It was recently this year that Jony Ive, the lead designer of the iMac, iPod, and iPhone, resigned from Apple and started its own creative firm, LoveFrom. It was a year when manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, and Motorola displayed their style of a foldable smartphone, perhaps the next great thing in smartphone technology. But venturing into foldable smartphones has come out to be a task with the first generation devices being anything but fantastic. 2019 also brought us a few concrete information on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, two of the hotly expected next-generation game consoles which will be launched in late 2020.
But before we go into the new year and use new gadgets, let’s have a look at what all gadgets made our lives better in 2019!
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
For Apple, 2019 was the year of rectification than reinvention. The company had been questioned in the past for the lack of smartphone innovation to which has replied with the iPhone 11 Pro Max. While the design was known, Apple came with a triple camera system with fantastic intricacies, a brilliant ultra-wide lens, and splendid Night Mode. For big-screen phone users, the iPhone 11 Pro Max is hailed as the holy grail of smartphones. Although priced on the higher side, the iPhone 11 Pro Max still gives a good performance, excellent battery life, and a better camera made for pro users.
Amazon Echo Studio
If there was a smart speaker that impressed us most this year, it was the Echo Studio. Squarely aimed at the Apple HomePod, Amazon’s Echo Studio does exactly what should have done: giving the best sound experience possible. Just like HomePod and Sonos One, the Echo Studio uses far-field microphones to map out the room to deliver engaging 3D sound experience. To an extent, Amazon did manage to make a smart speaker at the top-end users might be interested to get.
DJI Mavic Mini
DJI’s new Mavic Mini persuades you to give a drone a try that’s so tiny it can effortlessly fit into the palm of your hand. And it is something of an achievement. It weighs only 259 grams, which is under the Federal Aviation Administration’s limit that requires you to register for a drone to fly. Although tiny, the Mavic Mini can fly for up to 30 minutes and has 4K HD video recording.
Apple AirPods Pro
The AirPods Pro wireless earbuds, which cost Rs 24,900, are the favourite. The earbuds, which are on the higher side, come with a new design and boast features like active noise cancellation. No wonder the demand is so high for the AirPods Pro that customers finding it hard to get their hands on a pair of AirPods Pro before Christmas.
Nintendo Switch Lite
When the Switch Lite was launched in 2019, everybody thought it’s a tiny and budget-friendly replacement of the Switch console. Yes, it’s portable and doesn’t let you connect to your television like the regular model but only costs $199. Switch Lite is a better handheld console than the original Switch. The idea here is not to plug the console to the TV; instead, Nintendo is aiming to make a new handheld console that lets the user play every game they enjoyed playing on the Switch.
OnePlus 7T
Among all the high-end phones that were launched throughout the year, no one had the effect of the OnePlus 7T. The OnePlus 7T is honestly an impressive smartphone. It gives just about everything one can ask for from a flagship smartphone along with an effortless experience. The design feels natural, though the camera bump comes out to be a bit large. The performance is great, the triple-lens camera is marvellous, the 90Hz display is buttery smooth, battery charges in minutes, and it looks solid too.
