The relentless glow of modern smartphones has become both a blessing and a curse, turning our pockets into portals of endless distraction. With every ping, pop-up, and notification, our eyes are glued to screens that leave us squinting, tired, and sometimes just plain overwhelmed. Blue light bombardment, endless scrolling sessions, and the constant pressure to stay connected have transformed what should be helpful tools into sources of digital fatigue and anxiety.

But what if your next phone or pocket device could help you break free from that exhausting cycle? A new wave of phone-sized gadgets is putting eye comfort, focus, and digital wellness front and center, challenging the idea that more features always mean better experiences. Here are five standout devices that completely rethink what it means to stay connected, productive, and truly present in our hyperconnected world.

TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra

The TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra looks like a modern Android phone from a distance, but its display is anything but ordinary once you pick it up. With a matte, paper-like finish and zero flicker technology, this phone is built specifically for people who want to read, write, and scroll without the usual eye strain that comes with traditional screens. A physical switch on the side lets you toggle between “paper” and “color” modes instantly, making it easy to dial down distractions when you need to focus.

Designer: TCL

Under the hood, the NXTPAPER 60 Ultra offers a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, stylus support, and a generous 5,200mAh battery that easily keeps up with your day. It’s a full-featured smartphone with all the Android apps you’d expect, but the display technology makes it feel more like carrying around a sophisticated digital notebook than a typical glowing slab. The experience is surprisingly comfortable, even during marathon reading sessions.

What We Like

• Exceptionally comfortable for the eyes with zero flicker and ultra-low blue light
• Full Android experience with stylus support for note-taking and sketching
• Versatile display modes that adapt to your needs and environment

What We Dislike

• Large size pushes the limits of what feels truly “phone-sized” for some users
• Camera and AI features are underwhelming compared to flagship smartphones at similar prices

Mudita Kompakt

The Mudita Kompakt is a minimalist’s dream device, wrapped in a sturdy, pocketable shell that feels refreshingly different from today’s glass rectangles. Its monochrome E Ink display is incredibly gentle on the eyes, perfect for calls, texts, and the occasional note without any of the usual smartphone distractions that pull you into endless scrolling sessions. The phone is designed specifically for digital detox, with a strong focus on privacy, wellness, and intentional simplicity.

Designer: Mudita

With days-long battery life, IP54 dust and splash resistance, and thoughtful hardware touches like a real headphone jack and satisfyingly tactile buttons, the Kompakt feels like a modern classic. It’s not about cramming in apps or endless features that you’ll never use. Instead, it’s about reclaiming your attention and enjoying a quieter, more intentional relationship with technology that actually serves your needs rather than demanding constant engagement.

What We Like

• True E Ink screen provides exceptional eye comfort with no blue light or flicker
• Superb battery life measured in days, not hours
• Minimalist, distraction-free design that encourages mindful usage

What We Dislike

• No app store or third-party apps means limited functionality for some users
• Relatively bulky design for such a small screen compared to modern smartphones

Bigme HiBreak Pro Color

The Bigme HiBreak Pro Color represents a rare breed in the smartphone world: a true E Ink device with a color display and full 5G connectivity that doesn’t compromise on essential phone features. It runs Android 14, supports calls and texts like any regular phone, and even includes a stylus for note-taking or sketching when inspiration strikes. The Kaleido 3 color E Ink screen is remarkably easy on the eyes, especially for reading articles or messaging outdoors, where regular phones become unreadable mirrors.

Designer: Bigme

With Google Play support, generous storage options, and a battery built specifically for endurance rather than just getting through the day, the HiBreak Pro Color is perfect for anyone who wants the eye-friendly benefits of E Ink technology without giving up smartphone essentials. It’s designed as a productivity tool that doesn’t constantly tempt you with flashy animations or attention-grabbing notifications, letting you focus on what actually matters.

What We Like

• Full phone functionality combined with the comfort of color E Ink technology
• Excellent legibility in bright sunlight where regular phones struggle
• Stylus support and full app ecosystem for productivity and reading

What We Dislike

• Color E Ink is still noticeably muted compared to vibrant LCD or OLED displays
• Some ghosting and refresh lag, especially when navigating quickly through apps

reMarkable Paper Pro Move

The reMarkable Paper Pro Move takes the beloved reMarkable note-taking experience and shrinks it down into a genuinely pocket-sized package that goes anywhere you do. Its color E Ink display is specifically engineered for note-takers, readers, and anyone who craves a distraction-free digital space for capturing and developing ideas. Weighing just 235 grams and designed to slip effortlessly into your pocket, it’s built for people who think while they move.

Designer: reMarkable

With Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and eSIM connectivity for messaging and seamless cloud sync, the Paper Pro Move transcends the traditional boundaries of what a digital notebook can be. Its premium build quality, impressive battery life, and remarkably accurate handwriting-to-text conversion make it a favorite tool for those who want to focus on thinking and creating rather than constantly tapping and swiping through endless interfaces.

What We Like

• Outstanding writing and note-taking experience that feels remarkably close to real paper
• Color E Ink display perfect for highlighting and organizing visual information
• Extremely portable design that fits comfortably in most pockets

What We Dislike

• Not a full phone replacement since it lacks voice calling capabilities
• Limited app ecosystem compared to full Android or iOS devices

BOOX P6 Pro

The BOOX P6 Pro represents the next evolution of the phone-sized e-reader concept, offering both color and black-and-white E Ink display options in a form factor that truly feels pocketable. Running a full Android operating system, it supports messaging apps, reading platforms, and note-taking software, with stylus support for those moments when you need to jot down ideas or sketch out concepts on the fly.

Designer:
BOOX

With a hybrid SIM tray for connectivity, generous storage capacity, and a design that feels as comfortable and natural in your hand as holding a paperback book, the P6 Pro is built specifically for productivity on the go. It’s the ideal device for anyone who wants the flexibility and app ecosystem of Android without the constant glare, eye fatigue, and battery drain that come with regular smartphone screens.

What We Like

• Choice between color or black-and-white E Ink displays depending on your needs
• Full Android app support combined with stylus input for maximum versatility
• Truly pocketable and lightweight design that doesn’t feel cumbersome

What We Dislike

• Not a complete phone replacement since it lacks traditional voice calling features
• Still in early release stages with limited global availability and uncertain pricing

These five devices prove that staying connected doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your eyesight, attention span, or peace of mind. Whether you’re drawn to the versatility of the TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra, the intentional simplicity of the Mudita Kompakt, or the focused productivity of the reMarkable Paper Pro Move, each offers a refreshing alternative to the endless scroll of mainstream smartphones. The future of mobile devices might just be about doing less, but doing it better.

The post 5 Best Phone-Sized Devices for Digital Detox, Strain-Free Reading, and Focus first appeared on Yanko Design.

Traditional screens have become the digital equivalent of energy vampires, constantly draining batteries while bombarding our eyes with harsh blue light that leaves us squinting and tired. LCD and OLED displays demand constant power to maintain their bright, flashy visuals, creating a world where we’re always hunting for charging cables and dealing with screens that become unreadable the moment we step into sunlight.

E Ink displays offer a refreshingly different approach to this screen fatigue problem. By mimicking the look and feel of actual ink on paper, this technology flips the script on what we expect from digital displays. E Ink dominates the ePaper market, though other electronic paper technologies exist alongside it. The result feels like reading a book instead of staring at a glowing rectangle.

What Makes E Ink Different

Unlike traditional displays that blast light at your face, E Ink reflects ambient light just like a printed page would. The technology uses tiny microcapsules filled with charged particles that rearrange themselves to form text and images. Once an image appears, it stays there without using any power at all, which explains why e-readers can last for weeks on a single charge.

