IFA REVIEW Samsung’s MicroRGB LED TV.


October 2025 ertonline.co.uk


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The brand is also pursuing super large screen TV buyers, this time with the 115X955 Max Series, billed as the world’s largest QD-Mini LED TV. TCL’s new AiPQ processing engine provides the backbone for this head-turning display, offering automatic scene analysis, brightness management and light-adaptive tone control. Main selling points are the 20,000 dimming zones, 6,500 nits peak brightness, and built-in 6.2.2-channel Onkyo speaker system with Dolby Atmos.


Not satisfied with this, TCL also offered up the QD-Mini LED TV X11K Series, a 98-inch Mini LED backlight super-screen with 14,000 dimming zones and 6,500 nits peak brightness. The sound system isn’t too shabby either, having been developed by Bang & Olufsen. For buyers looking for something smaller (!), there’s the 85-inch X11H, a QD-Mini LED TV, once again with Bang & Olufsen audio.


Samsung, never one to be outdone, quietly


offered closed-door demonstrations of its own 115-inch micro-RGB TV, clearly aimed at countering Sony’s RGB LED messaging. It also looks very impressive. Dealers can expect the brand to migrate screen sizes down to 75-, 85-, and 98- inch models in due course. But what drew more casual attention was its Moving Style lifestyle screen. This battery operated, kickstand equipped transportable telly, preloaded with Samsung TV Plus FAST channels, seems to be a clear rival for LG’s StanbyME movable model. It looks engineered for TikTok-era living rooms and small apartments, where flexibility


beats fixed installation, but would also suit conservatories or bedrooms. Given the success Samsung continues to have with The Frame, this is going to be one to watch.


What about audio? Audio made a relatively quiet splash at IFA this year, but was no less welcome. Technics delivered one of the more surprising launches, with its SL-40CBT turntable. Retailing for £750 and offered in three colours that looked more interior design than Hi-Fi listening room - Terracotta, Light Grey - it’s clearly aimed at style-conscious buyers stepping up from entry- level decks. Not the typical Technics turntable buyer at all.


Samsung’s Moving Style lifestyle screen.


matching SC-CX700 wireless Hi-Fi speaker, shown in a coordinated finish.


While the vibe is lifestyle, the engineering


remains top notch. The turntable is equipped with a die-cast aluminium platter featuring reinforcing ribs and a directly mounted motor magnet for stable torque transmission. It also sports a newly designed S-shaped aluminium tonearm and arrives factory-fitted with an Audio- Technica AT-VM95C moving-magnet cartridge. Samsung also upped the volume with on its own party box line at IFA, taking the wraps off its ST50F and ST40F Sound Tower speakers. With up to 240W power output, LED lighting synced to music, and the kind of rugged design that says “yes, take me into the garden,” they’ll likely find an enthusiastic audience. These are bound to do well in what remains a surprisingly robust sector.


The inclusion of Bluetooth and a built-in phono stage should bring Technics to a whole new audience, one keen to use convenience features like wireless streaming (so no untidy wires between turntable and active speakers). It also makes for an easy add-on sale. At IFA, the deck was partnered alongside Technics’


And that might be the most useful observation to leave IFA 2025 with: while headline-grabbing display technologies keep the premium ceiling moving upward, the show also underlined fresh energy in mid-tier and lifestyle categories. Portable displays, battery-powered entertainment systems, convenience-led plug- and-play turntables. All music to the ears of shop floor staff who need to demo quickly and want to sell experiences, not specs. AI, whether built into a speaker, fridge or TV, is simply the new normal. IFA may have celebrated 101 years in 2025, but this edition looked like the start of a fresh chapter for consumer tech.


IFA returns, September 4 - 8 2026.


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