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AED awards 2026
  • Editorial awards · 2026 program

The 2026 AEDBB Awards: 12 category winners, criteria shown.

Not a ranking of everything for everyone: that lives in the complete best-AED guide. This page answers the sharper question: which FDA-approved model wins each specific job, chosen on the published criteria, with the evidence dated and the main trade-off printed next to every winner. No scores invented, no badges sold.
  • Direct answer
The 2026 AEDBB category winners: Philips FRx (overall, schools, rugged), HeartSine 350P (value, volunteer-run), Philips OnSite (home, small business, plus refurbished as the recertified unit), ZOLL AED Plus (CPR feedback), LIFEPAK CR2 (connected fleets), Powerheart G5 (unmanaged buildings), and Defibtech Lifeline VIEW (visual guidance). Every pick links its full guide, where the decision actually gets made.
  • The 12 categories

Which model wins your specific job?

Each card: the winner, the evidence, the trade-off, and the guide that owns your full decision. Prices and statuses checked July 23, 2026.
Overall · Philips HeartStart FRx

2026 AEDBB category winner

The widest competence in the set: IP55 durability with crush specs, pediatric coverage via key with no second pad set, proven deployment span. Trade-off: 2-year pads and a premium price.
The complete best-AED guide
Value · HeartSine 350P

2026 AEDBB category winner

$1,411 list (checked 7/23) and one Pad-Pak cartridge: the lowest credible 5-year total in our sourced math. Trade-off: no CPR-depth feedback.
Value section of the guide
Home · Philips OnSite

2026 AEDBB category winner

The only OTC-labeled AED, built for untrained rescuers. Trade-off: home arrests are more often unwitnessed, and the home guide gives you those honest odds before you spend.
The full home guide
Schools K-12 · Philips FRx

2026 AEDBB category winner

Infant-child key means pediatric coverage with nothing extra to expire, in the state-mandate context 21+ states create. Trade-off: budget picks cost less upfront.
The complete schools guide
Small business · Philips OnSite

2026 AEDBB category winner

Pull the handle, follow the voice: the design that forgives whoever is on shift, with the cheapest consumable routine. Trade-off: no rough-duty rating.
The small-business guide
CPR feedback · ZOLL AED Plus

2026 AEDBB category winner

Real-time depth and rate coaching per ZOLL’s documentation, plus 5-year pads. Trade-off: $2,082 and bulkier than the minimalists.
The AED Plus review
Rugged outdoor · Philips FRx

2026 AEDBB category winner

IP55 with crush and drop specs plus an aviation battery variant: the full durability package. Trade-off: HeartSine units carry a higher IP56 ingress rating; FRx wins on the package, not that single number.
The rough-duty guide
Connected fleet · LIFEPAK CR2

2026 AEDBB category winner

WiFi readiness reporting on the connected option: the only pick that phones home. Trade-off: the highest 5-year cost in the reviewed set.
The CR2 review
Unmanaged buildings · Powerheart G5

2026 AEDBB category winner

Daily self-test with a readiness indicator anyone walking past can read: the device that owns its own maintenance. Trade-off: the $399 battery is the set’s priciest consumable.
The G5 review
Visual guidance · Defibtech VIEW

2026 AEDBB category winner

The only full-color video rescue display in the reviewed set, at $2,024.95 (checked 27 Sep 2026). Trade-off: 2-year pads and a smaller US service footprint.
The VIEW review
Refurbished · Recertified OnSite

2026 AEDBB category winner

Documented recertification with new pads, battery, and a written warranty, at roughly half of new (labeled est., checked 7/23). Trade-off: warranty is shorter than new and seller-dependent.
The refurbished guide
Volunteer-run · HeartSine 350P

2026 AEDBB category winner

One cartridge, one expiry date: the maintenance model that survives volunteer turnover, at the lowest sourced 5-year total. Trade-off: minimal readiness display.
The community guide
  • How winners are chosen

Published criteria, dated evidence, stated trade-offs.

Every winner traces to the same five weighted criteria on our methodology page, reweighted per category and said out loud on each card. Every card also prints the winner’s main limitation, because a pick without a trade-off is an ad.
  • What these awards are NOT

Not hands-on test results, not medical endorsements, not certifications, and not for sale. There are no invented scores behind the picks and no badge program behind the name.

They are documented editorial judgments: specifications, regulatory records, and dated pricing weighed under published rules, with the working shown on every category’s full guide.

Read the full criteria
Or let the quiz pick for you
  • Award questions

Asked often, answered plainly

By the published criteria, reweighted per category and stated on each card, from dated public evidence: FDA records, manufacturer documentation, distributor pricing. The standards page governs every claim.

No, and we say so everywhere it matters. No lab, no test panel, no clinician endorsements: documented specifications and dated checks, weighed under published rules.

No. Placement is not for sale, verdicts are not previewed, and referral economics are excluded from the criteria by rule. The award year is the current program year; there are no invented past editions.

On your category’s full guide, linked from every card, or the complete best-AED guide for the broad decision, or the 60-second quiz if you want the criteria applied to your building automatically.

References · primary sources
  1. RegulatoryUS FDA. Automated External Defibrillators and Premarket Approval database. fda.gov AEDs
  2. ManufacturerPhilips, ZOLL, Stryker, Cardiac Science, Defibtech: current instructions for use and datasheets, cited per winner card. example: philips.com
  3. ClinicalWeisfeldt ML, et al. Ventricular tachyarrhythmias after cardiac arrest in public versus at home. NEJM. 2011;364:313-321. nejm.org
  4. MarketAuthorized US distributor list pricing, checked 2026-07-23, per the dated-price convention on our editorial standards.
  5. StandardIEC. IEC 60529: Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP Code). webstore.iec.ch
Checked · July 23, 2026 Review Methodology Editorial Standards AED Laws by State All 22 Industries AED Resource Library
Every AED above, recertified, from $875
Minimum three year warranty on every unit
ModelNewRecertifiedYou saveBuy
Philips HeartStart OnSite$1,589$875$714, 45%1 to 45 or more
Philips HeartStart FRx$2,099$875$1,224, 58%1 to 45 or more
ZOLL AED Plus$2,082$875$1,207, 58%1 to 45 or more
ZOLL AED 3$2,399$1,150$1,249, 52%1 to 45 or more
HeartSine Samaritan PAD 350P$1,411$875$536, 38%1 to 45 or more
HeartSine Samaritan PAD 450P$1,761$875$886, 50%1 to 45 or more
Cardiac Science Powerheart G5$2,157$1,225$932, 43%1 to 45 or more
A recertified AED is a used device. That is why the three year warranty matters more than the price. If the warranty were one year we would not recommend it. Every unit above is FDA approved through premarket approval, a PMA number, not a 510(k) clearance.
Also on this site: the recertified OnSite guide, the recertified line-up, recertified versus new, how to vet a refurbished seller.
All fourteen prices verified 15 September 2026 through the Store API at AED Leader and Response Ready. Both stores matched on every model. Free shipping over $199 in the contiguous United States.
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