GREATEST TECH HITS OF THE… 2010S
The gadgets of a decade so recent it only feels like last week
While the '90s and '00s brought true innovation to the tech landscape, the 2010s added refinement – effectively launching the devices we regularly use today. Many of them were so good that although we've been treated to iterative upgrades, their DNA is still very much alive in our latest gadgets.
UK broadband hit gigabit speeds by the end of the decade, Disney+ arrived in the States to further the streaming wars, and TikTok appeared on the scene like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Child Catcher, waving its digital lollipops to lure our kids into its doomscrolling dungeons.
It was also arguably the era of Apple. Rocked by the untimely passing of Steve Jobs early in the decade, its product lines grew and evolved faster than ever before. Rivals have been catching up ever since.
And so we take a look back at the 2010s – a purple patch for consumer tech, that on reflection turned out to be the calm before the storm. Before COVID, conflicts and component crises threw a spanner in the works. Happier times, for sure.
GOOGLE PIXEL (2016)
Although Google had loaned its name to the Nexus phone range from 2010, they were still made by third-party manufacturers (HTC, Samsung, LG and Motorola). That all changed in 2016 when it decided to bring the hardware fully in-house and rebrand the line to Pixel. This gave us a stock Android experience on devices entirely designed and developed by Google – something that has proved popular to this very day.
Launch price: £599
While many tech trends – such as video streaming and social media – started the decade before and then blossomed in the 2010s, there was one that appeared as if by magic and effectively changed the world.
Uber launched its first customer cab-hailing service in San Francisco in 2011 and it revolutionised passenger transportation. It has since expanded into more than 70 countries and 15,000 cities worldwide and, much to the chagrin of London's black cab drivers, it has become as synonymous with taxis as Tannoy is with public address systems.
Rival services, such as Lyft in the US and Bolt in the UK, also launched soon after, but are still relatively small in comparison. It's the concept, though, that really wins: the ability to hail, track and direct your ride to a specific pickup point made the service so much easier to use.
Even the fact that payment is taken digitally proved a godsend – no more stops at a late-night ATM to get out cash, while the cab's clock was ticking. Huzzah!
SONY MDR-1000X (2016)
Sony's first headphones in the 1000X range came as a bit of a shock. Bose was the king of active noise cancellation at the time, but this wireless pair saw the Japanese tech giant making a power-play for the throne. As well as offering a premium audio experience and solid ANC performance, the Sony pair were among the most comfortable headphones ever made – a trend continued by the WH-1000XM2 and beyond.
Launch price: £330
Virtual reality had come in and out of fashion over the three decades before, but the 2010s finally saw the tech hit the big time – especially where consumers are concerned.
Oculus – now part of Meta – brought its first publicly available headset to market, while the HTC Vive improved on the concept further. However, both required the use of a powerful PC to work and a web of cables that looked like it spawned from the neuromantic mind of William Gibson. But the launch of the first Meta Quest (née Oculus Quest) in 2019 proved to be truly groundbreaking. It was a completely standalone headset that didn't require wires or a PC, and it set the stall for future versions and its rivals.
VR, XR and MR are still not exactly as mass-market as some would have hoped by now, and the Metaverse never really amounted to much, but the barriers to everyday consumer use were truly torn down in the 2010s. We can't wait to see what's next.
NIKE+ FUELBAND 2012
Although fitness tracking had been around in multiple forms beforehand, Nike effectively changed the game in the early 2010s – almost literally. It gamified counting daily steps and activities with the wrist-worn FuelBand, turning them into NikeFuel points and rewarding wearers with achievements. This encouraged sharing and competition amongst friends and groups, sparking a big trend until the market became saturated with cheaper equivalents and Nike eventually withdrew.
Launch price: £129
LG 65EC9700 (2014)
LG had already started to carve a niche for its OLED TVs, but initial releases were limited to Full HD (1080p) panels, while rivals were already making 4K Ultra HD LED sets. Then came the 65EC9700, which effectively changed everything. Okay, so it was curved, and that TV trend died out quickly, but finally having a 4K OLED for sale set a new standard for premium TVs that continues today.
