The Samsung Galaxy S3 is the best gadget of the year, even better than the iPhone 5 -- that's according to our American chums at CNET.com. Do you agree with their choice?
The editors of CNET.com locked themselves away for three days to decide the 100 biggest technology stories of the year, be they news stories or new products, as well as emerging trends that have defined 2012. But only one gadget can emerge victorious, and it's the S3.
The Google Nexus 7, Microsoft Surface and iPad mini make the list, as well as wackier gadgets including Google Glass, the Lytro camera and unmanned drones. The iPhone 5 comes in a close second, only let down by the Maps app debacle, but the S3 tops the list thanks to its gorgeous screen, great camera and brilliant Android software.
The first seven products in the list are all phones or tablets, showing the importance of mobile devices in the past 12 months. But the brilliant and bargainous Nexus 4 didn't even make the top 100, largely because it lacks 4G, which is a much bigger deal across the Atlantic.
And the top news story of the year? You'll have to click to find out, but you might be able to guess from the image above. Here's another hint: it involves Apple and Samsung again.
Is the S3 a worthy winner, or was the iPhone 5 the highlight of the year? What's your best gadget of 2012? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
24 month contract
24 month contract
Comments 40
Add your comment
anonymous 11 December, 2012 16:49
this is factual!
anonymous 11 December, 2012 16:55
'iPhone 5 only kettle down by maps app' er wtf what about purple haze on camera and the way it gets scratched when you look at it?
anonymous 11 December, 2012 17:38
If were going by the rubbish maps app for iPhone then i agree if its the two phones overall then their the same phone just different operating systems.
anonymous 11 December, 2012 17:44
Purple haze happens on all cameras it was just negative hype. No scratches on my iPhone 5 yet months later. Samsung Galaxy S3 is a great phone and both companies should be inspiring each other to be better. I don't like aspects of Android and prefer IOS as it suits my needs. Never say never though.
CaptainPicard 11 December, 2012 17:45
I think the Nexus 7 is the best gadget of 2012. It offers so much for a low price, and started a revolution which led to other companies release cheap but powerful tablets.
And in the CNET UK Facebook poll about the best phone, I voted for the S3 because the Nexus 4 is quite limited for an Android phone, no SD slot, no removable battery and no 4G, and realistically I don't see what the N4 can do the S3 can't do or won't be able to do in the future. I'd be happy with either phone though.
anonymous 11 December, 2012 17:58
@anonymous 17:44 I must say NO your wrong as I've never had a purple haze in any phone or camera I've ever had!
misterk1973 11 December, 2012 18:48
Rich Trenholm throws Troll grenade in last two sentences, runs away sniggering, ha ha ha.
komodoswitch 11 December, 2012 19:12
Dont even try to compare apples with oranges . I will appreciate the high quality products like Iphone 5. Everyone else can stick its Asian cheap looking ,anti pocket sized Samsung phones. Also one more thing I got iphone 4s and samsung galaxy s2 and nexus 7 . If you want short but true user and developer review. here it is
Iphone 4s -works as it should be, does all the job i need.
Samsung Galaxy S2 - if you manage not to tap by mistake on the screen , without jumping to a wrong screen , then you might just manage to do it. power off button on the right side , It is all Gangham style
Nexus 7 - Yes it is cheap and the speed is like HTC Hero of a tablet works like it has 500MHZ single core cpu. In fact they managed just to add 4 cores with zero optimization . GPU is so rubbish that graphics comparing to any IOS device will suck.
anonymous 11 December, 2012 19:23
According Apple, S3 is copying iPhone, how could it be better??? LOL
anonymous 11 December, 2012 19:25
Galaxy S3 because of popularising the larger screen size, with good screen resolution and feature set, plus being the first (and so far only) high-end Android phone to have any significant sales success.
The Galaxy Note & Note 2 for being the first Phablet to gain a good hold in the marketplace.
The HTC One X, iPhone 5 and Nexus 4 are all stunning phones and all are of better build quality than the Galaxy S3.
Nexus 7 for the Bang for your Buck.
A very well featured mini tablet, but not without its problems. Build quality and faulty screen issues are common; the OS is laggy and the screen is not the best despite its fairly high resolution. However it's the first Android tablet to make any significant sales inroads.
anonymous 11 December, 2012 19:45
@Komodoswitch go sit on the toilet mate......
