PC Gamer {Hardware} Awards: 2025’s wildcards—the very best of the remaining is filled with surprises

My favorite {hardware} award class is the wildcard by a large margin. Annually, all bets are off for what to anticipate from these nominations, and every so often chances are you’ll even come nose to nose with some tech that makes you go, “They make these, now? What a time to be alive!”

Suffice to say, the wildcards are filled with surprises, shining a highlight on the {hardware} hits that in any other case do not neatly match into one other award class. Your finest graphics playing cards and your finest handheld gaming PC are all properly and good, however the very best gaming router is a decidedly extra area of interest class that does not at all times take pleasure in fairly the identical quantity of fanfare.

However don’t be concerned, this yr’s class is not two type of good gaming routers and a gaggle of Mesh Wi-Fi units—although, spoiler alert, the TP-Hyperlink Deco BE68 BE14000 does really function beneath. When you’re questioning “However why?” and even “Wait, what precisely is a mesh Wi-Fi system anyway?” then learn on—there’s a lot extra insightful surprises amongst this yr’s wildcard nominees.

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Better of the remaining 2025: the nominees

And people are the three wildcard nominations for 2025. Although every little bit of package is unquestionably for somebody, which can declare the crown? You will not have to attend lengthy for the reply, as we’ll announce the winners on New 12 months’s Eve.