One decade ago, 4G was the hottest new thing, TVs were unattractive, and everyone’s cell phones opened with a slid-open mechanism. Just think about what the next ten years will have in store. We’ll have a slew of technologies that successfully pull humanity away from the precarious precipice on which it’s perched if we live up to our innovation potential, which we most certainly will. Yes, you know, the one where we’re on the verge of irreversible global disaster, artificial intelligence super-surveillance, and digital inequality. Unquestionably a gloomy outcome! Let us, for a moment, put the doom and gloom aside—we know, it’s easier said than done—and concentrate on the here and now.
Startups and large corporations alike have maintained a high level of new product releases over the past 12 months. Despite the pandemic, there are new gadgets to ooh and ahh over and damnnn over, ranging from the outlandish to the high-concept to the downright useful and everything in between. Here are 27 of the most interesting gadgets we’ve seen and used in the past few months (some of which overlap with Esquire’s 2020 Gadget Awards nominations). Ideally, they are the kinds of gadgets that will make our lives more efficient, safer, and entertaining in some way or another, while also looking stylish in our homes while they are performing their functions. In the worst case scenario, reading this article will temporarily alleviate the boredom of being perpetually cooped up at home with only your Alexa and an out-of-date gaming console that is decidedly not a PS5 for company while everything outside gets worse and worse.
Cool new technology serves as a reminder that, even as the year 2020 draws to a close, humans are compelled to invent, grow, and change. The fact that it’s something positive is something to keep in mind.