Best mobile devices on the go: Tech Awards 2020 Editor's Choice Results (Part 2)

Note: This article was first published on 21 Feb 2020.

Best mobile devices on the go (Tech Awards 2020)

Computing used to be something you do while stationary. But advances in both computing technology and telecommunications means that is no longer the case. Notebooks have, for many years now, been portable enough to carry around in bags, making it easy for a new generation of workers to work wherever and whenever. And in recent years, phones have become larger and exponentially more powerful, enabling new ways of interaction and the ability to run more complex and powerful apps. Likewise, an entire ecosystem of accessories has sprung up around these mobile devices to make life easier and better.

Fortunately, for Tech Awards 2020, we have gathered and tested all the major devices that you need to get the most out of your time on the road. These are the award categories that the editors have assessed for this segment:-

• Best Smartphone
• Best Ultraportable Notebook
• Best True Wireless Earbuds
• Best Noise-cancelling Headphones
• Best Gaming Notebook
• Innovation Awards

Other segments include the Best devices for Home, Mobility devices (this article), Work and Gaming. Not to forget, our Readers' Choice results for the Best Tech Brands.

Read on and find out what they are. For this segment, we begin with the most indispensable tool in our daily lives – the smartphone.

Best Smartphone

The best smartphone category is always tightly contested, and this year is no different with great phones from the world's major smartphone brands. In this category, we’re judging design, build, benchmark performance, battery life, camera performance, display quality, audio quality, handling, as well as any other extra features like advanced biometric security and AI capabilities.

To make the cut, the phone has to be released in 2019 and has to the brand's flagship offering.

Nominees:

• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
• ASUS ROG Phone II
• Google Pixel 4XL
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro
• Samsung Galaxy Note10+

And the winner is...

This year, the best overall smartphone goes to the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ because it has a feature set that other phones struggle to match. Overall, we feel it's the strongest all-rounder phone.

To start, the hardware and design are excellent. It's 6.8-inch AMOLED display is expansive, sharp, vibrant, and just downright gorgeous. You can't help but be amazed the first time you lay eyes on it.

Powered by Samsung's Exynos 9825 processor, the Note10+ also offers good general performance. The S Pen is as useful as ever and continues to be one of the defining features of Samsung's Note series. It also makes it one of the rare few phones to come with an integrated stylus whose functionality improves year-on-year.

The cameras get new feature capabilities focussed on improving video shooting performance such as Live Focus Video for real-time bokeh effect adjustment, preview and recording, Zoom-in Mic to amplify audio capture of the subject in your video recording as you zoom in, enhanced screen recording capabilities such as PiP so you can record yourself while showing what you're actually doing on the phone - great for office show-and-tell purposes or even for mobile game screen recording. There are several more aspects like great audio from the built-in speaker, microSD card expansion, massive 12GB of RAM help the phone double-up as a make-shift workstation using DeX mode and much more.

Overall, the Galaxy Note10+ is a thoughtfully designed phone, brimming with features and performance that will delight its owners. Furthermore, insofar as flagship smartphones are concerned, it's even quite competitively priced.

*Note: Prices and ratings listed are accurate at the time of individual product evaluation.

For more information on how the nominees fared in detail and thus helping us pick our winner, check out the full reviews and articles listed in the References below.

References

• Shootout: Flagship smartphones compared
• Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max review
• ASUS ROG Phone II review
• Google Pixel 4XL review
• Huawei Mate 30 Pro review
• Samsung Galaxy Note10+ review

Best Ultraportable Notebook

Ultraportable notebooks are one of the most exciting categories in computing today. Thanks to advances in processor technology and materials, they have never been more compact, more portable, and more suited to life on the road. Today's thin and light notebooks are just over a kilogram heavy and can easily run for hours. Support for new technologies like Thunderbolt 3 also means they can be docked when users get home, which improves performance and functionality. These attributes make ultraportable notebooks the weapon of choice for many users today.

To make the cut for this year’s awards, the notebook must be among the slimmest and lightest in the brand's lineup, and it must have been announced last year. It can be a traditional notebook or a convertible or detachable. Finally, it must be powered by a full Intel Core processor (no ultra-low-voltage variants).

Nominees:

• Acer Swift 5
• ASUS ZenBook 14 UX434
• Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
• HP Spectre X360 13
• Lenovo Yoga S940
• LG gram 14
• Microsoft Surface Pro 7
• Razer Blade Stealth (Late 2019)

And the winner is...

This year saw the release of many seriously competent notebooks. Many were thoughtful, some offered good value of money, a couple were downright beautiful, but there could only be one winner and it is the HP Spectre x360 13.

