Best gadgets you can buy right now: EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016 winners announced

Another year draws to a close but not before we celebrate the finest games, gadgets and other tech treats of the last 12 months in the annual EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards. It’s time to reveal the winners.

You have been voting in your droves, along with the elite of the tech industry and Pocket-lint’s journalistic peers to find the finest products in 14 different categories. The following winners and highly recommended runners-up are all therefore fantastic products that you should consider if you’re in the market for new kit.

We’ve also rounded up all the votes in all the categories to find the overall product of the year – the tech that has made us all smile since launch.

So here are the best products of 2016, as rewarded in our swanky event in London. Huge congratulations to one and all.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best game

Naughty Dog / Sony

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Uncharted 4 was well worth the constant delays in making it to market. Nathan Drake has never looked better and the many additions to gameplay make it the most rounded in the series by far.

Uncharted 4 is not just the best Uncharted game, it can be argued that it is the best PS4 game full stop.

• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End review: Going out with a bang

Highly recommended: Pokemon Go

Who could have predicted the global impact of Pokemon Go earlier this year? It’s still hugely popular today and a very worthy runner-up.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best camera

Pocket-lint

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

The EOS 5D range has long been known as the true enthusiast DSLR, the do-it-all camera for pros and consumers alike. And the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV has an all-new 30-megapixel full-frame sensor to take that tag even further.

It may be more expensive than the last-gen model, even considering inflation, but it has stacks of top-end features on board that should see it appeal to a wide audience.

• Canon EOS 5D Mark IV review: The 30-megapixel monster

Highly recommended: Fujifilm X-T2

Fuji’s latest compact system camera is, perhaps, the most advanced offering we’ve seen in its field to date.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best home entertainment device or service

Pocket-lint

Sky Q

Sky Q is more than just a name change for Sky’s broadcasting service. It’s an entirely new platform that allows you to watch different programmes in different rooms and even supports 4K.

With all the content and ability to watch recordings on the go, Sky Q has all the potential of being the best TV service we’ve ever had.

• Sky Q review: The future of multi-room television?

Highly recommended: Netflix

With 4K HDR support, even Dolby Vision for compatible TVs, Netflix is going from strength to strength. It is also available on more devices than any competitor.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best smarthome device

Pocket-lint

Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo is a Bluetooth speaker with the company’s voice controlled assistant, Alexa, built-in. Not only will it play your tunes, but it can answer all manner of questions as well.

We think hands-free voice control is a godsend and that Alexa truly distinguishes this Bluetooth speaker from the competition. It blew our minds. We won’t ever get tired of walking into our living room and casually asking Alexa to stream some music.

• Amazon Echo review: It’s all about Alexa

Highly recommended: Dyson 360 Eye

Dyson finally entered the robot vacuum cleaner market and showed why it was well worth the wait.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best smartwatch

Pocket-lint

Apple Watch Series 2

Apple’s shift from pure fashion accessory with some smarts to a device that supports a range of different sports and activities in the Apple Watch Series 2 is a very welcome advance.

With built-in GPS, a better battery, water-resistance and a much greater focus on fitness, the Apple Watch works excellently with workouts. It is now so much more than just a pretty smartwatch. It’s now a smartwatch with a purpose.

• Apple Watch Series 2 review: Fitness first

Highly recommended: Polar M600

Most sportswatches are only worthy of being worn when on an activity, not so the Polar M600 which is an excellent smartwatch too.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best wireless speaker

Pocket-lint

BeoPlay A1 from B&O Play

It might be small, but the B&O BeoPlay A1’s big sound makes it standout in the portable Bluetooth speaker market. And given how good it sounds, we think it’s worth every penny of the £199 asking price.

Its solid battery, build quality, extra drive of bass and sheer audio clarity give this speaker the upper hand when it comes to sound quality. The BeoPlay A1 is well worth saving up for.

• B&O BeoPlay A1 by Bang & Olufsen review: Bluetooth speaker bliss

Highly recommended: UE Boom 2

The Ultimate Ears range goes from strength to strength and the UE Boom 2 proves you don’t need to be massive to get room-filling sound.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best headphones

Pocket-lint

Sony MDR-1000X

With a clever application of technology, Sony has achieved wonderful results albeit with a slightly larger build than rivals.

The MDR-1000X are able to fold though, with a carry case included, and can work both wired or wirelessly. They have outstanding noise-cancellation with some very clever and effective features. Importantly the sound quality is great too.

