As part of our revamped tech reviews program, Verge Guidebook, we're introducing a new category: Editor's Choice. This award means something different at The Verge than other "best" badges you have probably seen elsewhere. We give the Editor's Choice to the devices that we think are special in some way, stuff that appeals to each of us personally.

When we award an Editor's Choice badge, it's coming directly from a Verge editor. So when Lauren Goode picks the Garmin Fenix 5S or Vlad Savov hails the Peak Design Everyday Backpack, those choices express their personal favorites — even if Vlad doesn’t care for sport watches and Lauren doesn’t wear backpacks. In each case, we're picking something that we think stands out from the crowded gadget world because it does something genuinely new, something genuinely innovative, or is just plain great.

When we make a pick, we'll back it up with an explanation for why it deserves an Editor's Choice award. We're starting today with my pick, the Nintendo Switch, and we'll award more badges on an ongoing basis. Sometimes these will be for new devices, and sometimes for favorites we feel deserve attention long after they're brand new.

Many times, an Editor's Choice pick will be the best device you can get in its given category, but not always! Dan Seifert has always loved the Moto Z Play because it does one thing incredibly well: last forever on its battery. It's not the fastest phone available and it doesn't have a great camera, but the super long battery life makes it special. Sometimes a product transcends purely objective reasoning and is great just because it is.

If you want to know the absolute best thing to buy in any given category, we have you covered: it's This is My Next, our program for picking the gadget that works best for most people. If you want to know what devices are our favorites, watch for that Editor's Choice badge.

Editor's Choice awards also won't necessarily match one-to-one with our review scores, which are definitely sticking around. Speaking of scores, we're making another change: we're simplifying our scoring system to include only whole and 0.5 numbers. Our scores (and truthfully, all scores) are another expression of our editorial opinion, not precise measurements. We know our Verge commenters love to debate the difference between a 6.3 and a 6.4 in the comments (so do we!), but such small distinctions don't serve most readers.

Scores and buying advice aside, you can be sure that the Editor’s Choice section will be full of our favorite products. We think you’ll probably like them, too.