The Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, translated as “International Radio Exhibition Berlin” but mostly known as IFA, starts traditionally at the beginning of September, as one of the biggest consumer electronics trade shows in the world. That said, in 2020, in-person events aren’t too popular. IFA 2020 still managed a much smaller in-person event, but with extensive virtual access too. The event launched what was termed the IFA 2020 Xtended Space for streaming, and hosted an interactive lobby, too.

That’s because despite everything going on, the holiday season for tech remains as crucial as ever. Major brands still used IFA 2020, and the weeks surrounding IFA, as a launching pad for smartphones, but also for tablets, laptops, headphones and audio products, and many other products.

The highlights of IFA 2020 included new devices and innovations from Qualcomm, LG, Honor, TCL, and Realme, while Samsung went early with a range of announcements ahead of time that were bundled into the IFA mix, while brands like Nvidia and Intel launched new products during the week without attending the main show. More on what specifically came out of IFA 2020 below.

Don’t miss the Best of IFA 2020 Awards, handed out for all the best tech from the week of IFA, including smartphones, wearables, audio, TVs, smart home, gaming, health tech and more.

And catch our best of coverage across the major device platforms:

IFA 2020: Dates and important info

IFA 2020 formally started back on September 3, 2020, and ended on September 5, making it a shortened version of the usual tech extravaganza. The event, as usual, happened at the Messe Berlin convention center in Berlin, Germany. The showfloor was at about 10-15 percent of normal capacity.

IFA 2020 started on September 3 through to September 5.

Although IFA is typically open to the public, this year it was a closed event to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks. IFA announced a virtual IFA 2020 Xtended Space event for the public to join in press conferences and exhibit tours remotely. Many presentations were pre-recorded, and virtual streaming mostly went off without significant problems. Brans also hosted their own streams of their major press events, too.

Qualcomm at IFA 2020

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon made the opening keynote speech at IFA 2020 on the first day at Thursday, September 3 at 9:45AM CET (3:45AM ET), with a talk touching on the company’s latest developments in 5G, AI, hardware.

The major new details:

The first 5G Snapdragon 400 series processor, bringing 5G to ultra low-cost phones for the first time.

The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, the company’s updated 8cx architecture for laptops. Qualcomm is saying there’s bigger performance wins over Intel’s 15W and 7W TDP Core i5 chips in certain benchmarks. The Acer Spin 7 notebook is one new laptop already announced, utilizing that new Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2.

Finally, Qualcomm announced Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) for wireless earbuds. It’ll adjust to changes in earbud fit, a feature available on its QCC514x Bluetooth audio chip, so expect products in 2021 with this new chipset.

Catch Qualcomm’s presentation on YouTube here.

Huawei at IFA 2020

Huawei’s Walter Ji, President of Consumer Business Huawei, in a pre-recorded presentation, took to IFA 2020 to emphasize its commitment to its European customers. Instead of introducing new devices as in the past, Huawei used this platform to talk about Huawei in Europe. Huawei noted retail data such as 33 million users with Huawei devices, along with significantly more downloads and streaming from Huawei customers in recent months. Huawei also noted it is the fifth biggest investor in R&D worldwide, with $82 billion invested into research efforts.

You can rewatch Huawei’s press conference from Thursday, September 3 at 2PM CET (8AM ET), on YouTube here.

TCL at IFA 2020

TCL took to IFA 2020 to launch new affordable products, announcing the 10 Tab MAX and 10 Tab MID tablets, two new affordable Android tablets.

10 Tab MAX will be priced at 10.36-inch display, octa-core processor not yet revealed, 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, and an 8,000mAh battery, 18W charging, and priced at €249 without 4G connectivity, €299 with 4G. It also supports a stylus.

The 10 Tab MID is a smaller 8-inch FHD display, running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, a 5,500mAh battery, and priced at a lower €229.

Both are available in Q4 2020, and TCL noted both use its ‘NXT Paper technology’ for displays to reduce eye strain, an intriguing new development.

It also announced Move S200 true wireless earbuds taking the AirPod-style route, withIP54 water resistance and up to 23 hours of battery life, for €99.

