IoT Hardware Product of the Year

About this award

The IoT Hardware Product of the Year Award recognizes the physical devices and components that form the backbone of the Internet of Things. This category celebrates sensors, gateways, modules, boards, devices, and other hardware innovations that enable connectivity, data capture, automation, and real-world deployments at scale.

Great IoT hardware combines engineering precision with usability. Whether designed for industrial settings, consumer applications, smart buildings, agriculture, healthcare, transportation, or critical infrastructure, winning entries demonstrate robust performance, reliability, security, and measurable impact.

This award highlights hardware that sets new standards for the industry, including products that improve durability, interoperability, power efficiency, integration, and deployment value. By honoring these achievements, the award underscores the essential role physical devices play in making IoT practical, scalable, and effective.

What this award recognizes

• Innovative sensors, gateways, modules, boards, devices, or connected hardware products driving IoT adoption
• Hardware engineered for performance, durability, power efficiency, interoperability, usability, and deployment readiness
• Products that enable new IoT use cases, improve existing deployments, or reduce complexity for customers and operators
• Evidence of measurable customer, operational, technical, or industry impact

Who should enter

Entries are welcome from organizations developing production-ready IoT hardware that enables connected systems, improves deployment outcomes, or advances the performance, reliability, usability, or scalability of physical IoT infrastructure.

Judging criteria

• Design and engineering: Durability, power efficiency, interoperability, manufacturability, usability, and ease of integration
• Performance: Benchmark results, reliability metrics, field validation, operating range, data quality, or deployment performance
• Innovation: Technical breakthroughs, unique design choices, or differentiated approaches to hardware challenges
• Security and reliability: Device protection, firmware update strategy, lifecycle support, resilience, and long-term operational trust
• Impact: Customer adoption, ROI, operational improvement, industry relevance, or measurable deployment value

Eligibility

• Open worldwide to companies, organizations, teams, and individuals operating in the Internet of Things
• The hardware product must be released, updated, validated, adopted, or materially improved within the applicable award year
• Entries should include evidence of performance, customer adoption, certifications, field results, deployment outcomes, or technical validation
• Confidential design, manufacturing, or IP details may be summarized or redacted for judging, with references included where possible

What to submit

• Executive summary describing the hardware product, its purpose, differentiation, and outcomes
• Evidence of impact, such as benchmarks, certifications, case studies, field results, adoption metrics, reliability data, or customer outcomes
• Supporting materials, including product photos, technical diagrams, datasheets, product pages, deployment examples, or customer references
• Optional demo video, technical brief, teardown overview, integration guide, or reference contact

Best of 2026 schedule

• Entries Open: Tuesday, December 1, 2026
• Early Bird Deadline: Friday, January 15, 2027
• Final Entry Deadline: Friday, February 12, 2027
• Winners Announced: Tuesday, March 9, 2027