Mighty Gadget Best of 2023 Awards

As we approach 2024, I thought it would be good to look back on some of the best products I have personally reviewed or used in 2023.

It has been a busy year, there have been over 225 reviews featured on Mighty Gadget in 2023, which is almost the same as the number of reviews I did in 2022.

As I review an eclectic range of products, I have done my best to categorise them, but with some categories, I haven’t actually reviewed a lot of products, so this is not a definitive best-of list, just products that I have personally loved reviewing this year.

This post ended up being much longer than expected, so I will publish the final award winners tomorrow.

Best Phone: Honor Magic5 Pro

Deciding on the best phone I have reviewed in 2023 was difficult, and my choice may be controversial.

I am sure many other websites would select the Pixel 8 Pro, and I was tempted to award that as the best phone of the year, and it is currently the phone I personally use. However, I find the battery life poor, and prefer faster charging and I think £1K for 128GB of storage is overpriced. The camera is superb, though.

The Honor Magic5 Pro was my main phone for most of 2023 until I smashed the screen. It is cheaper than the Pixel, significantly better battery, superior charging, lower price and has more storage. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is also an excellent chipset that’s far better than the Tensor G3. I think the camera is superb, but admittedly not as good as the Pixel.

Therefore, in my opinion, the Honor Magic5 Pro squeezes past the Pixel for the best phone of 2023.

Honourable Mentions

Vivo iQOO 12

The Vivo iQOO 12 deserves an honourable mention because it was a pleasant surprise. Sadly, it is not officially launched in the UK, but it is one of the first phones to have the incredibly powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, I thought the camera performed much better than expected, and it has an excellent battery with ultrafast charging.

You can buy it as a grey import for around £600, which is excellent value for money. The main negative of this phone was some bloatware.

Pixel 8 Pro

I can’t not mention the Pixel 8 Pro. Many will say it is the best Android phone of 2023. It is a significant upgrade from the Pixel 6 Pro I was previously using, and I love the camera plus the overall Android experience. For me, the battery really lets it down.

Best Power Bank: Anker 737 Power Bank (PowerCore 24K)

I reviewed the Anker 737 Power Bank back in March and it is the power bank I have used the most throughout the year. It supports up to 140W with either of the USB-C ports, which makes it suitable for use with laptops, and it is fantastic for quickly charging phones that support faster power delivery charge speeds.  

Honourable Mentions

Anker Prime 12000mAh Power Bank

The alternative power bank I have used a lot is the Anker Prime 12000mAh A1335. It is much smaller than the 737 so it is ideal for carrying in a bag or even a pocket during the day. It supports 65W power delivery so it can be used for laptops for a bit of emergency juice.

Best Phone Accessory: Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN Charger

Complimenting the aforementioned power banks, I have used the Chargeasap Zeus 270W GaN charger extensively this year. It is perhaps overpriced but it is a superb charger that is capable of charging multiple high-powered devices. It includes US, EU, UK, AU adaptors, so it has been excellent during my travels this year.

Honourable Mentions

DJI OSMO Mobile 6

The DJI OSMO Mobile 6 deserves a mention as it is probably the best smartphone gimbal on the market and it is reasonably priced at around £134 with refurbished options available for around £100.

Best Computer Hardware: Geekom Mini IT13 Mini PC

I have reviewed some excellent computer-related hardware this year.  The Geekom Mini IT13 Mini PC was the defacto winner for me because I have committed to using this full-time as my main PC. Admittedly, if you are price-sensitive, Geekom A5 Mini PC may be a better option.

The Geekom Mini IT13 Mini PC is almost perfect for my needs. I drive three monitors from it, and I have never had any issues with the performance. While I don’t use any very demanding applications, I do often have a huge number of applications running, including dozens of Chrome tabs.

My only criticism is that the fan spins up much more than lower-powered options and it is a bit of an irritating sound profile.

Honourable Mentions

Acer Swift Edge 16

The Acer Swift Edge 16 was probably my favourite laptop of the year. You have plenty of performance thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U, and even though it is a 16” laptop, it is thin and incredibly light. The display OLED runs at 3,200 x 2,000 with a  120Hz refresh rate, and it is superb. It is also one of the first laptops featuring WiFi 7.

Acer Predator BiFrost Intel Arc A770 16GB

The Acer Predator BiFrost Intel Arc A770 deserves a mention as it is the first GPU Acer has produced and the Intel Arc A770 GPU ended up being much better than expected.

