Important products aren't always good or bad. Often, they fall somewhere in-between, all the while offering perspective on where a particular industry has found itself ... and where it might be going.

This is the spirit driving the 12th annual GP100, Gear Patrol's mighty, end-of-year roundup collecting the year's most relevant releases from tech, motoring, style and watches, outdoors and more.

Our team spent months filtering through thousands of new products, going hands-on whenever we could, to identify the innovations and updates that left the biggest marks on their respective industries. And no, not always to a better, let alone conclusive, end.

This year, we also decided to do something we've never done in more than a decade of publishing the GP100: rank our winners.

Admittedly, the process wasn't scientific, or even always fair. That said, our editors were indeed guided by a few basic tenets, including novelty, popularity and impact on culture at large.

You might not agree with our selections. You definitely won't agree with the order. But maybe, just maybe, you might agree with us on this: products have never been so dynamic, exciting and downright important to our lives.

Below, find our top gadgets, ranging from the first major film camera in decades to the future of wireless connectivity. To see the winners from other categories, check out the full list.

Apple's AirTags are brilliant because they help keep track of your stuff. You can attach the button-sized tracker to your bag, bike or even your pet's collar and, after a quick peek of the Find My app, you can locate it at any given moment.

But AirTags aren't perfect. They lack a built-in loop or clip and thus need an accessory to attach it to anything. They run on a CR2032 battery that you have to replace every year. And they're too bulky to practically stick in a wallet -- which is the EDC you probably need the most help keeping track of.

Enter the Nomad Tracking Card. It's a credit card sized tracker that works almost identically to an AirTag. It supports Apple's Find My network and even has a tiny speaker that you can trigger to emit a sound to help you find it. Just slip it into your wallet and whenever misplaced, simply pop open the Find My app on your iPhone.

The only real downside is that the Nomad Tracking Card lacks an Ultra Wide Band chip and doesn't support Precision Tracking (which helps guide you to an AirTag's exact location when within 150 feet). But it does have other advantages -- most notably a rechargeable battery that works with any Qi or MagSafe charger.

In a nutshell, it's the perfect AirTag alternative for your wallet.

Let's get the obvious out of the way: the Vision Pro isn't for everyone. Apple's $3,500 mixed reality headset -- or "spatial computer" -- is out of most people's price range. And you probably don't need one anyway, as it won't replace your iPhone, computer or TV.

But that doesn't change the fact that the Vision Pro is impressive as all hell. Its marriage of premium hardware with custom Apple software make the headset feel both familiar yet futuristic at the same time.

Thanks to dual micro-OLED displays, the Vision Pro delivers an absolutely gorgeous 4K experience. Its passthrough ability that seamlessly transitions between the real world to full-on immersion is second to none. And the way to control it without any extra gear, just using eye moments and hand gestures, is unlike anything else.

The headset has a few standout abilities that feel distinctly Apple, too. If you have a Mac, the Vision Pro works as a huge 4K virtual display. You can experience spatial videos and photos that place you more "in the moment." And you take FaceTime calls while wearing the headset, which is strange but cool.

Admittedly, the Vision Pro doesn't really have a killer app yet. And right now it's best as an immersive home theater for watching movies and shows. But that could change in the near future ... or when Apple finally lets you experience live sporting events from court-side seats.

AI services exploded into the mainstream in 2023, setting the stage for what appears to be the next great tech leap of this decade, if not this century. In 2024, companies ranging from startups like Rabbit and Humane to titans like Google and Apple launched the race to optimize and integrate these cutting-edge AI capabilities into gadgets.

Some examples, like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1, though novel in their approach and designs, have failed spectacularly to deliver on their lofty promises.

On the other hand, devices like Apple's latest iPhones were explicitly designed to offer a host of new AI-powered features. However, these features will only slowly reach consumers through software updates trickling out now and throughout the rest of 2025.

Then there's Meta, the social networking Goliath once upon a time known as Facebook, whose previous track record making physical products has been spotty at best.

The company technically released the second generation of its smart glasses, made in partnership with Ray-Ban eyewear, back in the fall of 2023.

The update, which included improved cameras, mics, speakers, charging, and media exporting, has been widely praised by reviewers and consumers for offering a compelling suite of capabilities that were once exclusive to smartphones, all in a package that looks and feels pretty normal by today's fashion standards. And Meta has only continued to improve them since then.

