Wireless standards are a funny thing. It seems that many demand that Wi-Fi is on board their devices but turn their noses up at DLNA support. So it's interesting that the arrival of AirPlay, a fairly new standard, has been welcomed and is cropping up on many a music player.

The latest to have the Apple tech inside is the Pure Contour 200i Air. This decent looking dock allows AirPlay support and also has an iOS dock on the front as well, which looks fine when either an iPhone or an iPod is connected.

We took a look at the Pure Contour 200i Air at CES 2012 and we impressed with what we saw. The dock is compatible with Pure Music – the company's Spotify rival – which means that it is internet-savvy and it has an aux-in input port in the rear and all of its controls (which consist of volume and power) are on the top of the device.

The 200i is an update to the 100Di, with the main sartorial difference being that there is no longer a clock on board – instead you have the docking station on the front.

When it comes to blasting out the music, the 200i manages 36W and has been given dual 3.5-inch full-range speaker drive units.

Like its bedfellow, the Pure Sensio 200D Connect, the Pure Contour 200i Air UK release date is Q1 and will set you back £199.99.

Beats Electronics and Monster are not renewing their headphones contract after a five year partnership.

Beats has been the biggest name in headphones over the last couple of years, heavily popularised by co-owner Dr.Dre.

The partnership built on the audio expertise of Monster, which hi-fi fans will know was already a big name in the cable world.

The duo's big seller has been the over-ear Beats by Dre range (pictured) which are known for their bass-heavy sound and active noise cancelling, as well as their standout looks.

Monster isn't over the hill

After the split, Monster is planning to build up its own headphones range with eight different lines.

Beats' sound technology has already made its way into the HP Envy Beats Editionand a number of HTC smartphones.

HTC is now the major stakeholder in Beats, paying US$300 million for the privilege.

Beats is looking to expand into new areas like TV and products for athletes, amongst others, but also appears to be focusing attention on the mobile sector.

"We have very big ambitions for Beats beyond headphones," says Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine in conversation with Business Week. "Music has got to succeed on the phone or else the record industry will never thrive."

We'll be expecting some more Beats branded phones, then.

Bang & Olufsen has taken to CES 2012 to reveal its latest 3D TV in the form of the B&O BeoVision 12-65.

The company describes the 65-inch plasma screen as "ultra flat" which left us wondering how flat its predecessors were until we realised it means "very thin indeed" combined with "an optical illusion" involving the aluminium speaker housing.

It's intended to sit on the wall rather than a stand, so the wall bracket comes partly integrated into the set itself, adding to the ultra flatness of the thing.

Other features are available

As well as being dead thin, like, the centre speaker holds five speaker units within it and helps pump out 7.1 surround sound when set up in the correct formation.

The NeoPDP panel promises improved 3D and 2D performance thanks to phosphors with a very short retention time.

No sniff of a UK price for the B&O BeoVision 12-65 but it's likely to be high - now take that price you're thinking is high and double it. About that.

Speakers galore

Also revealed at CES 2012 are the company's new BeoLab 12 loudspeakers that sit mounted on the wall aside a television, providing the auditory illusion of three-dimensional sound.

And finally there's the B&O Play portable music system, the B&O Beolit 12, which brings all the excellence of a Bang & Olufsen sound system to, well, anywhere, given that you can pick it up and carry it around.

Unusually for Bang & Olufsen, the Beolit 12 isn't too far out of a normal person's price range, set to land in the UK with a price of around £575 (€699, $799).

AKG has announced two new sets of premium noise-cancelling headphones – the K490 NC and K495 NC which both feature USB charging.

USB charging promises to cut down your battery bill and make juicing up as easy as finding the nearest computer, set-top box or wall adapter.

The two models are clearly looking to give off a premium vibe. Each comes with its own carry case and the top end K495 NC has more metal in it the the K490 NC, though don't let that affect your music selection.

A single charge will provide 40 hours of battery life so even if you're prone to a marathon silent disco session the beats will keep coming all night.

All quiet on the Westwood front

Importantly, both will still function without noise cancelling when the battery goes flat. A welcome feature that the eminent Dr.Dre frustratingly forgot to include in his Beats range.

