Year in review: Laptops to smartwatches, top premium gadgets of 2021 – Business Standard
If Covid-19 battered the sales, the return of normalcy has spurred revenge shopping of sorts. And with manufacturers offering year-end deals, consumers have a lot of options at decent discounts. Although the market did not witness as many launches in the low and in mid-price segment, the high-end segment was replete with launches. Here are the top premium gadgets for 2021.
Premium smartphone
Apple iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max
Apple’s offerings are always the year’s much-awaited announcements. The company this time around launched two iterations of its premium products. Both have a three-camera setup and come equipped with the best the company has to offer in terms of screen, camera performance and battery life.
Priced at Rs 1,19,000, the pro has a 6.1-inch display, whereas the pro max, for Rs 10,000 more has the 6.7 inch display. Max, for the extra price, is a better choice. The storage option still starts from 128GB—Apple could have cranked it up to 256GB for both the models. The phone performs very well with its ProMotion display technology. The step up in pro versions was better than the 13 base model.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3
Discontinuing the Note series was a big step for Samsung, given the popularity the phones enjoyed. But this was the year the Fold came of age. After two iterations, Samsung launched its near perfect foldable phone much to other smartphone makers envy. Although the use cases are still limited, the Z Fold 3 at Rs 1,49,999 is a fully-functional device with minimum 256GB space.
The phone is more durable and supports the S-Pen now. Note users have a new device they can rely on. The next iterations are going to be incremental, unless Samsung decides to upend the universe again.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3
A good competition to the iPhones in the Android segment, Flip still has a long way to go. While Samsung has been able to add more durability, the top of line features are still missing from the segment. The device is better known for its style than functionality and that needs to change. However, for Rs 84,999, it can be a good competitor to regular sized iPhone 13.
Laptop
Apple Macbook Pro
Apple’s focus this year was to create a laptop for the professionals. While the M1 Macs released last year did revolutionise the laptop industry, they were not the ideal devices for professional users. This year, Apple launched its pro and max version of Macbook in 14-inch and 16-inch.
The company has made some compromises on the battery life vis-à-vis its M1 chips, but the new devices are more powerful, have more ports and can handle complex tasks easily. Starting at Rs 1,94,900, they are also priced higher than the rest of the market. The port selection, at a high price, is also limited.
Dell XPS
If you have until now avoided the lure of the Apple ecosystem, then the best in class Windows experience is available with Dell’s XPS series. …….
