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Best gadgets of IFA 2020

From laser projectors to folding phones, we round up the hottest products of this year's IFA trade show.

Andrew Lanxon Editor At Large, Lead Photographer, Europe
Andrew is CNET's go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
Expertise Smartphones, Photography, iOS, Android, gaming, outdoor pursuits Credentials
  • Shortlisted for British Photography Awards 2022, Commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022
Andrew Lanxon
5 min read
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The Z Fold 2 is one of the show's big hitters.

Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

The coronavirus pandemic might mean that the IFA 2020 tech show, usually held in Berlin every year, is mostly being held as a series of online events, but that doesn't mean there aren't as many neat new gadgets being launched. I've swapped a German beer for a strong coffee and a creaky press conference bench for my lumbar-supporting office chair to bring you the hottest products of the show. 

I'll be updating this article throughout the week, swapping in any new launch that deserves recognition for being particularly cool. Make sure to bookmark this page and come back to see what's new.

Watch this: Creating the German tech show experience at home

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2

First shown off a couple of weeks ago, and demonstrated more fully at Samsung's online event this week, the Z Fold 2 is the second generation of the company's flagship folding smartphone. With a bigger exterior display and a less intrusive notch for the interior camera, this model addresses various issues we had with the first-gen Fold. 

It doesn't come cheap, with a $2,000 price tag, but it's packed with top-end tech, including 5G connectivity and multiple cameras.

Read more: Galaxy Z Fold 2 ongoing review: 5 of the foldable phone's best new features so far

Watch this: Galaxy Z Fold 2: Hinge, cameras and durability revealed
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Samsung

Samsung The Premiere laser projector

Now that movie theaters are a masks-on affair, those of you looking to bring the cinema experience to your living room will want to pay attention to this. Samsung's new projector, called The Premiere, is the first HDR10 Plus-certified projector, which the company says means it's extremely bright and vivid. Together with its 4K resolution and up to 130-inch size, it should be able to provide an extremely immersive experience for your movies. It's a short-throw projector too, meaning it can sit right up against the wall it's projecting onto, rather than having to put it on a stand on the other side of the room.

Read more: Samsung's The Premiere 4K ultra-short-throw laser projector goes up to 130 inches

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Neato

Neato D10 robot vacuum cleaner

The D10 sits at the top of Neato's new lineup of robot vacuum cleaners, featuring laser-guided navigation to avoid obstacles in its path, as well as a high-efficiency particulate air filter. Why? Because a HEPA filter can kill, Neato says, up to 99.97% of allergens, making it great for people with sensitivities to dust or other airborne particles. 

Read moreNeato's latest and greatest robot vacuum cleans up with a HEPA filter

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Acer's new Spin 7 notebook, which converts to tablet, uses Qualcomm's second-generation 8cx chip for PCs. 

Acer

Acer Spin 7 with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2

Acer's two-in-one laptop is the first device running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 platform. Unveiled during Qualcomm's virtual launch, the platform promises multiday battery life as well as 5G connectivity -- both of which will be useful for working on a laptop on the move. 

The Spin 7 itself has a 14-inch display which can swivel all the way around to function as a tablet and comes with a Wacom stylus for drawing or note taking. There's no pricing or availability yet, but we expect to hear more in the coming weeks.

Read moreAcer Spin 7 is the world's first Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 laptop

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Asus

Asus Zenbook Flip S with Intel Tiger Lake processors

It's not just Qualcomm with new silicon to show off. Intel unveiled its latest Tiger Lake processors too, and Asus was quick off the mark to shove them inside its new Zenbook Flip S. Intel boasts huge boosts in speeds for word processing, video editing and online game streaming over its previous generation, while also supporting the latest Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6. All of this will be welcome in the new Flip S, which -- much like the Spin 7 mentioned above -- can fold around on itself to be both a laptop and tablet. 

Read moreAsus ZenBooks and Vivobooks go 11th gen all the way

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JBL

JBL Clip 4

JBL's previous waterproof Clip speakers are friends to anyone who loves to sing along to their favorite tunes in the shower. The new model has an updated design and a battery life of up to 10 hours. There's still a built-in carabiner clip, which makes it super easy to hang from your soap dish while you're belting out the chorus to Taylor Swift's Shake It Off.

Read more: JBL's new headphones and Bluetooth speakers add battery life and wireless charging

Nvidia RTX 3090 graphics card

Nvidia's latest graphics card series promises increased performance for 8K, 60 frames-per-second gaming, as well as improved ray tracing capabilities for realistic lighting and shadows. Fortnite has already shown off a demo that takes advantage of the new tech, as has upcoming RPG Cyberpunk. Plus the $499 RTX 3070 sounds like a real steal.

Read more: Nvidia launches GeForce RTX 3090, 3080 and 3070 with Ampere

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Lenovo

Lenovo Yoga 9i

This two-in-one, laptop-tablet hybrid sits at the top of Lenovo's Yoga range, sporting a soft-touch leather-clad lid, updated keyboard and a massive touchpad that's seamlessly embedded into the glass palm rest. Other upgrades over previous versions include the latest Intel chips, improved audio from the soundbar in the hinge and improvements to its included stylus.

It'll be available in 14- and 15.6-inch varieties, the latter of which can be specced up with up to a 10th-gen Intel Core i9 HK-series processor and discrete Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q, plus up to 16GB of memory and 2TB SSD storage.

Read more: Lenovo Yoga 9i gets rid of traditional touchpad, slaps leather on its lid

LG InstaView range oven

Want to see just how browned those cookies are getting? With LG's new oven, you simply knock on the glass door to see inside. The gas or electric range ovens also have air fry modes to crisp up your chicken real nice.

Read more: Just knock to see your food inside LG's air-fry-equipped range

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Blink has two new home security cameras.

Amazon

Blink wireless indoor and outdoor security cameras

Setting up home security cameras can be a real chore when it comes to trailing power cables everywhere. Not so with the new Blink cameras by Amazon, which have optional battery packs that claim up to four years of battery life. The cameras are available in indoor and weatherproof outdoor versions, and have a $3-a-month subscription for cloud storage of your recorded footage.

Read more: Amazon's new battery-powered Blink security cameras promise to last 4 years