IFA brings out impressive products, but one of the best parts about the show is its variety of announcements. There are phones, tablets, home devices, laptops, wearables of all kinds and so much more. Sure we don’t cover the connected washing machines, but for the categories we do follow we saw lots of great announcements at this year’s show. Here are our absolute favorite picks — the ones that are deserving of our Best of IFA 2019 awards.
Best of IFA 2019
Best
Lenovo C340 Chromebook
- News
One of our favorite Chromebooks gets solid improvements in two sizes.
The C330 was already one of our favorite Chromebooks, and the upgraded C340 is even better. It’s available in two sizes, now has two USB-C ports, and received processor bumps across the board. The 11-inch model starts at $290 as well, which makes it an excellent value.
Best
Sony Xperia 5
- Hands-on
Going small while staying tall.
Sony is taking its super-tall 21:9 aspect ratio seriously, and continuing its history of making a “compact” flagship version. The Xperia 5 takes the Xperia 1 blueprint and shrinks it down, which at this aspect ratio makes it much easier to grip. You still need to love Sony for its quirks and design, but if you do this is a very cool “small” phone option.
Best
Huawei Kirin 990
- Hands-on
An early look at the super-powerful chip that will power the Mate 30 series.
Huawei’s new Kirin 990 processor, which will power its upcoming Mate 30 series phones, brings big AI improvements and integrated 5G connectivity. As well as across-the-board gains in GPU and CPU performance and efficiency, the new Kirin will also enable professional-class noise reduction for photos and video in Huawei’s next-gen phones.
Best
Motorola One Zoom
- Hands-on
An interesting mid-range device with new camera capabilities and fun style.
Motorola is hitting back at the mid-range with the One Zoom at $450. For a more money than the top-end Moto G, you get a neat design, big 4000mAh battery, and an upgrade quad camera array with a 48MP main sensor (with OIS and f/1.7 lens) and a telephoto camera that has 3X optical zoom.
Best
Puma smartwatch
- Hands-on
A great thin-and-light smartwatch for fitness enthusiasts, with Fossil Gen 5 underpinnings.
We know the brand, but now that great style is on a smartwatch for the first time. The Puma smartwatch is incredibly thin and light, which is perfect for this fitness-focused model. Best of all, despite its size and weight the Puma smartwatch still has the full slate of Fossil Gen 5 features, including heart rate, GPS, NFC, a speaker and more.
Best
LG G8X ThinQ with Dual Screen
- Hands-on
An interesting counterpoint to modern foldable phones.
The G8X itself is solid, but its Dual Screen attachment makes it truly interesting. Doubling your screen real estate with this attachment just makes sense, and it actually functions surprisingly well. There are tons of ways to make use of an extra 6.4-inch screen, and it’s even running a newly redesigned LG UX 9.0 interface.
Best
Samsung Galaxy A90 5G
- Hands-on
Bringing 5G and solid Samsung quality to even more people.
Not everyone can afford a $1300 Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, and that makes the A90 5G extremely important. For hundreds less, it’s still a well-made phone with relatively high-end specs and 5G. It doesn’t have a stylus, but a big 6.7-inch display anyway.
Bottom line
It’s easy to get excited when you can see so many great new products in the span of just a few days. Lenovo, Sony, Huawei, Motorola, Puma, LG and Samsung all brought something exciting to the table, and they’re all worthy of receiving our Best of IFA 2019 awards.
