On this newsletter, we talk a lot about the intersection of Form and Function. Finding tech that not only improves our lives but looks incredible while doing it. As we wrap up another year of tech reviews, I wanted to look back at the devices that pushed the boundaries of industrial design.
These aren't necessarily the most powerful, spec-heavy machines. Instead, they are the products that took risks, prioritized intentionality, and genuinely surprised me. Here are my top 5 designed products of the past year.
01 The "Invisible" Smartwatch: NOWATCH X
Most smartwatches ping you with constant notifications, but the NOWATCH X takes the opposite approach, operating entirely without a screen. From the outside, it looks like a beautiful, classic analog timepiece featuring a stainless steel case and oak leather strap. Underneath the analog face, however, it silently tracks your heart rate, sleep, skin temperature, and stress via an EDA sensor. The standout design feature is its modularity. The watch face is held in place by strong magnets, allowing you to easily pop it out and swap in different fashionable stones or metals depending on your environment. It even features a customizable physical button that can send a prompt to your phone to log your emotional state, tracking long-term stressors without demanding your constant attention.
02 The Form Over Function King: iPhone Air
Apple did something fascinating this year by segmenting their lineup: the Pro models kept the heavy, bulky functionality, while the iPhone Air was designed purely for beautiful form. When you pick this phone up without a case, it is genuinely jaw-dropping how thin it is. The aesthetic choices are striking, featuring a matte glass back paired with shiny titanium rails that add much-needed grip. To fit the internal components into such a thin chassis, Apple created a unique "plateau" bump at the top of the phone housing a highly capable single camera. While it does have design compromises, such as a single speaker at the top that makes holding it sideways a bit awkward, the experience of using a device this light feels entirely new and futuristic.
03 The Retro Aesthetic: Nothing Headphone (1)
Nothing continues to be one of the only companies bringing true excitement back to consumer tech design, and their Headphone (1) leans hard into a retro-future aesthetic. The sides of the headphones deliberately resemble classic cassette tapes sitting on your ears. The build materials are highly tactile, utilizing incredibly soft silicone ear cups and smooth, friction-based size adjustments on the band. Nothing also nailed the physical controls, incorporating a volume paddle and a dedicated "essential space" button specifically designed for recording quick voice memos when your phone is tucked away in your pocket.
04 The Tinkerer’s Dream: SidePhone 01
While the intentional "dumb phone" market is booming, the SidePhone 01 takes a completely new approach by trying to hinder digital distractions through modular hardware. It is a tiny, pocketable plastic device that runs Android on a half-sized touch screen at the top. Instead of just relying on software app blockers, you physically swap out the bottom modules to change the phone's purpose. You can slide in an iPod-style "sun dial" module for music, a QWERTY/T9 "Jake type" keyboard for texting, or a standard number pad. While the software experience currently requires some tinkering and side-loading, the industrial design and the concept of physically changing your phone's utility is brilliant.
05 Apple's Budget Masterpiece: MacBook Neo
It is rare that Apple's cheapest product is the most exciting, but the $599 MacBook Neo is a masterclass in entry-level design. Apple didn't just strip parts out of an Air; they built a completely new metal chassis with softer, more playful rounded edges and a beautiful textured glass Apple logo on the back. The silver version features stark white keycaps, a cleaner keyboard layout with symbols instead of text words like "shift," and a physical clicking trackpad. To cut costs, Apple removed the keyboard backlight and left larger screen bezels, which happily results in a display without a notch. It is the perfect blend of minimalist design and everyday functionality, proving that budget tech can still feel incredibly premium.
Bonus: Nothing Phone (3a) Pro
I couldn't put together a list about design without mentioning Nothing's smartphone lineup. As a lifelong iPhone user, it takes a lot to pull me out of the Apple ecosystem, but the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro is doing things that are just undeniably fun. The hardware is incredibly unique, featuring an exposed, industrial look on the back plate and an oversized, centralized camera bump that somehow balances the phone perfectly on a desk. But the real design win is the software interface. Nothing's dot-matrix widgets, monochromatic app icons, and their signature "Glyph" lighting system offer a completely cohesive, stylized experience. While I do get a bit frustrated when the beautiful Nothing aesthetic gets interrupted by standard Google apps, it is incredibly refreshing to see a company zagging while everyone else is zigging, prioritizing quirky, intentional design just for the fun of it.