IFA 2025 Round-Up: Projecting Elevated Home Theater Experiences

When attending a large technology convention like IFA in Berlin, there are certain products you just can't seem to get away from — I'm talking about you, robot vacuums. As I strolled through the different showroom floors, which covered about 190,000 square metres and included 1,900 exhibitors, I noticed that on day two, there was another popular product I couldn't escape: projectors.

This shouldn't come as a surprise, as the home theater market size is projected to grow from $37.7 billion in 2024 to $44.08 billion in 2025, according to The Business Research Company. Why? Probably because it costs about $8 to $15 per ticket at the theater, depending on where you live, and the popcorn and drinks aren't much cheaper, so a family of four could easily spend around $100 for a movie night.

Of the dozen exhibitors with projectors on display, Aurzen, Valerion, and Soundcore were the three that caught my eye during day two at IFA, due to their sleek designs, versatility, and high-end features. Since these were some of the best products House Digest saw at IFA 2025, I spoke to company representatives and asked them why people should consider using their products and the types of experiences they can create.

My first thought when visiting Valerion's booth at IFA was "Oh wow, movie theaters are in trouble." Their representatives led me to a dark room where their new VisonMaster Max projector, which they revealed at the convention on Sept. 5, was playing an action-packed movie. The images were clear, colorful, and it felt as though I was in an actual theater. This is due to several reasons, like the product's black-level performance, which enhances the contrast ratio so that you can see dark scenes clearly and avoid a "Game of Thrones" season 8, episode 3 fiasco.

VisionMaster Max, which raised $10 million in 45 days on Kickstarter in October 2024, making it the most funded projector on the fundraising platform, has a brightness level of 3,500 lumens, which also helps to produce clear images, and its Anti-RBE Technology reduces the annoying rainbow effect that can cause certain colors to flash on the screen by 99.99%. The design is something you should also consider, as it's not that typical, bulky design you'd often relate to a projector, but a small, minimalistic, ribbed square made with a reflective material. The product will be available to purchase in October; however, it can be pre-ordered now.

I am a girl who loves an easy-to-use product. So, when I saw Aurzen's ZIP portable projector, which was released in July, I had to stop and ask questions. It's the size of a phone and is the world's first tri-fold true-portable projector, which allows projection angles from 0 to 90 degrees, allowing you to project images onto the ceiling or even the floor. The design kind of reminds me of Samsung's bendable phones. It also stabilizes itself with a built-in stand and does not require Wi-Fi to operate, eliminating the steps needed to set that up.

"If you love family time and making connections with others, like at a party, with a ZIP projector, you can easily gather people around and build those connections," Emily Lee, social media manager at Aurzen, told House Digest. "Most projectors are quite big or need to be connected to a laptop, but with ZIP, you can connect it with your phone and move it easily to any space you'd like." I could definitely picture myself using this to watch a movie in my living room and then taking it to my bedroom to play something soothing.

Ok, so it wouldn't be fair to refer to Soundcore's Nebula X1 Pro as just a projector. It's the world's first mobile theater station, and is expected to be available for purchase starting March 2025. This movie theater on wheels features spatial audio calibration technology that Soundcore calls FlexWave, which can adjust the audio based on your room's acoustics with the four microphones that are built within the system's dock. The projector also delivers clear imagery with a brightness level of 3,500 lumens and can easily be moved around with its retractable handle.

"We took the guts of the X1 that we launched in April, the projection part of it, and we wanted to increase the sound," Adam Weissman, Global Brand PR Lead for Soundcore, told House Digest. "Sound is one of the key parts of a movie. So, by creating this theater station, we're adding a front speaker, rear speakers, and subwoofers." Aside from the sound and image clarity, this device is also capable of avoiding obstructions on your wall, whether it's a painting or a clock. You can just turn the Nebula X1 Pro on, sit down, and enjoy your film without the hassle of having to remove items from your wall.