As the artificial intelligence (AI) fever continues to grow, the tech scene saw plenty of incremental improvements in 2024 – be it hardware or otherwise. While seemingly trivial, the best of the industry have proven that there’s value in the little things that matter, keeping up their competitive edge in an increasingly competitive and stagnating landscape.
The honour of being the top can only belong to a few, however. It’s only natural for flagship offerings to soak up the spotlight, joined by a host of other players in often-neglected categories like lifestyle and accessories. Here are our top picks for the returning Geek Culture Awards 2025, spanning smartphones, gaming laptops, monitors, and more.
BEST SMARTPHONE (GOLD): Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
There’s plenty to love about the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, from the upgraded A18 Pro chip for turbocharged day-to-day productivity and mobile gaming performance to new Apple Intelligence features, including Writing Tools, Clean Up in Photos, and more. Then, there’s the stylish flair the Cupertino giant prides itself on – it comes in four sleek titanium finishes, Natural, Desert, White, and Black.
BEST SMARTPHONE (SILVER): Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
The king of Android devices, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra pairs the prowess of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset with convenient AI capabilities. Live Translate, for instance, proves handy in overcoming language barriers, especially when travelling to a country whose language users can’t speak and understand, while the note-taking tool transcribes and summarises recordings, complete with a subhead and time stamp. Taking meeting minutes? Easy, no biggie.
BEST SMARTPHONE CAMERA (GOLD): Samsung S24 Ultra
It’s no secret that its predecessor is the preferred companion for concerts, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra continues to build on this expertise. Armed with a 200-megapixel (MP) main camera, a 10MP 3x telephoto shooter, a 50MP 5x telephoto camera, and a 12MP ultrawide loadout, it promises sharp and crisp images both in natural and low lighting settings, alongside several AI-powered editing features. A far cry from mobile photography of the past, that’s for sure.
BEST SMARTPHONE CAMERA (SILVER): OPPO Find X8 Pro
A photography force to be reckoned with, the OPPO Find X8 Pro brings the Hasselblad expertise to four 50MP rear cameras covering ultra-wide, wide, telephoto and telephoto angles, as well as a 32MP front shooter. More impressively, its AI Telescope Zoom tool delivers sharper-than-usual quality at up to 60x zoom, with Lightning Snap capturing a burst of photos at up to seven frames per second. Shaking up the market feels nothing short of child’s play here.
BEST PRODUCTIVITY (GOLD): Apple Mac mini (M4 Pro)
Lean and mean is the name of the game for the Apple Mac mini (M4 Pro). Packing a wallop of horsepower into a 730-gram form factor (5cm x 12.7cm x 12.7cm), it outperforms top-selling PC desktops within the same price range by six times, or so Apple claims, and can even run graphically-intensive titles like Metro Exodus and Baldur’s Gate 3 smoothly at high settings. Never let it be said that size always matters – not when Apple’s most advanced version of its compact machine is also the company’s smallest.
BEST PRODUCTIVITY (SILVER): ASUS Zenbook Duo
Two is always better than one when it comes to multitasking, and the ASUS Zenbook Duo presents the perfect argument. It represents the best of dual-monitor laptops, boasting two full-sized 14-inch OLED panels with 3K resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut for accurate and sharp visuals, plus an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and Intel Arc graphics card to power through heavy-duty productivity or casual gaming, should work becomes too much to handle.
BEST GAMING (GOLD): Acer Predator Helios 18
The Acer Predator Helios 18 is all about raw, unbridled strength, and it takes the form of a hefty 3.25kg powerhouse that tops out at an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU and a 14th Gen Intel Core i9 HX processor. Between velvety smooth performance across different titles and an 18-inch 250Hz WQXGA display (2,560 x 1,600 resolution), there’s virtually nothing to complain about its performance, capped off with a neat trick up its sleeve: hot-swappable WASD keys, both offering a different feel and expertise.
