Best of Consumer Electronics
Tech Awards 2023 Readers' Choice Results – Part 4
Continuing ourTech Awards 2023 Readers' Choiceseries, here are the results for theBest of Consumer Electronicscategories. As a quick recap, the Readers' Choice awards are given to the best technology brands and services in Singapore asvoted by our readers through an annual poll.
This article isPart 4 (of 4)andcovers11out of the total 46 Readers' Choice award categories.The other parts areBest of Computing,Best of Gaming,andBest of Mobile & Services. Don't forget to check out theEditor's Choice seriesof articles too, where we rate the best products of the year.
Best Smartwatch Brand – Apple
Apple is once again voted in as this year’s Best Smartwatch Brand with 49% of the total votes, though it is their lowest showing yet, dipping below 50% for the first time in the past four years. Although the Apple Watch Ultra was launched in 2022, it didn’t seem to sway user votes that much. In fact, we believe that Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 series (and our 2022 Editor’s Choice Best Smartwatch), showed that the Android camp finally had a capable, and comparable device. While Samsung saw a slightly bigger vote bump (13% to 16%), we noticed an almost universal 1% increase to all the other brands in this category.
Best True Wireless Earbuds Brand – Apple
If you notice our chart, we’ve literally sliced down to 2%, and the “Others” section has enough combined votes to technically tie for second place. Still, the results this year are very similar to what we saw last year. Apple is overwhelmingly the Best True Wireless Earbuds Brand in the eyes (or clicks) of our readers with 35% of all votes. Sony has 11%, but after that, it’s down to a single-digit race. But do remember that the Readers’ Choice poll is based on brand recognition. It doesn’t mean products of a lesser-known brand aren’t as good. For instance, the JBL Live Pro 2 is our Editor’s Choice Best True Wireless Earbuds, not Apple or Sony.
Best Active Noise Cancelling Headphones Brand – Sony
Here’s a fairly predictable category for our polls. Sony is your choice for Best Active Noise Cancelling Headphones Brand with 28% of all votes. The branding history and innovation for Sony’s WH-1000XM headphones are legendary by now. And it is no surprise too, that the latest generation WH-1000XM5 is our Editor’s Choice winner as well for this year. Apple continues to be a strong influence on our readers, and we think it is the hype building up to their next-generation Air Pods Max, which has the rumour mills churning at full speed. An interesting result that caught our attention is JBL. The brand seems to be doing something right, and moving up in the polls to challengeSennheiser and even Bose.
Best Smart Speaker Brand – JBL
Last year, we noted that the Best Smart Speaker Brand category was like “a round of musical chairs”. Brands are usually within 1-2% of each other with no clear favourite. However, this seems to have changed as JBL (there’s that brand again) has pulled ahead enough of the pack with an 18% vote to win the category. While second place Bose is still close by at 14%, there is a clearer distinction between votes. JBL is also the first brand to win this award twice in a row, since the Smart Speaker Brand category was introduced four years ago in 2020.
Best Soundbar Brand – Bose
Audio has seen a revival in recent years as interest in multiple form factors have given rise to quite a number of distinct categories. Just like True Wireless Earbuds, the Best Soundbar Brand Award is highly saturated with both traditional audio brands and innovative newcomers. This category was introduced last year, and Bose has won it both times now, with 17% of the overall votes. With two years of votes, there are some interesting movements we can analyse. Sonos has dropped from second place to fourth, and while B&O retained an equal voting share of 13% for second place, JBL (again) has grown their voter share, and local brand Prism+ has a strong first showing in this category after launching their affordable Dolby Atmos soundbar in early 2022.
Best Home Theatre System Brand – Bose
Bose continues to lead the Best Home Theatre System Brand category with 22% of the overall votes. There is a slight dip from last year’s results, but otherwise, the results are still in line with what we normally see. If there is a trend to take note of, it’s that Sonos has been slowly losing votes. They were 2nd place in 2020, dropping to 3rd in 2021 and 2022 polls, and now 4th in 2023. Sony, on the other hand, was sitting in 5th place in 2020 with just 6% of votes to coming in 3rd this year with 13% of the tally. Sony's options aren't getting any cheaper, but their offerings are improving year-on-year, like these recent additions to their lineup.
Best Mini Projector Brand – Samsung
All the new categories introduced to the Readers’ Choice polls last year have seen incredible brand participation. It is as if the tech industry has been hungry for something new. Mini projectors is another such category, and this year’s winner wasn’t even on the chart last year. Samsung catapulted right to the top with 15% of the votes, likely due to the innovative Freestyle projector, which despite its flaws, perfectly captured the form factor of what a mini, fun, portable projector should be. The rest of the dominoes fall in a similar fashion to last year’s results, from Lumos in 2nd place, Xiaomi in 3rd, to ASUS and Epson sharing 4th spot.
Best Home Theatre Projector Brand – Samsung
Another major upset in a category with a prominent stalwart, Samsung has managed to edge out Sony for the Best Home Theatre Projector Brand award with just a 12-vote difference. Samsung was not even a contender back in the 2021 Tech Awards, and then they released their sleek, ultra-short throw The Premiere 4K Smart Laser Projector, which saw them gain votes in 2022, and it seems that it has been sufficient to hold the brand recognition into the 2023 polls as well. We’re also sure that the Freestyle, despite being in a different category, has also helped Samsung’s case as user trends for a home theatre may be shifting. We are seeing more affordable, universal entertainment projectors come into the market than really high-end, dedicated cinematic projectors. An example would be third-place Epson’s EH-TW6250, a 4K home theatre/smart gaming projector that’s under S$2,000.
Best TV Brand – Samsung
In the past two years, Samsung has been fighting a very tough competitor in the form of the local brand Prism+. In 2021, Samsung held on to their win by just 1% of the votes, though the gap increased back to 8% in the 2022 polls. This year, Samsung is still your Best TV Brand, with 29% of the votes, but Prism+ has dropped down to 4th place with just 16% of the votes (down from 22% in 2022). Prism+ rapidly gained brand recognition with strong social media marketing for affordable TVs with notable specifications. However, the brand has since branched into home electronics, launching fans and air-conditioners, which may have affected their singular display strategy. On the other hand, Samsung has been expanding its display focus on two fronts now, with QLED and OLEDenhanced with quantum dot technology.
Best Camera Brand – Canon
There seems little that can shake the camera branding among the big three. Canon continues to win the majority votes with 38%, while Nikon stays in second spot (22%), just 2% points ahead of Sony. What we have noticed in the past year, however, is that all three brands have been focused more on consumer videography, with Nikon launching the Z 30, Sony upping the game with the ZV-E1, and Canon coming out with the EOS R50 and R8.
Best Electronics Shopping Portal (Singapore) – Shopee
It is undeniable that Shopee is your Best Electronics Shopping Portal. Ever since popping up on our charts in 2019 (with just 7% then), they’ve now captured their highest vote count yet with 28% of the overall votes. Lazada on the other hand has been steadily losing ground with our readers, for the first time polling below 20%. However, it doesn’t seem that Shopee is responsible for this, and Lazada’s votes seem to be spread among all the other brands in the market.
That wraps up the Readers' Choice voting for the Best of Consumer Electronics segment, but don't forget to check out the results in other categories too:-
TheBest Brands in ComputingThe Best Tech Brands in GamingBest of Mobile & Services
Lastly, don't forget that we've also published ourEditor's Choice results here to help you get the best of the best gear.
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