The best of the best from Berlin.
There’s a lot of tech here at IFA in Berlin, as is often the case. OK, that’s one hell of an understatement. There’s a LOT of tech here at IFA. Some from the usual players. A whole lot from folks we’ve, frankly, never heard of.
And that’s maybe the hardest part of these jaunts. Not the jet lag. Not the time away from home. No, it’s sorting through all the awesomeness that gets crammed into the Messe Berlin and put on display for the world to see.
But we’ve managed to narrow it down a bit. Here, now, are Android Central’s Top Picks from IFA 2016.
ASUS ZenWatch 3
We were maybe expecting a little more Android Wear than we ended up seeing. But what we got was pretty darn good. The ASUS ZenWatch 3 is one of the first entries into the new generation of Android Wear. Three buttons. A fully round face (and that’s the big new feature for ASUS). And looks that might well surprise you. It’s also one of the first to use the new Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor.
Read: Hands-on with ASUS ZenWatch 3
ASUS ZenPad 3S 10
You think it wouldn’t be too hard to find a good Android tablet. But there are some that stand out from the fray. And the ASUS ZenPad 3S 10 has been one of those this show. It’s a 9.7-inch QXGA (that’s 2048 by 1536) tablet that’s as slim as it is good-looking.
Huawei MediaPad M3
Take a Huawei phone and make it really big. That’s the Huawei MediaPad M3. In fact, you could almost call it a huge Nexus 6P-type device, if only for the one thing that continues to weigh like an anchor on the Chinese company’s devices. That’s the software, of course.
Read our Huawei MediaPad M3 review
Huawei Nova / Nova Plus
Huawei dropped not just one phone on us, but two — the Nova and Nova Plus. The former very much looks like a smaller Nexus 6P, actually. The latter scales things up both in size and internals, and is a very capable mid-ranger.
Read our Huawei Nova and Nova Plus preview
Lenovo Yoga Book (Android)
If there’s one thing folks are talking about at IFA, this is it. A folio-style tablet, erm, laptop, it’s got a 10.1-inch display on one side and a sort of giant glass trackpad on the other, connected with Lenovo’s incredible watchband hinge. Its pen input is incredible. It’s a crazy thing. And it doesn’t break the bank. (There’s also a Windows version, if that’s how you roll.) Our only real question is how well the flat keyboard will work in everyday use.
[Check out our Yoga Book hands-on!)(http://www.androidcentral.com/lenovo-yoga-book-aims-be-what-pixel-c-never-was){.cta.large}
Moto Z Play & Hasselblad True Zoom Mod
Want the modular fun of the Moto Z, but don’t want the high-end price tag? That’s where the Moto Z Play comes in. And along with it we have the incredibly interesting Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod, which gives you a 10x optical zoom with a 12MP sensor, all in that same Moto Mod size.
Read our Moto Z Play Preview
Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Classic
Samsung’s Gear S2 won over a lot of smartwatch skeptic. The Gear S3 — in its two new versions, Frontier and Classic — looks to continue that trend. Samsung’s packing even more functionality in there, and it’s coming at these watches from a watch-first standpoint. While the tech stuff may have second billing, it’s definitely not been done with any less attention to detail.
Read our Samsung Gear S3 preview
Sony Xperia XZ
If you’ve been confused by Sony’s move from the Xperia Z brand to the Xperia X brand, well, this phone’s not going to help with that at all. But what you need to know is that Sony’s flagship design is in good form. If only there weren’t one or two features that continue to dog the Japanese manufacturer. Still, this is a very capable phone.
Read our Sony Xperia XZ review
Sony Xperia X Compact
If you want a small phone — and we don’t just mean “not huge” — then there’s only one place to turn. That’s Sony. And it’s back with a new Xperia X Compact that takes things down to 4.6 inches, with a 720p display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor.
Check out our Xperia X Compact hands-on!
ZTE Axon 7 Mini
Love the idea of the ZTE Axon 7 but want something just a bit smaller? This is it. This 5.2-inch phone scales things down in all the right places while keeping things plenty speedy.
Check out our Axon 7 Mini hands-on
What are your favorite new Android gadgets from IFA? Shout out in the comments!