BEST GAMING (SILVER): Lenovo LOQ 15IAX9I
An entry-level machine that offers great value, the Lenovo LOQ 15IAX9I allows for less intensive gaming without breaking the bank. The base model sports an Intel Core i5-12450HX processor and Intel Arc A530M GPU (equivalent to a GeForce RTX 90-series), but there’s the option to upgrade to a 13th or 14th Gen Intel CPU and NVIDIA graphics card for a little more hardware oomph. Still, it performs well in its weight class – so long as users manage their expectations.
BEST DISPLAY (GOLD): Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P 4K OLED Gaming Monitor
Not every rig will be able to power a top-of-the-line 4K gaming monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate, but the Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P rewards those who can. In addition to gaming-enhanced features like Adaptive Sync support for AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync technology, an on-screen dashboard with real-time hardware monitoring, and several play aids (sniper mode, night vision, and more), it also ships with a special “tactical switch”, which changes to a 24.5-inch display to improve focus for fast-paced titles. Whether it’s Cyberpunk 2077 or Helldivers 2, the monitor proves capable of breezing through hardware and visual demands easily.
BEST DISPLAY (SILVER): ASUS ROG Strix XG27AQDMG Gaming Monitor
Hitting the sweet spot between affordability and feature-packed functionality makes the ASUS ROG Strix XG27AQDMG a compelling option for gaming enthusiasts seeking a highly competent OLED monitor. The 27-inch 1440p WOLED, or White OLED, display combines a 240Hz refresh rate with a 0.03-millisecond response time for fluid, responsive gameplay, alongside Extreme Low Motion Blur mode, which reduces motion blur, and its crown jewel: HDR mode, ensuring vibrant and detailed HDR content. The result? An exceptional, hard-to-beat visual experience.
BEST ACCESSORY (GOLD): TP-Link Archer GE800
Wi-Fi 7 dream speeds are now a reality, courtesy of the TP-Link Archer GE800. Equipped with a quad-core CPU with 2GB of RAM, an acceleration button, and eight pre-optimised antennas, the tri-band router works to deliver 10Gbps connection for ultimate gaming bliss – especially since it supports Multi-Link Operation that taps into the 2.4GHz, 5Ghz, and 6Ghz Wi-Fi bands, and touts gaming-focused features like Game Application Boost and Game Server Acceleration. Say goodbye to slow connection forever.
BEST ACCESSORY (SILVER): Razer Viper V3 Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse
Weighing a meagre 54 grams, the Razer Viper V3 Pro is a serious featherlight built for competitive gaming and esports professionals, so expect niche offerings like an 8,000Hz polling rate that most mice can only dream of achieving, DPI increments of 1, and extra large 100 percent PTFE feet for increased gliding smoothness across various surfaces. The Sensitivity Matcher tool is a nice touch, with first-person shooters and fast-paced titles reaping the most benefits, sending the message to not settle for the rest, when one can settle for the best.
BEST LIFESTYLE (GOLD): Omnidesk Classic Standing Desk
The Omnidesk Classic Standing Desk comes highly recommended for smaller workspaces, offering different tabletop sizes that cater to various needs of the modern home. It inherits all the features of the base model, including anti-collision mechanics, a 4cm/s motorspeed, a height range of 71 to 121cm, but swaps out physical buttons for touchscreen controls. Despite its more compact form, the desk is still able to withstand a maximum load of 130kg and can be easily set up from scratch, reinforcing the appeal of smart standing desks.
BEST LIFESTYLE (SILVER): Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen Edition
Combining the best of both worlds, the Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen Edition serves as the middle ground between conventional leatherette and cushioned material. The chair is firm and supple at the same time, courtesy of the company’s NanoFoam Composite magic, which adds a softer touch to the seat base and retains its weight distribution properties. Arguably the company’s most comfortable leather chair to date, it makes an already excellent flagship even better.
Head over to Geek Culture Awards 2025: The Best of Entertainment to find out the best movies, shows, and games that captured the hearts of the 2024 crowd.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
