IT Pro's Top Products of 2013

Tech Ed's Favourite Five

Smartphones

The smartphone market continues to be one of the most competitive and unforgiving technology sectors. Former market leaders have struggled. BlackBerry posted a $1 billion loss after its BB10 range of smartphones failed to attract customers.

Nokia showed some signs of recovery, but ultimately the board make the decision to sell the handset business to Microsoft.

There were winners too. Apple and Samsung are virtually printing money due to the success of their flagship devices.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

Galaxy S4

The oldest device on the list set the benchmark for Android devices in 2013. Although faced criticism for having one too many gimmicks such as "eye scrolling" and a fair bit of bloatware, the performance of the S4 has been unrivalled.

The handset packed an excellent 5in AMOLED display and great battery life too, making it one of the stand out handsets of the year.

Verdict: 5 stars + Editor's Choice award

HTC One

Although the HTC One received numerous awards for its beautiful design, it's not been as commercially successful as S4 or iPhone 5s. With contracts offering the device for free from 29 per month - it's excellent value.

Verdict: 5 stars + Editor's Choice award

iPhone 5s

Apple fans eagerly awaited the launch of the 5s and were not disappointed. The 5s was the first smartphone to ship with a 64-bit processor, which will provide.

It also included Apple's Touch ID fingerprint scanner and revamped iOS 7 operating system.

Verdict: 4 stars

Nexus 5

For users who want the best "pure" Android experience - the Nexus range is ideal. Google ships the device with the latest version of its mobile operating system and pushes out any updates directly to the devices.

Verdict: 4 stars