雷科技
September 4 marks the official opening of the 102nd IFA Berlin. Leitech (ID: leitech) has deployed its largest‑ever reporting team. We are on the ground in Berlin to deliver breaking front‑line coverage.
At this year’s IFA, AI has entered a new phase — it is stepping into real‑world kitchen scenarios, with refrigerators standing as a prime example of AI‑powered home living.
Image Source: LeiTech IFA Reporting Team
At Haier Smart Home’s large‑home‑appliance booth, we discovered a complete smart‑living solution. Under the show theme Where Freshness Meets AI, Haier Refrigerator showcased a lineup of new models, including the Horizon, the multi‑zone Seeker series, the premium Maestro Collection and the AI ultra‑energy‑efficient refrigerator.
This is no longer a simple showcase of hardware specs. Haier put the spotlight on a full AI‑powered smart food ecosystem that runs through the entire journey: grocery shopping, food storage, inventory management, ingredient retrieval and cooking.
Haier demonstrated two relatable real‑life scenarios at the exhibition. Anna, a housewife in Germany, browses the supermarket with the hOn App open on her phone. She instantly checks what is left inside her fridge. When milk is running low and a steak is nearing its expiry date, she places a restock order directly on her mobile device and gets a steak recipe for lunch at the same time.
Meanwhile, Ms. Li returning home after work in Beijing receives an automatic recipe recommendation from her fridge. Tailored to her physical condition, it suggests a low‑fat steak poke bowl that takes only 15 minutes to prepare.
From Berlin to Beijing, eating habits could not be more different — yet the AI‑enabled refrigerator adapts seamlessly to both users’ daily routines.
Image Source: LeiTech IFA Reporting Team
Statistics show that roughly 130 million tonnes of food are wasted across Europe each year. Chinese households also tend to stockpile groceries, which often end up forgotten and spoiled after expiry. Haier’s new product line aims to transform a conventional refrigerator into a household food steward powered by AI.
Walking the show floor at this year’s IFA, what struck me most is how deeply Haier has woven smart features into every step of meal preparation.
Both the domestic Smart Home App and the overseas hOn App sync the real‑time ingredient inventory inside the fridge. Before heading to the supermarket, a quick glance on your phone tells you exactly what needs restocking and what you already have at home.
Once groceries are placed inside the refrigerator, an AI vision sensor automatically identifies each item and suggests its optimal storage zone. The fridge knows better than you where each ingredient belongs.
It can even locate ingredients on demand and serve up custom‑tailored recipes. No more rummaging through shelves while cooking — the AI tells you precisely which compartment to check.
The AI cellular‑level defrosting function on the premium Maestro Collection left a particularly strong impression. Defrosting frozen ingredients has long been a kitchen headache. Thawing naturally takes too long, while microwave defrosting often ruins texture and flavour.
Haier’s world‑first AI cellular‑level defrosting technology is built to tackle this pain point.
Image Source: LeiTech IFA Reporting Team
A frozen steak can be restored to a near‑fresh state in just five minutes. Its proprietary precision‑targeted defrosting energy waves penetrate food cells evenly, delivering uniform thawing in as little as five minutes with barely any juice loss, while retaining over 99.9 % of the ingredient’s nutrients.
This neatly bridges the thawing gap between frozen storage and cooking.
Sustainable energy efficiency is also a core priority for households worldwide.
Haier has unveiled its A‑35% ultra‑efficient refrigerator, which exceeds Europe’s top Class‑A energy standard by more than 35 %. For the Chinese market, powered by its self‑developed AI energy‑saving system, Haier has become the first brand to achieve the new national Level‑1 energy rating across its full refrigerator lineup, alongside ultra‑quiet operation at only 31 decibels.
One single unit checks all three boxes: lower power consumption, quiet performance and premium food preservation.
Image Source: LeiTech IFA Reporting Team
Among the highlights, the Horizon series stands out with over 60,000 global orders to its name.
First launched in overseas markets including Europe, Southeast Asia and Brazil back in March this year, the flagship lineup has received two major upgrades at IFA Berlin. It now features an instant sparkling water function that delivers low, medium and high carbonation levels, perfectly catering to user preferences across European and Southeast Asian regions. It also comes with an upgraded AI smart screen that lights up automatically upon human detection. Users can check stored ingredients and recommended recipes without opening the fridge door.
A global bestseller across multiple markets never succeeds through isolated technological advantages.
According to Leitech’s on-site coverage, its strong performance is backed by Haier’s comprehensive global operation system. Ten global R&D centers refine core AI freshness technologies, European design studios tailor the exterior aesthetics to local home styles, and domestic teams complete overall industrial design.
Supported by 35 industrial parks, 38 factories and 173 manufacturing centers worldwide, Haier ensures stable and reliable product delivery to consumers across the globe.
Image Source: LeiTech IFA Reporting Team
Behind a global hit product lies a well‑rounded global system featuring universally applicable core technologies, locally tailored designs and functions, as well as coordinated worldwide supply chains. Powered by this model, the Horizon series has secured over 60,000 orders globally, helping Haier push its market share above 40 % in Europe’s multi‑door refrigerator segment.
In previous years, Chinese home‑appliance brands attending IFA mostly displayed standalone hardware. This time, however, Haier is showcasing far more than refrigerators — it presents a complete lifestyle solution.
With AI, Haier transforms the fridge from a passive food‑preserving cabinet into an active service provider. For Haier refrigerators, the growth story in the European market may only just be beginning.
Leitech will stay on the ground in Berlin over the coming days to track the latest updates from IFA 2026. Stay tuned for more first‑hand news on AI‑powered home appliances and smart‑home innovations from our Berlin team.
From September 4–8, the world’s largest consumer electronics and home appliance exhibition—IFA2026—will take place in Berlin.
Recognized globally as the “most authoritative new media outlet covering IFA” for its insightful AI-focused reporting, LeiTech has dispatched its largest and highest-caliber exhibition reporting team to Berlin this year. Adopting a “2+N” model—featuring two lead hosts plus multiple on-site editors and backend editors—LeiTech will deliver immersive, multidimensional, and real-time coverage of IFA2026. Key focus areas include AI Agents integrated with home appliances and hardware, robotics applied to residential scenarios, emerging trends in human-vehicle-home digital lifestyles, and how Chinese brands are showcasing innovation on the world stage.
The LeiTech IFA2026 reporting team is actively delivering live updates from Berlin—stay tuned!
