IFA 2023: the biggest announcements from Europe’s big tech show

Yale has launched a new line of its home security products specifically for the European market. In addition to a new video doorbell, the company revealed the next-gen of its smart alarm system, plus new indoor and outdoor smart cameras — all of which integrate with its line of smart locks.

Using the Yale Smart Video Doorbell, you can keep tabs on your doorstep with 1080p footage and a 154-degree field of view. The device comes in wired and wireless options, offering two-way audio talk, live viewing, and night vision. You’ll receive a notification when the doorbell detects motion and when someone rings the doorbell. The Smart Video Doorbell itself costs £119.99 / €159.99.

Lenovo has announced a new Legion 9i, and it might just be the wildest thing I’ve ever seen from the Legion line. It’s coming in October, it starts at a whopping $4,399 (you know, a totally normal price to pay for things), and Lenovo is throwing in all kinds of eccentric stuff.

The company is clearly most excited about the fact that the 9i is the first 16-inch gaming laptop with a self-contained liquid-cooling system. This is exactly what it sounds like. Most laptops use air cooling to transfer heat along heat pipes to a radiator; a fluid-cooled device instead does that with water and a pump which, as you might imagine, can handle much more thermal mass. Such a system could theoretically allow the 9i to pull truly massive amounts of power (up to 230W, Lenovo claims) for a ridiculous gaming experience.

Every company and its mother seems to be putting out handheld gaming PCs these days, and Lenovo is next to the plate. The company has announced the Legion Go, its first Windows-powered gaming handheld, which will be available for purchase in October. It’s got an 8.8-inch QHD Plus screen, an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, and a 49.2Wh battery (which is bigger than those of the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck). Oh, and the controllers pop off, which is neat.

While Valve’s Steam Deck tends to be the first product that comes to mind when this category is discussed, the Legion Go seems more like a cross between the Nintendo Switch and Asus’ ROG Ally. For one, with models starting at $699, the Ally is clearly what Lenovo is trying to match on price. But it also, like the Ally, is running old-school Windows and has more controls (a touchpad, primarily) that are tailored toward operating that system.

Samsung has been trying to make the connected kitchen work since 2016, when it launched its smart fridge with an Android tablet slapped on the front. But today, with the reveal of Samsung Food at the IFA 2023 tech show, it took a big step in the right direction. 

This isn’t because the app is amazingly innovative at launch. In fact, slightly the opposite. It’s a rebranded, revamped version of the Whisk app, which has been around since 2013. With this new version of the software, Samsung is finally uniting the disparate sides of smart cooking: the recipes, the food itself, and the kitchen appliances.

Belkin is embracing the new magnet-enhanced Qi2 wireless charging standard with a pair of new products being announced at Berlin’s IFA 2023 tech show. There’s the BoostCharge Convertible Qi2 Wireless Pad to Stand (yes, that’s the name), which can either work like a traditional Qi pad or hold a phone upright while it charges — great for the iPhone’s new StandBy feature. There’s also the BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad with Qi2, which is equipped with a pair of wireless charging pads (one 15W and one 5W) plus a USB-C port for charging a third device like an Apple Watch via an optional dongle.

Announced at CES earlier this year, Qi2 is a new version of Qi wireless charging that effectively integrates the magnets from Apple’s MagSafe standard into a cross-platform spec. Belkin has previously put out several MagSafe chargers, so it’s not much of a surprise that it’s embracing Qi2.

After nearly three years without a new smartwatch, Withings is kicking off IFA 2023 by announcing not one but two ScanWatch hybrid watches.

The $349.95 ScanWatch 2 is Withings’ latest and greatest hybrid smartwatch, with a new temperature tracking module that uses a combination of four sensors: a thermistor; heat flux; PPG (the green LED for measuring heart rate); and accelerometer. Data from the four sensors will then be fed into an algorithm that uses movement, heart rate, and skin temperature to deliver health insights. Withings also introduced a slightly pared-down, fashion-first ScanWatch Light for $249.99.

The point of cloud gaming is it doesn’t require a powerful PC; a Chromebook should do just fine. Today, Google and Nvidia are ready to prove it by giving away a free, no-strings-attached GeForce Now subscription to every modern Chromebook owner.

You don’t have to buy a new machine, and there’s no recurring subscription. You don’t have to enter any credit card information, Google spokesperson Peter Du confirms to The Verge. As long as you’ve got a Chromebook from 2017 or newer, you can simply head over to Google’s Chromebook Perks page and hit the “Get perk” button to redeem a three-month subscription to the Priority tier of Nvidia’s GeForce Now.

Home projector upstart Xgimi just announced its new Horizon Ultra model, dubbed the “world’s first 4K long-throw projector with Dolby Vision.” While I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for the device to produce an image with jaw-dropping HDR, it’s certainly a very bright all-in-one Android TV 11 projector for well below $2,000.

The Horizon Ultra uses a new “Dual Light” laser and LED hybrid light source to produce 2,300 ISO lumens. That’s a 27 percent increase in brightness compared to the reasonably bright (1,760 ISO lumens) Xgimi Horizon Pro projector I reviewed a few years ago. Of course, that brightness is measured at the bulb, and the image brightness falls off considerably the farther away you move the unit in order to grow the display to its 200-inch suggested maximum. That, in addition to lacking the ability to turn off individual pixels to create true blacks, is why you should be skeptical about HDR offering any noticeable improvements on projectors, especially in this price range.