And the last product announced was the TCL Move Time Family Watch smartwatch, with a 1.41-inch AMOLED display and built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2500. It runs on TCL’s own software build, and is coming to both Europe and North America, with European pricing at €229.

LG at IFA 2020

LG was in attendance at IFA 2020 again, with P. Park, CTO and executive vice president of LG Electronics, holding a press conference also uploaded to YouTube here, on a ‘Life’s Good From Home’ theme.

LG showed off its battery-powered air-purifying face mask, called the LG PuriCare Air Purifier. LG’s CLOi line of robots was touched on, plus a smart mirror called the LG ThinQ Home Concierge, demonstrated working at the LG ThinQ Home smart home, a real house that LG has built south of Seoul to demonstrate its products and platform.

LG also added a LG virtual showroom experience for people to walk through a virtual show exhibition. It includes LG’s TVs including 8K and a room with a roof made of screens, LG Tone earbuds, and the LG PuriCare Air Purifier.

Samsung at IFA 2020

Samsung usually holds court at IFA with a major event, plus a huge showcase of its products on the IFA floors. At IFA 2020, though, Samsung went fully virtual with a pre-IFA event it called “Life Unstoppable”.

Samsung already launched the Note 20 series, Galaxy Watch 3, Tab S7 series, and unveil the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in the weeks leading up to the event.

In addition, Samsung quietly announced:

The Samsung Galaxy Book Flex with 5G on Intel’s latest 11th gen CPUs,

The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G, the cheapest phone yet with 5G from the Korean brand,

New Galaxy Fit 2 wearable

Odyssey G55 gaming monitor

Wireless Charging Trio for charging up to three devices at once

And on the TV and appliances front, Samsung revealed The Premiere 4K laser projector, beaming giant 130-inch images and HDR10+ certified, plus new WW9800T washing machine and DV8000T tumble dryer which use AI to learn your most commonly used washing modes

Honor at IFA 2020

Honor hosted its a global press conference at IFA, with a set of announcements on the theme of “Expand Your Smart Life.” New products announced included smart wearables, personal computers, and tablets, and you can re-watch the live stream on YouTube.

Laptops:

Honor released new MagicBook Pro, MagicBook 14, and MagicBook 15 laptops using AMD Ryzen 4000 chips.

The big one is the MagicBook Pro, a not-so-subtle challenger to the MacBook Pro with a 16.1-inch, color-accurate 1080p display in a chassis with a footprint similar to a 15.6-inch system. It’s using the mid-range, six-core AMD Ryzen 5 4600H chip.

The top of the line MagicBook Pro starts at €899.99/£849.99 (~$1,064), available in Germany from September 7, followed by UK and France starting September 8.

More on the laptops and full specs here.

Tablets:

Honor also launched two globally available tablets, the 9.7-inch Honor Pad 6 and 10.1-inch Honor Pad X6, both running Android.

Both tablets support the company’s Magic Pencil, pack stereo speakers, and offer dedicated eBook modes for avid readers. They’re easy to carry at as little as 7.6mm thick and a 1-pound weight.

No pricing/availability dates yet.

Wearables:

The Honor Watch GS Pro was launched, a rugged smartwatch built for outdoor enthusiasts with 25-day battery life in normal use. It’s particularly good for hikers with a “route back” option that will help you retrace your route without a phone

Honor Watch ES, meanwhile, is a “fitness fashion” wearable meant more for everyday exercise.

Availability starts September 7 in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The Watch GS Pro is priced at €249.99/£249.99 (~$296), while the Watch ES is more affordable at €99.99/£99.99 (~$117).

More on these two devices here.

Realme at IFA 2020

Realme made a splash at IFA 2020 Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth announcing the company is doubling down on Europe.

At the launch, Realme announced the Watch S Pro, Buds Air Pro, and Buds Wireless Pro will be coming to Europe this year.

More details on the launches here, but we didn’t see exact pricing, and only gave a Q4 2020 timeframe.

Stay tuned here for all our IFA coverage each and every year, with coverage of the build-up and all the big news before and after the show.