The benefits extend far beyond just battery life. E Ink displays remain perfectly readable in bright sunlight, where your smartphone screen would become a useless mirror. The flexible nature of the technology means displays can bend, curve, and even fold without breaking. For designers tired of working around the rigid constraints of glass screens, E Ink opens up entirely new possibilities.

Designer: Montblanc

The Current Limitations

E Ink comes with certain trade-offs that designers need to understand. Colors remain somewhat muted compared to the vibrant displays we’re used to, though recent advances have brought more life to ePaper screens. Refresh rates are slower, so you won’t be watching Netflix on an E Ink display anytime soon. Large panels can still be pricey, though costs keep dropping as production scales up.

These constraints haven’t stopped designers from finding creative ways to harness E Ink’s strengths. Smart product teams have learned to work within these limitations, focusing on applications where the technology’s benefits far outweigh its drawbacks. The results often surprise people with their elegance and practicality, proving that constraints can spark innovation.

Designer: BOOX

Five Industries Embracing E Ink Innovation

The real magic happens when you see E Ink displays in action across different industries. Each sector has found unique ways to leverage the technology’s strengths, creating products that simply wouldn’t be possible with traditional screens. Here are five concrete examples that show how E Ink is changing the design game.

Laptops: Your Lid Becomes a Canvas

Designer: ASUS

Laptop lids have been boring black rectangles for decades, but E Ink is changing that in fascinating ways. ASUS’s Project Dali concept turns the back of your laptop into a customizable display where you can showcase artwork, display your calendar, or show off your company logo during meetings. It’s like having a digital tattoo for your computer that changes whenever you want it to.

Designer: Lenovo

Lenovo took this concept to market with their ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE, which features an actual E Ink display built into the lid. You can switch between personal artwork during coffee breaks and professional branding during client presentations. The display sips so little power that it barely affects battery life, yet it transforms your laptop from anonymous tech into a personal statement piece.

Transportation: Solar-Powered Information That Actually Works

Public transit signs have always been a nightmare to power and maintain, especially at remote bus stops without electrical connections. Boston’s MBTA solved this problem elegantly by deploying solar-powered E Ink signs throughout the city’s bus stops and Green Line stations. These displays show real-time arrival information, service alerts, and schedules without requiring a single wire to be run.

Designer: MBTA, E Ink

The beauty of these installations becomes obvious during New England winters, when the signs keep working despite snow, ice, and sub-zero temperatures. Solar panels provide enough juice to keep the displays running continuously, while the E Ink technology ensures perfect readability whether you’re squinting through morning glare or trying to read in dim evening light.

Makers: DIY Dreams Made Accessible

The maker community has embraced E Ink displays with the enthusiasm typically reserved for new Arduino boards or 3D printing breakthroughs. Waveshare offers dozens of different E Ink modules that work seamlessly with Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other popular platforms. Suddenly, creating a custom weather station or smart home dashboard doesn’t require a computer science degree or a massive budget.

Designer: Waveshare

Hobbyists use these displays to build everything from digital art installations to battery-powered information kiosks that can run for months without maintenance. The paper-like appearance means these creations blend naturally into homes and offices, avoiding the harsh, obviously digital look of traditional screens. It’s democratized display technology in ways that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.

Fashion: Accessories That Change With Your Mood

Fashion has always been about self-expression, but E Ink takes personalization to an entirely new level. The Tago Arc bracelet demonstrates this beautifully, featuring a flexible E Ink display that lets you cycle through hundreds of different patterns using your smartphone. One moment you’re wearing geometric shapes, the next you’re sporting flowing organic patterns that match your outfit perfectly.

Designer: LIBR8TECH

The bracelet never needs charging because it draws power through NFC only when changing patterns. This means you get infinite customization without the hassle of yet another device to plug in every night. It’s the kind of accessory that makes people do double-takes, wondering how your jewelry just changed designs right before their eyes.

Consumer Electronics: Devices That Respect Your Attention

Designer: reMarkable

E Ink device like the BOOX Note Max and reMarkable Paper Pro Move have created an entirely new category of devices focused on thoughtful interaction. These tablets feel remarkably similar to writing on paper, making them favorites among designers, writers, and anyone who takes handwritten notes seriously. The screens don’t strain your eyes during long reading sessions, unlike their LCD counterparts.

The BOOX Palma takes this concept in a different direction by creating a phone-sized E Ink device that looks and feels like a smartphone but focuses entirely on reading and productivity. This pocket-sized e-reader runs Android, giving you access to reading apps, note-taking tools, and basic communication functions without the distracting elements that make regular smartphones so addictive. It’s like carrying a digital book that happens to connect to the internet, perfect for people who want to stay connected without getting sucked into endless social media scrolling.

Accessibility Revolution

E Ink technology has become surprisingly accessible to individual designers and small companies over the past few years. Development kits and reference designs are readily available from multiple suppliers, while costs have dropped to levels that make experimentation feasible for creative projects and startup ventures. You no longer need deep pockets or specialized engineering knowledge to explore ePaper possibilities.

This democratization has accelerated innovation across multiple industries. Designers can prototype E Ink applications quickly and affordably, leading to creative solutions that might never have emerged from traditional corporate research and development cycles. The growing ecosystem of compatible components and software libraries continues to lower barriers while expanding creative possibilities for everyone.

Designer: Pedro Luraschi

Designer: Ashtf

Technical Progress Continues

Recent advances have addressed many of E Ink’s early limitations while opening up new application areas. Color reproduction has improved dramatically, though it still requires thoughtful design consideration. Refresh rates have increased enough to support interactive applications, while manufacturing improvements have reduced costs and increased reliability across the board.

Research into advanced ePaper technologies continues at a rapid pace. Flexible displays that can fold, roll, or stretch are becoming practical for commercial applications. Integration with touch sensors and other interactive elements keeps improving, making E Ink displays suitable for sophisticated user interface design that goes beyond simple text and images.

Designer: Sony (FES U Watch)

A Different Design Philosophy

E Ink represents a fundamentally different approach to digital interaction, one that prioritizes sustainability, comfort, and thoughtful engagement over flashy visuals and constant stimulation. This philosophy resonates with designers who want to create products that enhance human experience without competing aggressively for attention. The technology encourages restraint and purposefulness in ways that feel refreshing in our cluttered digital landscape.

Products built around E Ink often exhibit a deliberate, focused quality that stands out from the noise. The constraints imposed by the technology force designers to think carefully about essential functions and user needs, often resulting in elegant solutions. The influence of E Ink thinking extends beyond products that actually use the technology, shaping broader conversations about conscious design practices.

As E Ink continues to mature, these ideas will likely influence how we think about digital interaction across many different product categories and industries. The technology has already proven that displays don’t need to be bright, fast, and power-hungry to be effective. Sometimes the best solution involves stepping back from the latest and greatest to focus on what actually serves people well.

Designer: E Ink

The post Top 5 Ways E Ink Displays Are Transforming Modern Design first appeared on Yanko Design.

Crowdfunding has always been framed as the people’s alternative to venture capital, where backers, not investors, decide which ideas deserve to exist. In practice, though, the odds are brutal. Most campaigns on Kickstarter or Indiegogo struggle to even reach their minimum goal, let alone break out.

That’s why it stands out when a team like the TCF Team manages to repeatedly defy those odds. In just one year, they worked with five very different products, and every single one crossed the million-dollar mark. What’s interesting is that TCF Team doesn’t put money into these projects themselves. Instead, they act more like architects of the process, providing the structure, systems, and tactics that creators usually lack. Where venture capital throws funding behind potential, TCF leans on experience and strategy, turning promising but raw ideas into campaigns that look polished, compelling, and hard to ignore.

