Once a year, Berlin transforms into a mecca for technology enthusiasts: at IFA 2025, the whole world comes together to experience the latest trends and innovations in the technology industry. But between giant TV screens, smart home appliances, and countless gadgets, there is also room for topics that go deeper. For the first time, this year’s IFA was held under the overarching theme of sustainability and the circular economy—and SHIFT couldn’t miss out on that, of course. 😉
We are therefore all the more delighted that, alongside major brands such as Anker and Liebherr, we won the IFA 2025 Innovation Award in the Best in Sustainability Tech category for the SHIFTphone 8. For us, this is a strong signal and valuable confirmation that we are actually making a difference with our approach.
For us, IFA 2025 is much more than just a trade fair. It is a showcase to the world and a platform that makes our work more visible: from the presentation of new projects and joint campaigns with partner companies such as Cradle2Cradle and Murena to valuable encounters with our partners from the Asian region. IFA is a place of inspiration and affirmation. A place where we can share our vision of fair, modular, and durable technology and where we can feel how much interest there is in it.
Fotocredits: Cradle to Cradle NGO, Simon Wiech
Voices from IFA 2025
Daniel reports: “Mia, an IFA employee, visited our booth several times a day with a school class. After each tour, she told me that we were by far the most exciting and relevant exhibitor for the young people. She was so enthusiastic that she came back privately after work to take a closer look at our ideas. For me, this is a strong sign that we can inspire the younger generation and encourage them to think.”
Katharina von Murena recounts: “I was particularly impressed by the people who live their mission with complete conviction in their everyday lives—whether it’s Carsten, who talks about wanting to bring a little more light into the world with his products, or the ‘open-source family’ who came to our booth: parents who teach their children to use ethical technology. What I remember most about this event is the sparkle in people’s eyes.“ Carsten sums it up: ”There were many highlights, but I would like to emphasize one in particular: our stand. While many companies, especially those from Asia, are unable to bring their own stand – which means that numerous stands have to be built just for this event, only to be scrapped again after the IFA – we opted for a modular system. Our dear Paddy put a lot of effort and passion into building it. After IFA 2025, we’ll simply take it back with us, use it for other events, and thus produce significantly less waste. For me, this is a perfect example of how we put our philosophy of modularity and sustainability into practice. Not only in our products, but fundamentally in everything we do.” 
Samuel’s highlight: “In addition to all the big brands that are naturally very prominent at IFA 2025, my personal highlight was a very small supplier that you really had to search for. It is a Dutch company in the battery and rechargeable battery segment, with whom I had some very good discussions. What’s particularly exciting is that they have developed a technology that allows rechargeable batteries to be produced with significantly more capacity while maintaining the same size. This sounds like a promising partnership that could soon benefit our universal battery.”
A very special highlight: the new Murena SHIFTphone 8 with /e/OS
It was really great to have Murena at our booth. Murena is a French company that specializes in privacy-friendly smartphones and services. At the heart of their work is the alternative operating system /e/OS, an Android-based open-source OS that runs independently of Google services and focuses clearly on data sovereignty, privacy, and transparency. The fact that the new Murena SHIFTphone 8 with /e/OS could be presented directly at IFA was a real highlight for us. It shows how well our philosophies fit together: SHIFT stands for fair, modular, and repairable hardware, while Murena stands for digital self-determination and privacy. Together, we bring both together in one device: sustainable hardware and an operating system that gives you full control over your data. You can find more information about the Murena SHIFTphone 8 and order it directly from Murena: murena.com
Conclusion on this year’s visit to IFA
With the Innovation Award under our belt, many valuable discussions, and new connections, we are looking forward to the coming months with great enthusiasm. We are grateful to everyone who is accompanying us on this journey, and we are convinced that together we can make the world of technology a little more sustainable. Despite the many impressions and encounters during the trade fair, Samuel and Carsten took the opportunity to record a short BruderTalk with the team right in front of our booth. Feel free to take a look and activate the English subtitles:
