I’m heading to Berlin for Europe’s biggest tech trade show – here’s what to expect.

Every year around this time I’m on a plane to Europe with the destination set as Berlin for a mega trade show called “IFA” where the biggest brands in tech and home appliances in the world showcase their next big thing or things to the media, retailers and also the German public.

IFA – or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, which basically means the “International Radio Exhibition” has undergone a change of ownership and a rebrand in recent years, now labelling themselves “Innovation for All”, but make no mistake this is where Europe sees what’s next in home appliances and everything else is secondary – though interesting!

As we head to the other side of the world to check it out we can get a sense from several pre-show announcements and the general interest from companies in our attendance as to what might be coming.

For Samsung, probably the biggest exhibitor at the show in the “City Cube” building, it certainly is all about Appliances and AI – but there’s also a hint of mobile creeping in too.

Showcasing their “vision” for the “AI Home”, Samsung wants to show off things we can do now, with current and new model devices that are designed for everyone to enjoy. What we really want to see is a genuine connection between appliances to help make life easier using this advanced tech – but we’ll have to wait until the end of the week to find out if its just more Smarts for Smart sake.

Samsung has also been teasing a massive new TV with an all-new lighting technology for them – they call it Micro RGB – bringing coloured backlights to their TVs. It’s similar, from what I can see, to Hisense’s RGB Mini LED technology from CES which is in their largest screen, but perhaps Samsung has a different take on things – we’ll get in front of it to see.

Lots of rumours about some special announcement from the Samsung Mobile team too – could we see the tri-fold smartphone make an appearance?

What we do know is that the Mobile team are holding a livestreamed Galaxy event right after the main press conference, so we shall see!

Interestingly Samsung’s Mobile team has already announced some new lower cost products, with a Galaxy Tab S10 Lite and new Buds3 FE set to hit Australia at very compelling prices.

While at CES in Las Vegas every year Samsung and arch rivals LG are just a few minutes walk apart inside the one main hall, at the MESSE Berlin showgrounds the two Korean giants are at opposite ends of the precinct – a solid 20 minute walk.

LG normally showcases a vision for spaces in the home, without a specific product launch. Thought we have in the past seen innovations like their Shoe cleaning and storage system, and the StandbyMe GO suitcase TV.

From what we can see, LG too will have a focus on AI appliances and their ThinQ AI ecosystem, as well as some sense of taking their AI Home solution beyond the home.

Our mates at Belkin will no doubt be showcasing an epic range of Qi2 charging devices, with Google’s Pixel joining HMD to support the magnetic standard.

We’ll drop into Swann to see what their latest smart home security offerings include, I’m expecting AI there having seen some solid AI already creeping into existing products and I know they have much bigger plans.

New to Australia, Reolink has some new cameras to reveal, so we’ll check those out, while inside the home I get a sense we’re going to see robots robots and more robots.

Ecovacs were quick to talk to us about their floorcare range, I wonder if we’ll get news on their newer Goat Lawnmower or an expansion into more robotic assistance, while competitor brands Roborock and Dreame are also hounding us to see what they have on offer at the show!

While loads of brands exhibit at IFA, like DJI with their drone and camera range, it is important to differentiate what’s new and what’s just “on show” due to the attendance of the public making this a showcase as much as an announcement in many cases.

Whatever the case, I sure wish I was being paid per mention of AI – my mortgage would disappear fast!

EFTM’s coverage of IFA 2025 is supported in part by Belkin, Ecovacs, Reolink and Samsung