LG’s V30 will own IFA the way the Galaxy Note once did

Back in 2011, in only my second time attending IFA in Berlin — Europe’s answer to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas — I saw Samsung completely overtake the event with the launch of just one product. I was among the first to get their hands on the entirely new Galaxy Note device, which was so hot off the production lines that it didn’t even have clearance to be sold in Germany yet, and all the demo units were plastered with regulatory stickers to that effect. Though we couldn’t have known how influential the Note would become in driving large-screen phones into the mainstream, we were all aware that it was the biggest deal at the show. Samsung built its big hype magnet and we all came to see it.

Today, mere hours ahead of LG launching its new V30 smartphone, I get a similar sense of anticipation for a product that’s likely to overshadow everything else making its debut at IFA. In the same way that the Galaxy Note remains the most memorable thing to come out of IFA 2011, so the LG V30 will be the biggest and most lasting news item from IFA 2017. That’s my expectation, anyway, but allow me to elaborate on why I think that is.

Firstly, smartphones are inherently the biggest attraction at any tech show. Yes, OLED TVs can look stunning, and ultrabooks may wow with their thinness, and gaming rigs are often spectacular monstrosities. But it is phones that draw in the biggest crowds, because it’s phones that truly define our current moment in technological progress and time. Our most essential, most valuable piece of gadget equipment is the phone, and so we naturally gravitate toward devices in that category that look to be pushing things forward. Nobody’s stealing the IFA limelight with an especially smart new washing machine