The "tank" used at home and the AI that can bake pizza: Germany's tech fair is really impressive...

There is an unwritten understanding in the tech circle that in most events, the highlights usually take place at the opening.    

In September, the weather in Berlin starts to get cooler. The European technology trade show, IFA 2025, officially kicks off. Many manufacturers can no longer hold back and have preemptively launched a series of new products.    

At this largest consumer electronics show in Europe, ifanr has discovered two particularly bustling sectors:    

One is that AI hardware is no longer limited to mobile phones and computers but has transformed into various new gadgets that you may or may not be familiar with. The other is the new hardware centered around the home scenario, such as lawn mowers that look like tanks and are fully equipped, or air purifiers that resemble rocket ejectors, etc. They are determined to liberate human hands.    

Cleverly enough, these two sectors seem to be leading to the same destination.    

There are many new AI hardware devices, not just mobile phones and computers.    

At IFA2025, our old acquaintance, Lenovo, has brought two amazingly new things.    

One is the ThinkBook VertiFlex, a convertible notebook that can be used both horizontally and vertically. This computer is equipped with a unique rotating display system, supporting dual - mode switching between the traditional horizontal and vertical directions. In the vertical display mode, it can be seamlessly connected to a smartphone via Lenovo Smart Connect for file transfer and mirroring.    

The other is a desktop robot that follows the movement of your head. To be precise, it is a flexible notebook stand. It can recognize the angle of your face and keep the notebook it holds always facing your face as you move.    

Shifting our attention to another big company, at IFA2025, Samsung launched the Galaxy S25 FE.    

This mobile phone is equipped with One UI 8. The three rear - cameras are the same as the previous generation without an upgrade. The front - camera has an additional 2 million pixels, reaching 12 million pixels. The battery capacity is 4900mAh, and its thickness is 7.4 millimeters. The starting price is $649.99.    

But don't worry, it's not the protagonist of our story today.    

Compared with the unremarkable FE, what's more interesting is that Samsung announced at the exhibition that it will introduce Vision AI Companion to its TVs.    

To put it simply, Samsung is going to install a screen - recognizing AI on its TVs. In the future, when you watch TV, you can directly press the remote control and ask, "Who is the actor in the picture?" or "What brand is the clothes they are wearing?"    

And it's Bixby, a name that is both familiar and a bit strange to us, that will drive this function.    

It's not very surprising that AI has made its way onto TVs. However, another manufacturer has applied AI technology in another aspect of TVs.

TCL

If we were to talk about which company from the Chinese contingent has the grandest display, TCL would probably be the undisputed choice. As the title sponsor of the exhibition and an Olympic partner, it has rented an entire hall and transformed it into an Olympic Winter Games - themed exhibition area. It has brought TVs, projectors, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, smart glasses, and even photovoltaic solutions.

In the field of screen display, TCL has showcased its fourth - generation LCD TV, the Q10L Pro. It uses the Universal Zoning Dimming technology to achieve "one zone equals multiple zones" and combines it with the Quantum Dot Pro 2025 technology, bringing the brightness, contrast, and color closer to the experience of sitting in the front row of a stadium. There is also a breakthrough in its appearance, moving from "having black borders" to "extreme - view with no black borders", almost maximizing the screen - to - body ratio. In addition, there is also a more high - end 115 - inch QD - Mini LED TV, the X11G Max. With more than 20,000 backlight zones and a peak brightness of 5000 nits, it elevates the home viewing experience to a large - screen level.

However, the most unexpected thing is that TCL has unveiled the world's first split - type AI companion robot, AiMe. The robot looks like Bing Dwen Dwen and is placed in a space capsule with wheels. It has hundreds of built - in expressions and movements, can understand what you say and respond quickly. It can chat with kids, tell stories, or capture interesting moments at home on its own. You'll notice that the major home appliance manufacturers at IFA don't seem content to stay in their traditional fields. Vacuum cleaner manufacturers are adding robotic arms to evolve their cleaning robots into multi - functional assistants, while home appliance giants like TCL are directly presenting companion robots, integrating entertainment, emotions, and smart home control.

Robots are being regarded as the next big thing in the home appliance industry that can support the next decade. It's both a stage for the implementation of AI technology and the common imagination of manufacturers for the Next Big Thing. In other words, whether it's a companion robot or a robotic - arm vacuum cleaner, although they seem different, they are all answering the same question: Who can be the first to occupy the home smart control center?