In terms of performance, both offer 50mW maximum power output and a 20Hz-20kHZ frequency output.

Designed to be travel-friendly a "3D-axis2" folding mechanism means they pack down into a less cumbersome format so you're less likely to rip off an earcup as you pull them out of a bag.

Both pairs of headphones are out now, and like most sound quashers are more expensive than the average pair. The K490 NC is on sale for £299.99 while the top end K495 NC is yours for £299.99.

Steve Jobs isn't one to be slowed down by a little thing like having shuffled off this mortal coil, having been awarded a Special Merit Grammy award for his contribution to music.

Despite music industry types roundly agreeing that iTunes' monopoly over digital downloads isn't exactly the best thing, it's impossible to deny that Jobs, who passed away in October this year, was responsible for inventions that had a huge impact on the music industry.

Neil Portnow, the president and CEO of the Recording Academy, explains, "This year's honorees offer a variety of brilliance, contributions and lasting impressions on our culture.

"It is an honour to recognise such a diverse group of individuals whose talents and achievements have had an indelible impact on our industry."

Also inedible

Indelible is certainly the word for Jobs' efforts. The iPod led where countless other MP3 players tried and failed to follow, while iTunes brought the concept of actually paying for digital music into the mainstream - and that's not to mention the hard- and software created by Apple that countless musicians use to create, mix and master their work.

The official press release explains, "Jobs' innovations such as the iPod and its conterpart, the online iTunes store, revolutionised the industry and how music was distributed and purchased."

Best iPod iPhone speaker dock

Close your eyes and imagine, for a moment, that you've popped to town on a sunny afternoon to buy yourself a speaker dock for your iPhone or iPod. Easy, right?

Well it is until you get to the shops and are confronted by row upon row of the things. All shapes and sizes, from cheap and cheerful to those costing hundreds of pounds. Even if the store attendants encourage you to have a listen to each in turn, a noisy shop floor is hardly a good environment to make an informed choice about which sounds best.

So we had ourselves an early Christmas and collected together dozens of iPod and iPhone docks, put them through their paces and picked out 24 to tell you about.

And by put them through their paces, we mean repeated side-by-side tests - to the point that we're sick of hearing some of our favourite songs!

To make the tests as fair as possible, we switched off our iPod's EQ, although where the docks had built-in EQs, we had a play with these to see if you could boost the sound this way. None will set you back more than £150, and to help you choose, we've divided them into three categories based on price.

As always with our group tests, though, just because something isn't the winner doesn't mean you shouldn't consider it. Some offer extra features you may want, others may represent fantastic value for money. So have a think about the kind of place you want to use your dock now: By your bedside? In the kitchen? In your children's rooms? As a sound system for your TV? Bear this use in mind as you read on.

As with all things in life, you get what you pay for with speaker docks. But don't forget that the sound isn't the only factor here: some of these docks include LCDs, can be connected wirelessly using Bluetooth, have alarm clocks and other fancy features that have to be paid for, and this may come at the expense of good sound.

What we tested...

Up to £60:

01. Altec Lansing InMotion Compact iMT320 - £37

02. Altec Lansing Octiv 102 - £29

03. Gear4 Explorer-SP - £45

04. Gear4 HouseParty SmartDock - £50

05. iLuv App Station iMM190 - £25

06. iLuv Vibe Plus iMM178DAB -£55

07. Logic3 i-Station 26 - £55

08. Philips Fidelio DS3020 - £50

£60-£90:

09. KitSound Boom Dock - £87

10. Klipsch iGroove HG - £67

11. Klipsch iGroove SXT - £70

12. Logic3 i-Station SoundBar - £99

13. Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 - £75

14. Logitech S715i - £99

15. Sony RDP-M15iP - £90

16. ViewQuest Retro Radio - £87

£100-£150:

17. Altec Lansing Octiv 650 - £129

18. Gear4 HouseParty AirWave - £109

19. JVC UX-SG5B - £150

20. Lenco iPT-2 - £150

21. Panasonic SC-HC05 - £150

22. Sony RDP-X60iP - £120

23. Soundfreaq Sound Step Recharge - £150

24. TEAC Mini Aurb SR80iDAB - £140

iPod and iPhone speaker docks under £60

Test one: Sound quality

Regardless of what bells and whistles you can get on your dock, the most important thing is the audio quality: do the speakers do justice to your favourite music?