Kingston FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2

The Kingston FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 was one of the highest-rated reviews I did this year so deserves a mention.

The PCIe 4.0-based drive is capable of around 7400MB/s read speeds and 7000MB/s write making it slightly faster than the KC3000. The built-in heat sink also makes this compatible with the  Sony PlayStation 5.

Best Computer Peripheral: Ugreen Revodok Pro 209 9-in-1 USB-C Docking Station

Similar to my previous recommendations, I have selected the Ugreen Revodok Pro 209 9-in-1 USB-C Docking Station as my favourite peripheral because it is what I have used the most this year. It compliments my Geekom Mini IT13 perfectly with my using one of the Display Ports for my third monitor and then providing some essential additional USB ports.

Honourable Mentions

Ugreen Revodok Pro Series 313 13-in-1

Some may find the Ugreen Revodok Pro Series 313 13-in-1 is a better solution as it is cheaper, has more ports and supports more monitors. My only minor issue with this is the short built-in cable. However, if you are using it with a laptop, this may be less of an issue.

Best Wearable / Smart Watch: Garmin Epix Gen 2

I have not reviewed many wearables this year, but even if I had, I think I would still pick the Garmin Epix Gen 2. I am biassed here because fitness features are an essential part of a smartwatch for me as I am a keen cyclist and runner.

The Garmin Epix Gen 2 has all the incredibly fitness-focused features of the Garmin Fenix range but has a much nicer OLED display.

Battery life is important to me with a smartwatch, which is why I didn’t select something like the Pixel Watch 2. While the OLED display of the Epix reduces the battery life in comparison to the Fenix 7 it still achieves an impressive 4 days or so.

Honourable Mentions

Xiaomi Watch S1 Pro

The Xiaomi Watch S1 Pro was one of the first reviews I did in 2023, and I thought it was an excellent smartwatch. It uses MIUI Watch OS, which only has limited functionality, but this helps it achieve over a week’s worth of battery life.

It is worth noting that the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro was launched recently which is based on Wear OS. I was excited to review this, but FedEx lost my review sample.

Best Projector: Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air

I have only just reviewed the Nebula Mars 3 Air, and it jumped to the front of my favourite projectors I have reviewed this year. It may not be the brightest portable projector, but it is significantly cheaper than the XGIMI Halo+, and I found that it would still perform well in moderately lit environments. It is much more affordable than the brighter models, which makes it much better value for money, in my opinion. It is also the first projector that supports Netflix natively, allowing you to watch content on Netflix at 1080P HDR rather than relying on a streaming stick like the FireTV.

Honourable Mentions

Acer H6543BDK DLP Projector

The terribly named Acer H6543BDK deserves a mention due to the relatively affordable price and significantly higher brightness of 4,500 ANSI Lumens in comparison to portable projectors. If you only ever use a projector indoors at home, a projector like this could make more sense than a portable one. Unfortunately, with it using a bulb-based lamp, the bulb only has around 4000 hours life.   But, that would still be around 3 years of use if you used it four hours of day.

XGIMI Halo+

With a brightness of 900 ANSI lumen, the XGIMI Halo+ is the brightest portable projector I have reviewed this year and it is excellent.

It is not cheap at around £749, but it outperforms other similarly priced portable projectors. Like most of these projectors (except the Nebula Mars 3 Air), Netflix doesn’t run at FHD, and you will need to use something like the FireTV if you want the best experience.

Best Portable Power Station / Solar Product: Bluetti AC180 Portable Power Station

I have not reviewed as many portable power stations or solar products as I did last year. So the Bluetti AC180 didn’t have a lot of competition. It is an excellent mid to high-capacity portable power station with a large 1152Wh capacity using a LiFePO battery, allowing it to achieve 3,500+ cycles for 80% of its original capacity. Even though I have classed it as the best product, it is worth keeping an eye out on prices as you can often get the EcoFlow Delta 2 a bit cheaper. At the time of writing, the Bluetti AC180w as available for £750 vs £800 of the EcoFlow.

Honourable Mentions

ALLPOWERS R600

The ALLPOWERS R600 is an excellent option fi you need something smaller or cheaper. At the time of writing, it is priced at just £220 and has a 299Wh capacity with an impressive range of powers.

