It’s not always popularity that makes a product hit or flop. The true success of a gadget depends on the experience it offers to the customer regardless of how it is priced. In 2022, a year marked by a string of average products, we liked certain devices that defined the year. They made the most impact on us philosophically and some, in fact, caught our attention by an accident. Here are the gadgets we loved in 2022. Apple Watch Ultra The Apple Watch Ultra felt like the next chapter in Apple Watch, and indeed it truly was a reimagined wearable. The Ultra was an attempt at creating a rugged smartwatch for athletes and committed cyclists, and it had both hardware and software to create a statement piece appreciated by weekend warriors. It was more rugged, more long-lasting and much easier to read text…all while still being an Apple Watch. What Apple tried to do with the Ultra was to create a specialised smartwatch designed for specialised activities, and that approach mostly worked. We highly recommend getting one if you are adventurous and want an outdoor(sy) smartwatch that you want to use in your day-to-day life. Asus ZenBook 17 Fold Asus’s push into the foldable laptop market with the ZenBook 17 Fold was equally exciting and risky at the same time. Although far from getting mainstream status, the ZenBook 17 Fold showed the possibility of showcasing a use case of a foldable device on a much larger canvas. One could see the real possibility of a device that turns into a laptop, tablet or both. It’s a major improvement over Lenovo’s version in both usability and performance, and for a new form factor, the ZenBook 17 Fold felt almost certainly matured. I was already a believer in the foldable phone with the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the ZenBook 17 Fold only further cemented my belief in foldables. Apple TV 4K On paper, the Apple TV 4K was a subtle update but in reality, it was much more than a traditional streaming box. It almost felt like a games console for your home when paired with the PS5 DualSense controller. I was genuinely surprised by the experience of playing games on the Apple TV 4K, and impressed by the Apple Arcade subscription service. Its technical capabilities—there’s the A15 Bionic processor inside—and the selection of Apple Arcade games have dramatically changed the perception of the 2022 Apple TV. MacBook Air M2 The M2 MacBook Air was the saving grace in the mundane laptop market in 2022. It wasn’t just portable and lightweight but also had beefy internals that resulted in improved performance and instantly long battery life. Truth be told, the M2 MacBook Air might be the best laptop Apple has made in years. I have tried many laptops in the past year but the M2 MacBook remained the best writing device for me. If you are a writer or journalist, I don't think you will find a laptop with a keyboard as good as this as the M2 MacBook Air. Also read: Our list of the best smartphones that we tested in 2022 Sony HT-A9 +SW5 Sometimes, you need the cinema experience right at home. And given how our consumption of online content has increased drastically, thanks to apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc, it is natural to have the best hardware to complement this. The Sony HT-A9 is one such product which does this very well. This is a home theatre system and a premium product meant for those who are passionate about their cinema and its audio experience. Of course, it sports a premium price tag as well. Hyperice Hypervolt 2 Pro If you are someone into sports and fitness in a big way and training for marathons, you are likely prone to injuries and some occasional pain. Or you might be suffering from some daily aches due to poor posture or the fact that you spend hours in front of a laptop. Hyperice is one brand that has products to help fix and ease some of those issues. While the Hyperice Hypervolt 2 Pro is meant for athletes and offers higher intensity, the brand's regular variant might be more useful for regular folks. The massager is meant to ensure that you get quick relief from pains and have a faster recovery. It was definitely one of the coolest and most useful products we tested this year. Dyson V15 Detect Dyson’s vacuum cleaners are already considered the coolest and among the most powerful machines in the business. But this year, the company introduced its V15 Detect in India which comes with a laser. The V12 Detect also offered something similar. Dyson’s V15 Detect is one of the best and more powerful machines from the company, which will show exactly the kind of dust particles being picked up by the machine. But then it also costs a premium like most Dyson products. Philips SpeedPro Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Philips offered something new with its cordless vacuum cleaner. The ability to use a wet mop definitely made it an interesting and appealing product for Indian households. It also came with LED lights in the main floor cleaning attachment, which again meant you could see exactly where all the dust was in the house when cleaning with this. Overall, an impressive and slightly more ‘affordable’ product compared to the Dyson range. Google Nest cameras This product finally made its way to the Indian market and was launched in partnership with Tata Play. The security camera was one of the easiest to set up with a minimalistic design as we experienced in our testing. Plus, you could place the camera anywhere—inside your house or drill it onto the wall outside. And it integrates into the Google Home app quite easily. Given that it comes with Google’s integration, it is one of the better home security cameras to consider. Xgimi Elfin The Xgimi Elfin offered everything one could ask for in a portable projector. The 1080 p projector delivered a better-looking image with improved contrast and detail than you can get from traditional portable projectors. It was easy to set up, but its compact and built-in speakers could get really loud. It also featured an Android operating system with Android TV, giving users direct access to Amazon Prime Video and Disney Hotstar+. For me, the two downsides to the projector were the lack of a built-in battery and the unavailability of Netflix support.