This year, more frame options, including the Skyler Frame -- a cat-eye-shaped style designed for smaller faces -- a new transparent version of the Meta Wayfarer, and compatibility with EssilorLuxottica's latest Transition lenses, were introduced. Meta also added new AI features, like remembering things you saw -- like where you parked. The glasses can also help identify objects like landmarks and products or translate text into another language.

None of these capabilities are new tricks for AI. And like all things AI-related, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses still struggle to deliver consistently on their lofty promises. However, as a complete package, they make the most compelling case yet for how AI-powered wearables will support or even supplant the smartphone one day as an essential piece of personal tech.

Film photography is cool again, but you wouldn't know it shopping for a camera. We haven't seen a major brand release an analog film camera in literal decades.

The clock reset this year.

The Pentax 17 is a new half-frame 35mm film camera that captures vertically oriented photos that are 17mm (wide) x 24mm (tall). This allows it to capture twice as many photos per roll as a full-frame 35mm film camera, which makes the cost of film an easier pill to swallow.

Aside from the Pentax 17's obvious vintage aesthetic, the camera feels like a throwback in most other ways. It has a fully-manual focus, a thumb winder to manually advance film and it even takes a CR2 battery (yes, the kind you have to replace) that should last for ten rolls of film.

Ultimately, for those serious about getting into film photography and don't want to go the old school used camera route, the Pentax 17 is a new film camera that is genuinely good. And at $500, it's not that expensive.

Grovemade's mission has always centered around melding natural materials with thoughtful design to make the tools we use for work and creativity more beautiful and functional.

Its first product was a case made of bamboo for the iPhone 3G, launched in 2009. Since then, the small, Portland-based business has steadily launched new products to address virtually every conceivable element found on modern-day desks. But it's more or less avoided the most important one of all: the desk itself.

That finally changed this year with the brand's quiet introduction of The Grovemade Desk.

Motorized standing desks abound today. Yet, shockingly, few offer assistance with neatly organizing the tech and tools that orbit most modern workstations. This is where Grovemade's long-awaited solution laps the competition.

The desk's standout feature is a massive, full-width drawer sculpted in an elegant wedge shape with a hidden handle, which blends seamlessly into the desk's front facia and sides. A light pull reveals a narrow strip of machined cork pockets for smaller accessories like pens, Airpods, and paper clips.

Pulling the drawer further out reveals a row of larger compartments lined with merino wool for storing a laptop, even those connected to a monitor, thanks to integrated ventilation and other large items like notebooks and loose documents.

The desk also addresses the ubiquitous issue of cord management via a built-in, six-outlet surge protector with a custom 12-foot braided cord that sits in a dedicated channel below the desk surface.

Naturally, the desk is available in a range of three wood types: walnut, oak and maple, in both solid and plywood, all of which are designed to blend beautifully with other Grovemade accessories.

Grovemade calls it "the desk that's almost too good to be true." Given the other offerings in the standing desk market today, tidy workspace fans everywhere are sure to agree.

Since the ReMarkable 2 was released four years ago, it's been the go-to digital notebook for creatives craving the feel of writing with pen and paper. The tablet has a textured e-ink display and supports a stylus, making it great for taking notes, reviewing documents or editing papers. And it lacks social media apps or the ability to browse the web, so there are fewer distractions than with, say, an iPad.

Well, the Norwegian tech company's newest tablet, the ReMarkable Paper Pro, is essentially a bigger and better version of the ReMarkable 2. And while the two tablets work very similarly, the Paper Pro has a few significant upgrades that feel, dare we say, remarkable.

The most notable of these features is the Paper Pro's new color e-inch display -- in fact, it's the company's first color tablet -- which makes it even better for marking edits or organizing notes. Also, the colors are muted and neutral (not vibrant), which gives them more of an analog feel, like using a colored pencil instead of a pen or marker.

The Paper Pro also has built-in light that illuminates the screen so it's easier to use at night or when in darker rooms. Its 11.8-inch display, compared to the reMarkable 2's 10.3-inch, is significantly larger (and closer to the size of an actual piece of paper). Like its predecessor, it's compatible with a folio keyboard for those who want a more modern note-taking method.

Like all good things, there's a catch with the Paper Pro -- it's remarkably expensive. It costs $579, but that doesn't include the folio keyboard or the better stylus (which has an eraser and costs an extra $50). So buying the Paper Pro comes down to how committed you are to buying a new gadget for old-school note-taking.

