IFA 2017: Highlights Of The Newest Tech From Berlin

IFA is the largest consumer technology trade show in Europe. Each year in Berlin, thousands people flock to see some of the latest announcements from the some of the biggest names in the tech industry. Let’s take a look at the top five products to come out of IFA 2017:

LG V30

The star of the entire show at IFA 2017 was definitely LG’s successor to 2016’s V20. The V30 is an important milestone for LG. While LG’s earlier flagship, the G6, was a great phone it could not compete with the newer phones from Samsung and HTC. Apparently, even LG admitted that the G6 underwhelmed in sales. However, the V30 may end up being a serious contender among Android phones, especially with content creators.

The screen switches from an LCD to OLED. This results in vivid colors, sharp contrasts, and a screen that should result in better battery life. Like the G6 and almost every other flagship this year, the V30 has minimal bezels with an 82 percent screen-to-body ratio. Also like 2017 flagships, the V30 also has the latest Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB or RAM which makes everything snappy.

The camera is probably going to receive the most buzz. It sports an f/1.6 aperture lens as part of a dual camera setup that is the largest in a smartphone. A larger aperture allows more light to reach the sensor which ultimately leads to better low-light performance and better pictures.

Garmin Vivoactive 3

For the more fitness conscious among us, Garmin announced the new Vivoactive 3. This update to the former Vivoactive HR tries to turn it into a true smartwatch with a rounder body, NFC payments, and more. A new feature called “side swipe” allows users to scroll up and down the display and is activated by running a finger along the left side of the watch.

Garmin is also bringing Garmin Pay to the Vivoactive 3. Garmin Pay is powred by FitPay, a third-party developer of contactless payment systems. Like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay works with Visa and MasterCard from select banks.

Sony LF-S50G Wireless Smart Speaker

Sony introduced quite a few number of products at IFA 2017. One of which was a wireless smart speaker called the LF-S50G which has the Google Assistant built in and looks suspiciously like Apple’s HomePod but costs much less.

Design-wise, the HomePod similarities are clear. A grey or black speaker mesh encircles the entire device while the sides have an LED clock display. The top contains various sensors that allow gestures for playback and volume control if using your voice isn’t feasible. The unit itself is a 360-degree, vertical two-way facing system that includes a dedicated subwoofer for bass along with an omnidirectional two-stage diffuser that provides “maximum sound coverage” in an average-sized room.

The LF-S50G can pair over Bluetooth, NFC or Wi-Fi and supports multi-room controls for audio. Users will also be able to control other smart home devices including wireless speakers that have an integrated Chromecast.

Sony is positioning the LF-S50G as a kitchen assistant and touts its superior audio as the primary differentiation from Google Home. Of course, other major players in the game such as Amazon and Apple will offer significant competition. However, given the LF-S50G’s price tag of $199, it may just sway over people who aren’t keen to live in Apple’s ecosystem or prefer the intelligence of Google over Amazon.

Moto X4

Not be left out, Motorola/Lenovo announced the Moto X4 at IFA 2017. Many astute readers may remember that the Moto X line used to be Motorola’s flagship line of smartphones. That title now belongs to the Z2 lineup. Instead, the X4 covers the midrange. The two new features on the X4 include a dual-camera setup and support for the Amazon Alexa voice assistant.

Being a midrange phone, it doesn’t the latest and greatest specs but the included Snapdragon 630 chip and 5.20-inch, 1080p display is probably good enough for quite a few people. While it may not be as powerful as the high-end phones, Motorola claims that the X4’s 3,000mAh battery should last up to 24 hours of use. The TurboPower charger also provides six hours of use on just 15 minutes of charging.

The Moto X4 has a 12-megapixel camera paired with an 8-megapixel wide angle camera. This will allow depth of field effects such as selective focus and color. The front facing camera is 16-megapixels and has an “adaptive low-light mode” that trades better low light performance for resolution.

Samsung Gear Sport

After launching the excellent Gear S3 last year, Samsung is following up with the Gear Sport at IFA 2017. As implied by the name, this smartwatch is focused on fitness. As such it comes preloaded with the Speedo On app to enable recording of swimming sessions. Samsung partnered with Under Armour to give Gear Sport owners a yearlong premium membership as well as access to Under Armour’s suite of apps including MyFitnessPal and MapMyRun. The watch is also does the usual fitness tracker stuff like heart rate tracking, activity detection, and customizable fitness goals and alerts.

Like most of Samsung’s smartwatches, the Gear Sport runs on Samsung’s Tizen operating system instead of Android Wear. The watch itself has a 1.2-inch AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 3 and a 360 x 360 resolution. It also comes with a dual-core processor, 4GB of onboard storage, 768MB of RAM, Bluetooth 4.2, and NFC for Samsung Pay support. Samsung claims that the Gear Sport will last four days on a single charge although that’s without GPS. With GPS on continuously, that battery life number shrinks to 14 hours.