Launch price: £5,999
OCULUS RIFT CV1 (2016)
Although Oculus had made a couple of headsets prior to the CV1, they were more for developers than the public. This particular model had a wider consumer release and can therefore be seen as a pivotal product in the general acceptance of virtual reality. The HTC Vive was also significant around the same time, but it was the CV1 that set the groundwork for the Oculus/Meta Quest series.
Launch price: £499
SONY PLAYSTATION 4 (2013)
Although Sony had largely lost the battle with Xbox in the 2000s, it came back with a vengeance with its new-generation console. The PS4 might have been an overheating wheezebucket at times, but Sony's back-to-basics approach of focusing on the games themselves – such as God of War, Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part II – saw it leave the Xbox One in the dust.
Launch price: £349
NINTENDO SWITCH (2017)
Remarkably, the Nintendo Switch was originally pegged to be a massive failure, mainly due to a price point considered too high and a relative lack of quality launch games. But the initial critical response turned out to be fleeting, with the new format not only becoming one of Nintendo's biggest success stories, but spawning a whole category in gaming hardware (we're looking at you, Steam Deck). It certainly put the flop that was the Wii U firmly to bed.
Launch price: £279.99
APPLE WATCH (2015)
There was some consternation about the square aesthetic and pricing structure, but Apple once again nailed it with its first smartwatch. Indeed, the Apple Watch became synonymous with the category, even though several other devices had appeared before. What's perhaps more remarkable is that it remains as popular today, even considering that it's just about the only smartwatch on the scene locked to just iPhone use.
Launch price: from £299
AMAZON FIRE TV STICK (2014)
Amazon hedged its bets when it decided to enter the streaming market in 2014, with a Fire TV set-top box being followed by a stick-like dongle a few months later. It was this latter form factor that became vastly more popular, with the retailer selling many millions of the numerous iterations since. The first Fire TV Stick was a HD-only device, but was well spec'd for its day, and it soon saw off its slab-like sibling.
Launch price: £35
AMAZON ECHO 2014
It seems crazy to imagine what our homes were like before the Amazon Echo brought Alexa into them, but Amazon's first smart speaker only arrived in the mid 2010s and still took a little while to truly take off. The tube-like device supplied 360-degree audio from a single audio array (2.5-inch woofer, two-inch tweeter) but still sounded great in a kitchen or bedroom. We miss the simplicity of the form factor, to be honest.
Launch price: £149.99
PEBBLE (2013)
Before the Apple Watch arrived, Pebble became a Kickstarter success story with its own smartwatch. Opting for an e-ink display to the benefit of extended battery life, the design and appeal of the original Pebble saw the company raise over $10 million on a promise alone. Thankfully, the watch lived up to expectations, and we're thrilled that the founder has recently resurrected the brand for a new line of products.
Launch price: £99
SONOS PLAY:1 (2013)
Sonos may have had a rockier time in recent years, but it was the king of multiroom music through the 2010s. That was largely thanks to the Sonos Play:1, its smallest and most versatile speaker. Used as a solo speaker, its loud, throaty performance belies the single 3.5-inch mid-woofer and tweeter combination. And when combined with other Play:1 units, it could provide a wireless home cinema experience that was unheard of at the time.
Launch price: £169
APPLE AIRPODS (2016)
Let's face it, we weren't the only ones who sniggered at the design of the AirPods when Apple first announced them in 2016. They looked inspired by a specific scene in There's Something About Mary (if you know, you know). However, we soon had egg on our faces as they became so popular, pretty much every earbud manufacturer has adopted a similar aesthetic since.
Launch price: £159
PHILIPS AIRFRYER (2010)
Where would we be without the air fryer? It might not have seemed like it at the time, but Philips' idea to cook chips using much less oil has had as big an impact on our kitchens as the microwave. The first model circulated heat around the food, and although there's been a bit of refinement since, the concept remains largely the same. Even the form factor continues to be the norm.
