It’s that time of the year again: time to look back on all of the innovations that made us actually want to fork over our hard-earned, massively-inflated, cash. The thing is, when it comes to 2022, product reveals were just as likely to disappoint as they were to wow. We’ve talked about how underwhelming the release for things like Nvidia’s 40-series GPUs were, but we’ve also highlighted how far tech wearables have come. To that end, I think it makes sense to divide the notable tech releases of 2022 into the hits… and the misses.
Hit: Sony WH-1000XM5
Basically the gold standard of over-ear, noise-canceling headphones – for anyone who owned the XM4s, Sony’s previous iteration of this product line, it will come as no surprise at all that these updated cans are once again leaving the competition in the dust. That said, those who own the XM4s really don’t have that much of a reason to upgrade, especially those who appreciate the portability of the XM4s. The XM5s do sound noticeably better, but only if you compared them pretty directly. The most noticeable difference is the look of these headphones. I have to say, I like the updated design, especially because I don’t take over-ear headphones with me very often, and when I do, I usually have room enough not to worry about every inch of luggage space. That said, for anyone who does tend to throw their Bluetooth headphones into their bag and go, the XM5s might actually be a downgrade since they don’t fold up neatly like the previous version. However, I’m willing to trade in portability for comfort and quality. Although that makes these a marginal improvement, they’re still top-in-class, making the WH-1000XM5 a hit.
Miss: Lenovo’s Smart Clock Essential
Essential might be in the name, but this new smart clock from Lenovo is something no one needs. While the feature set on paper isn’t bad, especially for those who have bought into Amazon’s Alexa ecosystem, for everyone else, we’re left scratching our heads and wondering why this new version comes with Alexa instead of Google Assistant. Privacy concerns aside, Google Assistant, at least in my experience, is able to do more, connect to more, and be programmed more precisely than Alexa. While I’m sure there are many who will find this smart clock not just worthwhile, but useful, for fans of Google Assistant, Lenovo’s new Smart Clock Essential is a pretty big miss.
Hit: DJI Mavic 3 Classic
While many might be quick to think of this drone as a budget option, the fact is, this piece of tech is a lesson in not compromising. Although you can snag one for cheaper than the previous/more premium version, DJI’s Mavic 3 Classic doesn’t really lose out on any of the features that most users are going to notice. It’s a solid, sensible option for enthusiasts, and will deliver smooth, aerial, HD footage for Tik Tok, YouTube, and film festivals alike. Any time a product manages to get full marks across multiple consumer demos, my ears perk up. I’m always fascinated when once-premium features slowly become more and more accessible. And while we’re still a ways off from buying dones out of vending machines with spare change, we should all appreciate that this technology has become much more accessible in the past few years.
Miss: Pogo Cam
We talked about some of the latest and greatest wearable tech and at-the-ready cameras, but we haven’t yet talked about the huge miss in that department that stumbled on this year: the Pogo cam. The idea is sound enough, it’s a camera that can clip on to just about any pair of glasses or sunglasses, theoretically turning any pair of glasses into smart glasses. The problem? It didn’t deliver at all. While it was poised not only to address some of the biggest concerns with smart glasses, it simply didn’t have what it would have taken to make a dent in that competition. The video quality is bad. The audio quality is bad. The controls range from bad to non-existent. And the build quality is, you guessed it, bad. The only positive spin I can put on the Pogo cam is that I hope it inspires someone else to actually get it right. Otherwise, it’s a huge miss.
Hit: AirPods Pro 2
One of the themes of 2022 tech is iteration over innovation. But while many of the most impressive gadgets are updates, that doesn’t mean they’re not impressive. With new drivers and amplifiers, they actually sound noticeably better than the previous version. I tried, but getting the sound to blow out at high volumes is much more difficult than last-gen’s AirPods. One of my favorite features, however, is the longer battery life. These are good for hours of listening on a single charge. With up to 30 hours from the fully charged case, I’m struggling to imagine a situation in which I would feasibly kill the battery. Other features like the updated case are nice, including the speaker that helps you find the case and your AirPods when you forget which pocket you left it in or lose it between the couch cushions help set it over the top. And I’m not going to turn my nose up at the audio gesture ability either. Given that they packed in all of these features, and increased the battery life, and made it sounds better, it’s hard to call this redesign anything other than a hit.