T3 Magazine was first launched in the U.K. in 1996, and today it has announced its 30th anniversary awards, which include three new categories, including Biggest Product in T3’s Lifetime, which is given to the Apple iPod.
T3 (which originally stood for Tomorrow’s Technology Today, by the way) remains a leading tech magazine. As well as being found in newsagents, subscribers to Apple News+ can read each issue in the app.
The awards this year run to 84 gongs, with three new categories for this 30th year. These include Person of the Year, won by Apple’s CEO Tim Cook (just in time as he’s about to hand the reins to John Ternus) and British Icon, won by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web.
Why the Apple iPod Won ‘Biggest Product In T3’s Lifetime’
The third new product category is Biggest Product in T3’s Lifetime, won by the iPod.
I asked Mat Gallagher, T3’s Editor-in-Chief, what was different in this year’s awards. “We wanted to do something a little bit special to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and so the addition of the Person of the Year, British Icon and biggest product of T3’s lifetime made sense to us,” he told me.
“Technology has evolved thanks to the likes of Cook and Berners-Lee, and while some products come and go, others have a lasting effect. The iPod changed Apple from a computer company into a leader in portable devices. It was clever, easy to use but most of all it was cool,” he added. “The iPhone simply built on this success, taking it to new extremes, though without the iPod it may never have existed.” There’s a thought.
Key Winners: From Adidas Running Shoes To Garmin
Among other notables, the Product of the Year is a pair of shoes, Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. These shoes ran the first-ever sub-two hour marathon speed, achieved in London earlier this year. The tech will helped that, though it’s fair to say the wearer, Sebastian Sawe played a part, too.
Brand of the Year is Garmin, with its fitness helpers from watches to bike pedals earning the brand’s position.
Design: Tech was won by a headphone, and the Nothing Headphone (1) won it because of “gloriously minimalist” design and impressive audio.
The thinnest vacuum cleaner in the world is the Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones. You can’t say Dyson is unoriginal in its names. The lightweight machine won for Design: Home.
Samsung Wins A Hat-Trick At T3 Awards
The Readers’ Choice award is always an intriguing one and this year it went to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, which also won the award for Best Phone, while the Best Folding Phone went to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. A hat-trick for Samsung, then.
The Sustainability award was won by an electric toothbrush, the Suri 2.0. Other categories ranged from portable speakers to home workout equipment, video doorbell to drone, sleep tech to travel luggage. Something for everyone, then.
What is the value of awards like these? T3 is known for its impeccable objectivity and ruthless testing, so seeing what stands out is interesting, like a quicker way to plough through Best Buy features.
And having the longevity that 30 years offers means there’s a unique viewpoint, too.
