Android Central's Best of IFA 2025

IFA 2025 is coming to a close, bringing major product launches from Samsung and others, innovative concepts from brands like Lenovo, and emerging AI innovations. Android Central was on the ground in Berlin, Germany, going hands-on with all the biggest announcements and showcases, and we awarded some of the best products and concepts at the show.

From Samsung's highly anticipated Galaxy Tab S11 series launch to Lenovo's stunning ThinkBook VertiFlex concept, and everything in between, here's what made it into the list for the best of IFA 2025. This year, many of the event's standouts are things you can actually buy, which is particularly exciting for consumers!

Best phone: TECNO Spark and Pova Slim

The TECNO Spark and Pova Slim are two phones you really have to see or hold in person to believe. If you thought the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge or the rumored iPhone 17 Air were thin, the Spark and Pova Slim will blow you away. The former measures just 5.93mm thick, and the latter is only 5.95mm while adding 5G and still delivering a flagship experience.

TECNO managed to cram a 5,160mAh battery inside the Pova Slim, addressing the biggest drawback that comes with thin phones — battery life. When it's time to charge, 45W fast wired charging will get you topped off in a pinch.

The phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6400 chipset and runs Android 15. Best of all, it's no longer a concept and will soon be available for purchase in certain markets. Pricing and availability are to be announced, but nevertheless, TECNO's new Slim lineup is a feat of engineering that represents the best of smartphone technology at IFA 2025.

Best concept: Lenovo ThinkBook VertiFlex

Android phone lovers are very familiar with emerging form factors, like foldable phones and rotating screens (LG Wing, anyone?). Now, Lenovo is showing off a proof-of-concept at Lenovo Innovation World 2025 that brings a rotating screen to the ultrabook category. The Lenovo ThinkPad VertiFlex concept feels like your average 14-inch notebook until you flip the display upward, switching from horizontal to vertical orientations.

At 17.9mm thick and weighing just over three pounds, the ThinkPad VertiFlex won't feel out of place at a coffee shop or in your bag while packing a neat party trick. Switching to a vertical orientation on the fly might make common tasks like writing or coding easier in a way we've never seen on a laptop.

I briefly played around with the VertiFlex concept and was surprised at how natural and premium the experience felt. Despite the moving parts and complex engineering, rotating the display back and forth was natural and simple. It's also cool that you can place a phone or tablet next to the rotated display when it's in a vertical orientation.

While the ThinkPad VertiFlex might never see store shelves, it's the best new concept to come out of IFA 2025.

Best tablet: Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra

No one in the tablet space is doing what Samsung did with the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. While it might not be my personal choice for a daily driver, it's impossible to ignore this tablet — it's the biggest and best on the Android side of things. You get a massive 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x screen and a chip upgrade in the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Plus.

This time around, it's only 5.1mm thin. You might be thinking, "Why does a tablet need to be thin?" It doesn't, unless you want to use it as a laptop alternative with a keyboard case. The thin tablet paired with Samsung's Book Cover Keyboard Slim helps make the entire package more compact.

More importantly, Samsung is taking real steps to make sure tablet users can actually take advantage of the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra's raw power. There is still work to be done, but the new version of Samsung DeX called Extended Mode is a major addition. It lets you take advantage of both your Galaxy Tab S11 screen and an external monitor at the same time. With workspaces, you can create up to four separate desktop environments for different processes and goals in DeX mode.

It's not for everyone, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is the best tablet we saw at IFA, by a long shot.

Best wearable: Hypershell X Ultra

Robotics, machine learning, and wearable tech always make for an interesting product. The Hypershell X Ultra is an exoskeleton that combines all three, and after a natural degree of skepticism, my extended hands-on time with the gear left me amazed. It uses ML algorithms to analyze your walking patterns and motions, anticipating your next step while using motors to lift your leg up before you do. This is all happening in real-time with low latency.

Hiking with the Hypershell X Ultra is still physically taxing, and you might end up out of breath depending on your cardiovascular endurance. However, it requires significantly less leg power and reduces stress on your legs and joints. I walked, hiked, and ran with the exoskeleton, and immediately noticed a difference between turning assistance on and off.

It sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, but following an announcement at IFA, you can actually buy this.

Best smart home: Philips Hue

The Philips Hue ecosystem received a major refresh at IFA 2025, taking one of smart home's best brands to the next level. The center of the upgrades is the Philips Hue Bridge Pro, the first new connected hub for Hue devices released in a decade. Aside from adding new features, Hue Bridge Pro triples the number of supported devices compared to the older Bridge V2.

To me, the more exciting addition is the new Philips Hue Essential A19 lightbulbs, which can be had for as little as $15 in a bundle. The smart lightbulbs now work with Matter-over-Thread, and that's a big deal. The functionality allows users to connect A19 lightbulbs with any Matter platform, including Apple and Google Home, without needing an expensive Philips Hue bridge. All these upgrades are also available on Philips' more expensive bulbs, too.

The addition of Matter-over-Thread support to the best lightbulbs in the market makes Philips Hue our pick for best smart home tech at IFA 2025.

Best AI innovation: Rokid Glasses

Rokid Glasses are the XR wearable that Rokid has been building up to for years, and they incorporate AI at the core. They're a pair of minimalist AR glasses weighing only 49 grams with microLED waveguide displays inside the lenses. When I wore them at IFA 2025, they felt no bigger or more cumbersome than my typical prescription glasses. That's despite cramming in a battery, speakers, displays, and a 12MP camera.

The smart glasses have native integration with AI voice assistants, including ChatGPT, for real-time help with answers. When you wear Rokid Glasses, the answers to your questions appear both on the displays overlaid atop your environment and are spoken aloud. Beyond chatbots and assistants, AI is also used on the Rokid Glasses to reduce background noise coming from the four microphones for videos and calls.

By far, the coolest Rokid Glasses feature can translate a foreign language for you in real-time using AI, showing what someone is saying in your preferred language on the displays. At only $599, these smart glasses, currently in the Kickstarter stage, are the best AI innovation to launch at IFA 2025.

Note: Lenovo and Hypershell provided travel and lodging for part of my IFA 2025 trip, but had no input in this article.