News + Trends
IFA 2019: live reporting from Berlin
by Luca Fontana
IFA 2019: A look back at the largest technology trade fair in Europe
12.9.2019
Translation: machine translated
Support: Jan Johannsen
The 2019 edition of the International Consumer Electronics Fair in Berlin is already history. Jan and Luca from the editorial team and video producer Manu were there. A look back.
The IFA is a permanent fixture at the Berlin Exhibition Centre. For six days, the trade fair offered over 1800 companies such as Samsung, Huawei and Sony space for innovations, announcements and shows on an exhibition area of over 160,000 square metres.
And we, that's Germany editor Jan, Switzerland editor Luca and video producer Manu, reported live from Berlin during this time.
Time to take a look back at what Europe's biggest technology trade fair has been and will continue to be.
Smartphones: innovations from the mid-range
Silence. Global players such as Samsung, Huawei and Apple have shone. At least at the IFA in Berlin; the big players are saving the most important smartphone announcements for their own events. Apple's has already taken place, at the same time as the IFA. Samsung finally announced when the eagerly awaited Galaxy Fold will be launched: on 18 September.
Huawei may not be showing a new smartphone, but it is talking about the new Kirin 990 system-on-a-chip. With even more power and improved artificial intelligence, it should ensure even better photos. It is also available in a version with an integrated 5G module. An additional chip would then no longer be necessary. The first smartphone with it will be the Mate 30 (Pro), which Huawei will unveil on 19 September.
The only potential flagship Sony is showing at IFA is the Xperia 5. The features are identical to the Xperia 1, only the display and therefore the entire smartphone is slightly smaller. Even if the name confusingly suggests a larger gap between the two phones. The ROG Phone II from Asus is also technically at the forefront, but remains a niche product as a gaming smartphone.
There was more news in the mid-range phone segment. Samsung unveiled its first mid-range smartphone with 5G, the Galaxy A90. Nokia launched two new smartphones, the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2, as well as a flip phone. Motorola is expanding its One series with a smartphone with four cameras.
Speaking of folding mobile phones: LG is still working on its version of folding phones in the classic sense and is now launching the G8X with a special cover: the case contains a second screen. This turns the G8X into a folding mobile phone with decent specs.
Television and the new dream team: 5G and 8K
On the TV front, not much has changed in terms of new launches available to buy. What is striking is that the 8K train cannot be stopped despite the lack of 8K content. Whether Sony, LG or Samsung, they all now have an LCD or OLED TV with over 33 million pixels on sale.
Much more exciting is the question of how any 8K content will one day reach televisions. The answer: 5G. Huawei has been rumoured to have 5G TVs since May. Samsung also recently. At IFA, Sharp in particular showed a 5G concept that includes cameras, editing programmes and playback devices. We'll see who wins the race for the first marketable 5G TV.
Panasonic has shown its innovative side. A transparent OLED TV is set to be launched on the Asian market next year: Switched on, it is a normal TV, switched off it reveals the view behind the panel.
Notebooks and tablets: new chipsets and new applications
Whether Acer, Asus, Lenovo or Co: notebooks at IFA were mainly characterised by updates. Some of the new notebooks are a little lighter, have more graphics power on board and many already have chipsets from Intel's tenth generation. This brings the new WiFi 6 Wi-Fi standard to computers, which can also be found in many other devices beyond PCs and especially in Wi-Fi routers.
Asus snatched the title of the lightest 14-inch notebook from Acer after just a few hours. Lenovo, on the other hand, wants to equip more and more of its notebooks with the Alexa voice assistant and is trying to establish its new tablets as central elements of the smart home, while Apple and Samsung are positioning theirs more as notebook replacements.
Headphones, speakers and wearables
Yes, there were new wearables from Fitbit, Garmin and Fossil. But just like the headphones from Skullcandy, Libratone, Sony and Jaybird, they didn't make it past the "minor update" category. Just like the Bluetooth loudspeakers, there are some nice things in there, but the big, exciting hit didn't materialise. But that won't stop us from testing some of the new products in the future. There are enough unanswered questions.
- How helpful is Alexa on the Fitbit Versa 2?
- Is the AMOLED display on the Garmin Venu worth it?
- Does the Puma smartwatch make you better at sport?
- How useful are Motorola's true wireless headphones that you can connect a cable to?
- Are the Libratone Track Air+ any competition for the Sony WF-1000XM3?
Smart Home
Nothing. Not really. Except that the ultimate connectivity that manufacturers have been promising us for what feels like half a decade finally seems to be within reach thanks to the 5G mobile phone standard. Will this actually mean that we will all be buying new fridges, ovens and washing machines?
However, there was one more thing: Miele presented its first cordless handheld hoover. Good thing.
Many of the IFA innovations will be available by Christmas, before the next major technology trade fair, CES in Las Vegas, takes place in January.
Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.chI'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»