Watch out! Lego's 5 new Smart Play sets might be more affordable, but they lack a crucial brick

Following the tech’s debut at CES 2026, Lego has just announced a quintet of new Smart Play compatible Star Wars sets, but be warned, these sets don’t come with the most important piece: the Smart Brick.

While I was initially unconvinced by Lego’s evolution of play, I’ve quickly come around on the tech, which relies on special minifigures and tiles built into sets that can activate lights and sound effects inside the Smart Brick to enhance the toy’s play features.

The fact that it doesn’t require an app, has a big focus on kid-friendly play, and that the components are as Lego system compatible as their non-smart variants has convinced me that Smart Play could be an excellent advancement of Lego rather than a downgrade.