TrustedReviews Awards 2012: The winners

Every year we look at thousands of gadgets and tech products, from giant 5.1 surround systems to affordable compact cameras. Some are bad, others good. But only the select few are nominated for a TrustedReviews product of the year award. Want to know who won our phone of the year award? Or what the best TV of 2012 was? Read on. The Awards Phones, Tablets, Mobile Games Cameras and Camcorders TV and Media Streaming AV, Headphones, Home Audio Laptops, SatNav, Console Game Best Mobile Phone of 2012: Samsung Galaxy S3 Let's start with a big one. The Samsung Galaxy S3 was hands-down the most popular with our readers. It saw the much-loved Galaxy series go from strength to strength. It's the one phone that put in serious sales competition for the iPhone 5 last year, and for good reason. Great hardware, a superb screen and oodles of power made this the clear Android flagship of the year. Best Mobile Phone of 2012 Runners-up: iPhone 5 Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Best Value Phone of 2012: Google Nexus 4 It's a phone surrounded by controversy, with many asking “why can't I buy a Google Nexus 4?”. But if you manage to buy one direct from Google, it's by far the best-value higher-end phone you can get. It offers similar specs to the Samsung Galaxy S3, but sells for up to £150 less. It's a much less attractive deal if you opt for the £400 Google Nexus 4 offer the big carriers currently have. Best Value Phone of 2012 Award Runners-up: Huawei Ascend G300 HTC One V Best Tablet of 2012: Google Nexus 7 Easily the most important Android tablet of the last 12 months, the Google Nexus 7 revolutionised what we could expect from sub-£200 tablets. It looked like game over for most of the budget tablet brigade. With a good-quality 7-inch IPS screen, handy design and excellent performance for its time, the Google Nexus 7 still represents cracking value for money. There's now also a 3G version, if you're willing to spend a little extra. Best Tablet of 2012 Award Runners-up: iPad mini Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Best Mobile Game of 2012: Bad Piggies When word of Bad Piggies arrived, we initially took a cynical view. Rovio was once again milking the Angry Birds cow. However, after 10 minutes playing the game, it's impossible not to appreciate the design ingenuity that has gone into the game. In each level you have to get a green pig from one end of the level to another, using a vehicle made out of blocks, wheels, engines, balloons and more. Best Mobile Game of 2012 Award Runners-up: Real Racing 2 for Android Plants vs. Zombies for Android The Awards Phones, Tablets, Mobile Games Cameras and Camcorders TV and Media Streaming AV, Headphones, Home Audio Laptops, SatNav, Console Game Best Compact Camera: Sony Cyber-Shot RX100 A clear best-in-class winner, the Sony Cyber-Shot RX100 has a much larger sensor than most compact cameras, and has 20.2 megapixels to play with. Having a sensor as large as some interchangeable lens cameras gives it great low-light performance. If you want great image quality but don’t want the bulk of a CSC or DSLR, you can’t go wrong. 2012 Camera of the Year runner-up awards: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 FujiFilm X10 Best Interchangeable Lens Camera: Nikon D800 If you want a full-frame sensor DSLR but don't want to spend a huge pile of cash, you need to check out the Nikon D800. At £2k it's among the cheaper full-frame models, keeping it within reach of the semi-pro photographer. It has a 36.2-megapixel sensor and fantastic image quality. Best Interchangeable Lens Camera of 2012 Award Runners-up: Sony NEX-5n Canon EOS-1D X Best Camcorder of 2012: Panasonic HC-X900 If you want the best video quality, to store your memories with real fidelity, the Panasonic HC-X900 is what you're after. It uses three 3MP sensors, taking care of each part of the RGB colour array. With a 12x optical zoom that can be extended to 23x with some digital jiggery-pokery, it's far more flexible than using a DSLR's video mode. Best Camcorder of 2012 Award Runners-up: JVC HD Everio GZ-V515 Sony HDR-TD20VE The Awards Phones, Tablets, Mobile Games Cameras and Camcorders TV and Media Streaming AV, Headphones, Home Audio Laptops, SatNav, Console Game Best Value TV of 2012: Panasonic TX-P42ST50 The Panasonic TX-P42ST50 proves you don't have to spend £1000 to get a world-class TV. At launch, it was the cheapest way to get hold of a NeoPlasma TV – using Panasonic's latest panel technology. TVs like this demonstrate that if you're after cinematic-looking, natural images rather than the punchy super-bright look of LCD, plasma is still the only way to go for a budget buyer. Best Value TV of 2012 Award Runners-up: Samsung