Best technology: the Australian Business Traveller Awards

Technology is an essential part of the business traveller's arsenal. Here's our pick of the best in travel-friendly technology from the Australian Business Traveller Awards for 2015.

Best Travel Innovation: Vodafone Red Roaming

Business travellers can’t afford to be out of touch, but Vodafone’s Red Roaming means they won’t also be out of pocket.

Being able to fly to almost 50 countries and use your smartphone just like you would at home – without worrying about special SIM cards, roaming packs or post-trip bill shock – literally changes the way you travel.

Best Travel Tech: Bose QuietComfort 25 cancelling headphones

The Bose family of noise-cancelling headphones have long been a favourite of business travellers, and the new QC25 continues to impress with a sharper look, improved noise-cancelling performance and a more compact design to easily slip into any carry-on bag.

Best Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1

With the Carbon X1, Lenovo continues the ThinkPad tradition of crafting the ultimate laptop for discerning road warriors.

Featuring the latest Intel Core processors and high-definition display, wrapped in tough yet lightweight shell, this super-thin laptop marries muscle with an 11 hour fast-recharge battery that’ll last a solid working day and then some.

Best 2-in-1: Toshiba Portégé Z20t 

Toshiba is a long-established pioneer in mobile computing, so you’d expect its tablet-laptop to be no less a groundbreaker in the nascent ‘hybrid’ market.

The Portégé Z20t gives business travellers the best of both worlds in a super-compact form factor which runs for up to 17 hours thanks to an innovative double-battery design.

The full-size keyboard, inbuilt 4G modem and handwriting recognition seal the deal in making this feature-packed powerhouse the world’s best 2-in-1 for the business traveller. 

Best Smartphone: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

Smartphones are a must-have for the business traveller, and with its svelte metal and glass design, fast 8-core processor and super-sharp curved display the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is arguably a mobile 'must-have' for the business traveller.

We were especially impressed by the rapid-charge battery, which can be boosted from near-flat to 50% in just 30 minutes, and the wireless charging which does away with cables.

Best Tablet: Apple iPad Mini 3

We know what you're thinking: not the full-size iPad Air, nor any of the legion of Android tablets? The reason our thinking landed on the latest iPad Mini is its compact size, which lets you slip it into any pocket of even the smallest carry-on bag or satchel, and possibly your coat pocket too.

On top of this, the widely-supported iPad ecosystem means all those handy apps and digital editions of newspapers and magazines are right at our fingertips.

Ironically, the iPad Mini is being caught between super-sized smartphones and full-size tablets, so whether it'll still be around for next year's awards remains to be seen...

Also read:

• Best airlines, suites, seats and more: the Australian Business Traveller Awards
• Best lounges, airports & hotels: the Australian Business Traveller Awards
• Best frequent flyer program, credit card: the Australian Business Traveller Awards

The Australian Business Traveller Awards recognise the trend-setters and game-changers in the highly competitive business travel market across 30 categories ?including first class suites and business class seats, airport lounges, frequent flyer programs, inflight food and wine, travel technology and more.

Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we’re @AusBT

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.