Samsung, Sony and Lenovo might have the biggest announcements at IFA last week primarily due to the sheer volume of products these companies introduced during the event, but there are certain one-offs that deserve our attention.
For starters, there’s the new Desire 820 smartphone from HTC. The phone is built around a 5.5-inch display with 720p resolution. Under the hood, there’s a Snapdragon 615 chip with an octa-core processor (2 quad-core processors clocked at 1.5GHz and 1.0GHz respectively), an Adreno 405 GPU, a 13MP+8MP camera combo, BoomSound speakers and Cat 4 LTE connectivity.

The Desire 820 will be available by the end of September and will be offered in different color options including marble white, tuxedo grey, Santorini white, milky-way grey, tangerine white, saffron grey, flamingo grey, blue mist and monarch orange.
Another smartphone that made a debut at IFA last week was the Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2. The phablet is touting a 6-inch TF LCD display with Full HD resolution (~367ppi) which is covered by a layer of Dragontrail glass with oleophobic coating.

Under the hood is a MediaTek MT6592 chip with an octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.  Power is delivered by a 3100mAh pack giving the Hero 2 almost 10 hours of 3G talk time. There’s also LTE, NFC and a stylus optimized for handwriting recognition.
The back of the device is graced by a 13MP camera with optical image stabilization that is capable of recoding Full HD videos. Alcatel will start selling the Hero 2 by the end of September for around $450.
Lastly, there’s the CAT S50 smartphone. The device is designed to be incredibly tough with military-grade protection including IP67 and MIL-810G certification. There’s also a shatter-proof front glass and a rugged design giving it that tough and durable look.

Performance is delivered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 8GB of expandable storage. The phone also comes with a 4.7-inch HD display, an 8MP camera with LED flash and a stock version of Android 4.4 KitKat.
CAT is also installing its own CAT app store with 1000+ apps that are designed for CAT users. The phone will be offered in two different colour options – forest and slate and will cost around $500.
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Motorola has been on a roller coaster ride for the past couple of years especially after its ownership has been transferred several times. And now that it’s owned by Lenovo, the company is slowly starting to re-establish its identity as a phone-maker.
And IFA was one of the best venues for the firm to showcase its new vision. In fact, Motorola has unveiled three new devices in Germany last week including the 2014 version of the Moto X and the Moto G.

The company’s new flagship smartphone – the Moto X is now featuring a bigger 5.2-inch Full HD AMOLED display with an impressive 423ppi screen density. The front of the device is covered by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass while the body is made from aluminium.

Under the hood, there’s a Snapdragon 801 SoC with a 2.5GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM and 16/32GB of on-board storage. The rear camera on the new Moto X has a 13MP sensor with dual-LED ring flash and is capable of capturing 4K video.
Power is supplied by a 2300mAh pack that is non-removable, and just like last year’s model, the new Moto X will come with removable back covers which users can custom order from the company’s website.
Those looking for a cheaper alternative can look at the new Moto G. This model is slightly smaller than the Moto X with a 5-inch HD IPS display protected by Gorilla Glass.

Processing power is brought by a Snapdragon 400 chip with a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, an Adreno 305 graphics card, 1GB of RAM and either 8GB or 16GB of internal memory that can be expanded using a microSD card. There’s also an 8MP f/2.0 camera at the back, 2MP front-facing camera, a 2070mAh non-removable battery and the same set of customizable cases and covers.
Both models are already available to consumers with the Moto X starting at $499.99 unlocked while the Moto G will sell for $179.99. If you have $149.99, you can get a Bluetooth headset that will go nicely with these two handsets – the Moto Hint.

IFA was also the place where Motorola finally unveiled its Android Wear-powered smartwatch – the Moto 360.
The watch will go head to head with offerings from Samsung and LG as well as the one coming from Apple. It has a 1.56-inch display with a 320x290 resolution that is covered with a layer of Gorilla Glass 3.

Under the face of the watch lays a Texas Instruments OMAP 3 processor, 4GB of internal storage, 512MB of RAM, a built-in pedometer, an optical heart rate monitor, dual microphones and a vibrator motor for notifications. The watch is said to be capable of staying on for 12 hours with its 320mAh battery that will be charged wirelessly using a dock.
As for bands and color, Motorola will offer the watch with Horween leather and either light or dark stainless steel for $249.99.
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The number seven is probably the magic number for Huawei at IFA this year. The Chinese tech firm has announced two new devices last week at the event showcasing some of its new hardware tech.
First up, there’s the new Ascend G7 phablet. It has a 5.5-inch display with HD resolution and a screen density of 267ppi. Huawei has installed a Qualcomm chipset on the G7, which comes with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage.

On the imaging and connectivity department, the Ascend G7 is sporting a 13MP f/2.0 snapper on the back, a 5MP camera on the front and LTE Cat4 connectivity.
Then we have the new Ascend Mate7. This device is slightly bigger than the Ascend G7 featuring a 6-inch display with Full HD resolution. In terms of performance, power is delivered by the company’s home-brewed Kirin 925 chipset that features a true octa-core processor, a Mali-T628 GPU, 2-3GB of RAM and 16/32GB of on-board storage.