The Spectre x360 13 won because it does a lot of things right. To begin, the design is fantastic. And because it is a convertible, it's versatile too. It has an edgy, angular look that has become a signature of the brand and it is really compact. The display is brilliant and has really small bezels. Usually, a compact design means trading off some ports, but the Spectre has just about all the ports you could want from an ultraportable notebook – two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports and even a full-size USB-A port. Finally, another thing that it does really well is its battery life. In our tests, we found that it lasts considerably longer than its rivals. Really, its only glaring faults were its below-average graphics performance and its tiny trackpad. Overall, the Spectre x360 13 is the best ultraportable notebook at the point of publishing this article.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed in the References section below.

References

• Acer Swift 5 review coming soon
• ASUS ZenBook 14 UX434 review
• Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
• HP Spectre x360 13 review
• Lenovo Yoga S940 review coming soon
• LG gram 14 review coming soon
• Microsoft Surface Pro 7 review
• Razer Blade Stealth 13 review

Best True Wireless Earbuds

True wireless earbuds are arguably the biggest audio trend in 2019. Everyone seemed to be coming up with one and that's a good thing. Competition means greater variety and it advances the category. Early true wireless earbuds were finicky and could not reliably maintain a connection, but the current crop of true wireless earbuds manages this very well. Not all are great but they are a lot better than they were. The latest true wireless earbuds also have new features such as active noise-cancellation which is extremely useful when commuting as it greatly reduces environmental noise.

To make the cut for this category, the headphone must be of an earbud or in-ear design and it must be truly wireless, i.e. the two earpieces must not be connected by any wires. We rounded up no fewer than 10 nominees!

Nominees:

• Apple AirPods Pro
• Audio-Technica ATH-CKS5TW
• Creative Outlier Gold
• JBL Reflect Flow
• Klipsch T5 True Wireless
• Master & Dynamic MW07 Plus
• PaMu Slide
• Plantronics BackBeat Pro 5100
• Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
• Sony WF-1000XM3

And the winner is...

The Sony WF-1000XM3 is easily the best true wireless headphone for most people. To begin, its active noise-cancellation is so good that it puts some full-size active noise-cancelling headphones to shame.

Excellent noise-cancellation aside, it also sounds great. Its clarity and resolution are impressive for a wireless audio device and its impactful, full-bodied sound belies the fact that it's a tiny wireless earbud. Its comfortably one of, if not the best sounding true wireless earbuds in the market right now.

Finally, Sony has made meaningful updates to the companion app, so this gives you the ability to customise the earbuds. Whether it's adjusting the level of ambient noise you hear, or what controls go to which earbud, that can all be set in the app to your liking, so you can personalise your experience. With all this said, it's easy to see why it's our pick for best true wireless earbud of 2019 and our winner in this category for Tech Awards 2020.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed in the References section below.

References

• 10-Way wireless earbuds shootout! (HWM February 2020 issue)
• Apple AirPods Pro review
• Creative Outlier Gold review
• Klipsch T5 True Wireless review
• Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless review
• Sony WF-1000XM3 review

Best Noise-cancelling Headphones

2019 was a busy year for personal audio, particular noise-cancelling headphones. As consumers started paying more attention to what they were listening to while on the move, so too did headphone manufacturers who focused their efforts on creating superlative headphones for mobile use.

Noise-cancelling headphones are the preferred choice of many commuters because their active noise-cancellation is super effective in drowning out environment noise, especially the low-frequency hums made by engines. The fact that many of them are wireless also makes them super handy and convenient to use.

To qualify in this category, the headphones must be either over-ear or on-ear designs, have active noise-cancellation and must be wireless.

Nominees:

• Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC
• Bose Headphones 700
• Jabra Elite 85h
• JBL Live 650BT
• Master & Dynamic MW65
• Plantronics Backbeat Go 810

And the winner is...

The Bose Headphones 700 represents a new approach to noise-cancelling by Bose, with a fresh new design and an improved noise-cancelling system. These offer slightly better noise-cancelling than the QuietComfort 35 II and let you control the amount of ambient noise that comes in so you can still retain awareness of your surroundings. Being able to switch between two devices without having to go through the pairing process is nice too, as is the shift to using USB-C for charging.

However, there the improvement in noise-cancellation isn't enough to dethrone the Sony WH-1000XM3, which is still the quietest headphone we have used. And in terms of outright sound quality, the Bose Headphone 700 is trumped by the Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC and Master & Dynamic MW65. 

That said, even though the Bose Headphones 700 may not be the best in any one area, it is strong in all of them and is the best all-round option. It offers good noise-cancellation, a comfortable fit, and very decent sound quality. For these reasons, it is our best noise-cancelling headphones of 2019 and for Tech Awards 2020.

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed in the References section below.