Click Here to Know More

Meet AEKE K1, A Home Gym With Its Own AI Personal Trainer

The proof is in the numbers. During 2025, TCF guided five completely different campaigns across the million-dollar threshold. These weren’t flukes or overnight successes. They were methodically planned launches that leveraged everything TCF has learned about what makes backers commit, what builds trust, and what converts browsers into buyers.

Take the AEKE K1, a smart home gym that raised over $1.5 million. Most fitness equipment campaigns struggle because the market is saturated and the trust barrier is enormous. People want to know they’re getting something that actually works before dropping serious money on workout gear. TCF’s approach here was surgical. They built pre-launch momentum through a deposit-based reservation system, giving early adopters a chance to lock in launch-day pricing. By the time the campaign went live, there was already a qualified audience primed to convert. The campaign generated nearly $971K from advertising alone, with conversion rates hitting 2% at launch.

The Night Storm X1 Offers Ultimate 4K Night-Vision up to 1200 Meters

Then there’s the Night Storm X1, 4K night-vision binoculars that hit $1.7 million. Optics is a notoriously tough category because the products are expensive and the claims can sound too good to be true. TCF tackled this head-on with live demonstrations, CES showcases, and field trials with outdoor publications. They also crafted an irresistible offer structure: early-bird pricing slashed the $598 retail price down to $278, seasonal bundles added free accessories, and stretch goals unlocked premium cases for the first 5,000 backers. The campaign converted at an average rate of 4.38%, which is exceptional for high-ticket hardware.

The Looktech AI Smart-Glasses Let You Capture The World Without Stealing Your Data

Although in a similar domain as the Night Storm X1, the Looktech AI Glasses represented a different challenge entirely. AI wearables are still an emerging category, and consumer skepticism runs high after years of overpromised smart devices. Looktech’s glasses raised $1.18 million by focusing on privacy, battery life, and lightweight design. TCF’s strategy involved launching ahead of competitors to capture early attention in the space, while building credibility through CEO-led demos and CES coverage. A VIP WhatsApp group connected over 600 early supporters directly with the brand’s community manager, creating a direct channel for real-time updates and generating nearly $19K in direct sales.

World’s First ECG Smart Ring Raises nearly $2.5 million in funding just within a month

The Circular Ring 2 story is perhaps the most impressive, turning what could have been a disaster into a $3.5 million success. Health tech wearables face intense scrutiny, and this campaign had to overcome significant platform restrictions and messaging challenges. TCF’s adaptability shone here, pivoting strategy mid-stream and leveraging multi-channel targeting to reach audiences beyond typical Kickstarter users. The result was the most funded health ring on Kickstarter.

Finally, Kamingo, an instant e-bike converter, raised $1.73 million by solving a real problem in an elegant way. While most conversion kits are bulky and complicated, Kamingo offered a 10-second installation process. TCF’s pre-launch strategy collected over 3,600 VIP leads and generated more than 24,000 total leads, creating a massive qualified audience before the campaign even started.

Kamingo Gives Your Favorite Bike 750W E-Bike Superpowers in Just 10 Seconds

What’s striking about these campaigns is how different they are. Fitness equipment, optics, AI wearables, health tech, and bike accessories. Each required a completely different approach to messaging, audience targeting, and trust-building. Yet they all share common elements: thorough pre-launch validation, compelling offers designed to convert quickly, multi-channel marketing that goes beyond just paid ads, and real-time adaptability when conditions change.

So, when you see yet another out-of-the-box product on Yanko Design, there’s a decent chance TCF is somewhere in the mix, quietly helping turn a brilliant idea into a million-dollar reality. They’re not just backing products; they’re backing possibilities, and in the process, helping to rewrite the playbook for how new ideas come alive in the modern world.

Click Here to Know More

The post How to Actually Launch a Million-Dollar Kickstarter in 2025 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Remember when flip phones felt like the future? Sliding that satisfying little mechanism open made you feel like a secret agent, even if you were just calling your mom to say you’d be late for dinner. Hidden door handles in electric vehicles tap into that same psychological sweet spot, promising a sleek, futuristic experience that makes regular car doors feel as dated as a rotary phone. But China just threw cold water on this automotive love affair, moving to ban fully retractable door handles over mounting safety concerns. When your safety regulators are seeing a 47 percent spike in accidents caused by door handle failures, and hidden handles are responsible for 82 percent of those incidents, you’ve got a problem that goes way beyond aesthetics.. The question isn’t whether this regulatory crackdown will reshape the EV landscape (it will), but whether these handles were ever worth the hype in the first place.

Tesla deserves credit for making flush handles the must-have accessory of the EV world when the Model S debuted in 2012. What started as a premium design flourish quickly became the automotive equivalent of Apple’s removing the headphone jack: controversial, seemingly pointless to many, yet copied relentlessly across the industry. Today, EVs without hidden handles actually look conventional, according to automotive supply chain executives. But here’s the uncomfortable truth that’s finally bubbling to the surface: the case for hidden door handles was always built on shaky ground, propped up more by marketing departments than engineering data.

The Promised Land: What Hidden Handles Were Supposed to Do

The original pitch for hidden door handles rested on three pillars: aerodynamics, security, and aesthetics. On paper, these benefits sound compelling enough to justify the complexity. Flush handles eliminate the drag-inducing protrusions that traditional handles create, theoretically reducing wind resistance and boosting efficiency. For security-conscious buyers, handles that retract when locked supposedly make it harder for thieves to jimmy doors or identify entry points. The aesthetic argument needs no explanation: hidden handles create that unbroken body line that screams “expensive future car” from across a parking lot.

The technology integration aspect sweetened the deal further. Modern hidden handles often work in concert with keyless entry systems, proximity sensors, and even facial recognition. Walk up to your car, and the handles magically deploy like something out of Knight Rider. Some systems include soft-close mechanisms that gently pull doors shut with a satisfying thunk. For manufacturers, these features provided a perfect opportunity to justify premium pricing while differentiating their products in an increasingly crowded EV market. The handles became a physical manifestation of the high-tech experience buyers expected from electric vehicles.

The Reality Check: When Numbers Don’t Lie

Here’s where the marketing narrative crashes into cold, hard physics. Automakers love to throw around claims that hidden handles can improve a car’s drag coefficient by as much as 0.03 Cd, which sounds impressive until you realize what that actually means in the real world. Independent research suggests the actual improvement is closer to 0.005 Cd, which translates to saving about 0.6 kWh over 62 miles of driving. For context, that’s roughly equivalent to running a hair dryer for six minutes. Your daily coffee habit probably has a bigger impact on your budget than these aerodynamic gains have on your electric bill.

The weight penalty makes the situation even more absurd. The motors, sensors, actuators, and reinforced mechanisms needed for hidden handles can add up to 18 pounds to a vehicle. Basic physics tells us that carrying extra weight reduces efficiency, potentially canceling out any minor aerodynamic advantage. It’s like wearing ankle weights while bragging about your new aerodynamic running shoes. The cost differential is equally brutal: hidden handles reportedly cost three times more than traditional mechanical handles while failing eight times as often. That’s not a trade-off; that’s a engineering disaster disguised as innovation.

