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 a new camera or speaker to your gadget arsenal, these are all excellent choices. After all, they’ve just won an award.
DRONE / ACTION CAM OF THE YEAR
GOPRO HERO 13 BLACK
There’s a reason every action camera is called a GoPro. Just like folks calling all tablets an iPad, GoPro has become a victim of genericide. But the Hero 13 Black edition camera goes a long way to helping the OG stand out. It’ll grab 27MP stills of whatever you’re doing and 24.7MP videos at up to 5.3K at 60fps. That’s an excellent amount of clarity for your unintentional scooter backflip. The company expanded uptime with a new
1 900mAh Enduro battery that’ll go for 2.5 hours before conking out, while Hyper Smooth 6.0 Image Stabilization earns its proper noun status by making anything you’re doing as steady as a very steady thing. If you’re feeling particularly rad, there’s a 15-second 400fps burst mode that’ll snatch super-slow snippets at 720p. R11 000 / gopro.com
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Insta360 Go 3S
ALSO SHORTLISTED
DJI Mini 4 Pro
CAMERA OF THE YEAR
FUJIFILM X100VI
The sixth generation of Fujifilm’s stellar X100 is flying the flag for compact fixed-lens cameras. With a new sensor bolstered by in-body image stabilisation and improved autofocus, the X100VI is the finest example we’ve seen in yonks – at least once you rule out the wondrous but painfully expensive Leica Q3.
Taking the best bits from previous iterations of the X100, such as the optically stunning 35mm-equivalent lens and engaging hybrid rangefinder, and making improvements on top, the agile X100VI still feels like a street photographer’s tool first and foremost – even if it makes concessions to video by including a new 6.2K@30p recording mode.
As for its photos… well, they look absolutely stunning. This is the sort of camera you reach for when you want to fall in love with photography again. It certainly did the trick for us.
R31 600 / fujifilm-x.com
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Nikon Zf ● Fujifilm X-T50
ALSO SHORTLISTED
Leica D-Lux 8
STREAMING SPEAKER OF THE YEAR
SONOS ROAM 2
Sonos does speakers very well. It’s best known for its indoor range but its newer Bluetooth offerings are rather neat 2. The Roam 2 lives in a small package but the audio it provides is anything but dinky. It’ll continue to provide it for up to ten hours, which is one heck of a trip to the beach, and it’ll shrug off water with its IP67 rating. Of course, the Roam did all this too, but features like Automatic Truplay that allow it to adjust itself to its environment without making you look like a twit are also a winner. Additional connectivity means it can slot into your Sonos system at home when it’s not out roaming the streets. Plus, you know, colour options are a thing now.
R4 500 / sonos.com
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Ruark R410
ALSO SHORTLISTED
KEF LS60 Wireless Lotus Edition
SMART SPEAKER OF THE YEAR
AMAZON ECHO SPOT
Last year we saw Amazon successfully bring the Echo Spot back from the dead with the 2024 model – a fully capable Alexa alarm clock with a screen. It’s a true bedside marvel at a decent price point.
Naturally the new Spot can do everything that Alexa normally can, making it much more than an alarm clock: playing podcasts, audiobooks and music from various providers as well as controlling your smart home devices from the comfort of your bed.
Different animations appear on the display for things like the weather and song titles or calendar events. We like that you can also tap the front to skip songs or snooze an alarm, while the device has physical volume controls as well as a mic mute button. And with a few colour options, it should fit right in anywhere.
R1 850 / makro.co.za
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Samsung Music Frame
BLUETOOTH SPEAKER OF THE YEAR
ULTIMATE EARS EPICBOOM
Our pick for this year’s best Bluetooth speaker is the go-anywhere Epicboom, a portable and fully waterproof (and floating!) speaker that pumps out blistering bass-heavy 360° audio wherever you care to take it. It has adjustable EQ via the companion app and can access
a favourite playlist when you tap the Magic Button on the top – and in terms of features, that’s about it.
This is a simple audio blaster that does its job well, has nicely chunky controls that are easy to find in the pool, and will outlast the longest parties thanks to a battery that’ll go on firing out your bestest tunes for up to 17hrs on a full charge. Epic by name, epic by nature, this is an easy one to recommend.
R5 600 / ultimateears.com
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Beats Pill
ALSO SHORTLISTED
Ultimate Ears Miniroll ● Q Acoustics M40
