2022 is here, and depending on who you ask, 2021 either flew by or dragged on longer than the infamous 2020 did.
But whichever side of the fence you're on, that didn't stop new things from coming out and impressing us all year. It's hard to talk about everything that came out in an entire year, but we've put what we think is the best of 2021 in one list.
Check it out and see what we thought about phones, earbuds, movies, and more from last year, and let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments. Let's see what you think.
Best Smartphone – Galaxy S21 series
Samsung never fails to make a phone that will sell, year in and year out. 2021 felt like the year that we saw more iterations on existing designs, but whether that was in foldables or traditional phones, Samsung still managed to (mostly) hit the mark with the Galaxy S21.
I personally loved the Galaxy S21, and the entire range of the Galaxy S21 series offers all kinds of power, design, and features to suit almost anyone in the market for a new smartphone. With solid trade-in deals and Samsung's aggressive promotions and sales, it's an easy pick for our favorite phone of the year.
Best tablet – Realme Pad
Realme finally stepped into the tablet market this year with the ultra-affordable Realme Pad. Budget options aren't always the best options especially for a newcomer to a market, but Realme managed to check enough boxes to make this our favorite tablet of the year.
For a budget tablet, you're getting a media powerhouse with a very high-resolution screen, quad speakers with Dolby Atmos, great battery life, and enough performance to handle your favorite games and hours of binge watching.
We're waiting and hoping for a global release for the Realme Pad, because it's a fantastic tablet that more people should have a chance to use.
Best Chromebook – Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5
Lenovo released their IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook to the world this year, and it can almost win the category for best tablet in addition to best Chromebook. We absolutely loved it.
You're getting a very capable Chromebook on its own, with good battery life, decent performance, and everything great about Chrome OS. But when you detach it from its keyboard, you're getting a full touchscreen Chromebook that shifts into a tablet mode, complete with Chrome OS's Android app emulation that works extremely well.
It's the best of both worlds, regardless of what you're looking for. We had a ton of fun reviewing it, and if you're in the market for either device, you might want to check this out to kill two birds with one stone.
Best game – Retro Bowl
We've written about Retro Bowl before, and even years later it's still one of our favorite games on Android, and I'm personally still playing it.
The premise is simple, at least for Americans; it plays very much like a modern, touch friendly Tecmo Bowl, complete with simplified (American) football rules, a throwback art style, and incredibly fun gameplay. You're tasked with coaching and managing one of 32 NFL franchises, including hiring and firing staff, drafting rookies, signing free agents, upgrading your team's facilities, and ultimately winning the Retro Bowl.
We've seen tons of updates with new features added to the game, like time outs, more customization options for teams and difficulty, more events in game, and more. It's still the same game that's simple to pick up but complex to master, but with way more stuff to keep you addicted.
Best earbuds – Nothing Ear 1
Nothing, the brand started by ex-OnePlus Carl Pei, launched their first products this year. The Nothing Ear 1 earbuds, priced at $99, took the market by storm, delivering a ton of features, great sound quality, and more for a relatively affordable price.
It's cliche, but it's hard to see any truly wireless earbuds these days and not compare them to Apple's AirPods. I don't think Nothing minds that comparison so much, though, since they go toe-to-toe with Apple's earbuds and tend to come out on top at a fraction of the price.
No better way to kickstart your company than by making a stellar product that competes with the existing champ.
Best headphones – Audeze Penrose X headphones
Microsoft has made their moves into the Android space with fantastic apps and some killer Xbox and Game Pass integrations, and that's made some accessories for an Xbox console must-haves for Android phones, too.
We reviewed the Audeze Penrose X headphones earlier this year, a set of gaming headphones that double as killer options for your smartphone. Not only do they sport planar magnetic drivers, but they have Bluetooth 5.0 for dual device connectivity and low-latency connections for your console or PC.
They sound great, they'll let you double up your smartphone while you're playing games on your TV, and they're comfortable to boot.
Best gadget – Google Nest Hub
Google followed up their Google Home Hub with the rebranded Nest Hub this year. Releasing in March, it promised more of the same, but better in every way.
The Nest Hub 2nd generation offers a smart display that lets you do everything from controlling your smart home to checking the weather to jamming out to music, but with one really cool new feature: sleep tracking.
Yep, if you decide to use one of these as a bedside clock, which it's fantastic at, it'll also track your sleep simply based on your movements during the night. And at just $99, Google also managed to impress us with that wallet-friendly price tag, too.
Best movie – Dune
Dune is a movie that came into the year with a ton of hype behind it, especially after the slog at the box office in 2020. It's already an immensely popular scifi franchise on its own, but the movie was stacked with top Hollywood talent, and it was added to HBO Max on day one.
Fortunately, it mostly lived up to that hype. While it's not a perfect movie, it cleared the bar and avoided the bad movie adaptation award and genuinely made for a thrilling two-hour adventure with an incredibly interesting world. Its sequel was immediately greenlit, too, so fans have another movie to look forward to in the next few years.
Best TV show – Squid Game
Squid Game was almost the exact opposite of Dune; it wasn't a known quantity, and it launched to very little fanfare on Netflix. It didn't take long for it to become the talk of literally every website, YouTube channel, and social media post, though.
It turned out to be one of Netflix's biggest TV shows ever, and sparked a ton of commentary around the web thanks to its gripping narrative and criticism of wealth inequality. Sure, everyone's going to copy the format and run it into the ground, but you know what they say: imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
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