The Safety Reckoning: When Style Meets Emergency

The safety concerns that prompted China’s regulatory action aren’t theoretical problems buried in engineering reports. They’re real-world disasters happening with alarming frequency. Chinese authorities reported a 47 percent rise in accidents caused by door handle failures in 2024, with hidden handles responsible for 82 percent of those incidents. Even more disturbing, there was a 132 percent year-over-year jump in complaints about children getting their fingers pinched by automated handles, with some cases resulting in broken bones. When a design feature starts breaking kids’ fingers, it’s time to seriously reconsider priorities.

Crash testing reveals the most damning statistic: electric door handles only work 67 percent of the time during side collisions, compared to 98 percent success rates for traditional mechanical handles. In emergency situations, when adrenaline is pumping and seconds matter, hidden handles can trap occupants or delay first responders who don’t know where to find the manual override. Tesla includes mechanical backup releases, but they’re often hidden, poorly labeled, and unknown to users and emergency crews. The fatal Tesla Model Y incident that gained widespread attention highlighted how these design choices can literally be the difference between life and death.

The Real Winner: Marketing Over Function

Strip away the technical justifications, and hidden door handles reveal themselves as primarily a marketing exercise. They serve as a visual shorthand for “advanced technology” and “premium design,” much like how concept cars use scissor doors or transparent panels. The handles don’t need to provide meaningful functional benefits; they just need to make buyers feel like they’re purchasing something from the future rather than an expensive appliance with wheels. This psychological component explains why the feature spread so rapidly across the EV industry despite questionable practical advantages.

The automotive industry has a long history of prioritizing visual drama over common sense. Remember when manufacturers thought motorized seatbelts were a good idea? Or when they decided that hiding windshield wipers under the hood was worth the maintenance nightmare? Hidden door handles fit this pattern perfectly: a solution in search of a problem, justified by marginal technical benefits but really driven by the desire to look different in crowded showrooms. The fact that some luxury brands like Volkswagen have developed semi-retractable handles that maintain mechanical backups suggests that even manufacturers recognize the limitations of fully hidden systems.

The Engineering Headache: Why Complexity Breeds Problems

Beyond the safety and cost concerns, hidden door handles represent a masterclass in over-engineering. Traditional door handles are marvels of simplicity: a mechanical lever connected to a latch mechanism that works regardless of power, temperature, or electronic failures. Hidden handles replace this bulletproof simplicity with a Rube Goldberg machine of motors, sensors, springs, actuators, and control modules. Each additional component introduces new failure modes, particularly in harsh weather conditions where ice, snow, or extreme temperatures can disable the deployment mechanism.

The maintenance implications are staggering. While a traditional handle might need replacement after decades of use, hidden handle systems require regular software updates, sensor calibration, and mechanical adjustments. Some owners report handles that deploy randomly in parking lots, while others describe systems that refuse to work in freezing temperatures. The irony is thick: in the pursuit of futuristic sophistication, manufacturers created a feature that’s less reliable than technology from the 1950s. Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motor, captured the absurdity perfectly when he called hidden handles “heavy, with poor sealing, noisy, and relying on electric power while posing safety hazards.”

What’s Next: The Regulatory Pushback

China’s proposed ban on fully retractable handles represents more than just a local policy change; it signals a global shift toward prioritizing function over form in automotive design. The European New Car Assessment Programme has already announced that starting in 2026, vehicles that bury critical controls like turn signals and hazard lights in touchscreen menus won’t be eligible for five-star safety ratings. This regulatory trend suggests that authorities worldwide are growing tired of design decisions that prioritize aesthetics over usability and safety.

The proposed Chinese standards would still allow semi-retractable handles with mechanical backups, pointing toward a potential compromise solution. Companies like Audi have developed clever systems where handles deploy red pull cords during collisions, giving first responders a reliable manual override. These hybrid approaches acknowledge the marketing value of clean body lines while maintaining the reliability that traditional handles provide. The key requirement is that backup systems must work even when the vehicle loses power, a basic safety standard that should have been mandatory from the beginning.

The writing is on the wall for fully hidden door handles. As regulatory pressure mounts and real-world failures accumulate, manufacturers will likely pivot toward semi-retractable designs or abandon the concept entirely. Some brands may double down on the technology, arguing that improved engineering can solve the reliability issues. But the fundamental question remains: why add complexity, cost, and failure modes to solve a problem that didn’t exist? Traditional door handles work perfectly well, and the marginal benefits of hidden systems simply don’t justify the risks and costs.

The hidden door handle saga offers a valuable lesson about the difference between innovation and gimmickry. True automotive innovation improves safety, reduces costs, or enhances functionality in meaningful ways. Hidden handles do none of these things convincingly. They’re a solution to an aesthetic problem masquerading as an engineering advancement, and the industry is finally waking up to the difference.

The post The EV Feature That Was Designed To Kill You (In The Name Of Efficiency) first appeared on Yanko Design.

I recently read a Digital Trends piece that spoke about how the ‘iPhone Air is setting us up for Apple Smart Glasses‘, and I couldn’t help but think about how journalists who look at the iPhone Air have one of two reactions. There’s one group of bloggers who believe this particular launch is just a stepping stone to a foldable phone… while the other group, marveling at how all the computing of the iPhone Air exists inside the bump, believe that this is actually leading to Apple building smart glasses. The latter are wrong, but before I tell you my spicy take, let me just preface by declaring that Apple almost certainly could be working on both foldables as well as smart glasses. I just don’t think the iPhone Air is leading to Apple Glasses – because there’s already a device that’s been leading to it. The Watch.

Something about Apple launching a new product really makes journalists lose all sense of objectivity. I’m not being rude, I’m saying this because I’ve found myself doing this too. I was genuinely excited when Apple unveiled the Touch Bar, the Dynamic Island, and Camera Control. It felt ground-breaking for precisely 4 minutes before I then reminded myself… the Touch Bar was first put on a Lenovo laptop 2 years before apple, the Dynamic Island is still larger than most hole-punch cameras, and the Camera Control, while great, doesn’t beat the innovation that Sony’s had in their ‘camera phone’ era. I’m not dunking on Apple, but hear me out – it’s impressive how Apple managed to fit an entire smartphone into the iPhone Air’s camera bump, but Apple’s done this before – the Apple Watch is essentially a computer crammed into a wristwatch. Saying the iPhone Air is building up to smart glasses means completely ignoring all of Apple’s work in the Watch category.

Will the iPhone Air’s innovations lead to wearable breakthroughs? Absolutely. The watch’s heart rate monitor led to breakthroughs in heart-tracking tech that made it to the AirPods Pro 3. The Center Stage camera on the Mac made it to the iPhone. Innovation always travels in multiple directions. But nobody looked at the heart rate monitor on the Apple Watch and thought, wow, this is definitely going to go into my ear someday.

The point is, Apple’s been on track for making powerful wearable devices. The Watch is essentially a computer that’s only limited by its chipset and OS. Bump the S-series chipset’s capabilities to match the A-series and the smartwatch essentially becomes a powerful computing device. It’s already got a gyroscope, it has a battery, tracks health, is ridiculously water-resistant, and could easily pack a camera if you remove the entire sensor array on the bottom for calculating blood oxygen, wrist temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate variability.

So what’s the iPhone Air hinting at? To be honest, I think the most logical conclusion is a foldable. Apple’s built the iPhone Air to be ridiculously strong, thin, and capable of matching up to the performance of regular flagships. The iPhone Air’s thin design still has a massive battery, which obviously doesn’t port to a pair of smart glasses. Digital Trends asks this exact same question, wondering if Apple’s glasses will have a tethered battery pack like the Vision Pro. But then again, this is exactly what I find so amusing – journalists forgetting that Apple’s been making powerful computing devices with tiny batteries. All you need to do is look at your wrist!