EcoFlow Glacier

The EcoFlow Glacier isn’t really a portable power station but a portable fridge with a built-in battery. I think it is a relatively unique product that’s superb, and I felt it deserved to be mentioned. I have used it regularly throughout the year, and it has been used as my beer fridge over the Christmas period.

Priced at £1250 with the battery, it is painfully expensive.

Best Auto Product: Nextbase IQ Smart Dash Cam

The Nextbase IQ Smart Dash Cam is the most advanced dash cam on the market and I think its unique features make it the best auto product I have used this year.

It is not cheap, and you have ongoing subscription costs, but nothing comes close in terms of the feature on offer.

Honourable Mentions

Vantrue Element 2 Dual Dash Cam

The Vantrue Element 2 Dual dash cam is less exciting than the Nextbase IQ, but it is available for around £155 on Amazon and includes both a front a rear camera with GPS mapping, making it an excellent option if you don’t need all the fancy features of the Nextbase.

Best Cycling Product: Evans Pinnacle HC Direct Drive Smart Turbo Trainer

I am a big fan of indoor cycling with Zwift. I personally use the Tacx Neo Bike which is fantastic but prohibitively expensive for anyone that isn’t very serious about fitness.

The Pinnacle HC Direct Drive Smart Turbo Trainer sits on the other end of the spectrum. It certainly isn’t the best smart turbo trainer for bikes, but it is the most affordable direct-drive trainer I can find. The RRP is ridiculous at £700, but at the time of writing, this was just £210, making it more affordable than most wheel-on trainers. Unless you are a serious indoor cyclist, you probably won’t notice that much difference between the performance of this vs one of the more expensive direct drive trainers.

Honourable Mentions: Engwe P26 Hybrid City E-Bike

I haven’t reviewed many e-bikes this year, I had hoped to award the excellent Vanpowers City Vanture the best e-bike, but that was November 2022. The Engwe P26 is, therefore, the best bike this year. It is a good e-bike that is ideal for anyone wanting an e-bike with a normal geometry. The included pannier rack makes this a good choice for commuting to work, but the overall weight and none-folding design mean this isn’t ideal if you use a mixture of public transport and cycling.

Best Running / General Fitness: Nike ZoomX Vaporfly 2

The Nike ZoomX Vaporfly 2 may not be the newest ultra-fast model from Nike, but I set my marathon PB and 10K PB in them, and I therefore love them. The RRP may be ridiculous but you can normally pick them up with a big discount throughout the year.

Best Smart Home Device: TP-Link Tapo P110M Smart Plug

The TP-Link Tapo P110 has been my favourite smart plug for a while due to its low price and energy-monitoring functionality. The new TP-Link Tapo P110M is even better as you now have Matter built-in. Pricing remains attractive, with an RRP of £17, but it has been as low as £10.

Honourable Mentions

Dreo Falcon S Air Circulator Smart

The Dreo Falcon S Air Circulator Smart Fan was a pleasant surprise, but sadly, it is not for sale in the UK yet. It is quieter than other competing smart fans while being more affordable. It has an attractive design (for a fan), and the app works well.

SwitchBot Hub 2 / Meter Plus / Indoor/Outdoor Thermo-Hygrometer

SwitchBot deserves a mention because they have produced some amazing, affordable smart home gadgets. The Hub 2 may not be the most affordable, but it is a well-featured hub with built-in temperature sensor and Matter support. Then, the Meter Plus and Thermo-Hygrometer are outstanding value for money, priced at £17 and £12, respectively.

Best Security Camera / Doorbell: Eufy Floodlight Camera E340

I have reviewed quite a lot of security cameras, so this deserves its own category and the Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 is my favourite for the year. It upgrades the excellent S330 Floodlight Cam 2 Pro with a dual-lens design, which gives you one wide-angled image and then one zoomed-in image. In my opinion, it is the best floodlight camera on the market.

Honourable Mention

Aqara Smart Video Doorbell

Even though I personally use and prefer the Eufy Security Video Doorbell Dual Camera, which was last year I think the Aqara Smart Video Doorbell is well worth considering.

If you use Apple HomeKit, this is likely the best doorbell for you, and it integrates well with the Aqara ecosystem. You get facial recognition, and there is no required subscription.

Part 2 of the Mighty Gadget Awards for 2023 will be published tomorrow on mightygadget.com

James Smythe( Editor-in-chief )

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.