The best tech of IFA 2024: laptops, phones, drones, and more

This year, IFA (International Funkausstellung or “radio exhibition”) celebrated its 100th year, which is pretty mind-boggling to think about. Attending the show this year felt like the biggest return of “Europe’s biggest tech show” since 2019, with tons of exciting announcements and products to check out.

We went to Berlin ourselves to check it out and came away surprised by the amount of innovation happening — with AI at the focus, as you’d expect. From experimental laptops to innovative smart home devices, this was the best tech we saw at IFA 2024.

Honor Magic V3

IFA 2024 didn’t give us many new smartphones, but the biggest one of the show — the Honor Magic V3 — is exciting enough on its own. It’s one of many folding phones released in 2024, but it easily stands out as one of the most exciting. Why? Because it doesn’t feel like a folding phone.

The Honor Magic V3 measures just 9.2mm thick when closed and weighs 226 grams. It’s not much thicker than the iPhone 16 Pro Max and is even lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. That makes the Magic V3 significantly more comfortable to hold and use than other foldables, and despite how thin and light it is, you still have a 7.92-inch display on the inside for gaming, watching movies, etc.

It’s an incredible hardware achievement, and certainly one of the most eye-catching foldables we’ve seen all year. -Joe Maring

Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC

This one’s a proof of concept, but it sure is a fun one. The Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC uses a rotating hinge that allows the screen to spin almost a full 180 degrees. The really special part, however, is that it can do it all completely hands-free.

That’s where the “AI” part of the name comes into play. Using just the activation of your voice, the Lenovo Auto Twist can open or close its lid, as well as rotate into tablet mode. One of its most useful features is the ability to have the screen follow you around while you walk, which might be a convenient feature while giving presentations.

I was surprised by how well the voice activation and face-tracking worked, especially for a device that feels like an extended tech demo. It felt far more like a viable product than you’d think. The Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC plays into Lenovo’s long history of being unafraid of exploring new laptop technology, and this one’s full of that same adventurous spirit. -Luke Larsen

Roborock Qrevo Curv

Roborock revealed the Qrevo Curv at IFA 2024, a powerful new robot vacuum that makes big strides toward becoming a maintenance-free device. All the usual features are here — a robust docking station, improved suction, and a sleek new design — but the big selling point is its innovative new vacuuming system.

The main roller brush is now split into two smaller units that work to funnel hair and other debris to a central gap. Dubbed the DuoDivide Main Brush, it’s said to offer a 100% hair removal rate. The same goes for the new FlexiArm Side Brush. This device can swing outward to grab hair near baseboards and furniture, and since it’s equipped with asymmetrical bristles and a new rubber stopper design, it results in a 0% hair tangling rate.

Toss in a powerful motor that can clear thresholds up to 4 centimeters, wheels that elevate up to 10 millimeters to better work on thick rugs, and a staggering 18,500Pa of suction, and this is a robot vacuum to keep your eyes on. We’ll be giving it a full review in the coming months, so be sure to check back soon. -Jon Bitner

Intel Core Ultra Series 2

The stakes were high for Intel coming into IFA. With all the competition and ongoing turmoil, the company needed a win, especially in the eyes of the rest of the industry. From the looks of it, Intel Lunar Lake (also known as Core Ultra Series 2) is exactly that win. The name of the game for these new laptop chips is efficiency — and there’s a reason for that. Intel is being forced to seriously compete with Arm chips for the first time, thanks to the success of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X chips.

Core Ultra Series 2 tackles that in a real way, promising 50% better performance-per-watt improvement in the Performance cores, and between 20% and 80% generational improvement from the Efficiency cores. The result should be, in theory, significantly faster and more efficient performance, as well as much longer battery life in laptops. The fascinating thing about these chips is that they’re actually being manufactured by Intel’s rival, TSMC, the same company that produces Qualcomm and Apple’s Arm chips.

Intel Core Ultra Series 2’s secret weapon, however, just might be its integrated graphics. Built on Intel Xe2, these just might be gaming-ready for the first time ever, which should have some exciting implications for gaming on both laptops and handheld devices like the upcoming MSI Claw 8 AI+. -Luke Larsen

DJI Neo

There’s always been a problem with drones. Decent options are far too expensive, and the cheap ones just aren’t worth your time. The DJI Neo has come to break that trend, and from what I can tell, does it rather magnificently. The thing only costs $200, despite being able to shoot 4K 30 fps video, take off from your palm, and even follow your position using AI.

It’s tiny too. It only weighs 0.3 pounds — almost half the weight of the DJI Mini 4 Pro. That’s despite having a 1425mAh battery inside, which DJI claims adds up to 18 minutes of flying time. That’s the biggest compromise with this device, for sure, but for casual users, it might be just enough.

Although it comes with a controller, you can even just use the DJI app on your phone for navigation, or have it follow behind you hands-free. It’s an exciting release for expanding the market to a new demographic, getting the price down low enough for it to become a holiday hit later this year. -Luke Larsen

Acer Project DualPlay

Acer brought a concept product to IFA 2024 that attempts to bring an important aspect of console gaming to the world of gaming laptops: local multiplayer. The idea is simple: Project DualPlay is a chunky gaming laptop that hides a large game controller right within the laptop’s touchpad in the chassis of the device. Once the controller is released, you can even break it in two for multiplayer gaming, taking a cue from the Nintendo Switch. It’s a really fun idea, and I happily played a round of Street Fighter 6 with just half the controller in hand.

The controller is wireless and charges within the laptop, and while there will certainly be a compromise in battery size within the laptop, it’s a gloriously geeky idea for a product that had the audience cheering at the press conference. We’ll have to wait and see how (and if) it plays out in a real product, but it’s ideas like these that continue to make PC gaming a vibrant place for innovation and endless variation. -Luke Larsen