The post The iPhone Air is NOT a precursor to Apple Glasses… Here’s why first appeared on Yanko Design.

Nobody who drives a Bentley keeps the seat covers on. Nobody installs bull-bars on a Rolls-Royce. Nobody puts aftermarket bumpers on an Bugatti. Certain cars are kept pure as a mark of respect to their sheer design and engineering. The iPhone Air is the phone equivalent of those cars. Think about it – a specially formulated all-titanium frame, a ceramic shield backplate, a design so thin you’d expect it to bend but so resilient you’ll probably hurt your palms trying. Sure, an iPhone Air and a Bugatti are two entirely different beasts – but the both of them have the exact same ethos – they represent very pinnacle of design and engineering, coming together to create something impossibly beautiful and powerful. So here’s my pitch – if you plan on buying the iPhone Air, please don’t ruin it with a case.

Now I don’t expect or recommend you to buy an iPhone Air at all. It’s a brilliant celebration of Apple’s R&D, but it isn’t the best example of practicality. I own an iPad Pro M2 and I purposely chose not to upgrade to the M4… because just the thought of owning a tablet that’s 5.7mm thin terrified me. My iPad Pro perpetually lives in a case (it needs to, because the case has a kickstand), and I love my iPad Pro because it’s powerful, not because it’s thin. Anyone who buys the iPhone Air (and I’m pretty sure people are lining up already), do make sure your intent is in the right place. Don’t buy it because you think it’s a powerful computing device, or because you want to upgrade from your iPhone 13 and this seems ‘cool’. The only reason you should buy an iPhone Air is because its slim design gives you great social cache. And the best way to milk that social cache is to not shroud your iPhone Air in a crummy-ass case.

Designer: Apple

Before I talk about this further, here’s my complete disclaimer. I love cases. They’re awesome, and both my iPhone and iPad are clad in them. Apple is a marvelous company, but I don’t NEED a slim gadget, I need a gadget that’s intact. I’d much rather spend $30 on a case than $300 on AppleCare+… and you should too (in fact, I routinely find myself writing about some great casemakers on this blog, so it behooves me to ensure I don’t contradict myself just for the clicks). The iPhone Air isn’t for me, and it’s probably not for the most of us… yet a bunch of us are going to buy one anyway.

If you match it feature-for-feature, the Air’s only true highlight is its slimness. Apple’s gone to great lengths to ensure the phone measures just a mere 5.6 millimeters thick at an average, and doesn’t bend to pressure like its predecessor, the iPhone 6. It has a single camera lens, a 3,149mAh battery, a single speaker, and lacks a SIM tray. On paper, these specs are fairly average for a phone. What makes the iPhone Air impressive, however, is the sheer R&D gone behind making a device that feels paper-thin. That’s its USP (it’s literally in the name too), and that should be the only motivating factor at play.

So for the person either lining up at a store or placing your order for an iPhone Air online, don’t disrespect the phone’s one true pièce de résistance with a bulky, horrible case. Don’t put a crappy frame on an artistic masterpiece. And despite Apple’s claims at sturdiness, don’t, for the love of everything holy, drop the phone!

The post PLEASE don’t put a case on your iPhone Air… first appeared on Yanko Design.

Apple just launched a pretty impressive feature with their AirPods Pro 3 – the ability to actively translate any language in real-time, so you can listen to anyone speak but understand them perfectly. The only problem is that this feature made it to Google’s Pixel Buds in 2017 – yes, nearly a decade back. I don’t mean to be hard on Apple, the company has a remarkable control over its hardware, but if the Live Translation feature on the AirPods Pro 3 demonstrated anything, it’s that Apple’s AI is still miles behind its rival… and one particular detail really drove this point.

Click on the video above and you’ll see the Live Translation feature in action – two people talk in their respective languages, and Apple Intelligence translates words and phrases in real-time. The only problem isn’t just that this feature’s 8 years too late… it’s that in the translation, you aren’t listening to the opposite person talking, you’re listening to the voice of Siri translating things instead. You could be talking to Morgan Freeman and the AirPods Pro 3 still play back his dialogues in Siri’s voice. The dissonance can be a bit jarring, which is why Google unveiled Voice Translate this year at their August event. Voice Translate doesn’t just translate languages, it translates them while maintaining the original speaker’s tone of voice. So in theory, Ariana Grande sounds like Ariana Grande, and Emmanuel Macron sounds like Emmanuel Macron.

Design: Apple

I don’t mean to knock the AirPods Pro 3, they’re honestly fantastic – Apple just debuted the AirPods’ ability to do incredible things like measure your health stats right from your ear – something that sounds absolutely mental on paper. Imagine your AirPods knowing your heart rate, knowing what music to play to calm you down or hype you up – that’s honestly game-changing. This is besides the fact that the AirPods Pro were designed to work as hearing aids last year. Google and other companies have some serious catching up to do here… but this just reinforces my point. Apple is the king of hardware, but as far as AI goes, the company has a lot of catching up to do.

Realistically, I do see this happening if Apple makes a few changes. There’s been talks of Apple potentially buying Perplexity, while the company already has a deep relationship with OpenAI for bringing ChatGPT to Apple Intelligence. However, nothing seems to be finalized as Tim Cook allegedly doesn’t believe in making such a splashy purchase. Apple’s own AI assistant still hasn’t replaced Siri effectively, as Craig Federighi mentioned in an interview after WWDC. The company’s also been ruthlessly moralistic about not training their AI on consumer data the way Google and Meta do – but that fortitude has come with a price.

The AirPods Pro 3 are currently on presale, with a $249 price tag. The new flagship earphones will hit the stores 10 days from now on September 19th.

The post The AirPods Pro 3 Live Translation still proves that Google’s AI is miles ahead first appeared on Yanko Design.

Usually, every Apple September event starts fairly predictably – either by showcasing how the Apple Watch saved lives, or by focusing on a few key features that have made Apple products great over the last year. This time, Apple did something rather unusual – it specifically highlighted a single era within its existence. Starting off with one of Steve Jobs’ most iconic quotes on design, the 1 and a half minute homage pays tribute to Apple’s Hardware and Software, highlighting the important role that design plays in the company’s ethos. The software portion predominantly focuses on Apple’s newly unveiled Liquid Glass interface… but the hardware portion reveals something more unusual.

The hardware section is almost entirely an homage to the Jobs/Ive era of design. Apple only released a few new product categories since Jony Ive departed the company in 2019 – the AirTag, the Watch Ultra, the AirPods Max, the HomePod Mini, the MagSafe charger, and the Vision Pro. Now, all of those designs featured in the homage… but the Vision Pro got practically zero fanfare. Heck, Apple even showcased MagSafe charging on the Mac (something it killed and then brought back), and went as far as to highlight the design of some iconic Apple Stores across the world. But the Vision Pro’s showcase was limited to a 1-second hyper-close-up shot of the crown. Nothing about the interface, nothing about EyeSight, nothing about hand tracking, no Spatial Computing, nothing. Confusing, no?

The homage is truly a trip down memory lane, and a brilliant insight into Apple’s deep design-driven approach. The video starts with a circle, showing every single area where Apple’s used the circle to its advantage – buttons, camera lenses, watch crowns, AirTags, even the MagSafe charging puck. The video then goes to the humble square, showing the Mac charger, the Mac Mini, buttons on the keyboard, the icons on the phone and laptop, even the Dynamic Island turning into a square depending on the active widget.

