The year 2022 has been an interesting year for consumer electronics. It was the year when the world started to come out of the pandemic. But like I wrote in one column, this is also the year that smartphones, in particular, became boring.
Even though this piece is all about the best in the business, I hope that you didn’t have to make a purchase.
Yes, 2022 was the year that the smartphone became the PC, not only in terms of the tech suffering from the law of diminishing returns, but also in terms of stagnating sales.
Meanwhile, the smartwatch space exploded in 2022. There are new offerings in the ultra-premium and affordable category. True wireless earphones have also become a thing. Despite Meta’s best efforts, VR still hasn’t hit prime time, but that will happen sooner than later when the “fruit” company jumps into the space.
Consumer electronics matured in 2022, but they didn’t change the game.
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The usual suspects
As one would imagine when I talk about phones, my picks were the new iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Plus, Google Pixel 7 Pro, Vivo X80 Pro, Xiaomi 12 Pro, the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, the Pixel 6A, Nothing Phone (1), Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and the OnePlus 10R.
The standout phone here is the iPhone 14 Plus, which I believe should be the default choice in the high-end category. 14 Pro is only for someone who wants to flaunt the latest Apple iPhone. For Android purists and camera fanatics, it will be the Pixel 7 Pro. People looking for a more all-rounder experience on Android should go for the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Vivo X80 Pro.
For people looking for phones in the sub-Rs 40,000 category, the Pixel 6A is a great choice. The new Nothing Phone (1) is equally impressive, and its design is a conversation starter. Perhaps, the best package remains the OnePlus 10R, which is fast, powerful, and packs in great battery life. The new iPhone SE is an option for iOS folks, but its battery life can be a deal breaker.
For those who want a foldable, the recommendation is the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Redmi Note 11 Pro + 5G is an excellent choice for an entry-level 5G-enabled smartphone.
Also read: In Nothing brand, art in sync with tech. The competitors are listening
The wearable & hearable gang
When we talk about wearables and hearables, Apple is again the 800-pound gorilla of the industry because it dominates with smartwatches and TWS earphones. Its update to the Apple Watch Series 8 has been tepid at best, with the company not rolling out any update to the design or the processor, and only bringing updates to the sensor suite.
The big change came in the form of the Apple Watch Ultra getting a titanium frame, a bigger screen, sophisticated sensors with IP6X dust and water resistance of 100 metres, which professional swimmers and divers need. It adds a GPS antenna for better triangulation for dual-frequency GPS, an action button, dual speakers, and a 36-hour battery life, which can scale to 60 hours with low power settings.
There is also an 86-decibel siren to attract people if you’re in trouble along with an MIL-STD 810H certification.
Samsung matched it with its Galaxy Watch5 Pro. It also got a bigger battery, a titanium frame with sapphire crystal glass, and more sophisticated software features that would appeal to those who are into hiking and fitness. It also plays nice with Samsung’s smartphones and other Android gadgets, but perhaps it is not as sophisticated as Apple Ultra. Regardless, it is a great option.
The Fitbit Sense 2 was also launched this year in India, which brings the best smartwatch for personal fitness in an elegant design. It is the one that you should give to your parents.
As for wireless earphones, Apple, after almost three years, launched the AirPods Pro 2, and they are just fabulous. They sound like the AirPods Max, which is wild. They have a great battery life and stunning noise cancellation with an amazing transparency mode that allows you to use them as earplugs to protect your ears from loud surroundings.
The microphones and noise cancellation are sublime, which means they are excellent for calls. And they come with a magic trick of spatial audio, which, when paired with Apple Music or the right video content, provides a dazzling experience. But they dazzle only with an iPhone.
However, Google’s Pixel Buds Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro2 are very adept. I’d say Samsung’s buds are even better sounding than Apple’s, thanks to their lossless codec support, but that is a Samsung-only experience. Their fit is discrete and superb. But if one is looking for a uniform experience, I’d go with the Pixel Buds Pro, which is more of a jack of all trades.
For people who want bigger wireless headphones, the new Sony WX-1000M5 is simply the best in the business. Best-in-class noise cancellation, battery life, fit, and excellent audio quality are its markers.
The return of the PC?
This year has marked somewhat of a second coming for Intel, as witnessed with numerous AlderLake-based devices. If 2020 and 2021 were all about Apple’s M-series of Macs that dazzled with battery life and performance never seen before on a portable notebook, then “chipzilla” had something to say.
Be it gaming notebooks, mainstream workstation laptops, or even the desktop, Intel’s new processors are starting to turn a corner. It is providing the performance one expects from the products of the company that put the word “silicon” in Silicon Valley. My recent column on gaming notebooks is a testament to that.
But perhaps the craziest thing we saw in the PC space still came from Apple. It was the Mac Studio, which came out of nowhere with the M1 Ultra chip that is more powerful than even the Intel-based Mac Pro that costs more than a BMW. The Mac Studio is expensive but nowhere near the cost of a BMW, but it is superb if you have the use case for it.
Also read: Why the iPad stands out as the next-gen computer for all—kids to professionals to elderly
What to expect from 2023
The year 2023 will be exciting because many of us expect Apple to enter the VR/AR space with Apple Glasses, which will likely take this category mainstream. This year was boring with regard to Apple, but we can expect a new Mac Pro with a new M-series chip, which will blow our minds.
There will be new MacBook Pro models as well, which will be even better than the current crop, along with the iPhone 15 line, which will probably feature a newer design. There will be a redesigned iPad Pro as well. So, for Apple, 2023 will be exciting.
Google is expected to enter the foldable phone space, which could give the category another boost, while Samsung is expected to double down on its leadership of the category. Great things in the IoT space are expected from Samsung as well.
Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, and MediaTek are all expected to launch “new silicon,” which will further push the envelope of technology that will trickle down to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products. So, one can expect 2023 to be more exciting than 2022 and 2021, but perhaps not as fun as 2020.
Sahil Mohan Gupta is a Delhi-based technology journalist. He tweets @DigitallyBones. Views are personal.
(Edited by Tarannum)