These are the Headline winners of the T3 Awards 2026 – the best of the best in lifestyle tech

Of the 84 winners in the T3 Awards 2026, just 10 of them make up our Headline Awards. These are our ultimate accolades, covering the breadth of our entire content, from Active and Outdoor to Home, Automotive and Tech.

The Headline Awards include our best product, best retail and best brand. It also includes innovation and sustainability awards for those products and brands really making a difference.

Our Readers' Choice award is voted for by you, from a shortlist of products nominated both by the T3 team and through public ballot. This is a special award for the brands, as it really shows the products you want to buy.

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This year, we have also introduced three new Headline Awards. The Person of the Year celebrates the figure that has made the biggest impact in the industry, while the British Icon looks to our very own country for those people who have made a difference.

As this year is T3's 30th anniversary, we have created a special award to highlight the Biggest Product in T3's Lifetime – and choosing just one great product from the last three decades is no easy task.

Awards covering our Home, Active and Technology categories were revealed earlier this week – you can find them all on the links below. As with all 84 categories of the T3 Awards this year, picking the winners was an exceptionally hard task, as every finalist offers a highly appealing product or service. Congratulations to all of the shortlisted entries and to this year's winners.

There can only be one winner, though, so here they are...

Check out our other winners

• Home and Style award winners
• Kitchen and Garden winners
• Smart Home winners
• Outdoor winners
• Wearable winners
• Fitness winners
• Getting Around winners
• Tech winners
• Headphones and Audio winners
• TV winners
• Design Award winners (announced at 1pm)

Headline winners

Brand of the Year

Garmin

Few brands have enjoyed a year quite like Garmin. While many companies focused on iterative updates, Garmin strengthened its position across almost every corner of the wearable market, launching standout products for runners, adventurers and everyone else. From the flagship Fenix 8 Pro and rugged Instinct 3 to the stylish Venu X1 and accessible Forerunner 170, the company proved it has a compelling answer for almost every type of athlete.

The numbers tell an equally impressive story, with Garmin reporting record revenue of $7.25 billion in 2025 (a 15% year-on-year increase) while shipping more than 20 million devices, another company record. Even more remarkably, its Fitness division, which covers products primarily aimed at exercise, health and training, continued to surge, posting 42% growth in both the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.

Perhaps most importantly, Garmin hasn't rested on its success. Throughout last year, the company repeatedly talked about its "active" product roadmap with many exciting launches still to come, signalling that it's thinking well beyond its current lineup. That's reflected in its continued investment in software, too, with meaningful updates and new health features arriving long after devices reach consumers' wrists.

It's this combination of category-leading hardware, meaningful innovation and sustained momentum that makes Garmin such an easy choice for T3's Brand of the Year. In a fiercely competitive market, no other company has done more over the past 12 months to push wearable technology forward.

Product of the Year

Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3

Every so often, a product comes along that doesn't just improve on what came before but changes what's possible, which is exactly what the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 achieved.

When Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line at the 2026 London Marathon in 1:59:30, he became the first person to break the two-hour marathon barrier in an official race. Moments later, Yomif Kejelcha followed him under the mythical mark, while Tigst Assefa set a new women-only world record. All three athletes wore the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, cementing the shoe's place in sporting history.

Of course, no running shoe wins races on its own. Years of training, meticulous preparation and extraordinary athletic talent made those performances possible. But Adidas' latest supershoe represents a remarkable leap forward in footwear design.

Weighing just 97g, it became the first sub-100g marathon racer, pairing an all-new Lightstrike Pro Evo foam with the innovative EnergyRim carbon propulsion system to create a shoe that's lighter, more efficient and more responsive than anything that came before it. Adidas claims a 1.6% improvement in running economy over its predecessor, which might not sound much, but it can translate into precious minutes over 42.2 kilometres.

Most importantly, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 also reignited one of the biggest debates in modern sport: How much of elite performance comes down to the athlete, and how much can technology contribute? Whatever your view, there's no denying that this shoe has become the defining symbol of a new era in distance running.

Products of the Year should leave a lasting legacy. The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 has already done exactly that, making it T3's Product of the Year for 2026.

Retailer of the Year

IKEA

If you'd told us even a few years ago that IKEA would be winning a retailer award from a tech title, we'd have called you crazy. But here it is, winning T3's Retailer of the Year (UK) Award.

While it has been a reliable source of affordable flat-packed furniture and tasty meatballs since 1943 (or 1987 in the UK), it recently leaned into its technology with some impressive results.

Following its partnership with Sonos to create a series of speakers, IKEA has developed a new line of products. Back in November 2025, it launched a range of connected technology products with the designer Tekla Evela Severin (Teklan), which included Bluetooth speakers and lamp speakers. Today it offers eight different models, with another 12 still to come. Add to this the existing smart bulbs and plugs it offers, and you have an impressive range.

IKEA is quickly becoming a go-to for fun and affordable tech products. You can buy them online or in-store. Just be warned, you'll be sure to come out with far more than you went in for.

Retailer of the Year (US)

B&H Photo Video Audio

If you're ever in New York, it's well worth a trip to B&H. The store has been in the city since 1973 and while its location has changed a couple of times, the place between 9th Avenue and 34th Street has been its home since 1997.

Founded by Blimie and Herman Schreiber, it originally focused purely on photography products. However, in recent times, it has expanded to cover video and now audio as well, adjusting its name to match. It also has an authorised Apple shop within its computer department.

