This article is part of our ongoing coverage from CEDIA Expo/CIX 2025. Stay tuned to CE Pro for in-depth insights, analysis, and recaps from the largest professional smart home trade show in the U.S.
CEDIA Expo/CIX 2025 has wrapped up, and we’re beginning to unpack our coverage from the show, which was bursting at the seams with new information, innovative products, industry initiatives, and general good vibes about where our industry is headed.
Here are some of my musings from the industry’s largest U.S. custom home integration trade show.
Demos are an Invaluable Marketing Tool
This demo featured some of the best home theater tech available. Image/Zachary Comeau
Marketing copy, spec sheets, and images only tell a fraction of the story about any product. Seeing this technology perform to its absolute limits in a well thought out demo on the show floor and experiencing what you’re installing in your clients’ homes is truly priceless.
Well, not totally priceless, since one of the showstopping demos was a home theater demo that was marketed as being worth more than $1 million. This featured Christie’s Clipse G3 projector, a Panamorph Alpa Pro lens, the new ASCENDO HALO speakers, some truly massive ASCENDO Infrasonics subwoofers, a StormAudio Elite 32 Digital Audio-over-IP processor, a Kaleidescape Strato V player, a madVR Envy Extreme 8 video processor, a Seymour-Screen Excellence 15-foot multi-format retractable film screen, and so much more impressive tech. Words don’t really do this experience justice.
Just a short walk away from that home theater demo room was the L-Acoustics booth, where Nick Fichte, director of business development for home and yacht, facilitated an experience of the company’s HYRISS. For the unaccustomed, the acronym here is Hyperreal Immersive Sound Space. The HYRISS demo simulated a day’s activities, including a local news update, a relaxing soundtrack, a concert experience, a French village for ambiance, a cinema experience and a nightclub party. The system can transform any space for a wide range of experiences, and sound moves around the space flawlessly. That was cool.
Speaking of cool and equally informative demos, Lutron’s demonstration of its Ketra technology and how it adjusts lights and shades according to the sun’s direction and ambient sunlight in the home is an absolutely perfect way to market the system. This year, the company split the demo in two: one for lighting and one for shading. However, the messaging is the same: let Lutron worry about those automatic adjustments, control shading and lights in harmony and improve a home’s atmosphere.
Design has Never Been More Important
Waterfall Audio’s new glass tower speakers made their debut at CEDIA Expo 2025. Image/Zachary Comeau
The intersection of design and technology, collaborating with builders and designers, and becoming a part of the project earlier are much easier said than done. The industry struggles with it. CEDIA Expo 2025 offered some solutions, and at the very least, a good start.
In fact, this very issue was the topic of the CEDIA town hall on Wednesday night, with CEDIA and the NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association) presenting joint research on the gaps and in some cases bridges between the custom integration industry and kitchen and bath industry.
If you still don’t think the design community plays a pivotal role in the smart home industry, ask yourself why interior designer Toni Sabatino has become a key industry figure, collaborator and presenter of the CEDIA Awards. Consider why companies like Leon continue to make design-forward products like the Edge Media Frame and new Edge Atlas Video Frame and others that truly elevate the technology you install.
Before we go further, I have one very important note on this topic. Hagan Kappler, CEO of Daisy, emphasized during the Women to Watch panel session at CEDIA Expo that the industry has an opportunity to broaden its perspective to include the smart home features and everyday uses and spaces that women often prioritize—design-friendly technology, wellness, convenience, beauty, and comfort throughout the home. She noted that taking women into account when building products and designing solutions creates larger potential opportunity sizes.
Kappler added that having more women as part of teams and leadership helps the industry see these opportunities more clearly, with diversity driving the design and delivery of experiences that delight a broader set of clients. She expressed her appreciation for the recent attention to advancing women in the industry, underscoring that it is not only beneficial for women, but also for companies and the industry as a whole
Manufacturers are also innovating to make some really sleek-looking tech. Touchpanels and keypads from some of our largest manufacturers are sleeker than ever. In Crestron’s booth were the Horizon 2 and new Cameo keypads. The Horizon 2 keypads now feature new premium metal finishes that include brushed brass, dark nickel, dark bronze and brushed black. The keypads also feature flexible engraving and advanced backlighting. The Cameo keypads, meanwhile, feature up to 138 button configurations.
