IFA Berlin, the world’s largest consumer and electronics show, celebrated its 100th birthday this year, and while the annual European tradeshow has long been a reliable source of innovative new tech for your abode, this year felt more jam-packed with promising smart home devices than ever.
IFA exhibitors often showcase appliances and smart home tech that might not ever make it to the US, but the features in those foreign gadgets paint a picture of possibilities for our future. To that end, some of the entries here aren’t ready for the overseas markets; they’re just concepts, but they each offer bold ideas to make your home that much smarter.
These are PC Mag’s favorite smart home finds from the show this year.
Siemens iQ 700
A built-in oven with a built-in camera, the Siemens iQ 700 recognizes over 80 different dishes and will start cooking automatically on ideal settings. Toss in your frozen pizza, then just hit start and the oven will take care of the rest. Siemens has shown off the concept before, but this model recognizes more foods than past iterations and can optionally steam your food if you’re trying to get an extra crispy crust on your bread.
While there have been similar concepts in countertop kitchen appliances, Siemens is among the first to bring it to a full-size model. Bosch, owned by the same parent company, showed an oven with similar capabilities at the show. Neither model had concrete pricing or a release date for the US.
Bosch Microplastic Filter
Bosch showed off a filter meant to specifically target microplastics that can be retrofitted to the company’s existing washing machines. It purportedly eliminates 97% of the pollutants from the machine’s wastewater to help make your appliance more environmentally friendly. Bosch has not announced a price or US release date for the Microplastic Filter.
Bosch Indego ST 500
Bosch ended its press conference by showing off a robot lawn mower that can automatically plan ideal times to cut your grass based on the weather. The Indego ST 500 can also adapt based on the size and shape of your lawn and can resume where it left off if inclement weather interrupts its process. While a robot lawn mower with AI-enabled planning sounds cool, it again might not come to the US any time soon.
Miele W2 and T2 Nova Editions
A few years ago, Miele discontinued drum ribs in its washing machines and replaced them with honeycomb drums for gentler agitation. The W2 washer goes a step further with bigger queen cells to create what Miele calls a massage effect for your clothes. The washer can also automatically detect the amount of water and energy needed for your exact amount of clothing, so you waste less when washing a small load.
According to Miele, the T2 dryer can spin and work quickly enough to dry wool without matting or shrinkage. Watch for this trend of gentle care to make its way to the US soon, even if these exact models don’t.
Reolink Altas PT Ultra
PC Mag’s favorite home security camera from the show, the Reolink Altas PT Ultra offers a unique combination of features. It’s powered by a battery and can record footage continuously. Other battery-powered models only record motion-based events to save battery life, but the Altas PT Ultra’s 20,000mAh capacity can power through eight days while continuously recording for 12 hours each day, according to Reolink. The robust cam also pans 350 degrees, tilts 90 degrees, offers local storage, and can differentiate people and vehicles with its alerts.
Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro
Reolink isn’t the only camera maker with cool tricks at IFA. The Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro uses AI to see color at night. Lots of security cameras use IR sensors or shine a spotlight on motion to see in the dark. Aqara’s camera is smart enough to add color to the image itself, so you can look at a well-lit feed, even if the area is pitch black. It also uses AI for motion detection to determine the type of alert and will support the Matter smart home protocol for wide interoperability.
Roborock QRevo Curv
Robot vacuums were everywhere at IFA this year, but the Roborock QRevo Curv tops PC Mag’s list with a feature shared by a few of them: the ability to lift itself over large thresholds. While not explicitly designed to climb stairs, it can lift each side wheel and its front caster separately to clear obstacles. That means it can easily traverse single floors even if large thresholds or single steps separate parts of it. The mobility of the vacuum wouldn’t mean much if the Curv couldn’t clean, but it sets a new bar with 18,500Pa of suction power. It also boasts mopping capabilities, an anti-tangle brush roll, and a highly capable base station to keep itself tidy. Roborock hasn’t announced a US price or release date yet.
Dreame Concept Robot Vacuum
While Roborock gets credit for putting its climbing feature in a robot ready for release, Dreame brough similar innovation to the show. Though still just a concept, Dreame showed off an active demo of its own climbing robot, and it looked to scale higher than Roborock’s QRevo Curv, though both are specced to reach over the same 1.5-inch threshold. Dreame’s concept robot also had a unique trick where it could lower its periscope to fit under furniture, and a brush roll designed to eliminate tangles as well.
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Photo Credit: Mo Photography Berlin / Shutterstock.com