Stuff Gadget Awards 2020: Readers’ Vote

You can consider the Stuff Gadget Awards the official final word on tech in 2020 – you’ll find parts 1 and 2 right here – but actually it’s not quite, because we’ve given you your own ‘And finally’ moment.

The Readers’ Phone of the Year and Readers’ Gadget of the Year are always hotly contested and 2020 was no exception – in the freakiest of occurrences we even had a joint third place. You’ll find the results below, but as proceedings come to a thrilling, tiered climax in a year we’d be happy to bury in the concrete, it’s worth reflecting on a gadget industry that has at least provided some rare glimmers of joy in an otherwise calamity of a 12-month calendar window.

We’ve had once in a decade next-gen consoles, more 5G phones than you can shake a mast at, the arrival of Apple Silicon, better OLED TVs than ever, better noise-cancelling headphones than ever, smartwatches tracking stress, blood oxygen levels and heart palpitations, a soundbar with built-in streaming capabilities, and even an electric car that lets you play Mario Kart on its infotainment system.

So while major events like Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and E3 in Los Angeles bit the dust, major launches like the iPhone 12 got delayed (Okay it was only month, but still) and the chances of bagging a PlayStation 5 in time for Christmas were slimmer than seeing your mum on the big day, on reflection tech has had a pretty good time of it. With that in mind, we were determined to end 2020 on a high, but to do that we really needed your help to choose which shiny objects were worthy of the prestigious readers’ titles – and like Son Heung-min completing mandatory military service, thanks for doing your duty.