Indian Gadget Awards: Most Innovative Gadget of 2021 nominees — Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, Samsung Galaxy Fold3 vs others | 91mobiles.com

We’ve got smartphones, laptops, wearables etc. in their own separate categories but this particular award aims to recognise the most innovative gadget released in 2021. The jury will be looking at all the contenders and choosing a winner that not only brought innovation and cool features, but meaningful upgrades that improved the overall user experience in a big way. Including more than 40 members from the Indian tech media, our jury panel comprises experts who are independent content creators and editors. Suffice it to say that this is truly the voice of the industry. The jury for the Indian Gadget Awards will be evaluating 30 award categories and nearly 200 nominees.  Let’s see what this category from India’s biggest gadget awards event has in store for us in terms of the nominees.

Philips Fresh Air anti-pollution mask

At a time when masks are the need of the hour not just for curbing the spread of the coronavirus but also for shielding ourselves from rising pollution levels, Philips has come up with the highly innovative Fresh Air anti-pollution mask that features its own fan module for breathing comfort. The mask itself offers four layers for better filtration, filtering up to 95 percent of the particles. What’s more, it’s washable and comes with adjustable earloops for a comfortable fit on all face sizes.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold

While foldable phones have been there some time, Lenovo has come up with a foldable laptop in the form of the ThinkPad X1 Fold. When it’s not a laptop, it’s a large tablet with a 13.3-inch OLED display but when you want it to be one, just fold it in half and the lower part turns into a touchscreen keyboard. Alternatively, you can place its snap-on Bluetooth keyboard on the lower part to get that much needed tactile feedback while typing. The laptop is powered by the 11th Gen Core i5 processor and offers 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. As for battery life, it can offer 8 hours on a full charge.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3

With the Galaxy Z Fold3, Samsung has been able to dish out a capable horizontally foldable smartphone. The Z Fold3 is loaded in all regards and doesn’t compromise in any department. You get two gorgeous 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays, a big 4,400mAh battery, the ultra-powerful Snapdragon 888 chip, and a set of five cameras – three on its back, one on its external display, and one that’s expertly hidden inside its internal display. This phone features S Pen support as well. What’s more, Samsung has improved the build quality in a big way this time, and made the device resistant to water as well.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3

Vertically-folding phones is another form factor that Samsung got right this year. The Galaxy Z Flip3 is a truly stylish gadget that turns into a tiny square gadget when not in use but still displays crucial information on its external cover display. The dual-tone rear surface of this phone houses two spectacular 12MP cameras, while the front is adorned by a foldable 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. The phone runs on the Snapdragon 888 platform and offers a 3,300mAh battery.

Samsung Odyssey G9 49-inch

Samsung seemingly pulled out all the stops while designing this piece of modern machinery. It’s an extremely wide gaming monitor that utilises QLED technology and offers a resolution of 5,120 x 1,440 pixels. When you’re not gaming, it can easily do the work of a three-monitor setup on its own. That’s how wide and large this device is. Equipped with background lighting, this 49-inch screen from Samsung offers a 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and support for NVIDIA G-SYNC and FreeSync Premium Pro technologies. It has also been equipped with the Samsung HDR 1000 standard for high dynamic range visuals.

Amazon Echo Show 10

Despite smart home gadgets dishing out more of the same each year, the Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) had something different to offer. It delivers a stellar visual and aural experience thanks to its 10.1-inch screen and its 10W speaker. Its biggest highlight is the rotating screen that swivels around to face you, and can even follow your movement around the room. The Alexa-equipped gadget also ships with a 13MP camera that does the job of surveilling your house when you’re not home. That said, it does all the jobs you’d expect from a smart home device as well, like controlling other smart devices, playing music through voice commands, and more. 

StuffCool Centurion

This is the only charging solution your work desk needs. The StuffCool Centurion Charger is a 100W power station that you connect once and forget about all other adaptors for your devices. It’s got two USB Type-C PD ports and two QC3.0 USB A ports. That means it can safely and quickly charge four devices at once. You can have your MacBook Pro, your iPad, your phone, and your smartwatch being charged at the same time using this special gadget. It’s got an Auto Detect IC that helps it distribute power to each connected device at its optimum requirement.

Those are all the contenders for the award for the Most Innovative Gadget of 2021. Who do you think will take this crown?