CES 2025: Evenflo’s SensorySoothe smart car seat is a rave for one baby

SensorySoothe may be the ultimate anti-“sad beige baby“technology.

Launched this week at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, SensorySoothe is the latest offering from children’s product company Evenflo. It’s a first-of-its-kind car seat handle with built-in speakers and a color-changing light bar, designed to distract and soothe babies on the go when mom or dad are busy driving. It has also been linked as a new alternative to traditional car seat toys, which can turn into dangerous projectiles in the event of a car accident.

Credit: Haley Henschel/Mashable

SensorySoothe will be available on some of the company’s premium travel system car seats and strollers in February, and we got to check some of them out at Tuesday’s ShowStoppers media showcase. IRL, they looked like the perfect places for one-baby raves.

SensorySoothe seats and systems are aimed at preemies and infants from 3 to 30 pounds, and can be controlled using buttons on the device, voice commands, or with the Evenflo mobile app. The light bar has presets for a variety of colors and effects to suit infants’ preferences and specific developmental stages. (As newborns, for example, we are really only see red.) Evenflo product manager Matt Lewis told Mashable that the app can send parents push notifications to change a setting if their baby might have outgrown one. Ambient night light is also available.

Credit: Haley Henschel/Mashable

As a 386-month-old, I liked the rainbow preset best – it made the car seats that Evenflo demonstrated look like Razer Chroma gaming devices.

Parents are also able to select various pre-loaded sounds for the SensorySoothe to play, including white noise, lullabies, birds chirping and regular nursery rhymes, which can be synchronized with the light bar’s patterns. (Spoiler: There is no “Baby Shark.” You’re welcome.) Lewis said the speakers meet standard regulations for safe noise levels.

Credit: Haley Henschel/Mashable

The SensorySoothe is powered by four AA batteries and should last 15 to 30 hours before needing new ones – great for road trips.

For parents interested in adding one to their registry, SensorySoothe products start at $259 for a car seat and $649 for a travel system. Look for them at retailers like Babylist, Amazon, Target, and Walmart in a few weeks.