Matt Winston. 11 December, 2012 20:41
Everyone on this page has got an Galaxy S2, S3, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, Nexus 7 and some other phone or tablet. But I'm sorry, there is no way we can verify anyone's accusation about their experience of a particular product being crap. So why comment BS??
misterk1973 11 December, 2012 23:00
@komodoswitch... we need Adam Buxton reading your poorly spelt, grammatically incorrect attempt at English out loud.... or sumtin. Ha ha!
anonymous 12 December, 2012 00:23
Utter dribble, Android app updates and Samsung crashes negates this call.
anonymous 12 December, 2012 04:47
Funny how they ding the iPhone for the Map debacle (rightly so, I might add), but give the "brilliant" Android software a pass on the huge amount of malware that infects its wide open approach. When it comes to my mobile, I'll stick with the far more secure (not perfect mind you) iOS.
anonymous 12 December, 2012 04:57
iPhone... meh. "Monkey see, monkey do", said Simple Simon.
Android malware? Well, only if you install apps called "Big boobs" developed by the Russian Mafia.
komodoswitch 12 December, 2012 06:31
@misterk1973 I will call Stephen Fry to give you a Grammatic orgasm . there must be always grammar nannies around like you i guess ,. thanks but who needs a review from a boring BBC4 radio and its djs , Your feelings must be hurt, stick to your Gangham style samsung
Jim Edwards 12 December, 2012 10:35
"The Samsung Galaxy S3 is the best gadget of the year, even better than the iPhone 5 -- that's according to our American chums at CNET.com. Do you agree with their choice? "
What I'd like to ask is what do the staff at CNET UK think?
I'd be amazed if your thought any differently to our American cousins and that really is the point of this post... your apparent slavish devotion to brands that ar
e 'fashionable' and 'in' and your lip service coverage of brands that don't fall within the 'hip-o-sphere'.
The S3 would win any CNET US pole currently - not because of it's technical merits which are duly impressive - but purely because that is the way the wind seems to be blowing in the CNET SFO and NYC offices right now. Perhaps a re-alignment of the opinion Jetstream happened sometime between Apple's legal victory over Samsung and the launch of the iPhone 5?
Just in the same way you can easily guess the opinions of any iOS/Android/WP/BB fanboy, CNET seems to be just as predictable and is currently surfing the 'Android Ascendant' wave after riding the 'Apple can do no wrong' riptide for so many years.
At best it's lazy journalism. At worse you should all rename yourselves 'Nathan Barley' since your reporting seems to have all the depth of a flea's paddling pool.
I've no axe to grind; I'm a fan of good gadgets regardless of their manufacturer or OS, but more so a fan of insightful, informed and opinionated journalism that not only caters for what people want to read, but also challenges it.
Prove me wrong - vote the Huawei Ascend G300 CNET UK’s gadget of the year!!!
anonymous 12 December, 2012 11:09
L
O
L
That headline is like saying a Ford Focus is better then a BMW 3 series!
I prefer premium not mid range thank you veryr much
anonymous 12 December, 2012 13:30
A Ford Focus IS better than a BMW 3 Series. It's also far rarer!
Caveo 12 December, 2012 13:51
I don't think komodoswitch realises how much his iphone is made up of "Gangham Style" Samsung bits.
Matt Winston. 12 December, 2012 14:12
Numbers speak for themselves. And at the moment the S3 is winning the CNET UK Facebook poll by a landslide. More S3's were sold in November in the UK than the iPhone 5.
anonymous 12 December, 2012 15:14
To be honest, I don't understand why one has to compare the two. I always wanted an iPhone till Note series arrived. I got a Note II and frankly I couldn't been happier. Everyone has their own reasons to like or dislike a phone.
The biggest sufferers of this debate are the other manufacturers. No matter how good products they make, people will only talk about an iPhone5 or GS3.
Leszcz 12 December, 2012 15:28
ive got an s3 so i obviously agreed with the verdict at first but ive been to carphone waeehouse today and saw the galaxy camera and let me tell you someyhing : its shockingly amazing! I couldnt walk away from it
anonymous 12 December, 2012 17:18
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_pYerXWSdNE The multi view and wifi direct transfering files via wifi direct nd nfc for less than 3 minutes is sick.. just click my link im also a iphone user.. for simplicity iphone .. but when your into gaming s3 is a beast even beating nexus 4 and optimis g in real world performance even it has better spec
anonymous 12 December, 2012 17:21
@komodoswitch
Ahahaha at the Apple bumboy! What a lad!
anonymous 12 December, 2012 18:01
@Komodoswitch, seems you don't feel aisan people as people. Your behaviour and thinking is too much rough. Whatever you are an apple fan or addroid or windows(mobile), your words remind "black will take no other hue".