Launch price: £200
SAMSUNG GALAXY S (2010)
Samsung is recognised as the biggest phone manufacturer in the world, and that's largely thanks to its premium Android series. First launching with Android 2.1 installed, the Galaxy S was one of the first flagships with a Super AMOLED display. This gave it an advantage over the iPhone, especially as it also had the fastest GPU in a phone to date.
Launch price: £510
APPLE iPAD 2010
While the iPad was far from the first touchscreen tablet, Apple effectively reinvented the format. A similar concept to the iPhone, the iPad offered many first- and third-party apps, but this time on a 9.7-inch display that was comfortable to hold. It proved to be one of the biggest selling devices of the decade, but also sadly one of the last great launches of the Steve Jobs era.
Launch price: from £429
APPLE iPHONE 4 2010
Apple's iPhone is quite rightly considered the godfather of the smartphone, but it was the iPhone 4 that really changed the game. Where previous models (and rival devices) were largely rounded and plastic-feeling, the iPhone 4 arrived with a flat-edged stainless steel frame and glass on the front and back. Tiny to hold in comparison with today's iPhones (it had just a 3.5-inch display) it still feels premium and luxurious nonetheless.
Launch price: £499
NINTENDO 3DS 2011
Nintendo has always been king of the handheld, with the Game Boy and Switch being class-leading, but it's the DS family that tops the lot – selling over 228 million units in total. The 3DS handhelds accounted for around 76 million of those, and while most players turned off the 3D function almost immediately, the quality of games and robust hardware options mean it's still popular long after being discontinued.
Launch price: from £219
PHILIPS HUE 2012
Originally launched as an Apple Store exclusive, Philips Hue was mind-blowing on its debut. Although LED bulbs already existed, this new technology enabled control over whole home lighting solutions. The inclusion of scenes and the ability to colour-match photos on your phone made for some interesting decor choices. It was expensive, offering just three bulbs in the starter kit, but that didn't seem to matter.
Launch price: £179
GOOGLE NEXUS 7 (2012)
Small tablets were once more popular than those with larger screens, and the Nexus 7 led the way. This seven-inch device preceded the iPad mini by several months, and its keen price and stock Android operating system made it a good family choice. Many cheap and cheerful tablets followed – including the highly credible Tesco Hudl and Amazon's Fire Tablet range – but it's the Nexus 7 we remember fondly.
Launch price: £159
Biggest tech flops of the: 2010s
XBOX ONE 2013
While it can hardly be described as a complete flop, the Xbox One nonetheless saw Microsoft dramatically concede its hard-won position as number one in the console market. It all began to go wrong at its debut during E3 2013, when the focus of Microsoft's announcement was on its entertainment capabilities and always-on internet requirement. Even though some of the messaging was rolled back prior to launch, the damage was done and Sony laughed all the way to the bank.
Launch price: £429
AMAZON FIRE PHONE (2014)
Considering its success in other tech product areas, including Fire Tablets, it made complete sense for Amazon to launch its own smartphone. However, it was priced in the same region as the iPhone at the time, yet ran on Amazon's own largely unsupported Fire platform. That meant it lacked many of the apps and software features of its rivals, including the myriad Android handsets available for less. All this resulted in the phone being discontinued just one year after launch.
Launch price: £399.99
PHILIPS CINEMA 21:9 PLATINUM (2010)
Philips second stab at a super-widescreen TV was actually a decent bit of kit, and it must have sounded like a good idea as other manufacturers also considered the form factor (CES 2010 saw at least two rivals demonstrate sets that never made it to market). However, the reality of a 21:9 TV is that if you're not watching 21:9 content – movies or ultrawide games – you are left with massive black bars either side of the screen. That's not great for general TV viewing, and Philips ditched the idea.
Launch price: around £4,300
