(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
What began as a venue for radio broadcasting technology has evolved into one of the world's premier tech showcases. IFA kicks off this week at the Messe Berlin, filling its vast halls with everything from smart appliances and drones to laptops, robot vacuums, and smart home gear.
Over the years, IFA has delivered its share of standout tech. Recent shows have featured everything from stair-climbing robot vacuums and tennis-coaching robots to rotating-screen laptops—alongside practical highlights like ultra-thin tablets, portable gaming handhelds, and affordable phones.
Not every concept shown in Berlin will reach production, and not every release makes it to the US. Still, IFA remains an ideal preview stage for upcoming features and design trends. With that in mind, here's what we expect to see at the show this year.
Robot Vacuums: The Great Stair-Climbing Race Hits Top Gear
Two years ago at IFA, Roborock showed off a robot vacuum with wheels that could independently raise and lower, allowing the bot to traverse over tall thresholds on a single floor and avoid getting stuck on small obstacles. Last year, Dreame and Eufy showed off attachments that actually carried bots to different floors.
Anker (parent of Eufy), Dreame, and Roborock are all on the list of exhibitors, as they were last year, and all should make major announcements. iRobot is on the list as well, so we might see a new Roomba model in addition to the lineup announced earlier in the summer.
As for exactly what we'll see, perhaps IFA will bring models that can climb more quickly and clean stairs as they go, or showcase stair-climbing models that are actually ready to come to market. Of course, many announcements will likely focus on practical upgrades to cleaning capabilities.
The FCC’s robot vacuum ban brings an air of uncertainty, but anything on display at IFA will have likely already received FCC clearance, so there's (hopefully!) no need to temper your excitement if something spectacular debuts.
Smart Home: Smart Grills, Self-Planning Fridges, and Backyard Tech Surprises
In addition to all of the robot vacuums, IFA tends to be an excellent show for the smart home category as a whole. For big-ticket items, look for proactive appliances that do more of the work for you, from creating grocery lists based on what's in your fridge to preheating the oven based on what you're cooking. Improvements to AI and vision-based recognition should continue to make appliances smarter, and IFA could showcase several interesting models.
I also expect to see a continued push into the great outdoors. IFA will have a new outdoor cooking and gardening space at the show this year, so look for smart grills and gadgets to help you develop a green thumb through the magic of technology.
Fitness Trackers: Ditching Displays and Demanding Deeper Data
IFA is often a showcase for new smartwatches and fitness trackers. This year, I expect to see a lot of companies jump on the screenless tracker trend.
Started in earnest by Whoop, the category now includes models from Garmin, Polar, and my favorite from Fitbit. While I wouldn’t expect bigger brands like Samsung to break into this new category at a group show like IFA, plenty of smaller fitness-focused companies could show their own versions.
IFA might also see fitness trackers break new ground in what they can track. Blood pressure appears to be the next frontier that the big brands are trying to crack. Perhaps we'll see a new approach that isn’t as passive as Apple’s hypertension notifications or as tedious as Samsung’s active readings that require calibration with a separate cuff.
Laptops: AI Processing Power Meets Experimental Design
While the rising costs of memory and storage chips will continue to hit this category the hardest, IFA should still have quite a few new laptops, computers, and tablets on display. Lenovo’s rotating screen from a year ago was just a concept, but we could see models that make similar tech a reality.
In addition to new forms and functions, we'll be on the lookout for laptops with thinner frames, increased power, and enhanced AI capabilities.
Smart Glasses: Ditching Cameras and Embracing Pure Visuals
Smart glasses are a trendy, rapidly growing category, but they've also received some pushback, as models designed for hands-free social photos have been dubbed “pervert glasses” due to common misuse. IFA could mark a shift away from cameras and toward visual assistance via displays or waveguide technology.
What to Watch as IFA Kicks Off
From stair-climbing vacuums to screenless wearables, this year's show promises a mix of practical refinements and wild experimental hardware. Which of these trends are you most excited to see hit store shelves? Let us know in the comments. And keep this page bookmarked—we'll be updating our coverage live from the Messe Berlin floor all week long.
About Our Expert
I’m PCMag’s senior writer covering smart home and wearable devices. I’ve been reporting on tech professionally for nearly a decade and have been obsessing about it for much longer than that. Prior to joining PCMag, I made educational videos for an electronics store called Abt Electronics in Illinois, and before that, I spent eight years covering the smart home market for CNET.Â
I foster many flavors of nerdom in my personal life. I’m an avid board gamer and video gamer. I love fantasy football, which I view as a combination of role-playing games and sports. Plus, I can talk to you about craft beer for hours and am on a personal quest to have a flight of beer at each microbrewery in my home city of Chicago.