Let's start with our least favourite and work our way up to the best. Two that failed to impress us were the iLuv App Station and the Altec Lansing Octiv 102. There's little depth to the sound from the App Station, and while the bass produced by the Octiv 102 surprised us given how small the unit is, it doesn't offer much in the way of treble clarity.

That said, these two are the smallest and most affordable docks we tested, and will do a perfectly good job if you just want to listen to spoken word (or watch videos, in the case of the App Station, which is the only one here that'll dock in landscape), but for music, we'd recommend looking elsewhere.

The iLuv Vibe Plus sits at the top end of this price category, but much of the cost appears to have gone towards extras; the sound feels like an afterthought. To its credit, there's more treble clarity than you get with the App Station or Octiv 102, and the built-in EQ does let you boost the bass or treble, which improves things somewhat. But you can do better for less cash.

L'enfant treble

Logic3's i-Station 26 offers improved treble over the aforementioned docks so acoustic music comes out well, and its angled speakers do a better job of separating the stereo than most here. Sadly, though, the bass is missing in action, and the midrange is a tad flat and tinny.

For a better, warmer sound at a slightly lower cost, there's the Gear4 Explorer-SP. We were surprised at how much bass oomph emanated from such a thin dock: it's not going to shake the glass in your windows, but there's a definite thump to it when you turn up the volume on a dance track. Even though this comes at the cost of a bit of treble clarity compared to the i-Station 26, we prefer the Explorer-SP's overall picture.

Fans of music that relies on lots of bass will like the Gear4 HouseParty SmartDock, because it can pump it out by the bucketload, especially if you switch its six-preset built-in EQ to the Rock setting. Dance tracks sound deep and punchy, R&B and bassy pop tunes sound nicely fullbodied, and it'll go reasonably loud without distorting. So while it certainly trumps the Altec Lansing iMT320 in the bass department, the latter does a better job of articulating and defining the mid and treble sounds, meaning that we preferred it for acoustic, classical and rock tracks.

Which brings us to the Philips Fidelio DS3020. Within minutes of having plugged our iPod into it, we were smitten, feasting on sound that's in a different league to the others in this category. That's not a slight on the rest, but a testament to how good this is. Most styles of music sound good on the DS3020, especially anything that benefits from its ability to produce crystal clear sound at the top end. Happily, though, that cleanliness doesn't come at the expense of the bass. Rock anthems, dancefloor fillers and R&B hits all have a nice punch to them. Admittedly, some may find it slightly too clinical, especially if you turn the volume up very loud, where the treble got a little bit overpowering. The stereo separation's not great either, but don't let these points put you off, because the DS3020 stands head and shoulders above the competition here.

Test results

Test two: Extra features

Pretty much any speaker dock will have extra features thrown in. Of the eight here, three can run off AA batteries (the Altec Lansing iMT320, Philips Fidelio DS3020 and iLuv App Station), while the Gear4 Explorer-SP has a built-in battery that charges from the mains.

If you want a remote control, the Logic3 i-Station 26 and both models from Gear4 come with one. All bar the iLuv Vibe Plus have aux-in sockets.

The iLuv Vibe Plus has a DAB radio built in, while the i-Station 26 and HouseParty SmartDock have a regular FM one, and all three have alarm clocks as well. In fact, the Vibe Plus takes waking you up in the morning to a whole new level of intimacy with a pod you put under your pillow, which will vibrate and play you music until you hit the Snooze button. Different, certainly!

Made for you

They're all 'Made for iPhone' or 'Works with iPhone' certified, and while none suffered interference when the iPhone rang, we found the iLuv Vibe Plus, Altec Lansing Octiv 102 and Gear4 HouseParty SmartDock buzzed if we left the phone docked during a call. Black marks for this.

Other features include on-board controls, which vary from none on the Altec Lansing Octiv 102 to comprehensive ones on the radio-bearing models. Though the Philips Fidelio DS3020 only has volume controls, they're easy to use even if you're not looking at them.

