Editor’s Note
“SmartHouse’s Awards Issue focuses on the best and brightest products, looking at exactly what consumers want: value, performance and design.”
Awards season is upon us and while 2020 was a quiet year for tradeshows and product launch events, we still saw some extraordinary and innovative gadgets released. SmartHouse's Awards Issue focuses on the best and brightest products, looking at exactly what consumers want: value, performance and design. Some of our category winners are familiar faces from the likes of Samsung, Logitech, Acer and Fitbit. But this year we have fresh entrants, including Xiaomi's new eBike, Brilliant Lighting's Nexus management and even an influencer ring-light for vloggers. The pandemic saw the consumer electronics industry plagued with production delays and low stock, but we were still able to get our hands on some of the incredible winning products. A standout product was Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra, a beast of a smartphone with a pro-grade camera that will have Nikon and Canon shaking in their boots. Samsung's 2021 flagship phone is a real Apple slayer, which is why it beat out the iPhone 12 by a country mile. In the smart-home management space, we were also impressed with some of Arlo, Lenovo and Philips products. Arlo is king when it comes to security, while smaller players Lenovo and Philips brought out some fantastic products for the smarthouse fanatic. The Product of the Year is a reflection of the consumer's needs and wants this past 12 months; and that is an all-in-one creative workspace. The Acer Concept D9 is the ideal laptop for a demanding work schedule with versatility, durability, power and class all wrapped into one. As you flick through the pages of this SmartHouse issue, you will be up close and personal with the best of the best in the CE tech space – and it's only going to get better.