There’s also a 13MP+5MP camera combo, a 4100mAh battery, integrated LTE modem, NFC and a fingerprint sensor at the back just below the camera module that’s coupled with a security engine trust zone. According to Huawei the zone won’t be accessible by third party software or any malicious app.
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 will be available in coming weeks starting at $660 in different color options including obsidian black, moonlight silver and amber gold. Meanwhile, the Ascend G7 will sell for somewhere near $380 when it becomes officially available.
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Chinese manufacturer ZTE might not have the impressive line-up that Samsung, Sony or Lenovo presented during IFA last week, but it was still present during the event to announce three new smartphones – two new Blade handsets and a Kis model.
The two new Blade models – the Blade Vec 4G and Blade Veg 3G are both 5-inch smartphones with slightly similar specifications. 

The Blade Vec 4G, as the name implies is packing an LTE radio that delivers up to 150Mbps downlink. Performance is delivered by a Snapdragon 400 chipset with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. At the back of the device is a either an 8MP or 13MP camera (depending on the region version) while the front is graced by either a 1MP or 2MP snapper.
On the other hand, the Blade Vec 3G is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of on-board storage and an 8MP+5MP camera combo. Obviously, the handset will have 3G connectivity, which of course makes it a little less expensive than the 4G model.
Both models will have a 2300mAh battery and comes with a carbon fiber body. The Blade Vec 4G is now available in different markets in Europe for around $300 while the Blade Vec 3G will be offered for somewhere near $230.

Then there’s the ZTE Kis 3 Max which offers a 4.5-inch FWVGA display, a MediaTek MT6572 chipset with a 1.3GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5MP+2MP camera combo and 3G connectivity.
The ZTE Kis 3 Max will also launch initially in certain markets in Europe including UK, Germany, Greece and Bulgaria for $130. All phone models will run on a stock version of Android 4.4 KitKat.
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The other big name who made some waves last week at IFA was Lenovo. The Taiwanese tech giant unveiled a number of new devices at the event including two new smartphones, a plethora of tablets and a new business laptop.
The company’s biggest announcement would probably be its two new Vibe smartphone models. On one hand we have the new Vibe X2. The phone sports a 5-inch Full HD display and comes with a MediaTek MT6595 true octa-core chip with a 2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.

Storage and battery capacities are at 32GB and 2300mAh respectively. There’s a 13MP camera at the back of the headset while the front is graced with a 5MP snapper. The Vibe X2 operates with Android 4.4 KitKat with Lenovo’s Vibe UI 2.0 on top.
On the other hand, there’s the Lenovo Vibe Z2, which is the company’s first 64-bit handset. The phone has a 5.5-inch HD display with 600nits of brightness and comes equipped with a Snapdragon chip with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 32GB of internal memory and a 4G LTE radio on-board.

The Vibe Z2 also comes with two SIM card slots and a 3000mAh battery. On the camera side, the phone is packing a 13MP Exmor BSI sensor from Sony at the back and an 8MP front-facing snapper with an anti-distortion lens.
Lenovo will be offering the Vibe Z2 and X2 initially in China this October with other markets where Lenovo phones are currently sold to follow shortly. The Vibe X2 will retail at $399 while the Vibe Z2 will sell for $429.
Apart from the new Vibe phones, Lenovo is also sprucing up its productivity offerings including two new Horizon tablet models, an Edge laptops and a new ThinkPad model.

For starters, there are the new Horizon 2s and 2e tablet/AIO models. The 2s features a 19.5-inch display while the 2e sports a slightly larger 21.5-inch panel. The 2s can be equipped with a slew of Intel processors all the way to a Core i7 variant. The tablet will also have Lenovo’s Aura interface and a 10-point multi-touch display. 
Users can configure the Horizon 2s with storage up to 500GB and an optional metal charging stand. Meanwhile, the larger Horizon 2e will offer almost the same configuration as the Horizon 2s but with a bigger storage capacity limit with a 1TB option. It will also be a bit heavier tipping the scales at 10.1 pounds compared to the Horizon 2s which weighs 5.6 pounds.

The Lenovo Horizon 2s will be available starting next month for $749 while the larger Horizon 2e will be offered for $949.
Finally there are the new Edge and ThinkPad laptops. The new Edge 15 is equipped with a 15-inch display with Full HD resolution, up to 16GB of RAM, a choice of SSDs and hybrid hard drives and a selection of processors up to a Core i7 CPU. 

The Edge 15 will have an 8-hour battery, stereo speakers with Dolby Home Theater, multiple USB ports, an Audio combo jack, an HDMI-out and a 4-in-1 SD card reader. Lenovo has even added a Backlit AccuType keyboard and an option to have an Nvidia GeForce GT840M graphics card with 4GB of memory.
The Lenovo Edge 15 will be available starting next month starting at $899.
For $100 more, you’ll be able to get the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix. The device is powered by Intel’s new Core M processors and runs on the latest version of Windows 8.1. The convertible is packed with an 11.6-inch Full HD display with 400 nits of brightness, a 10-point multi-touch display and Intel 4000 graphics.

Under the hood, there’s up to 8GB of LPDDR3 memory and a number of storage options that goes up to 512GB. There are also stereo speakers, a microHDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, and a 5MP+2MP camera combo.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix will be offered with two keyboard dock options. On one hand there will be a magnetic keyboard that connects to the tablet unit via pins at the bottom, while on the other hand, there’s going to be a “Pro” version, which will come with a rotating dock along with the range’s signature red TrackPoint.
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