The Weirdest and Wackiest Tech We Found at IFA 2026 - CNET
Not as weird as you may think. I’m calling this one too weird for sure. I’m calling these headphones too weird to work.
Tofu machines, pet phones, toothbrush cameras — we saw all the wildest stuff at IFA, and now we're here to report back.
Editor / Home Security and Smart Home
Managing Editor / Home and Kitchen
We’ve been at Berlin’s massive IFA expo for the past few days, diving into all the latest the tech world is showing off. While we’ve seen deeply impressive plans for your home and computer, we’ve also seen things that just make us go, “…Huh.”
With so many innovations and approaches at IFA, some of it was bound to get weird. Out of the many robot vacuums, pool cleaners, foldable phones and headphones we found, we also kept track of the strangist things on the floor. Here’s what made us pause, what it’s supposed to do — and how useful we think it really is.
Govee has long been at the forefront of strange home lighting creations, from literal curtains of light to spread across your garage to table lamps that look more like alien artifacts. Now Govee is showing off one of its oddest products yet: a dome-like ceiling light designed to mimic the sky and be “mood-responsive.”
In this case, mood-responsive means you can use Govee’s AI to talk about your mood or how you’re feeling, and the Govee app will suggest ceiling light color schemes to match. But the light can also create a specific blue wavelength designed to evoke blue skies and natural daylight.
Too weird to work? Not as weird as you may think. I’ve tested Govee’s AI before, and you really can generate lighting patterns based on your mood or random musings. But Govee already has so many lighting scenes in its app that I didn’t find it very practical — though definitely fun. I wonder how well it will work with a full ceiling light.
If your two problems are not eating enough plant protein and having too much counter space, the Nuvell is here. This massive bean cooker and compressor is the size of an espresso machine and churns out blocks of tofu in as little as 30 minutes. It can make other vegan proteins depending on the legume you stick inside.
I asked the rep on duty whether the Nuvell could make cheese if you poured cow’s milk in. She claimed it could, but didn’t seem too confident.
Too weird to work? While it wasn’t operational at IFA, we assume the Nuvell does what it’s supposed to, since turning soybeans into tofu isn’t rocket science. The real question is whether it’s worth the space on your counter for this one-trick pony of a kitchen appliance.
Unless you’re a dentist, you probably don’t want a closer look at your teeth — but one intrepid brand came to IFA bearing a toothbrush that gets personal by using a built-in camera.
The Dyson Camerajet uses a camera with “Gap Optical Targeting.” Fortunately, you don’t have to personally review the 28 images per second the camera can take. Instead, an AI analyzes it for you and targets interdental gaps. From what we can tell, you can then aim the toothbrush’s jet of water at tooth gaps to make sure they get extra clean.
If you do want to play dentist like this, it’ll cost a sweet $500 for the advance.
Too weird to work? I’m calling this one too weird for sure. Price aside, you have to stand with your toothbrush in hand while holding your phone in the other to look at an enormous close-up of your teeth on the screen, then simultaneously brush and use the water flosser at the right angles to hit what look like gaps. The whole thing appears entirely unnecessary if you simply practice good brushing and flossing.
Creatulize came to IFA to show off the smallest robot vacuum in all of Berlin. The X1 Pro is the brand’s second-gen bed robot vacuum, designed to clean your bedding and mattress.
Using precision mode, the vac moves slowly and steadily across a mattress, sucking up dust, mites, hair and whatever else lurks. It can clean a king-size in about 20 minutes and has an easy-to-empty debris canister. Special sensors keep it from tumbling off the bed. When it hits an edge, it stops, turns and keeps on keepin’ on.
Too weird to work? Mattress vacuums are becoming a thing, based on the idea that dirty mattresses exacerbate allergies. Nobody wants a dusty mattress, but whether or not you need a dedicated vacuum for it is up for debate. We’ll be testing the X1 Pro to find out.
One of the highlights we saw – and felt – was an air conditioner unit that sends custom cool air to you wherever you are. Midea’s new system uses spatial imaging and sensors to track your position in the room and deliver a stream of cool air your way. That means a cooler you and less energy wasted.
Midea’s smart AC works with the brand’s other air-quality appliances, including the humidifier. The two work in harmony through Midea’s smart sync to keep your home’s air at your desired temperature and humidity, no matter what Mother Nature has planned.
It’s also voice-activated, so you can turn it on or off, or activate the “mmWave sensor system” without getting up or even opening your phone.
Too weird to work? While the AC wasn’t officially up and running at IFA, Dyson launched a similar freestanding fan and air purifier that tracks humans in the room and spits fresh, cool air their way. We’re still testing that one in our lab, but would be surprised if the technology doesn’t live up to at least some of its promise.