Professional words written by somebody, shown below:
anonymous http://m.youtube.com/watch? v=_pYerXWSdNE The multi view and wifi direct transfering files via wifi direct nd nfc for less than 3 minutes is sick.. just click my link im also a iphone user.. for simplicity iphone .. but when your into gaming s3 is a beast even beating nexus 4 and optimis g in real world performance even it has better spec
Windows and apple should invent high end OS asap and also use the highend hardware OR near future their condition will be like blackberry
anonymous 12 December, 2012 19:14
I just want to insult someone for my brand loyalty to Samsung. google or apple.
My thing is best.
samuelc 13 December, 2012 11:19
@komodoswitch
Well done, hilarious post, it made me laugh lots. Couple of points on what you said...
"Dont even try to compare apples with oranges . I will appreciate the high quality products like Iphone 5. Everyone else can stick its Asian cheap looking ,anti pocket sized Samsung phones."
...I have never had a problem fitting the Samsung S3 in any of my pockets, and I wear some quite skinny jeans. How come you have a problem fitting it in? Do you wear tight leather chaps or something?
"Also one more thing I got iphone 4s and samsung galaxy s2 and nexus 7 . If you want short but true user and developer review. here it is Iphone 4s -works as it should be, does all the job i need."
...You do realise that the above article had nothing to do with the iPhone 4S or S2 as they were last year's devices? This article is about the Samsung Galaxy S3, if you check the title of the article that should give you a clue.
"Samsung Galaxy S2 - if you manage not to tap by mistake on the screen , without jumping to a wrong screen , then you might just manage to do it. power off button on the right side , It is all Gangham style"
I've never heard of Gang-ham style, is it a type of Korean meat?
anonymous 13 December, 2012 12:00
There's also "Gingham Style" for country and western fans.
anonymous 13 December, 2012 23:09
So drawn between the 2 phones, but now that Google Maps is out on IOS i'm gonna go with iPhone5. Higher price but better build quality and integration with other hardware.
Samsung have got to really innovate or go for price.
Cash rich Apple will have the lead long term IMO.
Someone needs to invent a true holographic display to catch the next boat.
anonymous 14 December, 2012 05:26
nop MS surface is the best gadget of the year!
anonymous 14 December, 2012 11:51
There should be no doubt about this
Burak Öktem 14 December, 2012 12:45
Sorry apple, u've been just f*cked up by the half-priced "thing".
-It's a fact :)
anonymous 14 December, 2012 14:10
Don't prove your a dummy by criticizing the sgs3 for being more complex - you can only make a thing more user configurable, powerful and ultimately useful if you give more controls to allow greater possibilities.
Desktop mode for android will crop up soon enough and then the difference between ios and andriod will really show. Android will scale up to something like Ubuntu pretty easily, whereas ios will not translate well- will enter the game late playing catchup and will probably require new and bigger hardware with less metal to be able to have the grunt to do it justice.
anonymous 14 December, 2012 18:49
The iPhone 5 was definitely not gadget of the year as it was not well received. It was easily scratchable, there was a purple haze on photos and some people reported that they were getting a green glow from the screen. To add to this failure, it came with iOS 6 which is riddled with problems in itself, and that's not just with Apple Maps as I have found out with it installed on my iPod. It's also with iTunes and the App Store, which just keep force-quitting. I don't know about the Galaxy S3 as I don't own one/have heard much about it, but I suspect it doesn't have these problems.
anonymous 27 December, 2012 03:41
@komodoswitch I also have an iPhone and a nexus 7... And nexus 7 definitely works much faster and beats iPhone in every respect.. Guess something wrong with your piece.. Get it replaced.
anonymous 9 January, 2013 19:48
Disagree. The devices are very different. I have both. For most situations the iPhone is the best (camera, audio...). But I like the s3's size and replaceable battery. Which do you think is better, apples or a tea tray?
Another CNET no story, again. Like a few others I'm leaving CNET for better tech sites.
anonymous 9 January, 2013 19:51
I get crashes on my s3 and it bricked. Luckily I was able to get a replacement and touch wood it seems ok (forced closure with some apps though).
anonymous 18 January, 2013 06:28
Whos seen an apple tv ? Whos seen an apple fridge, stove , microwave or washer and dryer set ? Bluray player with top sound surround capabilities thatonot only gels with your phone but does it almost automatically ? Anyone ? Yes these are still Cellular phones ffs no tard here I read the effin article ....this though is a battle that was lost before it started in this case like no other...samsung has integrated into our lives electronically quietly and professionally for the past decade strong with such reliable hardware and well defined vision !! Always on top of our deepest desires in order to fill our households with its circuitry....apple is a red tape infested monoply built with barriers that not only keep you locked in to its matrix but its small vision keeps advancement locked out ! Macs n iphones are a fad they are and always have been the guess jeans of the industry and their supporters support blindly until their smacked right in the eyes with the massive displays of an industry leader haha