Moving on, the video shows how Apple’s design adopts the heart as meaningful iconography. It’s on the iPad’s notes app, on the Watch, in Messages. The capsule shape shows up in the Messages boxes too, as it does on the Watch button, the AirPods case rim, and more. The video goes on to play Apple’s greatest hits – MagSafe charging on the MacBook, MagSafe on the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, and the magnetic closure of the laptop lid, and the adherence of MagSafe accessories on the iPhone.

The architecture gets a shout-out too, which is unusual because Apple’s architecture isn’t really highlighted much anywhere, in keynotes, on its website, or even in documentation. However, Apple did take the time to celebrate some of its most noteworthy stores, like the Apple Store in Shanghai, the one in Abu Dhabi, Fifth Avenue New York, Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Bangkok, Istanbul, and its circular headquarters. This particular touch is unusual, since Apple rarely designs its own stores. Many stores are outsourced to architecture firms like Foster + Partners, which built quite a few of the iconic stores as well as the Cupertino HQ. Still, it shows that Apple controls the design vision even when it isn’t actively a part of the process.

That being said, I really expected a little more from this homage. Given exactly how much time, money, and effort Apple’s spent on the Vision Pro, its broader design goals of spatial computing, and just how influential its OS has been in crafting the liquid glass interface, the fact that the Vision Pro didn’t get any notable limelight in this homage seems odd. It makes me wonder whether the company’s really investing as much in the headset’s successor, which is due to launch sometime in the next 2 years.

For the true design nerds looking to understand exactly the profound role Jony Ive had on Apple’s design, there’s an entire book by Andrew Zuckerman and Jony Ive titled “Designed By Apple In California” that chronicles the legendary Chief Design Officer’s journey and process in his tenure at Apple. Ive stuck around at Apple for 8 more years after Steve Jobs passed, and it can be argued that only he understood Jobs’ broad design vision, keeping the fire burning at Apple even after Jobs’ demise in 2011. This small video at the beginning of the Apple keynote felt like a thank you note to both Jobs and Ive, for their ‘vision’… no pun intended.

The post Apple’s Intro Specifically Pays Tribute To The Jobs+Jony Ive Era Of Design (And ignores the Vision Pro) first appeared on Yanko Design.

The pursuit of the impossibly thin smartphone has undeniably become one of 2025’s most compelling design narratives. This was not a subtle shift; the industry’s pivot towards extreme slimness has been a clear and deliberate trend, a collective re-evaluation of what constitutes premium design after years focused on camera bumps and battery heft. With whispers of an iPhone “Air” variant potentially gracing our screens on September 9th, the question looms: is this a confident stride into a new era of sleekness, or a touch of hubris that might revive haunting memories of bendgate? Either way, the race is on, and the current contenders are pushing the boundaries of what we thought possible.

Measuring thinness, however, becomes an intriguing challenge when foldables enter the arena. While a traditional candybar phone presents a single, static dimension, a foldable offers two: its folded state and its dramatically thinner unfolded state. For this list, we embrace the most impressive measurement a device can achieve, celebrating the engineering marvel that allows a phone to stretch into an almost paper-thin profile. This article is about the absolute thinnest a phone can be, plain and simple. And yes, that does make the comparison between candybars and foldables unfair in certain regards, but we’ll try to thread that needle with millimeter precision, so to speak. That being said, stick around till the end to see how a phone from 2014 still holds the ‘thinnest smartphone’ record even after a decade!

Huawei Mate XT Ultimate – 3.6mm unfolded (2025)

Huawei’s approach to thinness is a masterclass in extremes. The Mate XT Ultimate is not just a foldable; it is a tri-foldable, a wild piece of kit that unfolds twice to reveal a sprawling 10.2-inch display. When it is fully unfurled, the device measures a frankly unbelievable 3.6mm at its thinnest point. This is thinner than most USB-C ports, thinner than any tablet, and thinner than any phone ever made. It feels less like a consumer electronic device and more like a sheet of futuristic, flexible glass. For a company to even attempt this kind of engineering is bold, but to actually ship it is a statement that pushes the entire industry forward.

Of course, this radical design comes with a significant trade-off. When fully folded into its 6.4-inch candybar form, the Mate XT is a chunky 12.8mm thick, a necessity of stacking three screen layers. Despite this, Huawei did not skimp on the internals, packing a massive 5,600mAh battery, up to 16GB of RAM, and a flagship-grade triple camera system. It is a device of fascinating contradictions, achieving the world’s thinnest unfolded profile while still delivering heavyweight performance. The Mate XT proves that the pursuit of slimness can coexist with a refusal to compromise on power, even if it requires a completely new form factor to do so.

Honor Magic V5 – 4.1mm unfolded (2025)

Before Huawei’s tri-fold took the ultimate prize, the Honor Magic V5 was the undisputed champion of slim foldables. When unfolded, it measures an astonishing 4.1mm, a figure that makes most traditional slab phones look bulky. Its real magic, however, is its folded thickness of just 8.8mm. This was a groundbreaking achievement because it was the first time a book-style foldable felt less like a niche gadget and more like a normal, everyday smartphone when closed. It sits comfortably in a pocket and can be used one-handed without feeling cumbersome, solving one of the biggest usability hurdles for the form factor.

Honor achieved this feat through meticulous engineering, from a custom super-light titanium hinge to the implementation of a high-density silicon-carbon battery. This allowed them to fit a huge 5,820mAh cell into a chassis that is thinner than many competitors with smaller batteries. The Magic V5 was the phone that proved a large-screen foldable did not have to come with a penalty in portability. It set a new benchmark for the entire category and directly triggered the slim-down we are seeing from its rivals, including Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 – 4.2mm unfolded (2025)

Samsung’s response to Honor’s challenge is the Galaxy Z Fold 7, a device that shows how seriously the company is taking the thinness wars. At 4.2mm unfolded and around 8.9mm folded, its dimensions are within a hair’s breadth of the Magic V5, signaling a direct and fierce competition. This is Samsung demonstrating that it can match its rivals millimeter for millimeter while bringing its own expertise in durability and software polish to the table. The near-imperceptible difference in thickness between the two devices highlights just how optimized the engineering has become at the highest level of the foldable market.

While the numbers are impressive, Samsung’s focus with the Z Fold 7 is on refining the complete user experience. The phone feels more rigid and durable than previous generations, with a stronger hinge and better screen protection. This focus on practical usability, combined with its class-leading software and multitasking features in One UI, makes the Z Fold 7 a formidable contender. It represents a mature and polished vision for what a slim, powerful foldable can be, proving that extreme thinness can be achieved without sacrificing the reliability that mainstream users expect.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge – 5.8mm (2025)

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge is a flagship entry that proudly claims the title of the thinnest slab phone from a major global brand in 2025, measuring a uniform 5.8mm. This is a deliberate design choice, positioning the Edge as the ultimate style statement within the S25 lineup. Crafted with a premium titanium frame and protected by Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2, it feels incredibly solid despite its featherlight 163-gram weight. The S25 Edge is a masterclass in minimalist design, exuding an aura of understated luxury.

To achieve this extreme thinness, Samsung made strategic decisions, including equipping it with the smallest battery among the S25 series and omitting a dedicated telephoto lens. These choices highlight its focus as a design-first device, appealing to users who prioritize sleek aesthetics and a comfortable in-hand feel above all else. The S25 Edge is a clear signal that Samsung believes there is a strong market for phones that are as much about their physical presence as their internal capabilities.

ZTE nubia Air – 5.9mm at thinnest point (2025)

Nubia’s Air enters the fray with an overall thickness of 6.7mm, but its design tapers to an impressive 5.9mm at its thinnest point along the frame. This makes it a serious contender in the ultra-slim candybar category, especially when considering its other remarkable features. The Nubia Air stands out by pairing its slender profile with an IP69K rating, offering exceptional dust and high-pressure water resistance. This level of ruggedness is almost unheard of in such a thin device, showcasing a sophisticated balance of form and function.

