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I tried out Lego’s Smart Bricks, and you can pre-order the first sets now
Three Lego Star Wars sets can be pre-ordered now, and will launch in March
One of the most unexpected announcements at CES 2026 is arguably the biggest change Lego has made to its bricks in decades. Adding a whole new dimension to creative play, Lego’s so-called Smart Bricks can sense motion, position and distance, bringing sets to life in a way fans have never seen before.
The company’s Smart Bricks have a chip inside that’s as small as a single Lego stud. It packs in multiple sensors, including light and sound, alongside an accelerometer and a tiny speaker capable of producing old-school synthesiser sounds for more dynamic play.
The Smart Brick is the centrepiece of Lego’s new Smart Play ecosystem, and it only comes to life when paired with Smart Tags or Smart Minifigures. Smart Tags are small chips built into sets, and deliver a set of instructions when they’re in proximity to a Smart Brick. Smart Minifigures are basically standard Lego figures with embedded identifiers. Essentially, they let the Smart Brick know what the set or the minifigure is and how it should respond.
Each Smart Brick comes with its own wireless charging pad. It’s estimated to last 45 minutes on a single charge, and take a couple of hours to charge back to full. The Smart Brick powers down automatically when not in use, so as not to drain battery.
I got a chance to play with all three Lego Star Wars sets myself at CES 2026. Doing battle against evil in a galaxy not so far, far away. From conducting pace shootouts between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader across the room to duelling with lightsabers, I could recreate some of the most iconic scenes in the films. Sound effects brought the action to life, and my fighter even took a hit when it was shot.
Lego also demonstrated to me the limitless possibility of its new Smart Play ecosystem. Attaching a Smart Brick to a simple duck build caused it to quack loudly, or call out when a birthday-themed dinosaur got close. That dinosaur played “Happy Birthday” and reacted when you blew out the candles on a Lego birthday cake. I also saw a basic car racing competition, and action-led scenarios like police chases.
For now, the only Smart Play sets available are the Lego Star Wars sets, and you can’t buy a Smart Brick on its own – you’ll need to buy it with a Star Wars build. You can pre-order all three Lego Star Wars Smart Play sets right now.
Lego Star Wars Smart Play Darth Vader TIE Fighter building set: £59.99, Lego.com
Featuring 473 pieces, the Darth Vader set comes with one Smart Brick and one Smart Tag featuring the TIE Fighter. It’s really fun, with an intergalactic ship that has a twin-ion-engine, which actually roars. You can pre-order it now and it will ship on 1 March.
Lego Star Wars Smart Play Luke’s Red Five X-wing building set: £79.99, Lego.com
This 584-piece set comes with a Smart Tagged version of Luke Skywalker’s iconic X-wing aircraft, as well as four Smart Tag pieces in the form of the Imperial turret, transporter, command centre and R2-D2. You also get two Lego Smart minifigures – Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. I had a blast shooting from the X-wing, and after losing my battle against Darth Vader, I was able to re-fuel the fighter (complete with refuelling sound effects) and go again. The bleeping-blooping R2-D2 was also super cute. The set is available to pre-order now, and will be released on 1 March.
Lego Star Wars Smart Play throne room duel and A-wing building set: £139.99, Lego.com
The set for ultimate Star Wars fans, it boasts a massive 962 pieces and comes with two Lego Smart Bricks, three Smart Minifigures of Luke Skywalker, DarthVader and Emperor Palpatine, as well as an A-wing, throne, Death Star turret and two lightsabre Smart Tags. This one was loads of fun – I had a blast duelling with a Lego lightsaber, and the sound effects really brought it to life in a way I’ve not seen before. The set is available to pre-order now and it will ship on 1 March.
Senior tech critic Alex Lee is in Las Vegas for CES 2026. The Independent is on the ground covering the latest announcements and will be going hands-on with the latest products, as well as picking out the coolest (and strangest) launches.
As a tech critic, these are my technology predictions for 2026
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