If you thought AI was already in everything, just wait: SwitchBot is announcing the launch of its AI shirt device, the MindClip, at IFA. It’s made to clip onto your shirt pocket, collar, nearby strap or even belt. Once in place, it, well, essentially listens to everything that happens within a 3-meter radius for up to 20 hours and saves it for you.
The MindClip can recognize people by their voices and summarize conversations or events, ostensibly to help you with planning after a busy day. As far as AI goes, it’s no spying Meta glasses, but it is fairly invasive, especially for strangers you may be chatting with.
Too weird to work? This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an AI pin, although it is the smallest and least distracting version I’ve spotted. The problem is that none of them really took off, and some companies even pivoted to an entirely different product. So yes, it’s too weird to work for now, but maybe the rumored AI capabilities in Apple’s AirPods will be an exception.
Singaporean intimacy and sex toy company Lovense has brought the latest version of its AI “companion doll” to IFA, aiming to make it more lifelike than ever before. In addition to talking, remembering past facts and adjusting its personality, the silicone doll can blink, smile and look when called by its custom name. Users can also chat with the doll at a distance via a phone app and set up roleplay scenarios, if they prefer.
Too weird to work? Yes, the age of AI sex dolls is here. But it’s such an eclectic — and expensive (between $4,000 and $8,000) — proposition, this one is only for those with very specific tastes and a, ahh, particular relationship with AI. For others, Lovense also debuted several more conventional, AI-free toys.
When today’s home sensors can do nearly anything from recognizing when dogs bark to knowing when someone is tampering with a mailbox, it may sound strange to make a sensor specifically to say, “Oops, it looks like you fell down!” But that’s just what Anker’s Eufy brand has done.
There’s method behind this madness. The wall sensor uses a combo of algorithms and presence sensing with mmWave technology, no cameras necessary. It’s made to help those aging in place or living in rest homes without creating privacy concerns. The sensor even supports two-way audio, so family members or nurses can check in if they get an alert about a potential fall.
Quick note: As Anker consolidates its brand names, Eufy products are staying with us, but the Eufy name may not be around forever, so keep that in mind when shopping.
Too weird to work? In this case, not at all. I’ve already seen mmWave technology tap into Wi-Fi signals to help those aging in place, although Eufy’s sensor is the first I’ve seen that focuses on falls and enables two-way audio for a quick checkup. It’s a strong use of the technology.
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Ucloudlink has brought the newest version of its award-winning PetPhone to IFA this year, showing a world where cats and dogs have their own smartphone, too. Sort of.
The Petpogo PetPhone is technically a smart pet collar, and we’ve reviewed many of those. But this version comes with two-way audio to talk to your pet with an app and AI features that interpret behavior and motion so pets can theoretically initiate a call themselves, as well as emotion analysis of barks, meows and other actions. It also supports more traditional capabilities like tracking and geofencing, and it alerts pet parents to out-of-routine behaviors.
Too weird to work? No AI features can accurately interpret specific barks or meows into moods and feelings. That’s (currently) nonsense. And trying to get your pet to “call” you with specific behaviors sounds dubious at best. So most of the innovations here are too weird, but the underlying collar functionality looks usable.
TDM is showing off its unique Neo headphones, with a literal twist. In normal mode, they look like a typical pair of wireless headphones. But twist and collapse the earcups, and they form into a small Bluetooth speaker with up to 8 hours of music playback. The dual-device comes with an aux port, a USB-C charging port and a carrying case.
Too weird to work? When was the last time you saw someone with headphones and thought, “What a pleasant, private music experience that person is having, I wish there was a way for them to share it with all the people nearby?” Nope. No one likes it when you play music out loud in public spaces, especially when the same device could let you listen privately. I’m calling these headphones too weird to work.
Amada brought a fascinating mattress to IFA called the Soundwave Smart Mattress. Yes, it connects to a phone app. And yes, it really does produce sound waves or at least a “vibroacoustic experience” with vibration modes for presleep relaxation, meditation, focus and recharging. I’m not sure how vibration is supposed to help with those things, but CNET health expert Anna Gragert told me vibration therapy does have applications for recovery and disease treatment. The bed is made of polyurethane foam and polyester fabric, with a four-pin power connector.
Too weird to work? Well, Magic Fingers did have their day in hotel rooms across the US, but that day ended pretty fast. I don’t know if a bed with good vibrations is what the average home is looking for, but if you’ve tried it and it works for you, this could be a shakingly good upgrade.
Editor’s note: David Watsky’s travel costs for the IFA conference were covered by IFA. The judgments and opinions of CNET are our own