IFA 2025 has seen a whole load of new devices unveiled, from some of the best laptops to brand-new smart home products. The trade show has been absolutely packed with fantastic technology, and AI has certainly been the main topic of conversation this year, which is no surprise.
But what about some of the weirder devices – the products that literally made me do a double take as I walked past them on the show floor?
I’ve rounded up five of the weirdest tech gadgets I came across during my time at IFA 2025 and – spoiler alert – there’s a whole load of robots.
Chess playing robot
When first walking past the X Sense stand, I didn’t even know what I was looking at – it seemed like a sea of robots with chess or checkers sets in front of them. I walked up to one as it reorganised the board from its previous match and pressed Go and low and behold, I was in a chess match with a robot.
Despite sounding intimidating, the SenseRobot – a chess and board game-playing robot – actually wasn’t dominating the game and obliterating me like I was expecting. Instead it gave up its bishop for a measly pawn. Does that mean I can technically say I’m smarter than a robot?
The robot has an arm which it uses to move pieces, as well as a camera sticking up and over the board so it can see everything that’s going on.
The small screen, which can be used to display stats about the game or navigate menus also turns into a little face when not being used – which is very adorable.
AI ironing machine
For those who truly want to live a life of luxury, then the AI smart ironing machine from Aivive would be a pretty weird but useful addition to your home. Just hang up one single garment in the device, whether it be a shirt, jacket, trousers – whatever you might need – and it will dry and iron it.
The machine blasts 750 km/h winds at your shirt, around the speed of a cruising Boeing 737, to get rid of any creases. The entire process takes around 90 seconds, which is probably around the same amount of time it would take you to actually iron your shirt, but with this device you can leave your shirt in and go and do something else… for 90 seconds.
Aivive suggested use cases to me such as luxury department stores, airport lounges or high end-hotels, which means this is likely going to be a premium product.
Self-flushing cat toilet
I’m a cat person, probably the most cat-person cat-person you’ll ever meet. I currently have 10 (yes, 10) cats at home. Yet I thought a self-flushing cat toilet would be too much even for me, but somehow after having a gander at the Self-flushing smart cat toilet from Petgugu (cat not included) I might just be convinced otherwise.
This device connects up to the sewage system in your home to make scooping cat litter an issue of the past. Each time your cat goes to the loo, the device then discards any waste, washes the cat litter to refresh it and then resets so your cat is greeted with a fresh litter box after every use.
You get the benefit of a spacious interior to allow for even some of our more chunky feline friends as well as a 15L litter storage capacity to top up litter automatically when it runs low. It also has an infrared sensor and weight sensor so the device will never begin cleaning while your cat is still inside.
Stair climbing robot for your vacuum
Anyone who has a robot vacuum and a home with more than two stories will tell you that having your device get stuck on an edge and start screaming because it thinks it’s about to fall off a cliff is one of the biggest downfalls of this category of products. Having to move your vacuum upstairs yourself starts to feel tedious and defeats the point.
In comes the Eufy MarsWalker, a brand new device that carries your robot vacuum up the stairs for you. Just to clarify, this isn’t a vacuum itself, just a whole other robot to have in your house to carry your robot vacuum to other floors of your home.
Your Eufy robot vacuum can park itself in the MarsWalker, which can then travel up the stairs in your home, drop your robot vacuum off, and then bring it back down later when it’s done before parking itself up in its own little dock.
Watching this all unfold in front of me actually freaked me out just a little bit. The robots are evolving.
Robot pets
Last but certainly not least are Switchbot’s brand new robot AI companions, Noa and Niko. These are AI pets which are designed purely for companionship as they waddle around your home, greet you and flap their arms.
The robots can recognise different family members and actually respond to gestures and emotions. Switchbot has stated that they can display emotions such as happiness, sadness, or even jealousy – which is a horrifying thought. They can also learn your household routine.
While they don’t serve any practical purpose, these two robots were absolutely adorable as they wandered around together at IFA.
