Phones
HTC One M8
The best phone on the market made better, simply by refining what was already there. Adding in more metal, a superior design, excellent balance and improved screen with punchier speakers make the HTC One M8 a joy to use.
iPad Air 2
The Air was close to perfect - so how did Apple make it better? By going lighter, thinner and improving the screen - not only in colour, but speed of touch - to make the iPad Air 2 the best tablet by a street.
iPhone 6
Apple was in danger of falling behind in the phone race, so the rebooted iPhone 6 had to be brilliant... and it was. A blazingly fast engine and great design were welcome, and the screen would have been world beating were it not for the lower resolution.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S
If you're against Apple's products for some reason, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S is a brilliant tablet, with the Super AMOLED screen combining well with great design for a well-balanced slate. The fact it came out three months after a new Tab is funny, but shows Samsung realises what it takes to get these things right... sometimes.
LG G3
The LG G3 is the first QHD smartphone on the market and it also packs in top end specs in a rather compact chassis, given it's a 5.5-inch screen. And for the price (nearly half the cost of the iPhone 6) it's a brilliant piece of technology, and the high sales show LG is firmly back on the comeback trail.
Computing
MacBook Pro with Retina (2014)
Until the Retina MacBook Pro emerges from the shadows, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina (2014) will likely stand as Apple's most impressive notebook. It has a faster CPU than last year's version while retaining its portability, solid build quality and stunning display that helps OS X 10.10 Yosemite shine.
Samsung UD590
Few companies can do a decent 4K monitor on a budget, but Samsung has managed it with the UD590. While we love its nippy 1ms response time, angular design and simple setup, it's the monitor's vibrant colours and deep blacks that impress the most.
Alienware 13
We love the Alienware 13's concept. A high-spec gaming laptop that docks into a Graphics Amplifier housing a GTX 980GPU for extra graphical grunt, it's the ultimate setup for gamers who need power both on and off the road. It's not unique, but Dell's stylish approach ticks the right boxes.
Brother MFC L2740DW
Brother's MFC-L2740DW is cheap to buy and run, which makes it an excellent option if you're fed up of buying inkjet cartridges. Its ability to print double-sided pages will help keep costs down, and you can plonk it in the corner of a room thanks to its built-in Wi-Fi capabilities.
Surface Pro 3
A real statement of intent, the Surface Pro 3 brought Microsoft within touching distance of creating the ultimate 2-in-1. Lighter than a MacBook Air while packing a sharp 12-inch touchscreen and excellent pen support, it was slim, thin and undoubtedly full of win.
