IFA 2018 is here: what to expect

It's that time of the year already and IFA 2018 is about to start. Our ninjas have already touched down in Berlin and are roaming around hoping to get an early glimpse of some the new devices which are going to be announced. The showroom floors don't open for public until Friday but the majority of events for journalist will be held tomorrow, Thursday, so we expect a rather busy day.

With that said, here's what we expect to see in the next couple of days and the IFA 2018 announcements unfold.

Sony - Thursday, August 30

The Sony Xperia XZ3 is the likely star of the show, but lack of rumors for a Compact variant probably mean it will be alone. We've seen the new design with an 18:9 screen and no notch. The single/dual camera debate is over, the most recent renders show a single camera on the back - but there's a chance it will be a 48MP camera.

Sony Xperia XZ3 (the XZ2 Premium posted above)

Huawei - Thursday, August 30

No new phones by Huawei, but the company will lay the groundwork for the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro - it will unveil the Kirin 980 chipset. That will be the first 7nm SoC to be announced, it remains to be seen if it will be the first to hit the market.

Honor - Thursday, August 30

Honor has its own events, separate from the Huawei mothership. We don't expect to see the Honor 8X, that's for next week. We expect to see the Honor Play and maybe (just maybe) the Honor Note 10.

Huawei Honor Play • Huawei Honor Note 10

HTC - Thursday, August 30

A week ago HTC teased a new U-series phone for IFA and going by rumors it will be the HTC U12 Life. We're expecting an Android One phone with a Pixel-like design and mid-range specs.

HTC U12 Life

BlackBerry - Thursday, August 30

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE is coming to IFA. It will have a similar design to the current KEY2, but at a saner price. To get there, the chipset is expected to drop to a Snapdragon 636, the dual camera to a 12+5MP setup and the battery capacity will probably be smaller (3,000mAh). It will keep the unique hardware keyboard, however, but not the $650 price tag.

BlackBerry KEY2 LE

ZTE - Thursday, August 30

Teasers promised the ZTE Axon 9 (and maybe a Pro version) for this week. It's going to have a notched screen (QHD+ AMOLED), Snapdragon 845 chipset and (if history is any indication) a pricing on the level of OnePlus 6.

ZTE Axon 9 Pro

LG - Tuesday, August 28

There was no event, but the company did unveil two new phones, both based on the G7 ThinQ. The LG G7 One is LG's first Android One phone and it's like a G7 but with a Snapdragon 835 chipset and a single camera on the back. The LG G7 Fit is similar, but runs LG's customized Android on a Snapdragon 821.

LG G7 One • LG G7 Fit

Samsung - Thursday, August 30

The Galaxy Note9 is official, so are the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and Tab A 10.5, even the Galaxy Watch. Chances are we'll see those again, but we don't expect anything new - at least not on the phone/tablet/watch front. Perhaps a smart washing machine then?

Others

Acer already launched a number of laptops, a Mixed Reality Headset, a projector, gaming hardware and more. Dell unveiled new laptops as well. If you're interested in VR, Lenovo should bring out a new Mixed Reality Headset as well, plus new ThinkPad laptops. Expect laptops from Asus as well.

Motorola might have something, but other than the recent launch of the Verizon-bound Moto Z3, there hasn't been much action there. There's a Moto X5 in the rumor mill, but we've seen no indications yet that it will be at IFA.