PS51D550 Toshiba 32RL953 Best TV of 2012: Panasonic TX-P65VT50 With more inches and more advanced tech than the budget pick TX-P42ST50, the Panasonic TX-P65VT50 is TrustedReviews's favourite TV. Using the latest Panasonic filters and panel technology, its image quality is unbeatable. Best TV of 2012 Award Runners-up: Sony KDL-40HX653 Samsung UE46ES8000 Best Media Provider of 2012: Netflix What sets Netflix apart from the runners-up here is price. Netflix is just so affordable at £5.99 that movie streaming fans would be silly not give it a go. It offers thousands of TV episodes and movies, many of them in HD and with surround audio. It's accessible from dozens of locations too, including PS3s, iPhones, Blu-ray players and TVs. Best Media Provider of 2012 Award Runners-up: Sky Anytime Virgin Media The Awards Phones, Tablets, Mobile Games Cameras and Camcorders TV and Media Streaming AV, Headphones, Home Audio Laptops, SatNav, Console Game Best Headphones of 2012: Sennheiser Amperior Sennheiser came up with some cracking new pairs of headphones in 2012. At the top of our list are the Sennheiser Amperior, metal-backed versions of the classic Sennheiser HD 25. They provide superbly punchy bass with highly detailed treble. They have it all, and as on-ears headphones are ready for a life on the road. Best Headphones of 2012 Award Runners-up: SoundMagic E30 Phonak Audeo PFE 232 Best Portable Audio of 2012: iPod touch 5th Generation Apple gave the iPod touch its biggest overhaul in years in 2012. Its screen now matches the size of the iPhone 5, and like Apple's other iPod models it's dead colourful. The 5th Generation iPod touch is available in six colours, each sporting the new loop lanyard holder. The best bits of the iPod touch are the same as they ever were though – that unbeatable collection of apps and games. Plus, just consider, you can get a 64GB iPod touch for £200 less than a 16GB iPhone 5. Best Portable Audio of 2012 Award Runners-up: Pasce Minirig FiiO E17 Best Home Audio of 2012: Samsung DA-E750 Few streamlined audio-only products are as feature-packed as the Samsung DA-E750. Aside from the high-quality tube amp and dual docks for both iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones, the dock is also fully wireless-capable. Just about every key standard is supported. There's inbuilt Wi-Fi for AirPlay and Samsung AllShare, plus Bluetooth 3.0 with aptX support. It sounds great to boot, making this one seriously impressive device. Best Home Audio of 2012 Award Runners-up: Arcam rPAC Philips Fidelio Soundcurve DS8800 Best Surround Sound System of 2012: KEF KHT3005SE A 5.1 surround system that might even make your living room look better rather than worse, the KEF KHT3005SE is the perfect marriage of style, sound quality and practicality. Each satellite speaker sits on its own pedestal stand, and the KEF subwoofer is unusually slim-line. All curves and glossy finish, these are speakers to show off not shun. Best Surround Sound System of 2012 Award Runners-up: Jamo D600 LG BH9520TW The Awards Phones, Tablets, Mobile Games Cameras and Camcorders TV and Media Streaming AV, Headphones, Home Audio Laptops, SatNav, Console Game Best Laptop of 2012 winner: Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display 15.6-inch Falling into the “money no object” category, the MacBook Pro with Retina Display starts at £1500. But what a laptop you get for the cash. Alongside its incredible 2,880 x 1,800 pixel Retina Display, it's even slimmer than the non-Retina model, packs some seriously powerful components and hardware design that remains unbeaten. Best laptop of 2012 Award Runners-up: Asus Transformer Pad 300 Samsung Series 9 900X3B Best SatNav of 2012: TomTom Go Live 1005 World With a large 5-inch screen, TomTom's HD Traffic engine and faster route finding than non-dedicated SatNavs the TomTom Go Live 1005 World proves that there's still room in the world for the trusty dedicated SatNav. Although not dramatically different from 2011's winner, it's a fantastic GPS tool Best SatNat of 2012 Award Runners-up: TomTom Top Gear Edition Nokia Drive Best Console Game of 2012: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim If you're thinking of popping Skyrim into your console's disc tray, you'd better have set some time aside. This gigantic game will eat up your free time like nothing else. Set in an open fantasy world of dragons, political intrigue and alliances under tension, it continues the mature high fantasy style of the other Elder Scrolls games, with all the gaming tech and visual fidelity of the best-looking games of its time. Best Console Game of 2012 Award Runners-up: Journey FIFA 2013

TrustedReviews Awards 2012: The winners

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