References

• Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC review
• Bose Headphones 700 review
• Jabra Elite 85h (reviewed on HWM Aug 2019)
• JBL Live 650BT (reviewed on HWM Aug 2019)
• Master & Dynamic MW65 (reviewed on HWM Aug 2019)
• Plantronics BackBeat Go 810 (reviewed on HWM Aug 2019)

Best Gaming Notebook

15.6-inch gaming laptops sit in something of a sweet spot today, both portable and powerful enough to run most modern games at 1080p. NVIDIA's Max-Q technology has also helped pave the way for a new breed of slim and light gaming notebooks, redefining conventional expectations of what a gaming laptop is. Finally, you could get a laptop that combined both portability and performance, effectively getting the best of both worlds. Today, there are plenty of gaming laptops that let you comfortably take them out with you, and they are almost the norm now rather than the exception. 

To make the cut this year, the laptop must be the flagship 15.6-inch model from their respective brands. But because it wasn't always possible to get the same configuration from every model, some laptops like the HP Omen 15 were reviewed with the GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q instead of the 2070 Max-Q. Others, like the Aorus 15 XA, are also not available with a Max-Q configuration, so we reviewed them with the GeForce RTX 2070 instead.

Nominees:

• Acer Predator Triton 500
• Aftershock Vapor 15 Pro
• Alienware m15 R2
• Aorus 15 XA
• ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX502
• HP Omen 15
• Lenovo Legion Y740
• Razer Blade 15

And the winner is...

It's amazing how much has been packed into this laptop without driving up the price. At S$2,799, the Aftershock Vapor 15 Pro makes hardly any sacrifices and is fully capable of competing toe-to-toe with laptops that cost nearly a thousand dollars more. If you liked the Razer Blade 15 but thought it too pricey, the Vapor 15 Pro will make you very, very happy. The two laptops look really similar, and the Vapor 15 Pro even offers additional features like a mechanical keyboard and SD card reader. It also has slightly better port placement with the Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI ports located at the rear. More importantly, it's a lot lighter, weighing just 1.87kg to the Blade's 2.15kg.

In a nutshell, the Vapor 15 Pro is light, has a long-lasting 94Wh battery, and is affordable. It will take any modern game you throw at it, and it'll do so without outputting a ton of heat and noise. As a result, it handily beats the rest of the competition and is quite simply the best gaming notebook you can get today. 

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed in the References section below.

References

• Acer Predator Triton 500 review
• Aftershock Vapor 15 Pro review
• Alienware m15 R2 review
• Aorus 15 XA
• ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX502GW review 
• HP Omen 15 review
• Lenovo Legion Y740 review
• Razer Blade 15 review

Innovation Awards

Four Innovation awards were also given out in this year's Editor's Choice segment, with the aim of recognizing innovative products and cutting-edge technologies that have emerged during the eligibility period. Two of them have made it in this category and they are the Samsung Galaxy Fold and ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo.

 

1) Samsung Galaxy Fold

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was one of the most important phone launches of 2019. It's a landmark phone, not just for Samsung but for the entire phone industry. Granted, it got off to a rocky start, but Samsung should be commended for swiftly taking action and correcting its course. More importantly, the Galaxy Fold will be remembered in history as being the first mass-market foldable phone, selling at least 400,000 units and that's an impressive achievement.

It's also a showpiece, not just for foldable display technology, but what's possible if price was of no concern and all the latest in mobile and display technology were crammed into one phone. In short, it's a glimpse into the future. It's still early days yet for foldable displays and foldable phones but if foldable phones do take off in the near future, we all have the Galaxy Fold to thank.

Reference: Samsung Galaxy Fold hands-on

2) ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo

Massive advances in cellular and wireless connectivity means mobile computing is now more important than ever. Certainly, apart from phones, notebooks have seen the biggest changes and improvements in terms of form factor and design. Hybrid form factor notebooks such as convertible and detachable notebooks are more popular than ever and have helped people become more productive. And now, it seems like we are on the cusp of a new era of notebooks thanks to the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo UX581, which features not one but two displays.

To be fair, dual display notebooks are not entirely new but the ZenBook Pro Duo UX581 deserves accolades for being the most refined and thoughtful dual display notebook that we have seen yet. Most importantly, it overcomes the issue of a second display just for the sake of it. On the ZenBook Pro Duo UX581, the second display, called the ScreenPad Plus, is 14 inches large and shares the same horizontal pixel count as the main display so that content flows seamless from one display to the next. ASUS has even gone to the trouble of ensuring it has a matte display and that it's placed as close to the main display as possible and at a fixed angle so that users' eyes can glance at the two displays easily. In short, the two displays isn't just a gimmick, it really works and, in the right hands, can be really helpful.

Reference: ASUS ZenBook Pro UX581 review

Read Next

For a full list of content related to the HWM and HardwareZone.com Tech Awards 2020 outcome, you can refer to the following links:

• Tech Awards 2020: Readers' Choice Results
• Tech Awards 2020: Editor's Choice Results
  Part 1: Best devices for your home
  Part 2: Best mobile devices on the go (this article)
  Part 3: Best devices for Work
  Part 4: Best devices for Gaming
• Full list of winners: HWM+HardwareZone Tech Awards 2020 microsite

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