In a year when most of Apple's new products received iterative updates -- the newest Apple Watches, iPhones, MacBooks and most iPads all look identical to their predecessors -- the M4 Mac Mini was a definite standout. Not only that, it physically personified what Apple's silicon could do.

Nobody thought the previous M2 Mac Mini was that big, but the M4 chip's performance and efficiency gains allowed Apple to shrink its newest desktop computer to basically half the size of its 2022-released predecessor. The 5 x 5 x 2 inch box is now closer in size to an Apple TV.

But it's not just about size and power. Apple gave the M4 Mac Mini several quality-of-life improvements -- such as moving two USB-C ports and the headphone jack to the front panel, as well as upping the base memory to 16GB (instead of 8GB) -- all while keeping the starting price at $599.

This makes the base model of the M4 Mac Mini not only a great entry-level desktop computer but also incredible value. The only caveat is that if you configure it with more memory, storage or Apple's beefed-up M4 Pro chipset, you can quickly double (or triple) the price.

For many, mini-splits -- ductless heating and cooling systems -- are a less invasive, affordable alternative to traditional HVAC systems. The problem: most of them are ugly, inefficient and lack modern tech.

However, the Quilt Heat Pump, made by a new company founded by three former Google employees, seeks to drastically disrupt the mini-split industry.

The brand's minimalist design language is exceptional, but it's just one of the many things that make Quilt's offerings stand out.

These all-electric heat pumps are also equipped with smart tech, offering Bluetooth and Wi-Fi control via a mobile app and wall-mounted dials. Users can create schedules and program the system according to their preferences. They can even set different temperatures in different rooms, allowing unmatched climate customization.

Furthermore, the pumps and their compressor -- an outdoor control unit that shares Quilt's modern design language -- are much smaller than traditional units.

While the system doesn't yet support integration with smart home platforms (such as Apple Home, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa) and is still pending certification, Quilt could be a major step forward in an industry that has largely been stagnant.

Sure, Google's second-generation foldable smartphone is a mouthful. But despite its clunky name, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a massive upgrade from its predecessor, the 2023-released Pixel Fold. And it really feels deserving of the "Pro" name.

The most apparent improvement is on the hardware side. Google gave it substantially bigger screens -- when folded, its 6.3-inch display is now identical to the base Pixel 9 -- and made it significantly thinner so it doesn't feel anywhere near as bulky as other foldables. In fact, when folded, it's only 2mm thicker than Google's non-foldable Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Of course, the main reason to get a foldable smartphone is to multitask and take advantage of its big tablet-sized screen -- and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's 8-inch inner display is the biggest of any foldable smartphone. Boom.

This superb hardware (along with a flagship-quality camera system) is paired with Google's Tensor G4 chip and custom Android operating system -- both specifically made for Pixel. The result is a foldable smartphone that genuinely feels like two devices in one.

The beauty of Matter is that it has simplified the smart-home-building experience. Any Matter-certified gadget will work with any smart home ecosystem, be it Apple's HomeKit, Amazon's Alexa, Samsung's SmartThings or Google Home.

Having officially launched in late 2022, there are a lot of Matter-certified devices these days, but Google has had a stranglehold on smart home thermostats. Its Nest Thermostat ($130) and fourth-gen Nest Learning Thermostat ($280) were the only two Matter-certified smart thermostats fit for HVAC systems in the US.

That's since changed.

The Meross Matter Smart Thermostat is a third option, one that's more affordable and bespoke. Its white glass panel camouflages better against white walls than Nest's standout circular options. And it has many of the same abilities, including smart scheduling and energy tracking.

The only real hurdle is that the Meross Matter Smart Thermostat requires a common wire (or C-wire) installation, but that shouldn't be a problem as, according to Meross, 95 percent of US homes have just that.

Nikon's third-generation Z6 is its latest midrange full-frame mirrorless camera. And it's a big deal because it features a 24.5-megapixel "partially-stacked" CMOS sensor -- the world's first camera to feature such sensor technology.

The partially-stacked sensor is a hybrid between a fully-stacked and an unstacked sensor; it does have a layer of processing chips "stacked" to the back of the sensor, but that layer doesn't fully cover the sensor -- just the top and bottom.

