These were the nine PC products that we absolutely adored in 2021
Every product in our many buying guides has been tried and tested by us, and we've cast our eyes over more than 100 products this year to deliver you the best recommendations we can in 2021. Of those 100 or so products, we selected just nine to receive our editor's pick badge.
The editor's pick is what it says on the tin: these are the products that, for whatever reason, PC Gamer's editors simply loved. Perhaps a CPU that arrived before its time, or maybe a gaming keyboard that offered something no one else can, at a price no one else could hit, or even a monitor that just looks absolutely stunning.
These are products worth highlighting, as it might be a while until 2022 offers up any comparative products ready to take them on. Well, Intel surely has some stiff competition coming up from AMD, but who will challenge Secretlab's gaming chair dominance? The massive tech show that is CES 2022 may have some surprises for us, at least, but the following products still have plenty of life in them yet.
Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 gaming chair: $449|£379
Our verdict: The Titan Evo 2022 is Secretlab firing on all cylinders. It's a wonderfully comfortable chair for long periods of working or gaming and clever new features such as a magnetic head rest put it a cut above the rest.
Read on in our Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 review.
Gigabyte Aorus FI32Q gaming monitor: $799 | £739
Our verdict: The Gigabyte Aorus FI32Q is a fantastic monitor that will do everything you need it to do for work and play with style.
Read on in our Gigabyte Aorus FI32Q review.
Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC gaming laptop: $2,149
Our verdict: Nvidia's RTX 3070 gets to strut its stuff in this balanced gaming machine that focuses on what matters most, not what simply looks the best.
Read on in our Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC review.
Wooting Two HE gaming keyboard: $195 / £169 / €161
Our verdict: While still a niche function in-game, the Wooting Two HE delivers a multitude of reasons for analogue key switches, beyond even mimicking a controller's analogue stick. There's a whole bunch of customisability here, a great app, and superb build quality. So yes, I'm absolutely a fan.
Read on in our Wooting Two HE review.
Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series gaming keyboard: $140
Our verdict: The Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series is hands down the best feeling keyboard you'll use this year.
Read on in our Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series review.
WD Black SN850 1TB NVMe SSD: $229 | £196
Our verdict: The WD SN850 is the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD you can buy. Incredible sequential and random throughput makes for a drive that's way ahead of the pack.
Read on in our WD Black SN850 1TB review.
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe SSD: $400 | £400
Our verdict: The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus offers excellent synthetic performance and decent throughput in the real world, and all for a tempting price. Not quite the fastest around, but not far off.
Read on in our Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB review.
Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB: $420 | £310
Our verdict: Seagate's 2TB FireCuda 530 combines awesome performance with best-in-class reliability to take the SSD crown. But beware, it comes at a steep price.
Read on in our Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB review.
Intel Core i5 12600K CPU: $320 | £290
Our verdict: The Core i5 12600K is the best CPU for gaming in 2021. It's faster than a Core i9 11900K, and brings with it support for the latest tech in DDR5 and PCIe 5.0. For that, I dare say it's actually a great PC building deal in 2021.
Read on in our Intel Core i5 12600K review.