It’s near the end of the 2015 and we at Absolute Geeks have gone through a plethora of devices and gadgets, appliances and games, smartphones and tablets, all in an effort to help you decide what to blow your monthly salary on. As a result we’ve perused through all the reviews we’ve done and settled upon the top 10 products of the year, encompassing games, smartphones, tablets and other categories. After much inhouse fighting as to what should make it to the list, here it is in no order:
1. iPad Pro
It’s been a great year for Apple with one of their best products being the iPad Pro, a phenomenal tablet that contains a beast within its sleek design.
“However, the primary question is who does Apple want to buy the iPad Pro? While shown as a great add on for creatives, Apple isn’t defining it as that. It depends on what you want to get out of your tablet. It could be a great media center, a tool that merges connectivity, creative design and whatever you fancy that the app store can provide, want to type on the go ? The smart keyboard case will sort you out and that makes the iPad Pro a great word processor…”
Full review here.
2. 2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Premium
Nothing says “I love you” more than a great car bought for a loved one. So, if you’re willing to go all out and potentially blow your savings why not get a muscle car? Our in-house petrolhead, Mali, took the Ford for a drive and managed not to kill any goats.
“I’m a performance enthusiast and a petrolhead. I’ve driven Mustangs for years and I love the sound of a rumbling V8. But for a pleasant AED 185,000 this car is already a lot more car than most people can handle, in power and ‘premium-ness’…”
Full review here.
3. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
It makes sense that we should include a game that has been overwhelming in its depth and story. Geralt is probably one of the most badass protagonists we’ve come in contact with and Vincent Peter was having kittens playing as him.
“Let’s see if I can put this into perspective: you know the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games take place across multiple cities; and how you can travel between those cities at any point? It’s all very big and expansive, right? But if you remember the scale of Assassin’s Creed’s cities, you probably also remember the loading screens that separate those cities. Yes, those same loading screens that also separate the city exteriors from the city interiors. The Witcher 3 has none of that…”
Full review here.
4. Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Samsung has for years been rocking out the best phablets for years and the Galaxy Note 5 was this year’s reigning champion; Alpha Geek, Khaled, took the Note 5 for a spin and rated it a 9.9.
“The Samsung Galaxy Note series continues to posses the best in class hardware and specifications with a superior camera and a highly improved UI. All that, now coupled with the premium build, look and feel and the S-Pen, makes the Note 5, yet again, the undisputed King of Phablets…”
Full review here.
5. iPhone 6 Plus
It’s another great product Apple put out this year and our other Alpha Geek, Kinan, had an absolutely great time with it, taking panoramic photos of beautiful vistas and close ups of his food.
“The iPhone 6s may seem like an incremental upgrade to the iPhone 6, but the iPhone 6s Plus feels like a new phone altogether. In either case, the camera alone may encourage people to upgrade their iPhones, and if you’re one of those people who will, then I would recommend you go for the 6s Plus. More screen real estate, gorgeous viewfinder, and it just feels like a new, bigger and better beast altogether…”
Full review here.
6. Fallout 4
Fallout 4 was probably one of the most hyped up games of the year and boy did it live up to the hype. Resident editor-in-chief Kevin Sebastian went as far as to get an Xbox One to review it; he also got it for PC.
“Consider this a gamer’s stamp of approval that this is one of the games you don’t want to miss out on in 2015, even if the game may be broken or glitchy in places which is why it misses out on a perfect score but don’t let this be an hinderance. Having played it on both Xbox and the PC later, Fallout 4 will stay with you and with mods coming to both PC and in some capacity, console, it’s only going to get ambitious…”
Full review here.
7. MSI GT80 TITAN
What better to play Fallout 4 on than the MSI GT80 Titan, a device that runs as if it’s powered by a nuclear power plant. Why carry your desktop with you when you have this beast?
“It’s the end of 2015 and we’ve gotten our hands on a monster. The kind that MSI thinks, may just convince you that you don’t need a desktop anymore. Presenting the MSI GT80 Titan, a 18.4 inch behemoth gaming laptop with, wait for it, a mechanical keyboard. The GT80 was designed to give gamers portability and desktop performance, literally. Packed with a Intel Core i7, Dual SLI Nvidia GTX 980M graphics cards it’s really pushing how big can a laptop go. Not sure you can call this portable considering it’s weighing in at 4 and a half kilos…”
Full review here.
8. Apple TV
We’re in the era where if you don’t stream media of some form, you’re instantly designated as “hip”. With Anghami and Spotifiy we have our music streaming covered but when it comes to shows and movies, Apple TV is where it’s at (until Netflix comes to the Middle East!)
“I’ve never owned a media streamer, mainly because nothing appealed to me by giving me a combination of functionality and a good-looking UI. My media consumption includes a combination of Netflix and streaming TV shows online in pathetic 480p quality (Thanks Merkel), so I thought a trusty HDMI cable, a wireless mouse and keyboard would be enough. I was wrong…”
Full review here.
9. ASUS Zenbook UX305
Ultrabooks are the next step in laptop architecture and this year we reviewed a few, including the Acer Aspire S7 but it’s the ASUS Zenbook UX305 that ultimately came out on top.
“The Zenbook appears to be one of the best ultrabooks out there for the money. It’s a class performer and it will perform really long. You can get the Zenbook locally in the region through Souq at AED 4,299 and that in my opinion is a great deal…”
Full review here.
10. Jawbone UP2
Most of us are never conscious about our health, often just shoveling whatever is in front of us into our mouths. Have we done enough exercise in the day other than the morning ritual of using the restroom? While the Jawbone UP3 has been released, we found the UP2 to be enough for the average user, especially if their pockets are tight.
“I have to admit that a few years ago, I really never understood the appeal of fitness trackers. Why would anyone benefit from keeping records of exercises or sleep patterns? As time went on and I became more health-conscious, my record-keeping OCD kicked in. I’ve been always intrigued by Jawbone and Fitbit but never really gathered enough will to try any of them. Now with a Jawbone UP2 on my wrist for a bit over two weeks, I admit that I am hooked…”
Full review here.
We hope our readers have a great holiday and happy new year! (Don’t blow your budget on the Mustang)