Beyond its durability, the Nubia Air surprises with a substantial 5,000mAh battery, defying the expectation that thin phones must compromise on power. It also features a vibrant 6.78-inch AMOLED display, ensuring a premium visual experience. Nubia has engineered a phone that not only looks incredibly sleek but also offers the resilience and endurance needed for everyday use. It is a thought-provoking blend of delicate aesthetics and robust construction, proving that a thin phone can indeed be built to last.

Tecno Spark Slim – 5.93mm (2025)

Tecno’s strategy in the thinness race appears to be a two-pronged attack unleashed at IFA 2025, with the Spark Slim representing the purist’s choice. At 5.93mm, it is the absolute thinnest modern candybar phone you can buy today, period. There is a beautiful simplicity to this device; its primary reason for being is to achieve that single, headline-grabbing number. The design is flat, clean, and minimalist, leaning into the aesthetic that makes thin devices feel so satisfying to hold. This is not a phone weighed down by excessive features; it is a focused exercise in industrial design.

By stripping back the complexity, Tecno has created a device that makes a singular, powerful statement. The Spark Slim is for the consumer who is captivated by the raw appeal of an incredibly thin object. It democratizes this design-first philosophy, bringing an obsessive level of slimness to a market segment that rarely sees such engineering focus. In a world of do-everything gadgets, there is something refreshing about a phone that unabashedly prioritizes form to this degree, proving that sometimes, the spec sheet’s most important number is the one with “mm” next to it.

Tecno Pova Slim 5G – 5.95mm (2025)

If the Spark Slim is the purist, the Pova Slim is the pragmatist. It is only two-hundredths of a millimeter thicker at 5.95mm, a difference that is functionally imperceptible. What you get for that negligible trade-off, however, is a suite of modern, premium features that make it a more well-rounded device. The Pova Slim boasts a gorgeous curved AMOLED display and 5G connectivity, elevating it from a simple design statement to a genuinely competitive mid-range smartphone. It is Tecno’s way of saying that you do not have to give up contemporary features to get a super-slim phone.

This device is arguably the more compelling of the two for the average buyer. It successfully blends its headline thinness with the practicalities of a modern smartphone, including a substantial 5,160mAh battery. The Pova Slim challenges the very notion of compromise, offering a sleek, premium-feeling device that does not skimp on screen quality, battery life, or connectivity. It is a testament to clever component packaging and a sign that the benefits of the thinness trend are finally trickling down to phones that balance form and function beautifully.

Oppo R5 – 4.85mm (2014)

Now for a trip back in time. In 2014, Oppo released the R5, a phone so shockingly thin that it sent ripples through the entire industry. At just 4.85mm, it was a marvel of miniaturization, featuring a hand-polished steel frame and a beautiful AMOLED display. To put that into perspective, it is a full millimeter thinner than today’s slimmest candybar phones. The R5 was a bold declaration of engineering prowess and a testament to how far a company would go in the pursuit of a design record. It felt futuristic at the time, and its thinness is still impressive even by today’s standards.

The R5 is also famous for a major compromise it made to achieve its slimness: it was one of the first mainstream phones to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack. This decision was highly controversial back then, but it proved to be incredibly prescient, foreshadowing a trend that would become the industry standard years later. The Oppo R5 remains a landmark device, a beautiful and divisive piece of tech that pushed the boundaries of what was possible and gave us a glimpse into the future of smartphone design, for better or worse.

vivo X5 Max – 4.75mm (2014)

Just when the world thought 4.85mm was the absolute limit, vivo arrived weeks later in 2014 and dropped a bombshell: the X5 Max. Measuring an almost unbelievable 4.75mm, it officially became, and still remains, the thinnest slab smartphone ever created. To achieve this, vivo’s engineers redesigned and stacked internal components with microscopic precision, creating a motherboard that was just 1.7mm thick. The result was a device that felt less like a phone and more like a thin sliver of metal and glass, a true “razor-thin” gadget.

What makes the vivo X5 Max’s achievement even more legendary is that it managed to do what the Oppo R5 could not: it included a 3.5mm headphone jack. This was a direct and brilliant feat of engineering, proving that even at the absolute bleeding edge of thinness, user-friendly features did not have to be sacrificed. The fact that no candybar phone in the decade since has managed to surpass this record speaks volumes. The X5 Max is not just a thin phone; it is a monument to a time when the race for thinness produced one of the most remarkable engineering achievements in mobile history.

Apple iPhone Air – 5.6mm (2025)

The iPhone Air has finally landed, confirming months of speculation and Apple’s long-awaited return to the world of ultra-thin smartphones. With a jaw-dropping thickness of just 5.6mm, the Air instantly claims a spot among the thinnest phones ever produced, leapfrogging nearly all current flagships and even most foldables in their unfolded state. Apple has taken a bold approach here, balancing the Air’s super-slim profile with a flat, minimalist design, a 6.3-inch OLED display, and the latest A19 Pro chip. This release signals Apple’s belief that the world is ready for a new era of featherlight, impossibly sleek devices – one that doesn’t sacrifice great performance or ecosystem integration for style.

Of course, the announcement immediately reignited conversations about Apple’s infamous bendgate era. Cupertino’s materials engineers are clearly keen to put those ghosts to rest: the iPhone Air sports a new aerospace-grade titanium alloy chassis and advanced internal reinforcement, with Apple openly touting its resilience in drop and torsion tests during the keynote. The move is both confident and slightly audacious, pushing the boundaries of how thin a mainstream phone can responsibly be. With the iPhone Air, Apple isn’t just responding to the thinness trend – they are betting big that they can lead it, setting a new standard for what’s possible in pocket-friendly design.

The post Ranking the World’s Thinnest Phones: Why a 10-Year-Old Record Still Hasn’t Been Broken first appeared on Yanko Design.

There’s a hush before the gates open, but everyone in the Berlin tech orbit feels it: IFA 2025 is about to hit. The pre-show hype is thick with rumor and calculated leaks, while press passes and demo invites pile up like confetti. For anyone who rides the intersection of design, product, and culture, this expo is the real tech Olympics. Forget the corporate self-congratulation of some US shows. IFA is where major European taste meets global ambition, and the world’s sharpest brands are forced to impress an audience that actually knows its gadgets. I’m here to map out what to expect, what to care about, and what to ignore.

Scan the exhibitor list and you see the usual suspects – Samsung, LG, Sony, Miele, Bosch, TCL, Hisense – but this year, their collective muscle is wrapped around a fresh set of obsessions: AI that’s finally practical, sustainability that’s more than greenwash, smart homes that feel less like tech demos and more like genuine upgrades, and a relentless push for premium in TVs, audio, and even robot vacuums. Expect surprises, expect spectacle, but most of all, expect a new baseline for what your next tech purchase should deliver.

AI That Actually Thinks

LG’s AI Appliances Orchestra

Forget the vaporware and sci-fi nonsense. AI at IFA 2025 is about real-world value. LG’s “AI Appliances Orchestra” concept lands right in the sweet spot, connecting their entire suite of appliances to the ThinQ ON hub. FURON, their AI agent, runs the show, serving up proactive maintenance alerts, energy optimization, and a kind of household choreography that feels more like a service than a gimmick. LG is betting heavily that European homeowners want less friction, more smarts, and zero drama from their kitchens and laundry rooms.

