We announced the nominees for the TechRadar 2017 awards a month back and the list was made up of editorial and people's choice awards. While we worked on picking our favourites, so did you, our readers, who poured in with your votes on your favourite smartphone, online retailer and company of 2017.
It's time to reveal which companies and products were the best from 2017 - here are the winners of TechRadar Middle East's 2017 Awards!
Best Phone (Editor's Choice): Samsung Galaxy Note 8
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is an incredibly impressive phone that's perfect for anyone who wants a productive, powerful device.
It's got one of the best displays, one of the top cameras, and an excellent mix of speed and performance under the finger, while the S Pen is a real differentiator in a sea of similar phones.
Best Phone (People's Choice): Huawei Mate 10 Pro
Huawei has been making some killer handsets lately and the Mate 10 Pro was voted the best phone by our readers. It has a beautiful design, a great camera and fantastic battery life.
The Huawei Mate 10 Pro is for someone who wants something a little different, and needs a handset that can easily do everything with class.
Best Mid Ranged Phone (Under AED 2,000): Nokia 8
The Nokia 8 is an impressive handset with specs and performance to match any high-end smartphone. But then you look at its price and you do a double-take to see if you've read it wrong, as it offers flagship specs at a price you'd expect from a mid-ranged device. With fantastic support with updates and a clean Android interface, the Nokia 8 is the best phone in it's price range.
Best Budget Phone (Under AED 1,000): Honor 7X
Honor has always brought features found in high-end phones at prices that make it affordable for most first-time smartphone buyers. The Honor 7X was no different, bringing a 18:9 screen and a super tough build that was previously reserved for flagship products.
Best Tablet: Microsoft Surface Pro
Microsoft Surface Pro is a hybrid tablet/PC that is very popular with business users because of its power and portability. This year's model is the biggest improvement Microsoft has ever made on a Surface. It has a fantastic battery life a great keyboard and a refined design. Even though the Surface Pen has now become an optional accessory, the Surface Pro is still our favourite tablet from 2017.
Innovation in Mobile: Moto Mods
Lenovo did it right with a modular design for smartphones and has kept on it's promise by releasing additional mods for its Z range that allow you to expand what your phone is capable of. This year we saw the addition of a 360-degree camera, a gamepad and a photo printer, which make the Moto Z2 phone more flexible than any other smartphone.
Innovation in Mobile: Sony Xperia Touch
Sony is great at designing products that give us a peek into the future, and the Xperia Touch is exactly that. It's Android-based and can project a screen that you can interact with, like you would on a phone or a tablet. Someday, all projectors will have similar functionality and we'll be thanking Sony for making it happen.
Best Smartwatch: Fitbit Ionic
The best use of a smartwatch is fitness and Fitbit have been in this space longer than any smartwatch company. Add a killer 5-day battery life and independence from your phone, and the Fitbit Ionic feels like a smartwatch that's building the foundation for all future smartwatches.
Best Headphones: Sony WH-1000MX2
When you buy a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, you're often trading sound quality for the ability to block out outside noise. For years, we just hadn't been able to find headphones that could do both noise-cancellation and Hi-Res audio.
Until now.
The Sony WH-1000XM2 is the follow-up to the surprisingly great MDR-1000X and wins our hearts for the best headphones of 2017.
Best Laptop: Dell XPS 13
The Dell XPS 13 is no stranger to winning awards and for a good reason. It has powerful Intel processors, ranging from i5 to i7, along with a nigh-bezel-less ‘Infinity Edge’ display, which fits a 13.3-inch screen into an 11-inch frame. The Dell XPS 13 really stands out from its competition.
Best Online Retailer (People's Choice): SOUQ.COM
We've seen tremendous growth in ecommerce over the last year and there is no denying that souq.com is leading the pack. Under Amazon's acquisition, the brand has gone from strength to strength and offered an astonishing half a million deals for White Friday last year.
Best Tech Company (People's Choice): Huawei
Not only was the Huawei Mate 10 Pro voted as the best phone by our readers but Huawei was also selected as the favourite tech company from 2017. We can't wait to see what Huawei has planned for 2018 as it looks like it's just getting started.