This results in the Nikon Z6III being significantly faster speeds -- in terms of auto-focus, continuous shooting rates and video frame rates -- than any 24-megapixel full-frame camera before. That includes its predecessor, Nikon's 2020-released Z6 II.

And while the Z6III still can't match the speed and performance levels of Nikon's flagship Z8 and Z9 mirrorless cameras (which share the same 45.7-megapixel "fully stacked' CMOS sensor), it's a lot closer than ever been before.

Throw in the fact that the Z6III is less than half the price of those premium offers, and Nikon gave it other essential improvements over the Z6II -- including a much brighter electronic viewfinder and a more rugged body -- and the Z6III sets a new standard for midrange mirrorless cameras.

Microsoft's line of Surface computers has long since achieved at least one key goal: setting a standard for premium PC hardware design that all other PC makers should aspire to.

And yet, while the machines have looked beautiful and performed well, they never managed to match the combination of processor performance and battery life of Apple's perennial ultraportable computing champ, the MacBook Air.

Microsoft seems convinced that a bevy of new AI features should be the main draw of the 7th edition of the Microsoft Surface Laptop. But being the first PC laptop to finally squeeze the right balance of performance and battery life from an ARM-based chip is this machine's actual crowning achievement.

The combination of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite processors, greater native app support for ARM64, and Microsoft's improved PRISM emulator now lets even the baseline Surface Laptop handle most common PC workloads and tasks with ease, generally mirroring the performance they've come to expect on traditional Intel-equipped laptops.

Even under the heaviest of workloads and power-draining settings (like max screen brightness), this laptop can manage 7 hours of use at a minimum. Lighter computing loads and settings can easily translate into 13+ hours of use on a single charge. In other words, the 7th generation Surface Laptop finally delivers the all-day computing performance MacBook Air users have enjoyed for years.

The machine also features other hardware refinements, including thinner bezels and slightly larger displays with support for HDR with Dolby Vision and variable refresh rates (up to 120Hz), a new precision haptic touchpad, an upgraded 1080p webcam, and a second UBS-C port that's compatible with USB 4.

The result is a laptop that, judging by the other impressive laptop releases that have followed it this year, has raised the bar for the Windows ultraportable category and helped restore balance to the Mac vs PC debate.

With all due respect to the engineers behind the groundbreaking Vision Pro headset, the M4 iPad Pro is Apple's most impressive hardware release of 2024.

The 11-inch and 13-inch versions are the thinnest devices Apple has ever made. The larger 13-inch size is actually the thinnest of the two versions, measuring just 5.1mm thick.

They weigh only 0.98 and 1.03 pounds, respectively, which, in a twist of irony, makes them lighter and thinner than Apple's traditionally thin and light iPad Air line.

Apple also introduced an entirely new form of OLED display technology to the tablet market, which they dubbed "Tandem OLED." It layers two OLEDs on top of each other to provide rich colors, deep black levels, and peak brightness levels of 1,600 nits on par with Apple's $5,000 Pro XDR Display monitor.

Apple even boldly chose to skip an entire processor generation and use the iPad Pro to introduce its new M4 chip, which only months later made its way into Apple's professional-grade MacBook Pro line.

And mercifully, they finally repositioned the front-facing camera to landscape orientation, eliminating the strangest quirk of using past models equipped with a keyboard.

In other words, Apple fixed or vastly improved every known hardware shortcoming of the previous generation, making the all-new iPad Pro as close to slate computing hardware perfection as one could ask.

It's so freakishly over-engineered and refined that it's natural to wonder if this seventh generation will be the last of the iPad Pros as we've known them, at least until a rumored new folding screen design redefines the category forever.

In this post-pandemic era, remote work is still a norm. And while people can work pretty much anywhere -- so long as they have access to Wi-Fi -- that usually means the house.

The Starlink Mini changes that.

The device works with Elon Musk's expansive satellite-based broadband service to deliver high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi to an entire family's worth of devices, even in the most remote places on the globe.

What's more, the Starlink Mini is the size of a small stack of printing paper -- weighing less than three pounds -- and it can be powered by a portable battery. In other words, it's an absolute game-changer for portable connectivity.

Yes, it's a touch on the expensive side. The equipment kit costs $600. And you'll need to pay a monthly service fee. But no other device on the planet delivers on its promise: fast, reliable internet, both everywhere and nowhere.