Man of Many’s 2025 Best Tech Products of the Year Revealed

With 2025 rapidly coming to a close, we’re looking back at all the best bits of tech we were able to get our hands on in the past 12 months. While the broader ‘tech’ conversation is absolutely infused with AI, LLMs, and agentic experiences, we’ve steered mainly back toward products and gear that give you a tangible sense of use, or which have given us legitimate ‘wow’ moments throughout the year.

While we certainly don’t have the manpower to review and test everything, we do our best to get our hands on the biggest and the best. Here, you’ll find a list of the best things our team of writers and experts tested this year: from cameras and TVs, to new consoles and e-readers.

So, without further ado, here’s Man of Many’s Best Tech Products of 2025.

Best Tech Product of the Year: Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised)

• Price: AU$10,100 for lifetime access, or $150/month

One of the more surprising tech launches of the year was the sudden arrival of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) capabilities in Australia. We had the opportunity to test the system ahead of its nationwide rollout and came away suitably impressed. The system almost always chose the correct lane, sat below the speed limit in built-up areas to maintain safety, and never made any sudden movements—effectively driving better than most Sydneysiders.

Best Smartphone of the Year: iPhone 17 Pro Max

• Price: From AU$1,999

While the Air had the makings of something interesting, the best iPhone to buy is still Apple’s latest high-end model: the iPhone 17 Pro Max. While expensive, the 17 Pro Max delivers everything you’d want from a professionally-focused smartphone, with incredible cameras, up to 39 hours of battery life, and the power to back it all up. Plus, the new aluminium frame looks pretty smart if we say so ourselves.

Best Foldable Phone of the Year: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7

• Price: From AU$2,499

While foldables are very much a niche market, there’s a clear frontrunner in terms of where the tech is landing and, surprising no one, it’s Samsung. Having been one of the first major manufacturers to get on board with folding phones, the Korean tech giant delivered a fantastic evolution of its sandwich-style phone in the Galaxy Z Fold7. It’s incredibly thin and incredibly impressive.

Best Smartphone of the Year (Affordable): Nothing Phone (3a)

Price: From $599

If you’re willing to step outside Apple’s ecosystem, there are many great phones available at various price points. At the low end, though, it’s hard to beat the Nothing Phone (3a). Delivering on Nothing’s design-first mantra, yet still with a solid product underneath, the Phone (3a) packs a lot of great ideas into a tiny frame. Additionally, the one major weakness (the camera) can be addressed by upgrading to the Phone (3a) Pro, which could deliver a significant upgrade to your mobile photography capabilities.

Best Tablet of the Year: Apple iPad Pro

• Price: From AU$1,699

While other makers have certainly tried their hand at creating iPad competitor tablets, nothing has really come close to Apple’s touchscreen marvel, and the M4 iPad Pro is an imposing device. Featuring Apple’s first OLED display, alongside the same impressive chip found in this year’s MacBook Air (keep reading to hear about that), the iPad Pro is more than enough to serve as both an everyday tablet, while also being powerful enough to pick up most of the jobs you’d use a dedicated laptop for.

Best Laptop of the Year: Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4)

• Price: From AU$1,699

While the MacBook Pro is undoubtedly built for creatives and professionals, it’s the Air that stands out as our choice for the best laptop on the market today. A combination of a potent and energy-efficient processor in the M4, combined with a thin, light, and durable frame, a beautiful ‘Super Retina’ display, and (still) one of the best keyboards in a laptop, makes it an easy device to recommend to the vast majority of users.

Best Camera of the Year: Fujifilm X-T30 III

• Price: From AU$1,679

While there’ve been a few fantastic camera launches in the past year, we can’t move past the Fujifilm X-T30 III, which delivered a tremendous value-for-money offering in a lightweight, aesthetically pleasing frame capable of evolving with its operator through support for interchangeable lenses. Plus, the camera offers 20 ‘Film Simulations’ (a fancy name for filters), which allow you to skip the post-processing hassle and instead get your shots uploaded to your favourite social media quickly, or straight into your portfolio.

Best Action Camera of the Year: DJI Osmo Nano

• Price: From AU$529

Weighing just 52 grams and measuring 57 x 29 x 28mm, DJI’s Osmo Nano pushes the boundaries in the action camera space, delivering a tiny, lightweight, and competent device. With the ability to shoot in 4K/60fps or 4K/120fps slow motion, extensive mounting options, as well as about an hour of battery life (with the ability to quick charge), the Osmo Nano is a solid choice for anyone looking to document their outdoor activities.