Though it only has the one brick-and-mortar store – over three stories – it has a huge web presence, serving tech fans across the US and beyond (179 countries shipped to). It stocks over 400,000 products and still offers some of the most competitive pricing on the market too.

One of the coolest things about the store is the conveyor belt, which takes the items you buy straight to the checkout. It's like some real Harry Potter wizardry – except they've been doing it for more than 50 years!

Sustainability Award

Suri 2.0

Most of us never stop to think about what happens to a manual toothbrush or an electric toothbrush head once we've finished with it, but Suri is changing that. Rather than treating sustainability as a marketing ploy, the brand has built it into every stage of its products' lifecycle.

While its two generations of sonic toothbrushes are amongst the best we've tested, it's everything around the toothbrush that really sets Suri apart. From plant-based brush heads and prepaid compostable mailers that let customers return used heads for recycling, to refillable toothpaste and a repair service that extends the life of its toothbrushes, Suri is constantly looking for ways to reduce waste instead of creating more of it.

Perhaps most impressively, those recycled brush heads don't disappear into the recycling system unnoticed. They're transformed into products like recycled soap dishes, each one made from an average of 18 returned brush heads.

In an industry where sustainability claims can often feel superficial, Suri stands out by backing its promises with meaningful action, making it a thoroughly deserving winner of our Sustainability Award.

Tech Innovation Award

Lego Smart Play

The biggest innovation in LEGO since the minifigure was released in 1978. That was the message when LEGO launched its Smart Play system back in January 2026.

The system works by combining a smart brick, packed with sensors, a light and a speaker, with smart tiles or smart minifigures, which provide the parameters. The smart bricks then generate the sounds in real-time (not prerecorded) depending on the movement of the set the brick is in.

Where it gets really clever is when you have two sets with smart bricks inside, as they can interact. Put the Lego Star Wars X-Wing and Tie Fighter into battle, and they can take hits from each other's laser cannons when facing in the right direction. You can also have lightsaber battles in the throne room set, and place the Darth Vader minifigure on the Cantina stage, and he'll sing his own version of the song.

It's a mind-blowing piece of tech, and all packed into a 4x2 LEGO brick. By far the cleverest invention we've seen this year and well and truly worthy of the T3 Tech Innovation Award.

Readers’ Choice Award

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

When it comes to flagship phones, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is a shining example, and in our eyes, the best phone around right now (which is why it won Best Phone). The good news is that you, our readers, agree. In fact, you love it so much that it beat tough competition across all other tech products for this year's Readers' Choice Award – and that's an impressive feat.

This year's S26 Ultra introduced a brand-new Privacy Display innovation that can stop snoopers from looking over your shoulder. But unlike a regular privacy cover, it can be applied to selective apps or even just for notifications.

Add to that the upgraded four-camera array on the back, the integrated S Pen stylus and a more refined design, and you have a phone truly deserving of the accolade.

Person of the Year

Tim Cook, CEO Apple

Tim Cook steps down as CEO of Apple in September after 15 years in the role. Taking over from founder Steve Jobs in 2011, he had huge shoes to fill but since then he has not just steadied the ship but he has continued to build Apple into a multi-trillion dollar business and launch a host of iconic products.

Cook actually joined Apple back in 1998 (just two year's after T3 started), working his way up to lead operations. Under his tenture Apple introduced the Apple Watch, the AirPods, the HomePod, the Vision Pro and 15 generations from the iPhone from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 17.

As part of his role as CEO of Apple, Cook has made a strong stance on sustainability and climate change, and has had high level political dealings both at home in the US and overseas, including with China. Something that he will continue to do in his new role as executive chairman.

While the Tim Cook era may be coming to an end, his legacy will continue in Apple products around the world. A very worthy winner of T3's Person of the Year.

British Icon

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

When it came to choosing a British icon for the world of tech, lots of names were discussed, but none had quite the impact as our winner.

Tim Berners-Lee was born in London and studied at the University of Oxford before working for CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, which also created the Large Hadron Collider.

By connecting hypertext to CERN's TCP and DNS, he created the World Wide Web and then designed and built the first web browser on the NeXT Computer (the company Steve Jobs founded).

Without Tim Berners-Lee, there would be no internet, as we know it, and therefore no T3.com. For that reason alone, he has to be a true British Icon.

Biggest Product in T3's Lifetime

Apple iPod

The iPod goes well beyond the realms of a product, as it revolutionised a whole industry. It wasn't the first MP3 player, nor was it the biggest capacity or the model with most functions. What it had was a beautiful design, a simple and elegant user interface in the form of a click wheel, and a way to manage your music, in the form of iTunes.

Its popularity brought the public into a new way of buying music – paying 99p or 99c per song in iTunes. It allowed you to sync your music between your computer (Mac or PC) and the iPod with ease and create playlists.

Over its 21 year lifespan it saw six generations of the 'classic' design, along with two generations of iPod Mini, seven generations of iPod Nano, four generations of iPod Shuffle and seven generations of iPod Touch.

It went from a 10GB model that could put 1,000 sings in your pocket in 2001, to a device that was basically an iPhone without the ability to make calls by 2022.

Ultimately the iPhone made the iPod redundant, but without the iPod, the iPhone probably wouldn't have existed.