2022 was full of ups and downs, and that is also clearly mirrored when we’re talking about the tech world. There was a lot of variety and a lot of expectation in a lot of the products, but not everything stuck the landing. Still, it’s important we memorialise these moments, not just to give recognition when things succeed, but also to act as an earmark for its place in history.
This segment of the awards is to recognise the ups, the downs, the movers and the makers of 2022. We asked the whole team to submit nominations for what they thought were the biggest surprises, disappointments, tech brands and their ultimate gadgets of 2022. From that extensive list, we compiled and shortlisted the nominations before a panel consisting of Amin Ashaari, Alexander Wong, Najib Hamid, Raymond Saw, Jonathan Lee, Hanif Azrai, and Sudarshan Duke ultimately picked the winners.
Read the rest of our Awards
- SoyaCincau Awards 2022: The best Smartphone, Tablet and Smartwatch of the Year
- SoyaCincau Awards 2022: The best EV of the Year
- SoyaCincau Awards 2022: The best Laptop, Peripheral and Headphones of the Year
- SoyaCincau Awards 2022: The best Prepaid, Postpaid, Broadband, Mobile Telco and Fixed Telco of the Year
Gadget of the Year
Hyundai Ioniq 5 – GOLD WINNER
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is simultaneously not a gadget and an absolutely massive one. It’s really a form of transportation, but it runs on electricity, comes with giant screens, packs several interesting features and looks like it drove straight out of Cyberpunk 2077.
OK, so it doesn’t actually have the most advanced tech, lacking USB-C ports and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. But on the flip side, it can act as the world’s largest powerbank, thanks to the nifty vehicle-to-load (V2L) function. While the tech world ended up being surprisingly flat this year, the Ioniq 5 captured the zeitgeist of the Malaysian automotive market in 2022, which is why we had to give it our biggest gong—the Gold award for Gadget of the Year.
Learn more about the Hyundai Ioniq 5 here.
Read our full review on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 here.
DJI Avata – SILVER WINNER
Mind you, if you’re looking for the coolest thing you can get your hands on this holiday season, the DJI Avata should definitely be near the top of your list. It’s a drone, a flying sim and a VR headset rolled into one, and blends the thrills you get from all three. And if you’ve been dying to get into FPV drones but have always balked at the high skill barrier for entry, this is as powerful a gateway drug as anything else—it’s genuinely the most fun you can have without actually moving.
Learn more on the DJI Avata here.
Read our full review of the DJI Avata here.
iPhone 14 Pro Max – BRONZE WINNER
It might be a copout to give a nomination to the biggest, most expensive iPhone ever. But the iPhone 14 Pro Max truly breaks new ground for this stalwart of the smartphone world, with brave ideas for the future—those that will define Apple’s most important product for years to come. Yes, there are a few rough edges that have perhaps held it back from taking the Gold or Silver award, but hey, that gives room for the iPhone 15 Pro to surpass our expectations, just as the iPhone 13 Pro did.
Learn more on the iPhone 14 Pro Max here.
Tech brand of the Year
Samsung – GOLD WINNER
Aside from making crass ads poking fun at Apple—and creating a howler in The Freestyle—Samsung has been on a roll this year. The company has been pushing on all fronts, from jaw-dropping concepts like the Odyssey Ark to the reintroduction of the much-loved Note as the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It also extended its lead in foldables, refined its wearables and earbuds and, after years of pushing QLED TVs, finally jumped into producing OLED screens in a big way. It’s a company at the height of its powers and we’re excited to see how they top this next year.
Follow Samsung’s stories here.
Hyundai – SILVER WINNER
So too is Hyundai, which may not be a tech company per se, but has also brought relentless innovation in the automotive space. Out of all the legacy carmakers, it’s arguably the one most prepared for an electrified future, with two of the most forward-thinking EVs on sale in Malaysia—the Ioniq 5 and the EV6 from subsidiary Kia. And there’s even more exciting stuff on the horizon, if cars like the Ioniq 6 and the N Vision 74 concept are any indication.
Follow Hyundai’s stories here.