Samsung’s Bespoke AI Jet Bot Steam Ultra doesn’t play second fiddle. This robot vacuum pairs AI navigation with a proper steam mop and a camera for home monitoring. It runs on Samsung’s Knox security platform, which gets a UL Diamond IoT security rating. That matters if you actually care about privacy and not just clean floors. The specs? Expect multi-pattern 3D LiDAR, adaptive scanning on the fly, and a camera that doubles as a home security feed.

Then there’s Nvidia, lurking at the edge of consumer and pro. Their AI content creation tools and smart device integrations are getting baked into everything from streaming rigs to next-gen TVs. Think real-time video upscaling, AI-driven audio optimization, and generative editing in the hands of everyday users. The AI conversation at IFA is shifting from “what if” to “why isn’t yours smarter yet?”

Smart Home, Smarter Living

Miele Triflex HX3 Pro Aqua

Smart home brands at IFA are finally showing some respect for design and durability. Miele drops the Triflex HX3 Pro Aqua: a cordless vacuum that also mops, all wrapped in a design language that actually looks good in a European apartment. Miele’s pitch isn’t “look at my robot” but “don’t think about cleaning at all.” Their integrations let you automate schedules, tap into remote diagnostics, and get energy usage breakdowns that are actually useful.

Ecovacs, Roborock, Dreame, and the new kid, DJI (yep, the drone guys), are all competing for the robot vacuum crown. DJI’s Romo series borrows drone navigation tech for hyper-accurate mapping, while Ecovacs doubles down on AI obstacle avoidance. Narwal and Tineco bring clever tweaks, but the arms race is clear: more sensors, fewer crashes, better pathfinding, and apps that don’t make you want to throw your phone out the window.

Haier, Electrolux, and Bosch are all flexing hard with smart appliances. Their latest fridges, ovens, and washers are IoT-connected, energy-starved (in the good way), and designed for the kind of interoperability that European buyers expect. Think appliances that talk to each other about when to run cycles, or ping your phone when it’s time for a filter change. BSH’s new lines are especially promising, pushing for open standards rather than walled gardens.

Sustainability: Beyond Greenwashing

Anker Solix X1

The EU has teeth when it comes to regulation, and IFA shows how that’s driving real product innovation. Samsung’s Bespoke AI Laundry Combo is a textbook case: A-grade energy efficiency, a 98-minute wash and dry cycle, and smart dosing to save water and detergent. That’s a product built for actual resource scarcity, not just a sticker on the box. Samsung claims measurable reductions in annual energy cost for the average user – watch for those numbers to get fact-checked on the show floor.

Anker’s Solix X1 is the kind of home energy storage tech that gets off-grid nerds drooling. It stores enough juice to run an EV for days and can be recharged by solar or grid. Specs point to modular expansion, app-based load management, and compatibility with most major inverter brands. In an era when home battery systems are finally breaking into the mainstream, Anker’s pitch is about reliability and open standards, not just backup during blackouts.

LG’s new French-door refrigerators and AI-driven laundry solutions keep hammering the point: space-efficient, lower power draw, and designed for longer product lifespans. The company is investing in materials that are actually recyclable and repairable, and their PR teams are smart enough to know that savvy IFA visitors will ask tough questions about sourcing and lifecycle.

TVs, Audio, and the Premium Push

CANVAS HiFi Frame

Super-premium is the word, and every major brand is showing up with a flagship. Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, Hisense, and Metz are all rolling out new 8K, OLED, and microLED panels. LG’s cloud gaming portal and new gaming monitors (look out for the specs on latency and HDR) are aimed straight at the living room and the esports crowd. Samsung’s AI-powered upscaling and real-time scene analysis should make a real difference for everything from Netflix to live sports.

Projector nerds are getting spoiled too. Xgimi’s MoGo 4 lineup brings built-in batteries, laser brightness upgrades, and Google TV integration, all under 2 kg. That’s portable cinema that doesn’t compromise on clarity or color accuracy. Expect the battle between projectors and traditional TVs to get fresh fuel this year, especially as more people blend home and travel.

Audio isn’t getting left behind, either. We just recently covered CANVAS HiFi’s staggering €10,000 soundbar designed to fit around the Samsung TV Frame. Speaking of Samsung, the company is showcasing its Sound Tower Bluetooth Speaker on the floor too. Gaming company Gravastar showcased some rather stunning speakers last year, and we’re expecting the same this year too.

Digital Health and Beauty Tech

Ulike Me 2025 Series

The wellness wave is everywhere. Ulike’s AI-powered beauty devices bring pro-level skin analysis and customizable at-home treatments into the mainstream. Samsung and LG are pushing smartwatches that do more than count steps. These wearables now serve as full-time health coaches, delivering real-time suggestions and actionable data, not just passive metrics. The algorithms are getting smarter, using your week-to-week trends to fine-tune advice and flag anomalies. Ringconn, Ultrahuman, and Noise are sure to showcase their latest fitness wearables too. Amorepacific is set to launch ‘ONFACE,’ a high-end micro-LED mask developed by its AI-enhanced beauty device brand, ‘makeON.’

IFA’s digital health zone is also thick with startups chasing the holy grail: home diagnostics that don’t require a PhD to operate. Expect blood oxygen sensors, ECG-enabled watches, and a new generation of sleep trackers to fight for attention, each promising medical-grade accuracy with consumer-level simplicity.

Mobility and the Connected Home

DJI Romo Robot Vacuum

Anker’s new EV chargers and portable power stations are perfectly timed. With Europe’s push for electrification, these devices offer faster, smarter charging and backup solutions that play nicely with solar. DJI’s leap into home cleaning with the Romo series is a signal that robotics is about to get much more mainstream, leveraging navigation precision that’s been honed in the air for use on your living room rug.

E-bike and e-scooter brands are expected to flaunt new models with better range, smarter anti-theft, and app-based controls that actually work. The story here is integration: your home, your vehicle, your grid, one data platform. Expect product managers to be grilled on security, open APIs, and fail-safes.

IFA’s mobility hall is where you’ll find the quietly radical: energy management systems that sync home and car, 5G/6G routers built for seamless handoff between fixed and mobile networks, and home security kits that leverage AI for facial recognition and package detection.

Content Creation Goes Pro

Insta360 Antigravity A1 Drone

The influencer economy is getting its own stage this year. DJI and Insta360 are in a pretty heated battle, with the former entering the 360° video space and the latter building their own drone startup to challenge the DJI monopoly. Insta360 and Leica are working to debut a new product on the 5th of September, too.

IFA’s partnership with Webedia means 35 hours of live content, streamed straight from the show floor. The “Find Your Next Tech” show will feature hands-on demos, interviews with designers, and plenty of behind-the-scenes looks at what actually gets shown to press vs. the public. Expect a parade of microphones, gimbals, and AI-driven camera tools aimed directly at creators.

The bottom line: the creator tech on display is no longer a sideshow. It’s built into the DNA of the show, reflecting the way real consumers discover and evaluate new products. If you’re launching hardware in 2025 and you’re not thinking about how it’ll look on TikTok or Twitch, you’re missing the plot.

Final Thoughts

IFA 2025 is the year when the hype cycle finally meets reality. The products on display aren’t just proof-of-concept; they’re ready for the living room, the kitchen, the commute, and the studio. The specs are better, the software is smarter, and the design teams are clearly paying attention to what people want, not just what they can engineer. My advice: tune out the noise, dig into the details, and keep an eye on the brands willing to show their work, not just their marketing. Berlin in September is about to get loud.

The post What To Expect at IFA 2025: More than just ‘Artificial Intelligence’ first appeared on Yanko Design.