{"id":676336,"date":"2026-01-05T22:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T22:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/676336\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T22:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T22:19:17","slug":"lego-unveils-a-technology-packed-smart-brick-at-ces-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/676336\/","title":{"rendered":"Lego unveils a technology-packed Smart Brick at CES 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lego<\/a> bricks come in a ridiculously vast array of sizes and shapes, but the company is unveiling an entirely new take on its classic shape at CES 2026. Meet the Lego Smart Brick, a standard-sized 2 x 4 brick that\u2019s packed with modern technology to enable sets that can respond to how they\u2019re played with or the sets you build. It\u2019s part of a new initiative called Smart Play<\/a>, which encompasses the Smart Brick as well as Smart Minifigures and Smart Tags. While we obviously don\u2019t know yet how Lego fans will take to this new system, it\u2019s still fair to say it\u2019s the biggest move Lego has every made to infuse its products with connected technology.<\/p>\n

The Smart Brick has a 4.1mm ASIC chip inside of it that Lego says is smaller than a standard Lego stud. It runs something called the Play Engine that can sense things like motion, orientation and magnetic fields. Thanks to this and some integrated copper coils, the Smart Brick can sense distance, direction and orientation of other Smart Bricks near it when you\u2019re building. The brick also has a tiny built-in speaker, an accelerometer and an LED array. Lego says the speaker can produce audio that is \u201ctied to live play actions\u201d rather than just playing pre-recorded clips.<\/p>\n

The Smart Tag and Smart Minifigures are a lot simpler. The Tag is a 2 x 2 studless tile with a digital ID embedded in it that the Smart Brick can read via \u201cnear-field magnetic communication.\u201d This obviously sounds a lot like NFC, but we can\u2019t be sure that these new Lego pieces will be able to communicate with any other NFC devices. Similarly, the Smart Minifigure also has a digital ID readable by NFC.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the Smart Tag as well as the similar tech in a Smart Minifigure is to let the Smart Brick know what kind of context it is being used in. As Lego puts it, \u201cThe role of the Smart Tag is to tell the Smart Brick how it should play back with you.\u201d The Tag tells the Brick what kind of object, animal, vehicle and so forth it should become. A Smart Tag in a Lego Star Wars X-Wing set, for example, will contain the unique ID and instructions for how the Smart Brick should behave.<\/p>\n

If this isn\u2019t enough, Lego has also built a local wireless layer that connects this all together called BrickNet. It\u2019s based on Bluetooth and uses Lego\u2019s proprietary \u201cNeighbor Position Measurement” system, which is what lets the Smart Bricks know how close they are to each other and how they\u2019re oriented. Lego says that this lets the bricks \u201ctalk\u201d to each other directly without the need for apps, internet connections or external controls. It sounds like the idea is all three of these new Smart pieces can communicate and interact without any need for setup, which should make it refreshingly like a traditional Lego set.<\/p>\n

That said, these bricks naturally will need some power. Lego says that their batteries should still perform even after \u201cyears\u201d of inactivity, and the coils and power system is designed so that multiple bricks can be charged wirelessly on a shared charging pad.<\/p>\n

\"Lego<\/p>\n

Lego Star Wars set with Smart Bricks (Lego)<\/p>\n

Speaking of sets, Lego is unsurprisingly launching the Smart Play system with its biggest licensed partner: Star Wars. There will be three \u201call-in-one\u201d Star Wars sets available, all of which are on the smaller side and definitely geared towards kids, rather than the 1,000 piece and up sets that the company has released to get adults (like me) interested.<\/p>\n

The prices are inflated compared to non-smart sets, but not outrageously so. Darth Vader\u2019s TIE Fighter is a 473-piece set with a smart Darth Vader Minifigure, one Smart Brick and one Smart Tag, priced at $70. Luke\u2019s Red Five X-Wing is a 584-piece set with two Smart Minifigures, one Smart Brick and five Smart Tags, priced at $100. The Throne Room Duel & A-wing is a 962-piece set with three Smart Minifigures, two Smart Bricks and five Smart Tags, priced at a slightly shocking $160.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an entirely new direction for Lego, and you won\u2019t have to wait long to check it out. The company is putting those three sets up for pre-order on January 9, and they\u2019ll launch on March 1. There\u2019s obviously a lot of technology here that\u2019s entirely new to Lego, and as such it\u2019s hard to imagine just how this will all look when it comes together \u2014 but we\u2019re hoping that Lego will have some sets on hand here at CES so we can get a closer look at how the Smart Play system works.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, you can find a few videos on how Smart Play works here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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