Apple – BRONZE WINNER
Say what you want about Cupertino’s exorbitant pricing strategy, baffling design choices and obnoxious fans—2022 is the year that Apple stepped out of its comfort zone and finally caught up with the rest of the tech world. iOS 16 is now within spitting distance with Android in terms of customisation, while the company has also jumped on the pixel-binning bandwagon with the iPhone 14 Pro series. Other things, like Stage Manager and the iPhone 14 Plus, may have been more of a miss than a hit, but props for trying something new. And let’s not forget, Apple gave everyone the best lesson on how to “turn that frown upside down” with the Dynamic Island.
Follow Apple’s stories here.
Disappointment of the Year
Samsung The Freestyle – GOLD WINNER
Samsung’s The Freestyle was a hugely hyped device when it debuted, as it seemed like the most flexible, portable projector you could buy. However, when we actually got to use it, it was a huge stinking pile of nope. Priced at RM4,999(!!!) it ended up being a projector that ultimately sucked at doing the one thing it should have been good at—project a visible image. Furthermore, you also had to get an additional battery pack to actually use it outdoors. For a product that promised so much and looked so cool, it’s probably something the South Korean electronics giant will want to quickly sweep under the rug.
Learn more about the Samsung The Freestyle here.
iPhone 14 Plus – SILVER WINNER
On paper, the iPhone 14 Plus should’ve been a winner. It brought a larger display and a bigger battery to the regular iPhone lineup, meaning that users no longer had to splurge for the Pro Max model if they just wanted a bigger device. However, nothing exists in a vacuum, and when compared against the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the iPhone 14 Plus suddenly looked like a much, much worse purchase. It is essentially the same phone, with the same size and processor, and yet has a worse display, a poorer camera setup and for some reason a shorter battery life than the iPhone 13 Pro Max too. Overall, for a company infamous for its ‘courage’, the iPhone 14 Plus just seemed like Apple played it way too safe.
Learn more about the iPhone 14 Plus here.
Stage Manager on iPad – BRONZE WINNER
Stage Manager promised a lot of things such as a cleaner windowed interface and improved multitasking. However, it seemed that Stage Manager would end up giving Apple more problems than solutions. Even before launch, it was so buggy that Apple had apparently delayed the launch of iPadOS 16 so that they had more time to fix it; it would eventually be released as iPadOS 16.1.
And yet despite the fixes, Stage Manager feels completely broken compared to the rest of the iPad experience, with windows not changing in size and not snapping correctly, the iPad resizing all of your windows at random and an overall bad user experience. It’s just a really poor feature that Apple thought would revolutionise the iPad experience when in actuality it became the blemish we could all do without.
Learn more about Stage Manager in our iPad Air review here.
Surprise of the Year
Dynamic Island – GOLD WINNER
Up until Apple’s September event, we thought the iPhone 14 Pro was the world’s worst-kept secret, the redesigned Face ID cutout having been leaked well in advance. And then the reveal happened and our jaws dropped as the pill came alive, turning into a separate part of the interface. They dropped further when Apple announced the ridiculous Dynamic Island name. The shock may have died down since then—especially after we found out how little functionality it eventually shipped with—but the memory of the moment will live on for years to come.
Learn more about Dynamic Island here.
DJI Avata – SILVER WINNER
As a person more well-versed in DJI’s camera drones, the Avata came from left-field. But as a product it makes sense—it’s an FPV drone that benefits from the company’s peerless imaging and crash detection prowess. What’s more surprising was how well all this worked in reality, as Rory found out. With its intuitive motion controls, agile handling and comfortable goggles, the Avata was a thrill to fly, even impressing an experienced FPV pilot.
Learn more on the DJI Avata here.
Read our full review of the DJI Avata here.
Microsoft PC Game Pass – BRONZE WINNER
While Malaysians have been adept at buying games online—largely thanks to huge sales held seemingly every month—game subscription services were practically non-existent until PlayStation Plus was revamped recently. As for Microsoft, it makes a killing in other markets with the Xbox Game Pass, but it doesn’t have an official gaming presence here. That’s why the local launch of the PC Game Pass came as such a surprise, and the fact that it was so reasonably priced—while offering tons of AAA titles—only made it even more astonishing.
Learn more about PC Game Pass here.
