Leif Lindner is not softening his message. “Artificial intelligence is no longer just a promise,” the CEO of IFA Management said. “Smart homes are no longer a vision. Digital health is becoming part of everyday life… The future is not waiting somewhere five or 10 years away. It is already in our homes, in our pockets, in our cars, in our health routines.”
That statement serves as both the marketing line for IFA 2026 and the blueprint the event is built around. This year, AI isn’t tucked into some corner booth. It’s the wiring running through the entire venue.
The show that eats every other tech show
Officially the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, IFA ranks as the largest home and consumer technology gathering on the planet. Held in Berlin, it draws names such as Samsung, Acer, Anker, Eufy and Hisense, each turning up under one roof to unveil fresh consumer gadgets and products. Gaming hardware shares floor space with home tech. Whichever direction you drift, something will make you stop.
AI and digital health form the 2026 theme, with organizers arguing that AI has “stopped being its own category and started becoming the connective tissue underneath everything else.” In practice that stretches across beauty, preventative health tools, connected fitness, wellness tech and beauty devices — a lineup squarely aimed at buyers hunting for technology that “supports a more personalized, healthier daily routine.”
What the last few years actually delivered
History counts for something. Acer used IFA 2024 to unveil the Nitro Blaze 7, its response to the Steam Deck OLED and the Asus ROG Ally X.
The following year became a full-blown home tech parade. Eufy showed up with its MarsWalker robot vacuums and UV printers. Anker unveiled the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro, a premium projector that earns the “not-so-portable” label literally: it rolls in on wheels, throws 3,500 ANSI lumens and packs Dolby surround sound. By comparison, the genuinely portable Nebula Capsule tops out at 300 lumens.
The robots keep getting weirder
The KATA Friend AI pet stole the show last year, an advanced digital companion that visitors kept returning to for another look. Each edition of IFA surfaces robots nobody has laid eyes on before, spanning just about every category imaginable.
A few are simply adorable. Others are engineered for real daily tasks — a stair-climbing robot vacuum, for instance. Then there’s the Acemate Tennis Robot, promoted as the first AI-driven robot in the world that can genuinely rally in real time.
Six perspectives, one building
A large part of IFA’s peculiar charm comes down to whoever happens to be beside you. Those attending in person and those following from afar witness these shifts through six sets of eyes: a global CEO, a retailer, a startup founder, a content creator, a journalist and a consumer. Not many events assemble that mix in a single room.
The after-hours lineup is real
There’s more to IFA than the exhibition floor. Its open-air venue, Sommergarter, hosts four consecutive nights of entertainment. September 3 belongs to BUNT and an electronic set. Luciano takes over September 4 with a rap and hip-hop blend. Ikkimel & Friends supply trap, techno and Berlin club energy on September 5. Then on September 6, Mord auf Ex and Wine Wednesday tape live podcast episodes.
One venue is also returning from the grave. The ICC Berlin — a protected 1979 landmark that has sat closed for more than ten years — opens its doors again for IFA 2026, expanding the space available for visitors to dig into what’s on display.
Who gets in
You do. The doors are open to tech enthusiasts and everyday shoppers as much as to global owners, creators, startups and retailers. Full details live on IFA 2026’s website, along with ticket information for BUNT, Luciano and Ikkimel & Friends.
Our tech team will be reporting from Berlin, parked somewhere between a tennis-playing robot and a projector on wheels, curious to see what rolls out next.