The IFA 2026 tech conference in Berlin has once again transformed the exhibition halls into a sprawling showcase of consumer electronics, packed to the gills with gadgets of all kinds, ranging from cutting-edge foldable phones and innovative smart alarm clocks to futuristic flying car concepts. Yet, amidst the diverse array of digital innovations, it is home technology that truly dominates the show floor. Brands from all over the globe have gathered in the German capital to demonstrate how consumers can integrate smart gadgets into their living spaces in virtually every conceivable way.
Always keen to explore technology designed to make daily life easier, more colorful, and undoubtedly more expensive, we ventured into the bustling halls of the exhibition center to browse for the items that would top the wish list for an ultimate, lottery-funded dream home. From ultra-thin entertainment displays to automated lawn maintenance, the exhibition offered a comprehensive glimpse into what residential living could look like in the years ahead.
LG OLED EVO AI 83W6
Beginning with what remains the centerpiece of any modern living room—the television—the selection naturally gravitated toward LG’s new OLED model. The display stands out due to its massive scale, remarkably vibrant color reproduction, and exceptionally slim profile. Because it is engineered to be exceptionally thin, it eliminates the bulky aesthetic traditionally associated with large screens, ensuring it sits flush against a wall without looking awkwardly out of place in a modern interior design layout.
Govee Smart Lights
Moving past standard room illumination, modern living spaces are increasingly embracing ambient customization. While traditional furniture rarely features integrated underlighting reminiscent of custom vehicles from street-racing films, Govee’s smart lights offer a way to bridge that gap. Showcased at the conference, multicolored LED strips fitted along the underside of a display couch cast a vibrant, adjustable glow that can effortlessly transform an ordinary living room into an immersive, arcade-inspired environment.
iGulu F1 Smart Home Brewer
For enthusiasts of craft beverages who prefer the convenience of home production over trips to the local establishment, automated brewing technology presents an appealing solution. The iGulu F1 smart home brewer system is designed to streamline the entire brewing process. Users simply pour in the raw ingredients for their preferred style of beer—such as a classic English Bitter—and the automated hardware manages the complex fermentation and preparation stages independently. Tasting sessions on the showroom floor demonstrated that the resulting home-brewed output is both practical and exceptionally palatable.
Xiaomi Mijia Refrigerator Pro Cryo
Once a batch of home-brewed beverages is ready, maintaining optimal storage temperatures becomes essential, a challenge addressed by Xiaomi’s latest refrigeration hardware. The Xiaomi Mijia Refrigerator Pro Cryo utilizes advanced compression and specialized airflow mechanisms to keep stored items cooler and fresher for significantly longer periods. This technological capability serves a dual purpose: not only does it ensure that beverages are perfectly chilled, but it also helps combat domestic food waste by extending the usable lifecycle of perishable ingredients, preventing fresh produce from deteriorating prematurely in storage drawers.
Xiaomi Smart Bedroom
Xiaomi’s extensive presence at IFA 2026 highlighted its capability to manufacture nearly every conceivable type of consumer electronics product. However, the most striking aspect of the company’s exhibition was the seamless integration of its entire ecosystem. In a dedicated smart bedroom demonstration, an attendee sitting on the bed with a book triggered an immediate, automated response from the room’s environment. AI-enabled cameras recognized the activity, instantly activating the bedside lamp, adjusting the bed into an ergonomic reading position, turning on the air conditioning, and drawing the window curtains closed.
The overarching vision of this ecosystem is total domestic automation. For instance, once a user finishes loading the dishwasher, an automated robot vacuum can be triggered to clean the kitchen floor. Similarly, opening the door of a Xiaomi vehicle parked in the driveway can communicate with the house to shut off interior lights and secure the entry points. While this interconnected network presents a compelling vision of effortless convenience, it also underscores a broader societal question regarding the omnipresence of AI-enabled cameras monitoring daily domestic routines.
Roborock Rockaqua P1
Expanding the smart home ecosystem to outdoor spaces brings specialized maintenance challenges, particularly for properties large enough to accommodate a swimming pool. Keeping a pool pristine traditionally requires significant manual labor or complex external servicing. To address this, Roborock introduced its first-ever robot pool cleaner, the Rockaqua P1. Functioning essentially as an underwater robotic vacuum cleaner, the device navigates the basin floor to scour away dirt and grime while possessing the climbing capability to scale pool walls, ensuring comprehensive maintenance without manual intervention.
IFA Bumper Cars
While traditional fairground bumper cars do not strictly qualify as smart home technology, they provided a welcome diversion on the exhibition floor, offering insights into alternative urban transit concepts. Powered purely by electricity through overhead grids—eliminating the need for battery charging infrastructure—these vehicles are engineered to absorb impacts safely, suggesting a theoretical blueprint for low-stress urban commuting where minor collisions require no subsequent insurance exchanges.
Mova Astra X
Automated outdoor maintenance was further highlighted by Mova’s robotic lawn mower, the Astra X. Equipped with a functional robotic arm designed to clear garden debris as the unit navigates a property, the machine also demonstrated its versatility on the showroom floor through a choreographed fan dance set to an electro-metal soundtrack provided by a live DJ, blending utility with unexpected entertainment.
Neakasa M9 Litter Box
For pet owners, managing daily pet care chores often consumes valuable time that could otherwise be spent interacting with animals. The Neakasa M9 litter box aims to alleviate this routine chore through a rotating mechanical scoop system. The device automatically filters out waste following use and deposits it into a sealed internal compartment for clean, infrequent disposal, streamlining feline pet care.
Birdfy Feeder Metal 2
For wildlife enthusiasts, the Birdfy Feeder Metal 2 integrates technology into backyard nature observation. Equipped with wide-angle cameras and artificial intelligence software, the metal bird feeder identifies visiting avian species in real time and sends notifications to the owner’s mobile device. The system transforms ordinary backyard birdwatching into an interactive, data-driven hobby.
EcoFlow Stream 5000
No comprehensive smart home infrastructure is complete without a reliable emergency power solution. The EcoFlow Stream 5000 power station serves as a centralized battery storage unit capable of integrating multiple solar panels. Featuring an integrated inverter, it feeds captured solar energy directly into a home’s primary electrical grid. Furthermore, units can be daisy-chained together to provide continuous backup power for multiple days in the event of extended grid outages.
(Editor’s note: Andrew Lanxon’s travel costs for the IFA conference were covered by Xiaomi. The judgments and opinions expressed by CNET remain entirely independent.)
