It doesn’t seem right to praise anything in 2020, but here goes: the gadgets were great. In a year when many of us rely more than ever before to stay together, do our jobs and be smart, the technology behind them is better than ever.
Big Technology has promised generational changes in consumer technology this year. The new Macs and new gaming hardware we got in 2020 really kicked off significantly different and better times in computing. I do not like the use of such eloquent phrases as “Eras in computing”, but there is no other way to put it. Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Sony and AMD Actually provided On their bomb claims. That’s not usually how it goes. This is a little dazzling.
So yes, there were regular hits and misses in this year’s gadgets, but what’s different is that hits are blockbusters.
The M1 chip should be the biggest star on Apple’s new laptops and Mac Mini. We almost gave the MacBook a perfect score. In general, a processor change refers to application incompatibility issues that last for many years, but you have to go to strange margin events to find applications that do not work. In general, applications designed for older chips run slower, but in some cases, they run faster on the M1. In general, speed upgrades and battery upgrades are measured in single percentage points, but these laptops are surprisingly fast and will last forever.
It’s hard to reveal what the big deal is. More than once, we had to double check our test results twice and thrice because they seemed too good to be true. I don’t know how Windows PCs are going to respond. So far, armored applications running on the arm in Windows have been slow and non-standard, while Intel-based machines are unlikely to match the M1’s battery life. This will be a tough line for the overall PC industry.
There is a new slate of gaming hardware, all of which seemed to land at once, all of which seem to be undetectable on any retail site. Prior to this year, the best extension goal was to get 4K, HDR and higher update rates simultaneously. After 2020, it will be accessible on PC or console (assuming you can find and buy hardware in stock).
New graphics cards from both Nvidia and AMD usually require trade-offs for gamers to make their own graphics settings. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S are not the slate of the next gen release titles, but they are fast enough to run games that are efficient and quiet. They also have a ton of potential for the future with Microsoft’s Game Pass Ultimate subscription service.
The PlayStation 5, on the other hand, surprised us all by having a new controller that offers some new and exciting experiences. It may seem strange to be curious about hoptics and stimulus resistance, but you can really feel the difference. The basics of the PS5 as a console are also strong – of course the design is polarized.
Overall, the new PC graphics cards and new consoles really mark the beginning of a set of next-gen gaming experiences. Unlike the last time we got a major console update, none of them seemed to stumble out of the gate significantly.
The phones of 2020 were also better. It’s hard to remember because it was a thousand years ago, but Samsung’s Galaxy S20 series was introduced in March as the first flagship 5G phones. It’s weird to say that nothing Samsung does is quiet, but the S20 and S20 Plus have been quiet as the best Android phones this year.
5G is the most obvious claim to make a “next generation” No. Pan out. In the United States in particular, 5G is slightly better than 4G, for those who can detect a signal first. Still, phones that can be used in the 5G era are the best – not because they had 5G, but because they were well-made.
The new iPhones are great too – and started with the confident claim that “5G is real now”. But just like Samsung’s phones, the iPhone 12 series is better than 5G, because it’s not. The iPhone 12 Mini, in particular, has finally made a top-of-the-line phone available for those who feel that everything is too big since the iPhone 5S.
Hell, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 has finally made the original promise better. Too expensive and bitter? Yes. But it also folds into a nice little tablet. I know at least one thing Margin I bought and loved an unnamed teacher (it’s not me).
There are gadgets that should not be the next gen, but simply were Good: Asus ROG G14 Cypress Gaming Laptop; Cobro Hero 9; DJI’s Mini 2 drone gets OcuSync wireless and its new Ronan Kimbles get built-in focus wheels; Nintendo’s Mario Cart Live Home Circuit Remote Control AR Cars; VanMoof S3 e-bike; Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones; And Dell’s latest XPS 13 2-in-1. Even smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Nest Audio significantly improved their sound, with Apple finally hitting a fair price point with the Homepot Mini.
I want to tell you what connects this year’s wave of good gadgets in a coherent course. It would not be right to associate any of these with infection – they would have started to grow before the leading times for everything mentioned here were locked. There was definitely an attempt to make the “next gen” products feel worthy of description, but I don’t think it explains it all.
To be honest, I think it was just luck. Simultaneously a few technologies matured, and a few companies were ready to do something with them. In a year when so many things have gotten unpredictably bad, this one little thing was unpredictably good. The gadgets were great.