GADGETS OF THE YEAR

Groundbreaking gadgets - please step up to the podium and receive your gong for making our world a more wonderful one

- Words: Alex Cox Photography: Neil Godwin

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR NINTENDO SWITCH 2

Bigger, brighter, backwards-compatible and bloody bombastic, the Switch 2 is a heck of a console - but one which pointedly (and unusually for Nintendo) doesn’t reinvent the wheel, instead giving that wheel the kind of polish that wheels can usually only dream of. It’s clear that the design brief hinged around the fact that the public loved the original Switch in spite of its wonky drifting Joy-cons, complete lack of communication features, and power which was already lacking when it launched in 2017 - and thus this sequel is the Switch but universally better. More grunt for games with full-fledged in-play video chat if you want it. A new controller design which shouldn't go wobbly within a week, clipped in next to a more colourful, contrasty LED display. A kickstand that isn't floppy garbage, connected to a more refined case design which actually feels comfortable in human hands. And perhaps most importantly, more Mario Kart, placing Nintendo's top-selling and most accessible multiplayer game front and centre of its new console generation, while also giving existing Switch owners access to their existing shelf full of games. We've never seen a launch quite like it, nor felt quite so excited by a sequel: Nintendo has knocked every aspect of the Switch 2 out of the park. Classy, public-first design which pulls off precisely what it aimed to do. £395, nintendo.co.uk

BRAND OF THE YEAR SAMSUNG