• Sony MDR-1000X review: Quite simply phenomenal noise-cancelling headphones

Highly recommended: Bose QuietComfort 35

Super noise cancelling headphones from the leading brand, but this time wireless too.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best tablet

Pocket-lint

Apple iPad Pro 9.7

The iPad Pro 9.7 tablet bridges the gap between offering a smaller iPad Pro and a more powerful iPad Air 2.

In the iPad Pro 9.7, Apple has created a tablet powerful enough to act as a laptop replacement. But it’s done so in a way that still feels very “iPad”. It’s the tablet to beat all tablets.

• Apple iPad Pro 9.7 review: The tablet to beat all tablets

Highly recommended: Microsoft Surface Pro 4

Many have swapped their laptops for one of these and for good reason. Fast, light and very powerful when it comes to the crunch.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best fitness tracker

Pocket-lint

Fitbit Charge 2

The Charge 2 takes the best features from the Fitbit Charge HR and Alta, while adding a few more including VO2 Max and Guided Breathing. It also takes on Fitbit’s new design ethos with interchangeable straps, solid build quality and a larger, informative OLED display.

If you’re looking for a well-designed, accurate fitness tracker with a fantastic app platform, then the Charge 2 fully takes charge.

• Fitbit Charge 2 review: Taking charge

Highly recommended: Garmin Vivosmart HR+

The Garmin Vivosmart HR+ is an ideal device for someone who wants to track daily activity as well as record runs or walks in more detail.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best TV

Sony

Sony ZD9

The ZD9 TV wins hook, line and sinker when it comes to HDR content.

Its unprecedented combination of colour, brightness, sharpness and contrast is virtually addictive, and undoubtedly adds up to what is simply the most spectacular and convincing next-generation TV picture performance of 2016.

• Sony ZD9 4K TV review: The HDR master

Highly recommended: LG OLED E6

Quite simply the king of picture quality, especially with the deep black levels that only OLED can achieve.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best laptop

Pocket-lint

Apple MacBook (2016)

Apple’s refreshed MacBook is one of the most beautiful and portable laptops we’ve ever seen. This updated version comes with a faster processor and improved battery life, along with a new rose gold finish.

If you’re after a stylish, peppy little laptop then the 2016 MacBook is approaching just about perfect. It’s bold, sleek and, with all its trackpad and keyboard tech, feels like a futuristic extension of the company’s wider range.

• Apple MacBook (2016) review: Is port-free still the future?

Highly recommended: Dell XPS 15

As exemplary as 15-inch laptops go. We can’t think of any other Windows machine we’d rather own at this size.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best VR device

Pocket-lint

Sony PlayStation VR

Setting up the PS VR might seem like a faff, with tonnes of cables and connections to sort out, but the pay-off at the end is a superb virtual reality experience – and an accessible one to many.

Virtual reality is magical when done well and if any device is likely to have a chance of exciting consumers it’s PlayStation VR.

• Sony PlayStation VR review: Virtual reality for the masses

Highly recommended: HTC Vive

With movement tracking at its best there are no equivalents. Just a little pricy for some.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best phone

Pocket-lint

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

Samsung might have had its troubles recently, but there’s no denying this is an amazing device. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is a fantastic smartphone in its own right, but it’s the S7 edge that turns heads; this is the smartphone that’s calling for attention; this is the handset that’s unique.

If you’re looking for a new flagship phone in 2016 then this Android champion absolutely has to be on your shortlist.

• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge review: The new smartphone champion

Highly recommended: Apple iPhone 7

Apple’s best phone ever. ‘Nuff said.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Best car

Pocket-lint

Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S P90D offers eyelid-flipping acceleration, space-age design (especially on the inside), digital menus that would make Apple swoon, heaps of interior and boot space, plus, of course, your own robot chauffeur in Autopilot.

You also get sports car speed and a general feeling that you’re doing something good for the environment in the process.

• Tesla Model S P90D review: If your robot chauffeur were a racing driver

Highly recommended: Volvo XC90

Twelve years was a long time to wait for a new XC90, but it’s been worth it — it now leads the class.

EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016: Product of the year

Pocket-lint

Amazon Echo

A very worthy winner for the overall product of the year, the Amazon Echo might just seem like a slightly clever Bluetooth speaker to those who haven’t used one, but those who have always rave about it.

It is affordable enough to attract a wide audience and gives a great glimpse of the sci-fi future we’ve all been promised in movies for the last few decades.

• Amazon Echo review: It’s all about Alexa