According to Vice President of Residential Marketing Michael Short, the premium now placed on design and aesthetics is the “whole reason” for the new keypads.
“All of our ranges need to be beautifully designed keypads,” Short says, adding that the growing influence of designers on projects necessitated a more premium look. “We need to have enough options from a designer look and feel standpoint so our dealers can win any project.”
Other control companies like ADI | Snap One were also doubling down on the premium design of its Control4 Lux keypads.
“The focus on this product is really elevating the experience,” says Matt Kamp, vice president of product management. “We’re really taking the overall lighting experience to the next level.”
Kamp adds that the custom keypad engraving capabilities and high-end design is meant to appeal to architects and designers.
For design-forward audio, it’s hard to beat Waterfall Audio. This company makes those glass tower speakers that you’ve definitely seen before. The French manufacturer—as most from Europe do—makes audio that looks as good as it sounds. The company via the Selective Design booth debuted its Niagara XT3 loudspeaker, a 46-inch, 500-watt glass-built model with dual ATOHM drivers, a glass horn tweeter, and proprietary JETSTREAM damping. The XT3 completes the luxury Niagara XT lineup alongside the XT1 and XT2.
Quite frankly, there were so many beautiful products on the show floor that it’s impossible to list them all. Some other notable manufacturers with sleek-looking designs include C-SEED, Josh.ai, Samsung (via the Frame Pro), Skyworth, and many others.
Newbies Make a Splash
Is it just me, or was CEDIA Expo 2025 a big one for industry newcomers? The show floor had quite a few. We profiled some of them in the September issue of CE Pro, although many of them were familiar names to begin with that exhibited for the first time.
This year’s show welcomed a diverse lineup of first-time exhibitors showcasing innovative solutions across security, lighting, AV, and smart home technologies. SimpliSafe debuted its new professional installation channel along with the Active Guard Outdoor Protection service, and Aqara demonstrated its broad portfolio of Matter-compatible devices and the Aqara Studio platform, and SunLight2 featured architectural-grade LED lighting.
Neptune introduced its Shade Outdoor Smart TVs and outdoor soundbars, Deako highlighted its modular smart lighting controls, and NextLevel Acoustics showcased customizable audio and design-focused sound solutions.
However, one of the more interesting debuts came from a company that didn’t even exhibit. That was Prime Radiant, which essentially launched at CEDIA Expo 2025. The company began its publicity by announcing a partnership with TransUnion to launch a fully integrated personal cybersecurity platform aimed at executives, high-net-worth individuals, and families. Company principals were at the show to meet with potential clients and establish partnerships with vendors.
The solution combines Prime Radiant’s Fortress hardware-based home network protection and 24/7 incident response with TransUnion’s TruEmpower identity and fraud monitoring services, offering up to $2 million in insurance coverage for data recovery, ransomware, and financial losses. Positioned as both a consumer safeguard and an enterprise benefit under IRS Section 132, the platform addresses rising risks from remote work, unsecured smart home devices, and AI-driven cyberattacks, giving clients a single point of contact for prevention, protection, and rapid response.
If your clients are asking about cybersecurity, give these folks a try. They have very impressive people working for them. If you saw the cybersecurity session on the Smart Stage, you saw Cristina Dolan, a cybersecurity expert with experience working for RSA and in the blockchain industry. She’s an engineer, entrepreneur, and technology leader with a career spanning startups and Fortune 1000 companies. She has co-founded blockchain ventures, led global cybersecurity initiatives, authored work on ESG and the circular economy, and earned recognition as an industry thought leader and innovator.
If there’s anyone that can illustrate the cybersecurity issues, vulnerabilities and liabilities in this market, she’s the one.
That’s it for this recap but stay tuned for more content as CE Pro editors unpack what we captured from CEDIA Expo/CIX 2025!
