virtually wouldn’t have the ability to inform that it was packing an accelerometer mild detector, sound sensor, miniature speaker and wi-fi charging capabilities. The tags and Minifigures then work in tandem to activate sound results like blaster photographs, X-wing engines firing up, lightsabers clashing and droids beeping — paired with flashes of sunshine to make your set really feel much more alive.
One of my favourite issues I realized concerning the Smart Brick is that it has an onboard synthesizer. This implies that the noises and sound results it blares out into the world aren’t prerecorded, they’re made on the spot. And no, there’s no generative AI at play right here both. In observe, it implies that sounds can react to distance, place and all the opposite issues that the brick can sense.
After a hands-on demo with three of the upcoming Star Wars sets at CES, I used to be in a position to see how Lego is partnering with Disney and Lucasfilm to debut the expertise for the primary time.
For many of the expertise, you construct an X-wing such as you would another regular set up to now 27 years of Lego Star Wars. You unbox the luggage, sprawl out the items and comply with the step-by-step directions to piece the mannequin collectively. What’s new with the Smart Play system is the ultimate items of the puzzle: the Smart Brick and its accoutrements.
Combined with all the same old play options you’ll discover in a Lego Star Wars set (like Stud Shooters), the new system unlocks much more alternatives for play. From my time with the Smart Brick, that is very clearly about amplifying the spirit of what Lego has been doing for many years — not about changing it. The sets nonetheless are the truth is your basic Lego builds, just with slightly further flare. So, sure! You can play with them with out the Smart Brick. Luke will very a lot nonetheless match within the cockpit of his X-wing, Vader can nonetheless swoosh round in his TIE fighter and you may nonetheless reenact moments from Episode VI within the Death Star throne room utilizing your creativeness.
But with the Smart Brick added in, the builds truly reply to your actions. Turning a starfighter the other way up whereas flying round your property will ship R2-D2 right into a screaming match. Landing an X-wing will slowly have its engines settle down, connecting it to its help car will play refueling sound results and having Luke vanquish Vader could have Sith Lord set free a defeated cry. It’s all fairly enjoyable and complete, particularly with the seemingly never-ending quantity of prospects to find as soon as the sets truly come out.
I’m most impressed by just what number of other ways you may work together with the brick. Chatting with Tom Donaldson, the Senior Vice President and Head of Creative Play Lab at Lego, he shared that the Smart Play has been within the works for almost a decade. In that point, they’ve been cooking up methods to make use of all the totally different sensors that the souped-up brick has to supply. Since the Smart Brick may even monitor who and what’s round it, it implies that Vader will react in a different way while you place him inside an X-wing in comparison with his personal experience. Just from my hour of interacting with the upcoming sets, it seems like there’s a lot extra play to uncover from the system. Several of the parents at Lego guiding the demos even hinted at it, telling me and my fellow Master Builders that we’ll have to attend to attempt sure interactions for ourselves as soon as the kits truly launch.
To kick off the Lego Smart Play lineup, there will likely be three sets from a galaxy far, far away hitting retailer cabinets on March 1. Each one of many kits will embody the entire expertise, that includes the Smart Brick, its companion charger, at least one Smart Minifigure and a Smart Tag. Preorders will go stay this upcoming Friday, Jan. 9.
There’s no higher place to begin taking a more in-depth look at the sets than Luke’s Red Five X-wing. The iconic insurgent starfighter is about as well-known because it will get for Star Wars and features a batch of equally well-known characters, two of that are Smart Minifigures. The 584-piece set focuses across the ship (which will get its personal Smart Tag) and comes joined by electrical Minifigures for Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, plus 4 extra Smart Tags for a floor transport car, command heart and R2-D2 (who will get a new design). To spherical out the $100 set, you’ll discover typical Minifigure variations of a Rebel trooper and Stormtrooper.
To give Luke’s X-wing one thing to combat in opposition to, Lego can be releasing a Smart Play set for Darth Vader’s TIE fighter. It’s been fairly a while since we’ve seen a package primarily based across the Sith Lord’s private starship, and it’s making a grand return to the Lego lineup with 473 bricks. There’s solely a single Smart Minifigure for Darth Vader, and the one Smart Tag applies to his ship. But you’re additionally getting a small Rebel Alliance outpost and an Imperial refueling station construct included with the $70 price ticket.
Both the X-wing and TIE fighter have the distinctive play options that can help you set off particular actions whereas swooshing the ships round — as in the event that they’re truly locked within the Death Star trenches like in “A New Hope.”
The third and remaining set within the first wave of Lego Smart Play sets takes on the grand stage of recreating the ultimate showdown between Jedi and Sith in “Return of the Jedi.” The Throne Room Duel and A-wing is the most costly mannequin within the wave at $160, however features a complete of three Smart Minifigures and 5 Smart Tags to justify the worth. Alongside electrical variations of Luke, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, there are additionally regular Minifigures together with an A-wing pilot and two Royal Guards.
The set jogs my memory of considered one of my private favourite sets from my childhood, invoking the identical dueling system as 2005’s Ultimate Lightsaber Duel from the unique wave of “Revenge of the Sith” sets. This time, there are all of the digital options supplied by the Smart Play system, in addition to the unique platforms that allow you to reenact your personal battles of fine versus evil. Each of those duel stations have their very own tag, and are available joined by a Smart Tag for the A-wing, the Emperor’s throne and Death Star turret.
Lego additionally teased some extra sets which might be anticipated to hitch the Smart Play lineup someday later in 2026. Most importantly, there’s the enduring Millennium Falcon, which will likely be accompanied by the Mos Eisley cantina and a Landspeeder that every one work with the Smart Play lineup.
Chatting with Julia Goldin, Lego’s Chief Product and Marketing Officer, I had an opportunity to ask concerning the worth of those sets. After all, they’re costlier than builds that lack the Smart Play components. In response, Goldin went on to spotlight that Lego costs its sets primarily based on the worth they provide, not essentially on the quantity of bricks included within the field. In the Lego neighborhood, the time period “price per piece” is commonly introduced as much as both validate or discredit the MSRP of a selected set — just like the $1,000 Death Star that got here out late final yr.
I went into this week’s reveal as a skeptic of the Smart Brick. I’ve been constructing Lego for almost my whole life, and have seen the monitor report the corporate has for making an attempt to bringing its toys to life with apps or electronics. But after truly attempting them out for myself, I’ve been swayed. I’ll be thrilled to see how the new Smart Play sets truly stack up as soon as they ship in March and if the worth actually is there. The costs are actually steep, however Lego Star Wars has already been getting costlier the previous few years.
So if Lego can actually stick the touchdown with its new Smart Play system as soon as youngsters (and myself) get our arms on these new bricks, I can see why you’d attain for these on retailer cabinets over a conventional set. And in any case, it’s not just like the basic kits are going anyplace. But till launch, I’ve to say that I’m completely impressed by my hands-on time up to now, and may’t wait to spend extra time enjoying with the newest from Lego within the coming months.
Here at NCS Underscored, we make it our job to remain updated on all the newest merchandise, however we don’t just discover them; we additionally rigorously check merchandise from a whole lot of manufacturers to verify each present you give is a success. In the case of this procuring information for the new 2025 Lego sets, you’re getting suggestions from a lifelong Lego fan.
Senior offers editor Rikka Altland has been constructing Lego since earlier than she may type full sentences. She has additionally been writing about Lego professionally for almost a decade and has been gathering kits for nearly twice as lengthy. Altland is continually shopping for new kits, so when she says she loves a package and thinks it’s price shopping for, she’s placing her cash the place her mouth is.