What Hi-Fi? Awards: 26 Product of the Year winners announced for 2020!

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Our five 'special' awards have also been revealed…

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2020
(Image credit: Future)

The wait is over, the time has come! 

It’s been exactly a month since we revealed the 111 Best Buy winners of the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2020, in association with Sevenoaks Sound and Vision. And today, during our video announcement (a replacement for our annual ceremony), we have decorated 26 of them – one from each product category – with the Product of the Year accolade.

Product of the Year winners represent the very best products across all the review categories we cover, from TVs to turntables, speakers to streamers, and everything in between.

The full list of 26 Product of the Year winners can be found below, as can the winners of our five special awards: the Readers' Award, Temptation Award, Innovation of the Year Award, Outstanding Contribution Award and the 2020 addition to the What Hi-Fi? Hall of Fame. And remember, the special Awards issue of the magazine will be on sale from tomorrow (Friday 6th November), both in shops and online.

Sony WH-1000XM4

Sony WH-1000XM4 (Image credit: Sony)

Sony took home the most Best Buys of any brand this year and, as odds might favour, it is also the biggest winner when it comes to Product of the Year awards. 

The Sony KD-48A9 48in OLED TV is a gleaming advert for smaller-sized OLEDs; the Sony Xperia 1 II triumphs as the best phone for music and movies in one of this year’s biggest surprises; and the Sony WH-1000XM4 are the best-value wireless noise-cancelling headphones we’ve ever tested – so good, in fact, that they also collect one of our five special awards, seating themselves on the 2020 thrown in our Hall of Fame.

KEF has had a blinder too: not only have its LS50 Meta and LS50 Wireless II been anointed in the speaker and system categories respectively, the firm’s innovative Metamaterial Absorption Technology, which lies at the technical core of those two winning products, has scooped the special Innovation of the Year gong.

KEF LS50 Wireless II

KEF LS50 Wireless II (Image credit: KEF)

Apple may atypically be settling for a Best Buy rather than a Product of the Year in the smartphone category, this year for its new iPhone SE, but it doesn’t leave today’s prize-giving empty handed – its Apple 4K TV is, for the third year running, the best media streamer, while the latest and greatest iPad (8th Gen) is the best-value tablet on the market.

Sonos is another familiar face where Product of the Year wins are concerned, but while its resilience in the multi-room market is represented by yet another win for the ecosystem in that category, its latest product has been rewarded too. The Sonos Arc is one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars we’ve heard and is decorated accordingly.

Sitting alongside Sony and KEF as winners of our five special awards are the undeniably superb Wharfedale Linton speakers, which take the Readers’ Award (good choice, everyone) and the astoundingly impressive Vertere MG-1 Mk II/Mystic, which is our favourite Temptation product this year (read: super luxury, with a price tag to match). 

Julian Richer, the founder and managing director of staple UK hi-fi retailer Richer Sounds, has been deservedly picked out for his outstanding contribution to the industry, too. 

Sonos Arc

(Image credit: Sonos)

All 26 What Hi-Fi? 2020 Product of the Year winners

Best TV
Sony KD-48A9

Best soundbar
Sonos Arc

Best standmount speaker
KEF LS50 Meta

Best turntable
Rega Planar 3/Elys 2

Best wireless speaker
Naim Mu-so Qb 2

Best on-ear headphones
Grado SR325e

Best in-ear headphones
Klipsch T5M Wired

Best 4K Blu-ray player
Panasonic DP-UB820EB

Best projector
Epson EH-TW7100

Best music streamer
Audiolab 6000N Play

Best CD player
Marantz CD6007

Best radio
Roberts Stream 94i

Best speaker package
Dali Oberon 5 5.1

Best tablet
Apple iPad 8th Generation

Best video streamer
Apple TV 4K

Best stereo amplifier
Cambridge Audio CXA81

Best home cinema amplifier
Denon AVC-X3700H

Best speaker cable
AudioQuest Rocket 11

Best wireless headphones
Sony WH-1000XM4

Best set-top box
Sky Q

Best DAC
Chord Qutest

Best multi-room system
Sonos

Best smartphone
Sony Xperia 1 II

Best portable music player
Astell & Kern A&norma SR25

Best all-in-one system
KEF LS50 Wireless II

Best music streaming service
Tidal

The 5 What Hi-Fi? 2020 special awards

Readers Award
Wharfedale Linton

Hall of Fame
Sony WH-1000XM4

Innovation of the Year
KEF Metamaterial Absorption Technology

Temptation
Vertere MG-1 Mk II/Mystic

Outstanding Contribution
Julian Richer

Becky Roberts
Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10+ years in the hi-fi industry, she has reviewed all manner of audio gear, from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers, and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices. In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.