Hardware Awards 2023: Best Innovative Hardware

We've written it before and we'll write it again, but the terms "innovative" and "innovation" tend to be misused in our beloved tech industry. Product after product hits the shelves that may be rock solid, make no mistake about it, but there is no real innovation, no rethinking, no restructuring of the entire usage scenario.

So every year we embark on a mission, a mission to celebrate, to honour the products that have landed in the Gamereactor office that truly impress by innovating. They don't have to be the best products of a given year, innovation usually comes with some pretty central costs, but innovation, yes, they have delivered.

This year we haven't had nearly as much time to keep up with as many hardware reviews as we'd hoped, but there have still been several times where we've received a real jaw-dropper and had to reconfigure what our expectations for the market should be going forward. These are the kinds of experiences you collect as a reviewer, and we're honouring them once again here.

Winner: OnePlus Open

Yes, another foldable phone, we know. But there's still so much happening in this particular segment that it seems relatively obvious that this kind of technical innovation should be honoured here. Not only is the OnePlus Open the first real competitor to Samsung's somewhat stagnant Fold series, it also arrived with pomp and splendour, with a clean Android skin, solid cameras and a simplicity that Samsung simply can't really offer through their OneUI software

OnePlus Open is a slam dunk in so many different areas, from the wonderful do not disturb slider on the side to the now quite effective collaboration with Swedish Hasselblad. Wonderful displays both inside and out. Snappy software thanks to powerful internals, fast charging via a charger you get in the box. It's pretty much all here, and at a slightly cheaper price than the Fold 5.

The only thing we're really missing here is wireless charging, but we're sure Open is here to stay and there's plenty to look forward to in future iterations too. Well done, OnePlus. Well done, OnePlus.

Winner: Sage Barista Touch

Can a coffee machine win for being innovative? Hell yes, it can. As we wrote in our original review, this particular variant from Sage's rather impressive fleet is quite special because it attempts to use technology to walk the line between hard-boiled espresso snobbery and accessibility. The display on the machine calmly guides you through the process every time, a temperature gauge automatically steams milk in the pot for the perfect cappuccino, and in-depth settings mean there's a wealth of customisation options.

Making a great cup of coffee is both a deeply personal and relatively tactile affair, where you want to be directly involved in the process and learn to master a rather intimidating tool. Sage doesn't take any of that away from you, but offers little touches here and there that make you more aware as you learn.

We at the editorial team agree that this deserves to be honoured, so that's why Barista Touch is on this year's list.

Winner: Pixel Tablet

There are no doubt many of you out there who have a Google Nest of some kind, and there may even be some who have invested in a Nest Hub, which acts as both a home for Google Assistant, but also a digital picture frame for Google Photos, as well as a number of other smart features.

Google did the rather ingenious thing earlier this year of combining this Hub with a tablet, and that product is called the Pixel Tablet. The tablet itself isn't impressive on its own, but in the box you get a magnetic speaker stand that, as it connects, charges your tablet, while software-wise it switches modes to become a giant Nest Hub.

It sounds simple, but the fact that the same product can become two truly distinct, different devices is so clever that we have to mention it here.

Winner: Pedestal Straight Rollin'

The Pedestal Straight Rollin', and their other products for that matter, aren't innovative on their own, but the design offers positional versatility that can do innovative wonders for your home, which is why they certainly deserve a place on this year's list.

By that we mean that it's basically "just" a stand on wheels, but suddenly being able to control where and how your TV is positioned, as well as gathering your console, AppleTV, soundbar, cables - the whole shebang, all on one frame, is so ingenious that it's amazing no one has thought of it before.

But Danish Pedestal has, and even though there is room for improvement here and there, we were so pleasantly surprised by the final result that we gave it a 10/10. We stand by that.