As a tech editor, I’ve tested tons of new gadgets this year. As the year wraps up, I’ve handpicked 9 standout products to share my honest thoughts—there are absolute gems I can’t stop raving about, and total duds that ended up collecting dust at home.
These are all my subjective opinions. If you’ve tried any of these too, drop your thoughts in the comments below!
【Winners List: 6 Must-Buys You Won’t Regret】
1. Best Value Phone of the Year: iPhone 17 Standard
Who says the biggest upgrade of the iPhone 17 series is the looks? It’s clearly Apple’s newfound generosity toward the standard model! Starting at the same $899 as the iPhone 16, the base storage doubles from 128GB to 256GB. Plus, the 120Hz ProMotion display—once exclusive to Pro models—finally makes its way to the standard version, along with a revamped front camera and scratch-resistant screen.
Compared to the Pro, the only real gap is the lack of a physical telephoto lens. Better chips and screens just boost the experience a bit—they’re not make-or-break features for most users. This year, the iPhone 17 Standard absolutely nails the value-for-money game!
2. Lazy Creator’s Dream Gadget: DJI Osmo Nano
Vlog cameras flooded the market this year—DJI Osmo 360, Action 6, Insta360 Go Ultra, you name it. But my favorite by far is the Osmo Nano—it’s doubled how often I post on social media.
The detachable magnetic design is tiny and handy, and the image quality is solid. Best of all, it’s super easy to use: just tap the body twice, and it starts recording automatically. Besides standard first-person and wide third-person shots, it unlocks tons of creative angles—toss it in water or mount it on your car. The built-in screen makes monitoring a breeze too. The only bummer? It heats up pretty fast during long shoots.
3. OCD-Friendly Pick of the Year: Ugreen Digital Display Charger
This year, I swapped all my charging cables to USB-C to USB-C. It’s such a relief to use one cable for my iPhone, iPad, AirPods, and MacBook! But charging all these devices at once was a hassle—until I got this Ugreen charger.
It packs 4 USB-C ports and 1 USB-A port, so it can juice up 4 USB-C devices simultaneously. The display shows the fast-charging protocol and power output for each port, so you never have to worry about slow charging. The max 100W output is overkill for iPhones, but it charges my test Android phones blazingly fast—total bliss for OCD folks like me.
4. Cyber “Wish Machine” of the Year: Bambu Lab P2S 3D Printer
I’ve wanted a 3D printer ever since watching The Big Bang Theory over a decade ago—how cool is it to “make” whatever you want? But I held off for years, put off by the high price and steep learning curve (afraid it’d just collect dust). Then, this Double 12 shopping festival, the Bambu Lab P2S dropped to under $420 with a free 3 spools of filament—Howard would’ve cried, he paid $5,000 back in the day!
I was blown away by how far 3D printers have come. You don’t need any modeling skills at all! Just open Bambu’s app, pick a model—like the trending Gary the Snake from Zootopia 2—load the filament, and wait for your print to finish. I’ve made all sorts of stuff: figurines, decorations, tissue boxes, storage bins… the app has tons of practical templates too, like phone stands and cases. Once you get the hang of it, you can level up with Bambu Studio, their official platform, to design your own one-of-a-kind creations.
5. Most Comfortable Companion of the Year: Huawei FreeClip 2 Bluetooth Earbuds
I tested tons of earbuds this year—Sony WH-1000XM6, AirPods Pro 3, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5, etc. They all have great sound and noise cancellation, but the Huawei FreeClip 2’s comfort is in a league of its own.
Its C-shaped clip design sits on your ear instead of in it—just pop it on, and it stays put. It’s also the lightest clip-on earbud on the market. I wear it for hours on my commute or workouts, and never feel any soreness or discomfort. Battery life is amazing too—I only charge it once a week. If I could only keep one pair of earbuds, this would be it.
6. Tech Sensation of the Year: Doubao AI Phone
No one saw this coming at the end of the year—ByteDance launched its own Doubao AI Phone, and it shook the tech world! The first batch of 30,000 prototype units sold out in seconds, and scalpers are reselling them for over $1,400 on secondhand platforms.
Unlike the AI on regular phones, this one has almost full access to your device—it can tap the screen on its own, like having a personal assistant who actually does the work. It can help you answer homework questions, edit videos, compare prices, and even order takeout—all you need is a voice command, and it handles the whole process.
Better yet, it runs in the background, so you can keep scrolling TikTok or chatting on WeChat while it works. But this “system-level AI assistant” stepped on the toes of tech giants. Just 3 days after launch, apps like WeChat, Taobao, Meituan, and Xianyu fought back with crashes and forced logouts.
This prototype single-handedly stirred up the entire internet landscape. There are definitely gray areas in rules and interests that need sorting out, but the Doubao AI Phone fired the first shot in this new war. We might not be able to use this blocked prototype anytime soon, but it’s a wake-up call: the next-gen phone won’t just be “bigger, faster, clearer”—it’ll be smarter, and even make decisions for you.
【Losers List: 3 Gadgets That Are Total Regrets】
1. Most Overhyped Gadget of the Year: Xiaomi AI Glasses
Ever since Meta coined the term “wearable AI ecosystem”, AI glasses have become the hot new thing for tech brands—Huawei, Xiaomi, RayNeo, everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon. But let’s be real: right now, this category is total fluff.
Features like real-time translation, first-person shooting, and voice control sound cool, but they only appeal to a tiny niche. For average users, there’s zero reason to buy them.
And the Xiaomi AI Glasses? They’re a letdown. The max shooting time is just 10 minutes, and the video quality is terrible. The so-called AI features are laughable—its food recognition even mixed up a tea egg with a potato! There’s basically nothing else to it. It shows us a glimpse of the “wearable AI future”, but in such a clunky, underwhelming way. More frustration than hope.
2. Dust Magnet of the Year: New-Gen Nintendo Switch
Sure, it’s a big upgrade over the original—better performance, a 7.9-inch 1080P high-refresh screen. But compared to the wider gaming console market, this upgrade is nothing groundbreaking—the PS5 is way more powerful.
The gameplay upgrade is even worse. There are no must-play exclusive games at launch—The Legend of Zelda is still the gold standard for me! Nintendo’s first-party lineup this year is super thin too—only a handful of exclusives like Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong, and Kirby Skyward Flight. There’s zero incentive to upgrade.
3. For Die-Hard Fans Only: Ricoh GR4
Honestly, I’m more annoyed by its marketing than the camera itself. To even get a shot at buying the launch edition, you have to pay $28 for a membership first. And even then, you’re not guaranteed to get one—you’ll still have to wait a month or longer.
When I finally got my hands on it, I realized how steep the learning curve is. It has a fixed 28mm lens—so you have to move your feet to adjust the composition. Video is capped at 1080p 60fps, which is worse than the DJI Pocket 3 for vlogging. And it costs a whopping $1,270!
Don’t get me wrong—it’s portable, takes great photos, and has awesome color science. But at this price, a full-frame mirrorless camera or a dedicated vlogging camera is a much smarter choice. For most people, the GR4 is just a nostalgia-overpriced gadget. Only true die-hard fans would put up with the hoops, high price, and limited features to own one.
Those are my top 9 memorable gadgets of 2025. What do you think? Drop your opinions in the comments to help out anyone who’s on the fence about buying these. Got any gadgets you want us to test? Let us know—we’re happy to be your guinea pigs!
