CNET's five best tech products of 2012

December 11, 2012 4:30 AM PST

"Imagine seven of CNET's most senior editors locked in a room, arguing over the course of three days to determine the 100 biggest tech stories of the year for our annual CNET 100 package. We bickered, we pounded coffee, we reminisced, and we wrestled over some big questions -- including which products we considered the hands-down best of 2012.

The question of gadget supremacy intrigued us, so we decided to pull from our list of biggest newsmakers the five best devices of the year as well as the five most influential tech products of 2012. The ongoing battle between Apple and Google played itself out in our best list, with Samsung and its Android-based Galaxy S3 trumping the long-awaited iPhone 5 on a lineup of entirely mobile products. But there's more to the story of tech influence in 2012. Read on.

Regardless of popularity or industry impact, these five devices claim the best design, the most-compelling features, and the overall most impressive value among all the hundreds of mainstream tech products released in 2012. Our hats off to all five.

1. Samsung Galaxy S3, the Android hero It took years of iPhone dominance and many months of Android market leadership for a phone with Google's mobile operating system to knock the iPhone off its pedestal. The Samsung Galaxy S3 won that honor. The GS3 is a truly global phone, available on nearly every carrier, nearly everywhere. Its large, vibrant HD display represents a growing class of phones with broader form factors, and its delicate balance of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a sharp 8-megapixel camera, 4G LTE or HSPA+ support, and an accessible price make the Galaxy S3 a worldwide hero. (Read the full Galaxy S3 review)..."