With Apple and Samsung both offering earbuds that deliver excellent sound quality and compelling ecosystem tricks, it’s getting increasingly harder for regular old earbud makers to stand out. Even mainstays in the category like Jabra can sometimes get lost in the mix — despite having an expansive product lineup. So today Jabra is announcing two new premium earbuds at the same time, with each targeted at very different use cases. The flagship Elite 10 ($249) is intended to be the company’s best-sounding and most comfortable pair of earbuds yet, while the fitness-geared Elite 8 Active buds ($199) have reached a new level of durability (with the ratings and certifications to prove it). Both also mark Jabra’s embracing of spatial audio.

During a recent preview of both products, Jabra told me that consumers rank comfort as the most important factor when shopping for earbuds. This led the company to rethink the core design when coming up with the Elite 10 buds, which have a semi-open design to avoid any clogged-ear sensation or unpleasant occlusion. This helps differentiate them from the rest of Jabra’s closed-style buds. The Elite 10s also feature oval-shaped, super soft silicone ear tips that don’t go very deep into your ears at all. But despite being shaped for extended comfort and that semi-open style, Jabra says these earbuds deliver its most powerful active noise cancellation yet. “Using scanning technology, the earbuds measure noise leakage and play infrasonic sound waves to determine the individual ear canal shape,” the company says. “The ANC filter is then applied dynamically, automatically switching to the most effective ANC level.” 

LG’s StanbyME Go, its bizarre $999.99 27-inch suitcase TV announced for the US earlier this month, is on show in Berlin at a corner of its booth at IFA 2023.

We had a poke around the demo model being displayed on the show floor, and couldn’t find any of the games that are apparently optimized for its touchscreen. But we were able to get acquainted with its robust articulating design. The TV can be swiveled from portrait into landscape, and set at any angle from straight upwards to straight forwards.

Eve announced it’s releasing a $149.95 AirPlay 2 receiver called the Eve Play — its first audio device — on November 14th. Though a little pricey, the receiver looks aimed at audiophiles: it’s got optical, coaxial, and RCA audio outputs, 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi, a built-in DAC, and an ethernet port.

Eve says you can adjust latency between speakers automatically or manually using the Eve app’s Audio Sync feature if you’re finding multiroom audio isn’t perfectly synchronized. Users will need an iPhone or iPad to use it, as well as a home network to connect it to either via Wi-Fi or ethernet.

JBL is very proud of its new Authentics speaker range. It’s proud of the retro-inspired design, which harks back to its L-100 speakers from the 1970s. It’s proud of the sound quality (obviously) and the range of streaming services and technologies they support. But the only thing I had on my mind when I got to try one of the speakers out for myself was its ability to run Google Assistant and Alexa at the same time, and listen for each wake word simultaneously.

This isn’t the first time that the two popular voice assistants have been available on the same speaker, nor is it the first time any two voice assistants have been available simultaneously. Sonos already sells speakers that have both Google Assistant and Alexa built-in, but only one can be active at a time — you can’t have them both listening and responding to commands. Alexa can also coexist for simultaneous use with Sonos’s own Voice Control service, but not with Google Assistant.

Anker’s newest batch of mobile power accessories includes new Qi2-equipped MagGo magnetic chargers, stations, and power banks, as well as new Nano USB-C chargers ready for any future iPhone 15 owners who might be tearing out old Lightning-equipped setups to go with their new phones and AirPods. Rumors suggest Qi2 support will be enabled with the launch of the iPhone 15 lineup, possibly enabling 15W charge speeds without Apple’s MagSafe certification.

However, Apple hasn’t confirmed its plans on that front just yet, and we’ll find out soon if other manufacturers will update their devices for Qi2 or support the spec on new phones launching later this year, like the Pixel 8 series.

Philips Hue is moving into the smart home security space with the launch of Philips Hue Secure, a DIY security system that leverages new cameras and new sensors that work alongside Philips Hue’s smart lighting system to scare off potential burglars. When the system is triggered by a sensor, you can activate any compatible Hue lights to flash red or white and/or sound an alarm through the camera. 

Things are looking brighter for smart home owners. After months of delays and uncertainty, the Philips Hue Bridge is finally being updated to support the new smart home standard Matter. A software update will roll out in September, letting users connect their Hue systems with other Matter devices and apps. This means that every existing Philips Hue product will now work with Matter, all the way back to their original bulbs launched in 2012.

The news was announced by Signify, which makes Philips Hue, during the IFA tech show in Berlin, along with a bevy of other updates, including the rollout of the Hue line’s first smart security cameras and a handful of new lights. 

Aqara is adding a bunch of new products to its smart home lineup today, one of which includes a Matter-enabled ceiling light with a pretty unique perk. With a diameter of 50cm (~19.7 inches), Aqara’s Ceiling Light T1M features a range of 16 million different colors, along with an independently addressable RGB ring on the outside.

While you can use the ring to create a gradient lighting effect, Aqara notes that it can also serve as a status indicator when linked to other smart home products. That means you can program the outer light to show a specific color when one of your other smart devices detects an issue, such as a leak or an open door.

Sennheiser’s new Ambeo Soundbar Mini is the German audio brand’s third and most affordable soundbar. At $799 (€799 / £699), it’s still an expensive AV accessory, but in the context of the company’s original $2,499.95 Ambeo Soundbar Max and $1,499.95 Ambeo Soundbar Plus, the Mini’s asking price almost looks almost entry-level in comparison (almost).

The Ambeo Soundbar Mini maintains many of the core specs of Sennheiser’s previous soundbars. It still supports a range of 3D surround sound formats like Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, 360 Reality Audio, and MPEG-H, it can still be paired with an utterly excessive four Sennheiser Ambeo Subs, and it still supports a full array of streaming options like Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Chromecast built-in, and AirPlay 2.