Best Drone of the Year: DJI Neo 2

• Price: From AU$409

DJI returned with an updated Neo in late 2025, effectively addressing many of the significant issues the company’s small-form-factor drone had faced. With significantly improved video quality, intuitive gesture and voice controls, and the ability to launch and land in the palm of your hand, the Neo 2 is an excellent entry point into the world of drone photography.

Best Microphone of the Year: DJI Mic 3

• Price: From AU$569

If you’re after a simple, self-contained, creator-focused wireless microphone set-up, it’s hard to go past DJI’s Mic 3. While it strangely lacks a 3.5mm jack, the mic-and-receiver combo delivers fantastic audio recording, with a range of up to 400m. It can store approximately 30 hours of recording internally before needing to be expanded—far more than the device’s 8-hour battery life. Additionally, with the ability to transmit from multiple sources simultaneously, the Mic 3 sets a new standard for on-location filming.

Best Speaker of the Year: JBL Charge 6

• Price: From AU$229.95

Sturdy, small, and somehow still robust, the JBL Charge 6 is just about everything you’d want from a portable party starter. Connect it to your phone via Bluetooth and enjoy up to 28 hours of playtime around the pool. Don’t stress, the Charge 6 is waterproof, dustproof, and dropproof. With an included strap, the Charge 6 is easy to move around, ensuring it’ll go wherever you need it to.

Best Headphones of the Year: Sony WH-1000XM6

• Price: From AU$579.95

Sony’s XM6s may look functionally similar to the best-selling XM5 and XM4 before them, but they’re anything but a basic retread. The XM6 is an improvement on its forebears in almost every way, with improved noise cancellation, 30-hours of music playback (with 3 minutes of charging giving back 1 hour of playback), and both tactile and intelligent controls. Plus, it comes with a solid carry case included, keeping the XM6 safe when out and about. Additionally, by pairing the headphones with Sony’s Sound Connect EQ app, the XM6s can be adjusted to deliver a high-quality sonic experience, whether you’re listening to TOOL or Sabrina Carpenter.

Best Television of the Year: Hisense Canvas TV

• Price: From AU$1,799

While we’re all looking to make our homes a bit more chic, there’s a trade-off in always needing a big black glass rectangle sitting in pride of place in your living room. Hisense’s Canvas TV aims to address that issue, offering something easier on the eyes (in more ways than one), while still delivering a stunning 4K image. The most impressive part of the display is that when ‘switched off’, it’ll display a rotating gallery of artwork, ensuring even when not in use, the Canvas TV can turn heads.

Best Gaming Console of the Year: Nintendo Switch 2

• Price: From AU$676

This is a relatively easy choice, since the Nintendo Switch 2 is the only console to launch in 2025. Thankfully, it also happens to be a significant piece of kit, capable of playing many of the best games of the past decade at higher resolutions and frame rates than were possible on the predecessor console. The fact that it can be used in both handheld and docked modes opens it up to far more use cases than other, more ‘traditional’ consoles, and a relatively strong line-up of solid Nintendo games that launched in its first year signals many hours of good times ahead. Grab it with Mario Kart World and have yourself a merry Christmas.

Best Smartwatch of the Year: Apple Watch Ultra 3

• Price: From AU$1,399

Apple’s latest and greatest watch, the Apple Watch Ultra 3, features built-in satellite tracking to keep you connected while you’re off the grid, with up to 72 hours of battery life in low-power mode. Additionally, it boasts the largest display on an Apple Watch yet, making it an excellent secondary device.

Best e-Reader of the Year: Kindle Colorsoft

• Price: From AU$399

Look, you probably already know what a Kindle is. Still, this year Amazon launched something a bit different—probably the most significant change to the Kindle line-up in years: a Kindle that can display colour e-ink. The difference this makes is surprisingly substantial, as book covers or comic books come to life in a way that prior iterations couldn’t quite muster. Additionally, for those of us who like to highlight text when reading something particularly insightful or important, the addition of colour provides a new way to interact. While the Colorsoft is anything but a necessary upgrade for anyone with an e-reader already, it’s likely the one you should pick up when you’re next in the market for a bedside companion.

Best Robot Vacuum: Dreame X50 Ultra

• Price: From AU$2,999

You’d be forgiven for thinking every robot vacuum cleaner is the same, but Dreame’s X50 Ultra does something pretty extraordinary: it can climb up ledges. If you’ve ever gotten frustrated at a robovac that got stuck on carpet, or freaks out at the prospect of a ledge, the X50 solves the issue with small, retractable legs that help it to better navigate the cleaning space.