Tech Awards 2024 Readers' Choice Results - Part 4
You've read our picks in the Editor's Choice series showcasing the best products of the year as tested by our editorial team, and now we present the results of the Readers' Choice series of Tech Awards 2024.
This segment of the awards highlights the top tech brands and services in Singapore, as chosen by you. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our readers for participating in these polls, now in their 15th year. Your participation in the Tech Awards process helps democratise these results, providing a clear message of real consumer sentiment and brand recognition across the tech industry.
This year, we have 47 award categories for polling—many of them are brand new as we constantly retool our survey to stay relevant to our audience. After a month of compiling the results from thousands of our readers, we're ready to share the outcome to help Singaporeans make an informed buying decision and highlight why these brands came out ahead.
This article is Part 4 (out of 8) and covers the six awards that comprise the Best of Lifestyle Tech categories. Be sure to stick around to check out the results of the other categories that will be published in the coming days. Meanwhile, here are the contents of this article:-
- Best Smartwatch Brand
- Best Wireless Earbuds Brand
- Best Noise Cancelling Headphones Brand
- Best Smart Speaker Brand
- Best Camera Brand
- Best Huddle Room Video Bar Brand
Best Smartwatch Brand - Apple
Apple is once again your Best Smartwatch Brand with 53% of the total votes. What's interesting about this year's results is that the gains made by Samsung and other Android smartwatch brands in the 2023 polls have regressed. These results show that our readers are sensitive to technology impact. While the Apple Watch experience remains largely the same year-on-year; we've even acknowledged as much in our Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Series 9 review, the promise of more refined Wear OS devices hasn't really been met. It also doesn't help that there are more Android brands competing for the same slice of the pie than ever before, and it's increasingly harder to stand out in a crowded space. This was a major contention point in picking our Editor's Choice Best Android Smartwatch too.
Best Wireless Earbuds Brand - Apple
This chart almost does not change year-on-year, poll after poll. While this is a testament to brand recognition, it also signifies how difficult it is for brands to differentiate themselves. Audio is after all one of the most subjective categories that is very much rooted in personal experience. Apple continues to be the leader in this category with 35% of total votes, while Sony comes in second with 11%. These are exactly the same results as last year. Everyone else falls into place similarly, but we've noticed that Beats has sneaked its way out of the "Others" grouping (brands with too few individual votes to be visualised on the chart) with a 3% share. If you count this as part of Apple's total branding, then they've actually extended their lead this year.
Best Noise Cancelling Headphones Brand - Apple
The big surprise for this year's results isn't just that Apple and Sony have swapped spots for first and second place, but also the huge shift in vote share - an 8% drop for Sony or 7% gain for Apple depending on which brand's perspective you see this chart from last year's standings. There were very few product updates in 2023; neither Apple nor Sony updated their flagships since the original AirPods Max (2020) and WH-1000XM5 (2022). We can only speculate that Apple has been very successful with its lifestyle branding, and existing products continue to be relevant as a statement piece. Sony on the other hand, are better known for their technical capabilities. So, while they have other headphones, such as the new ULT Wear, the absence of a WH-1000XM update in more than 2 years has hurt their standings.
Meanwhile, if you're looking for suggestions on best headphones to buy, we've something for everyone - tested.
Best Smart Speaker Brand - JBL
We did say audio is a subjective personal experience, and it would seem that our readers have chosen JBL for a third year running as their Best Smart Speaker Brand. However, the larger 4% lead they had in last year's polls have been shaved down to a close 1% race this year with second place Bose. B&O drops to fouth and is overtaken by Sonos with a mere 5 vote difference. Sonos was quite active in 2023, with multiple new smart speaker updates such as the Sonos Era 100, Era 300, and Move 2.
Best Camera Brand - Canon
Canon is still the undisputed choice for Best Camera Brand among our readers with 34% of the total votes. However, this is the first big drop for Canon in the last four years where they usually command around 38-39% of the votes. Perhaps it's because Canon's focus in 2023 seemed to be targeted at mainstream content creators at the entry-level with releases like the EOS R8, R50, R100, and Powershot V10. This year's flagship launches like the EOS R1 and R5 Mark II may give Canon a boost back to their original standings. Nikon on the other hand, has been slowly gaining votes over the same time period, from 19% in 2021 to 23% this year. They've been courting both vintage and modern fans alike with the Z f and Z 8 in 2023.
Best Huddle Room Video Bar Brand - Logitech
A brand new category for this year's Readers' Choice Awards voting, the Best Huddle Room Video Bar Brand recognises the dynamics of modern hybrid work setups where teams are often split between office and home. The term hybrid here doesn't just mean different physical locations, but also a mix of in-person and digital conferencing. The brands in this category provide audio and visual communication setups that specifically cater to such needs. Our inaugural winner is Logitech, garnering 32% of the total votes. In the last year, they've launched products that fit various scenarios from personal meeting spaces with the Rally Bar Huddle, to the AI-powered MeetUp 2 video bar. In second place, Jabra updated their Panacast 50 system with 4K video capabilities and built-in Andoid compute hardware.
That wraps up the Readers' Choice voting segment for the Best of Lifestyle Tech, but don't forget to check out the results in these other categories:-
- Part 1: Best of Personal Computing Brands
- Part 2: Best DIY Computing Brands
- Part 3: Best Mobile Tech Brands
- Part 4: Best Lifestyle Tech Brands (this article)
- Part 5: Best Home Appliances Brands
- Part 6: Best Home Entertainment Brands
- Part 7: Best Service Provider Brands
- Part 8: Best Tech Brands in Gaming
Lastly, don't forget that we've also published our Editor's Choice results here to help you get the best of the best gear.
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