T3 Awards 2018: G-Ro and Nextbase set sail with the travel category trophies

published 25 September 2018

We've spent the last year travelling the world in search of the latest innovations – giving us the perfect opportunity to test out the latest and greatest travel tech at the same time as clocking up hella air miles.

The best travel products released this year, whether they be dash cams for your car, suitcases, or cameras, were tested, reviewed, and whittled down to a series of prestigious shortlists.

And now, with the T3 Awards 2018 kicking off this Thursday, at the Ministry of Sound, the wait is finally over to discover the overall winners in the travel and auto categories.

What follows are the big winners in the travel categories of: Best Travel Tech, Best Camera, Best Lifestyle Camera, and Best Car Gadget.

These gadgets are the big winners, the best of 2018's getting-from-A-to-B tech, and for that we solute them. Please have your boarding passes ready and, er, start your engines. Imagine you're boarding a car ferry.

Best Travel Tech Winner: G-Ro Carry-On Classic

Say hello to the ultimate travel case for techies. What makes it the ultimate case for techies? And why is a suitcase the winner of a travel tech award? These are good questions and we're glad you asked them.

The G-Ro comes complete with a removable battery – essential given the parlous state of flying regs around electronics – two USB ports for charging your stuff, and even a Tile tracker.

The Carry-on Classic features a tough design and is equipped with twin NSA-compliant locks, plus multiple pockets to make it easy to store kit, and then pull it all out at security.

Finally, you may notice it has MASSIVE wheels – this is to make it better at navigating uneven surfaces, such as bumpy pavements, stairs and cobblestones, while their positioning and relative narrowness optimises packing space.

Also nominated: Sony RX100 VI, Samsonite Cosmolite Spinner 55cm, Amazon Kindle Oasis, Sony WH1000XM2, Bose QC 35 II

Best Camera: Sony A7 III

The Sony Alpha A7 III is a fantastic all-rounder and you don't need to be a professional to get the most out of it.

The A7 is replete with an unbelievable number of features, with highlights including 10fps burst shooting and a 24.2-megapixel back-illuminated sensor. It shoots fantastic 4K video, yet the body is deceptively compact.

Right now, this Sony compact system camera is the perfect tool for real photo enthusiasts, artists and would-be paparazzi.

Also nominated: Fujifilm X-H1, Panasonic Lumix GX9, Canon EOS M50, Hasselblad H6D-400c, Sony RX100 VI

Best Lifestyle Camera: GoPro Hero6 Black

Continuing to reign supreme in the action camera market, the GoPro Hero6 Black brings a bevy of updates to the already superb Hero5.

The dinky camera is waterproof down to 10 metres on its own, you can expand that to an impressive 30 metres with an optional GoPro waterproof housing. Plus, there’s a bigger slew of compatible mounts and extras that work with a GoPro.

A few of our favourite features are the ability to record video at frame rates all the way up to 60fps, the brilliant touchscreen, and this is where it gets exciting – you can also use your voice to control the action cam.

GoPro has proved its ability to stay ahead of its competitors on all levels – and to illustrate that fact, it's gone and released the Hero7 just before the Awards. How annoying.

Also nominated: Google Clips, Sony RX0, Insta360 One, Fujifilm Instax Square SQ6, Snapchat Spectacles (V2.0)

These are the best action cameras

Best Car Gadget: Nextbase 612GW

NextBase is the major player in the dash cam market, and the company's latest device, the 612GW, is its best yet.

First of all, NextBase has really improved its build quality of late, replacing plastic with aluminium, and secondly, we'd say the 612GW has the best image quality of any dash cam we've tested, thanks to the 4K Ultra HD Resolution, seven-element lens, Sony Exmor R sensor, and polarising lens, which helps reduce window glare.

You also get all of the useful features beloved of other dash cams, including Wi-Fi and GPS, without a load of gimmicky nonsense being heaped on top. All in all, the Nextbase 612GW is a fantastic dash cam.

Also nominated: TomTom Via 53, Thinkware F100, Vodafone V-Auto, Logitech Zero Touch, Bentley x Starck Power Dock

T3 Awards 2018: here are the shortlists

As the Style and Travel Editor at T3, Spencer covers everything from clothes to cars and watches to hotels. Everything that's cool, stylish, and interesting, basically. He's been a part of T3 for over seven years, and in that time covered every industry event known to man, from CES and MWC to the Geneva Motorshow and Baselworld. When he's driving up and down the country in search of the greatest driving roads, he can be found messing around on an electric scooter, playing with luxury watches, or testing the latest fragrances.