What a year! What a lot of gear! Struggling to remember what’s hot and what’s not? Our annual Gadget Awards have done the hard work for you – join us in celebrating the very best tech to have come out in the previous 12 months. If you’re planning to add something to your gadget arsenal, these are all excellent choices. After all, they’ve just won an award.

PREMIUM TABLET OF THE YEAR

APPLE iPAD PRO (M4)

Yes, we know it costs almost as much as a MacBook, but the latest iPad Pro is just irrepressible, building powerful enhancements onto the excellent foundations laid down by previous generations. The last one was good, certainly, but this one makes a staggering number of improvements.
And it’s thinner too! No, really: at just over 5mm, this is the thinnest product Apple has ever made. There’s so much more to love, too: the glorious colours, vibrancy, and detail of the screen; the sizzling potency of Apple’s M4 chip, which serves up more oomph than most people will ever need; and the new Apple Pencil Pro, as capable a creative partner as this tab deserves.
from R23 000 / incredible.co.za
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra

ALSO SHORTLISTED
Apple iPad Mini (A17 Pro)

AFFORDABLE TABLET OF THE YEAR

HONOR PAD X9

Generally Samsung claims this award with its Galaxy A range, but Honor’s Pad X9 has lifted a few eyebrows at the Stuff offices. There’s plenty to like from this affordable tablet’s 11.5in 1 200 x 2 000 TFT display, which makes it a budget-beating multimedia monster, while the Snapdragon 685, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage remind you that the Honor isn’t going to scare the iPad Pro any time soon. Except on price, which is what we kept coming back to. The included cameras are negligible points (as they should be), but the 7 250mAh battery… isn’t. If you’re into streaming in bed or need an accessible second screen, this is it.
R6 000 / vodacom.co.za

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+

AFFORDABLE TV OF THE YEAR

HISENSE 55U6K

Everything about this 50in 4K TV is so assured and slick that we often forgot it was a budget model at all. Yes, the 55U6K does have some nips and tucks to keep its price down – the lack of HDMI 2.1 and the rather weak built-in speakers being the most notable – but elsewhere it delivers a strong showing across the board.
There’s support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ plus a reliable smart TV platform, and most importantly, the ULED screen serves up a truly satisfying and engaging image to anyone sat directly in front of it: detail is pin-sharp, and black levels are pleasingly deep for an affordable non- OLED model. It also offers both Game and Sports modes, which should please fraggers and jocks respectively.
R10 000 / incredible.co.za

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Hisense U6N

ALSO SHORTLISTED
TCL 40S5400A

SOUNDBAR OF THE YEAR

SAMSUNG HW-Q990D

Perhaps the perfect solution for anyone tempted by the spatial audio promises of Dolby Atmos but unwilling to remodel their living room, Samsung’s flagship soundbar system – which teams up a main bar with a wireless subwoofer and two wireless satellite speakers – is a clear winner this year.
This is one of the few soundbars we’ve heard that can go toe-to-toe with a separate system, its total of 22 drivers serving up an all-enveloping hemisphere of 3D sound that will sprinkle your movie nights and gaming sessions with spatial stardust.
The subwoofer behaves itself too… and all this with only a handful of wires (because, yes, you’ll still need to plug those wireless speakers into power sockets).
R18 000 / samsung.com/za

HIGHLY COMMENDED
Klipsch Flexus Core 200

ALSO SHORTLISTED
Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar

PREMIUM TV OF THE YEAR

SAMSUNG QA77S95D

The S95D proves it’s still possible for a television to make big strides in image quality. We’ve been ranting on about the contrast and colour-richness of OLED screens for years, but Samsung has pushed things even further here, boosting brightness and saturation to levels not seen anywhere else.
That’s true of both Samsung’s own TV lineup and those of its competitors: aided by a genuinely revelatory glare-free screen filter, impeccable motion handling, and superb AI-assisted upscaling for non-4K sources, the S95D delivers a uniquely delicious feast for the eyes no matter what you throw at it.
Factor in the surprisingly beefy speaker setup, excellent support for high-framerate gaming,g and a solid smart TV platform, and you’ve got a telly that truly earns its crown – in a year that was hardly lacking in contenders.