Coincidentally, this is not the only AI pet at IFA.

SwitchBot, which beat Apple to the punch

At another booth at IFA2025, SwitchBot launched two AI pets, Noa and Niko, and their ideas coincide with Apple's.    

Noa and Niko are AI pets focusing on companionship. They look like a combination of a little penguin and a raccoon. They are fluffy all over and have soft bodies. With wheels, they can move on their own, greatly reducing the coldness of machines.    

Their biggest highlight is that they can recognize different family members, and even understand your gestures and emotions, then respond to you with expressions like happiness, sadness, or even "jealousy".    

Seeing this, it's hard not to think of the recently - rumored Apple smart home plan: a HomePod with a screen, a thinking camera, and a "Pixar lamp" robot that can sense emotions and "act".    

The next step in smart home may really evolve from "understanding commands" to "understanding facial expressions".    

If AI pets are not something new, then the following will really open your eyes.    

Ooni

First up is a home pizza oven launched by Ooni, and it's an AI pizza oven.    

Does it sound a bit strange to install an AI in an oven?    

For traditional ovens, although one side is equipped with a transparent window, for those waiting for the food, the temperature is just a number on the display. It's very difficult to control the heating level inside, relying entirely on experience and tutorials. The whole process of making pizza is a complete black - box operation. You put the pizza in, set the parameters, and then wait for either a good or a bad result.    

It can be said that every pizza put into the oven is like a "Schrödinger's cat".    

Ooni Volt 2 solves this problem with an AI called Pizza Intelligence. It will adjust the top and bottom heating elements in real - time based on the sensor data inside the oven, minimizing temperature fluctuations. At the same time, it can make different styles of pizza according to the preset temperature and crispness, and strive to precisely control the heating level, reducing the probability of a failed pizza.    

Ooni Volt 2 will be available on the market starting from October 1st, with a price of $699.    

Dangbei

The AI oven is already quite unexpected, but when I turned my attention to Dangbei's booth, I could only sigh: There are still masters out there.    

This thing is even more unexpected than the oven - an AI fish tank.    

At IFA2025, Dangbei launched the Smart Fish Tank 1 Ultra. According to the product details on JD.com, Dangbei's description of it can be summarized as "You put the fish in, and I'll take care of them".    

Specifically, this fish tank has AI - supported feeding, real - time water monitoring, and professional studio lighting. It can create a self - sustaining ecosystem. It emphasizes that the fish tank not only doesn't need water changes but also purifies the water by itself, aiming to save you the trouble.    

This product has already been launched in China, and its price on JD.com is 599 yuan.    

Chinese manufacturers are in a fierce competition in the field of home embodied intelligence.    

When it comes to home, we think of housework. And when it comes to housework, we have to mention vacuum cleaners.    

In the past two years, whether it's a consumer electronics show or a technology trade show, vacuum cleaners have always been the absolute hot contestants. It's worth noting that most of these contestants are from China.    

Dreame's mini 'tank'

At the IFA venue, a robot moving on the stairs attracted many spectators.    

This robot is from Dreame and is called Cyber X. The name has a bit of a cyborg flavor. The main body looks similar to common vacuum cleaners, with an oval - shaped body. What really catches the eye are the four crawler - type supports protruding from around the body: One end is connected to the body, and the other end is suspended, with room for rotation to adapt to obstacles at different angles.    

From the video, Cyber X doesn't climb the stairs in the way we might imagine by climbing actions. Instead, it uses the four crawler - equipped supports to directly roll over the uneven stair slopes like a tank.    

Besides its 'limbs', another key factor for Cyber X to climb stairs is its intelligent 3D adaptive vision system. It scans and evaluates the obstacles ahead during movement to reduce the probability of mistakes and eliminate risks.    

Combining these two features, Cyber X can climb stairs up to 25 centimeters high. Before this, Dreame had launched models that could cross heights of 6 centimeters and 8 centimeters with the electronic arms on both sides of the body. Now, this data has been upgraded by a large margin.    

Cyber X is equipped with a 6400mAh battery, but the official hasn't released more detailed hardware specifications and the price yet. Its appearance at IFA2025 is mainly to showcase its stair - climbing ability and technological reserves.