The yearly byte

2018 was a milestone in terms of tech. There were many gizmos that turned our head. Apple finally refreshed their Pro machines, as well as the Macbook Air; Vivo beat every other major tech company to implement a fingerprint scanner under a screen, and Google’s Pixel 3’s notch took a turn for the worse. We take a look at the gadgets that caught our eye.

BEST CELL PHONE

Undoubtedly, the best Mobile Phone that came out this year has to be Samsung’s Note 9. Even though it has the same internal specification as all other flagships of the year, but one should remember that just because one has all the right ingredients and the recipe for a cake, not everybody can bake one like Nigella Lawson. Samsung not only managed to cram in all the powerful hardware befitting a flagship, it did all that while keeping the headphone jack intact (we are looking at you OnePlus). And we cannot forget the S pen that has a lot more added functionality, thanks to that low power Bluetooth chip. But the best thing of all? Samsung yet again managed to not succumb to the grotesque and hideous notch. Simply put, this is the all rounded phone of the year.

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Honourable Mentions – The OnePlus 6T, even without headphone jack is still a great phone, especially at the price point in which it is competing. Still, we wish the screen could be better. The same goes for the iPhone XR, which possibly is the best Apple product of the year. Both of these devices, as separate as chalk and cheese in terms of specs, easily provide one of the best user experiences in their respective ecosystems.

BEST CAMERA

2018 was the year of the photography enthusiasts. Not only did the year see some of the most iconic lenses being updated, Nikon and Canon finally stepped up to the full frame mirror-less plate and gave us some really great cameras. Picking the best of the either is like choosing between Pepsi and Coca-Cola; it boils down to personal preferences, and no matter what you do, you are bound to offend a million fans. However, the camera that set the standard against which all mirror-less cameras were judged, was the Sony A7 Mk III which is one beast of a camera. Sony has been making some great cameras for a while now. And thanks to third party lens makers like Sigma finally offering their Art series lens in Sony’s E-mount, filmmakers and photographers are set to smile gleefully when they look at their shots for the foreseeable future.

Honourable Mention – GoPro’s Hero 7 is definitely the best action camera out there. The Hero 7 Black has everything that everyone ever dreamed of. 4K video? Check. Live Streaming? Check. Time Warp Videos? Check. The Hero 7 as a package definitely took us by surprise. It truly is, what a GoPro camera supposed to be.

BEST LAPTOP

2018 has not been kind to the portable computers. First, there was the Macbook Pro’s Thermal Throttling Issue. Then there was the manner in which laptops have been priced this year, for specifications that can be barely called decent. Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 2 then, as pricey as it may be, is our choice. Using Alcantara on a laptop is a sweet idea and we wish that all major manufacturers hitch their wagons to this trend. Plus, it has just the right specifications for a laptop of its size. As a result, we have a laptop that is very reliable. It has a 3:2 screen, which not only looks brilliant, but is very practical as well. However, by no means is the Surface perfect. It is a little expensive when compared to its rivals and its I/O options leave a lot to be desired. But whatever the Surface does, it does perfectly well. All its competitors from HP, Dell, and even Huawei sacrifice something or the other.

BEST SMART WATCH

There can be no doubt that Apple takes the cake for this one. Just when we thought that nothing else can be crammed onto the wrist watch, the engineer’s at Apple told the world to hold their glass, and set to work. It has all the bells and whistles that is expected from a regular smart watch – app support for all sorts of tasks like playing music, making calls and sending text etc. However, the Apple Watch 4 manages to shine on its own. There are memes all over the internet, as to how this will potentially leave all doctors without a job – that’s how good this watch is in tracking your health and fitness. It is as if Apple is bundling a personal fitness trainer with every Series 4 watch that it sells. A trainer, who pushes you to the limits, and motivates you to work harder, by showing you how much your friends are working out. And did we mention the new watch faces that Apple offers with the Series 4 Watch? Not only are they customisable, they give you readouts and telemetries for everything under the sun.

Honourable Mention - The only other offering that comes close is the Samsung Galaxy Watch. But honestly, apart from the S Pay or Samsung Pay Feature, we don’t see why anyone would pick the Galaxy over the Series 4.

From the December 2018 issue of FHM India.