IFA Berlin: 9 standout gadgets you can buy

Good hardware can still reap big rewards at Europe’s largest technology show. And amid the sprawling booths and breathless AI demos, the true winners were practical devices that solve quotidian problems with clever engineering. From a bagless robot vacuum dock to AR glasses that feel more like the real deal, here are the nine gadgets that impressed the most — a few of which you can already buy or back.

Philips Hue Bridge Pro transforms your lights into sensors

New Bridge ProThe new Bridge Pro (right) from Philips Hue is a quiet revolution: it will let groups of your existing Hue bulbs work as motion detectors via something called radio-sensing — no new sensors needed.

The hub can work with up to 150 lights and four MotionAware zones, and features a processor that is five times faster than the old Bridge for snappier automations. The net effect is a big one — hall lights that gently wake when you amble near, or a living room that responds only when there’s actually someone in it — without adding to clutter of hardware. RF sensing has been proven out in academic research and industry pilots, and news that there will be an available version for mainstream homes is a nifty flex from Signify’s Hue team.

Rokid Glasses make AR light, useful and social

Rokid’s new smart glasses weigh only 1.7 ounces but pack in features where they count: real-time translation for 89 languages, prompts on-lens for navigation, and a discreet 12MP first-person camera. They’re AI-assisted without being a science project, and early momentum is real—pledges have already surpassed the seven-figure mark in crowdfunding. Rokid undercuts most mixed-reality headsets with a planned $599 price point, while catering towards daily, glanceable tasks. For people who travel and for field workers, that translation demo alone sells it.

Ecovacs Deebot X11 Omnicyclone loses the dust bag

High-end robo-vacs have mastered hands-free cleaning, but they’ve had owners chasing bags forever. The aforementioned Deebot X11 Omnicyclone tramples that model but dropping a dock that extracts itself into a reusable canister — sans consumables. Between a 6,400mAh battery, GaN quick top-ups (around 6% in three minutes) and a quoted 10,700 square feet of cleaning per charge, it’s designed with larger homes in mind. The mop roller gets all the way to edges with TruEdge 3.0 and an on-board voice assistant aids during setup and troubleshooting. Fewer supplies to buy, less fiddling around, and more cleaning.

Eufy Marswalker lifts your robot up the stairs

Robot vacs have long struggled with multi-story homes. Eufy’s Marswalker is a tracked carrier that takes compatible Eufy robots up and down stairs, clamping to treads and gliding across smooth transitions. It’s specifically for Omni S2 and S1 models at the outset, with wider support to follow. If the final pricing is right, it could just as well be a more intelligent answer than buying multiple vacs or ignoring your floors between levels.

Roborock’ RockMow lineup aims at big lawns

Roborock is bringing its in-home robotics experience to the yard with the RockMow Z1, S1, and Neo Q1. The flagship Z1 is billed to cleaning a massive 54,000 square feet per day — think sports field not a football field per day — while also packing the app polish Roborock has become known for. If the navigation and safety stack is as good as its vacuums, there’s a chance that regular mowers and wire-bound bots will seem stuck in the Stone Age. For some background, market analysts at GfK have noted impressive increases in perimeter-free mowers andthe stylish-looking late-but-self-assured arrival of Roborock is probably just what the doctor ordered.

Govee TV Backlight 3 Pro perfects color matching

It’s harder than it seems to get bias lighting that reliably follows the edges of your picture. The Backlight 3 Pro, from Govee, brings in a triple-camera intake to capture more detail onscreen, resulting in color transitions that feel instant and true to life, rather than smeary or laggy. The effect is more than just eye candy; properly tuned bias lighting can cut down on perceived eye strain, and make HDR content pop. Its ultimate price is still TBD, but based on the demo, I think Govee finally has a kit that can hang with pricier, more complex setups.

Xgimi Horizon 20 Max is the projector to beat!

Home cinephobes meet the spec sheet converter: 5,700 ISO lumens of brightness, a 20,000:1 contrast ratio, genuine 4K resolution, variable refresh rates of up to 240Hz and iMax Enhanced certification.

The Horizon 20 Max pairs those numbers with distortion-free images through lens shift, and quick, accurate auto-keystone. At $2,399 (though not list price higher), it is cheaper than most foes with less-bright output. For living rooms with ambient light, that extra brightness matters more than most people other than projector buyers’ forums and AV pros realize they harp on it for good reason.

Olight Ostation 2 charges AA and AAA cells automatically

Many battery docks make you purchase and juggle individual AA and AAA chargers. Olight’s Ostation 2 manages them all, up to 12 cells, using drop-in slots that auto-align to charge them or release them to a sorted tray. It also separates cells at full charge in order to prolong cycle life — an approach supported by advice from battery researchers and standards bodies. For homes already wading in remotes, toys and doodads, this is a low-hanging-fruit sustainability win (versus disposables).

Satechi OnTheGo keyboard folds small, works on three

Satechi’s compact Bluetooth keyboard folds up to about its own depth but still provides a sturdy stand for phones and tablets, adjustable to 150 degrees. It connects with three devices and claims a three-month battery per charge. The key feel is more like a pared-down laptop board than a flimsy travel slab, so it’s a plausible choice for lengthy working sessions, not just a place for emergency replies. It’s up for pre-order for $80 and seems like a shoe-in for frequent flyers and tablet-first creators.

Why these nine?

The strongest IFA reveals had one thing in common: practical upgrades that reduce friction — no new holes for sensors, no new bags to buy, fewer chargers to juggle, accessories that fade quietly as part of your routine. That’s where consumer tech is genuinely better. And most importantly, many of the picks here are either on sale or up for preorder now, so you don’t have to wait for the future to materialize.

Context matters, too. Yet analysts such as those at CCS Insight and GfK have pointed out that buyers are favouring reliability and convenience over novelty. These nine gadgets run that brief, with tangible improvements you’ll notice on day one — whether that’s a staircase finally worth cleaned, a TV that seems more cinematic, or a projector that can keep up at, uh, noon.