PhoneArena Reader Awards 2011: The winners

The time has come to announce the results of our 2011 PhoneArena Reader Awards! Which is the best phone according to you? Which is the best tablet? Which person from the industry you've chosen to be the "Person of the year"? Well, all of this is now clear. We just want to say a quick "Thanks!" to all of you who participated in this. Below you'll find the winners and their two runner-ups from each category, but if you feel like checking out the complete results, feel free to visit our Voting Phase post.

Now, without further ado, here are the results of PhoneArena Reader Awards 2011...


PA READER AWARDS 2011: BEST PHONE

There you have it, guys and gals, the ultimate, best phone of 2011, according to your votes, is the Samsung Galaxy S II/40.91% of all votes/! So how do you measure the success of a product (besides sales)? Of course, by the number of supporters it has, and in this year's PA Reader Awards, you have shown that the Galaxy S II, an Android smartphone launched in the first half of the year, has found a nice, soft place in your hearts. And why wouldn't it? The Galaxy S II is a very well-balanced phone which caters to many, many people's needs. Besides, it's feature-packed to the brim, so it's also one of the most capable and versatile handsets to appear this year.

In terms of runner-ups, we have the Galaxy Nexus/19.52%/, which showed up much later, but introduced the goodness of the Ice Cream Sandwich platform, and it also has that beautiful HD screen, so it's a very well deserved second place. The third-best phone of the year, according to our readers, is the iPhone 4S/13.77%/. This year, Apple couldn't really take the tech world by surprise, but it did made sure that its offering is safely up there among the very best.


PA READER AWARDS 2011: BEST TABLET

Although it was this year that we started seeing some real tablet offerings coming from manufacturers not named Apple, the iPad 2 /35.68% of all votes/ has managed to retain its status of being the tablet to beat. With an improved design and hardware characteristics, Apple's tablet remained pretty much unchallenged throughout the year, however, we guess the victory in 2012 won't be that easy, due to the proliferation of the tablet as a device type and the upcoming products from serious competitors like Amazon and Samsung. Until then, however, the iPad 2 will be the tablet of choice for PhoneArena readers.

The first runner-up to the iPad 2 is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1/28.18%/. Obviously, if there wasn't an iPad, this would have been the device that you'd have picked up. With top-notch specs and the contemporary Android 3 operating system, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is indeed a very well-made product with many capabilities. Not far behind it though is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer /22.36%/. The innovative (as far as tablets go) device surprisingly captivated a lot of users with its detachable keyboard, doubling as an additional battery. Interestingly, its successor is already one of the most-anticipated tablets. Possibly a Best Tablet 2012 winner? We'll see...


PA READER AWARDS 2011: PERSON OF THE YEAR

With quite a lead, Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs /53.2% of all votes/ has easily won the Person of the Year award. Your votes are a clear statement that he deserves to be called the greatest technology leader of our time. With signature products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple has single-handedly reshaped the music, computing and wireless industries. But it would have never happened if it wasn't for the genius of Steve Jobs. We'll always remember him.

Runner-ups to Steve Jobs in this category are Andy Rubin /20.75%/, aka the Father of Android, and far behind him - HTC CEO Peter Chou /5.3%/. Of course, Andy Rubin's work on Android has been a key part of the evolution of smartphones in the latest years. Simply put, without his product, you wouldn't have been able to choose the Android-based Samsung Galaxy S II as Best Phone of 2011. This alone shows the significance of his efforts. And what about Peter Chou? Well, he's the face of one of the best smartphone manufacturers in the world. HTC's phones are known for their exceptional quality and design - characteristics that few other phone makers in the world can brag about. Well done, Pete!

By the way, don't forget that our PhoneArena Awards 2011 serious is still going on, and the best is yet to come. If you're interested in the awards that our editors have chosen to give so far, check out the links below:

• Technology breakthrough
• Best innovation
• Most significant deal
• Most delayed smartphone
• Game-changing product
• Most overpriced product
• Best product design
• Game of the year
• Best budget-friendly smartphone
• Best cameraphone