Apple and Canon win readers’ hearts at ST Digital Awards

SINGAPORE - Apple and Canon emerged as the favourite brands among readers at The Straits Times Digital Awards 2017 at Marina Square Atrium on Tuesday (Feb 21).

Both companies took home four Readers' Choice awards each, with Apple winning big in the smartphone categories while Canon dominated the camera awards.

Apple's final tally of five awards narrowly beat Canon's four, though this was down from the seven wins it achieved last year.

The Apple iPhone 7 took both the Editor's Choice and Readers' Choice awards for Best Smartphone while the iPhone 7 Plus was preferred by readers for Best Phablet and Best Smartphone Camera.

The Apple Watch Series 2 also won the Readers' Choice for Best Smartwatch.

However, ST's editorial team went for the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge for Best Smartphone Camera and picked the LG V20 as the year's best phablet.

Canon was a close second, thanks to its cameras, which swept all three Readers' Choice awards in the camera categories. The Japanese firm also won the Readers' Choice award for Best Printer.

Into its sixth year, ST's annual tech awards recognises the best tech gadgets and games of the previous year. This year saw a total of 110 products and games nominated in 20 categories covering seven broad themes - smartphones, laptops, cameras, games, wearables, home and audio. New categories include Best Smart TV and Best Wireless Router.

Ms Irene Tham, tech editor of The Straits Times, said: "We started the awards back in 2012 as a marquee event to bring the entire tech industry together to recognise the industry's efforts to better the lives of consumers through continuous improvements and new innovations."

Like last year, this year's awards was presented by telco StarHub.

Ms Jeannie Ong, StarHub's chief strategic partnership officer, said: "StarHub is happy to lend support to its strategic partner, SPH, once again. We see tremendous synergy in our tie-up with ST Digital Awards, because StarHub, like the nominees here today, tries to be at the forefront of technology."

ST's editorial team picks the Editor's Choice winners while ST readers participated in an online poll conducted between December 2016 and January 2017 to determine the winners of the Readers' Choice awards. These readers stand a chance to win lucky draw prizes worth over $28,000.

A number of products were clearly heads and shoulders above the competition and took both the Editor's Choice and Readers' Choice. Three of the four winners in the laptop category - the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Best Business Laptop), Asus ZenBook 3 (Best Ultrabook) and the Alienware 17 (Best Gaming Laptop) - were double winners. The Fitbit Charge 2 also won both awards for Best Fitness Tracker while the Bose QuietComfort 35 and the Bang &Olufsen Beoplay A1 repeated the feat in the headphones categories.

In the battle between local game developers, Witching Hour Studios' Masquerada: Songs and Shadows duly won the Editor's Choice award for producing one of the most impressive games by a Singapore-based game studio. Readers, however, preferred the fantasy card gameArmaGallant: Decks of Destiny.

Marina Square was the venue sponsor for this year's awards. It is the second time that the awards ceremony has been held at a public mall, after Funan DigitaLife Mall in 2015.

Here is the full list of winners. Find out why they won in tomorrow's edition of The Straits Times.

Editor's Choice: Apple iPhone 7

Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone 7

Editor's Choice: LG V20

Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Editor's Choice: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Editor's Choice: Alienware 17

Readers' Choice: Alienware 17

Editor's Choice: Asus ZenBook 3

Readers' Choice: Asus ZenBook 3

Editor's Choice: HP Spectre x360

Readers' Choice: Asus Transformer 3 Pro

Editor's Choice: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Readers' Choice: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Editor's Choice: Sony Cyber-shot RX100 V

Readers' Choice: Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II

Editor's Choice: Fujifilm X-Pro2

Readers' Choice: Canon EOS M5

Editor's Choice: Pentax K-1

Readers' Choice: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Editor's Choice: Overwatch

Readers' Choice: Pokemon Go

Editor's Choice: Masquerada: Songs and Shadows

Readers' Choice: ArmaGallant: Decks of Destiny

Editor's Choice: Fitbit Charge 2

Readers' Choice: Fitbit Charge 2

Editor's Choice: Samsung Gear S3

Readers' Choice: Apple Watch Series 2

Editor's Choice: LG Signature Oled G6

Readers' Choice: Samsung 65" SUHD 4K Curved Smart TV KS9000 Series 9

Editor's Choice: HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 All-in-One

Readers' Choice: Canon Maxify MB5470

Editor's Choice: Linksys EA9500 Max-stream AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router

Readers' Choice: D-Link DIR-895L AC5300 MU-MIMO Ultra Wi-Fi Router

Editor's Choice: Beyerdynamic iDX 200 iE

Readers' Choice: Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H5

Editor's Choice: Bose QuietComfort 35

Readers' Choice: Bose QuietComfort 35

Editor's Choice: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay A1

Readers' Choice: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay A1