Gear4 has gone for style over usability with the controls on the HouseParty SmartDock: they look sleek, but aren't in intuitive positions.

Test results

And the winner is… Philips Fidelio DS3020 £50

However nice it may be to have an alarm clock or radio in your iPod or iPhone dock, these shouldn't be the be-all and end-all. For starters, a quick visit to the App Store will give you apps that provide this functionality and more.

For this kind of dock, your buying choice should be based primarily on sound. While the Altec Lansing iMT320 and Gear4 HouseParty SmartDock are decent enough options, they're blown out of the water by the brilliance of the Philips Fidelio DS3020, which is, without question, our winner.

As we sit listening to it, we have to keep reminding ourselves that sound this good is coming from a dock that's so small and only costs £50. Not only does it sound lovely, with clean treble tones complemented by powerful bass, but it looks stunning, and makes the others look quite, well, old-fashioned.

Its footprint is tiny, so you can squeeze it into even the smallest spaces around your home, and the volume control bar on the front is both functional and smart. It also does what few other docks do, and that's provide proper support for whichever iPhone or iPod model you dock in it, such that it doesn't wobble around as you tap the screen. Rather than have you mess around clipping in dock adapters, your device slots into the Dock connector and rests against the upper part of the speaker. Perfect simplicity.

And its use isn't limited to in the home: pop in some AA batteries and you can take your music out on the road with you, for great tunes on the go.

iPod and iPhone speaker docks £60 - £99

Test one: Sound quality

As we climb into this next price category, you get a noticeable difference in the sound over many cheaper docks: the only one we felt was sub-standard for its £87 price was the View Quest Retro Radio. Available in five colours, the casing looks the part, but the front panel seems cheap in comparison, and the sound is nothing particularly special. Unless you're dead-set on the looks of the thing, we suggest you go elsewhere.

Aside from the Retro Radio, all the docks have something to recommend them sound-wise. The Sony RDP-M15iP pushes out a reasonable amount of bass for such a small unit, but vocals sound a bit flat and lifeless, and the top end isn't as well defined as some other docks. It's by no means a bad system, but at £90, it sounds a bit mediocre compared to the competition in this price band.

You want bass?

The clue to the KitSound Boom Dock's strength is in its name: boy can this behemoth shake the floor. It gives dance music a powerful, full feel and is plenty strong enough to provide the soundtrack to your house party. Our criticism of it, however, is that it's a bit of a one-trick pony: by investing so much in the bass, there's little in the way of treble clarity, meaning that it doesn't do justice to rock or even R&B tracks.

If it is bass you want, there are other options, such as the Klipsch iGroove SXT. Though it doesn't provide the thump of the Boom Dock, the bass is picked out well, and it's certainly powerful enough to give a full sound. There's also more treble to the sound, making it an altogether more versatile option.

Roughly on a par with the iGroove SXT is the similarly priced Logitech Pure Fi Anywhere 2. It's a different kind of sound you get: clearer trebles and mids, and less powerful bass, though it's still well-defined. For their price tags - both around £70 - neither are bad products. But incredibly, you can come slightly down the scale and do even better.

The Klipsch iGroove HG, which costs just £68, is something of a dark horse in this category, since it gives the two most expensive options a real run for their money. Its bass is even more powerful than the costlier iGroove SXT, but that's not the reason we prefer it. What makes this dock stand out is that it doesn't neglect the treble, so rock tracks sound full and well-balanced, with the vocals clearly popping out. And although the front of the dock is concave, the speakers are actually angled outwards, meaning it does a surprisingly good job of separating the stereo, especially given how close together the drivers are set.

For even better separation of the left and right channels, the Logic3 i-Station SoundBar is worth a look. It's a wide beast, but the sound is pleasingly fresh, with a little bit of a bass kick in there, especially if you have a play with the built-in equaliser presets (if you choose to download the accompanying app, you can adjust the five-band EQ yourself).

Our favourite dock, though, is the Logitech S715i. It combines good stereo separation and lovely clear top-end treble with punchy vocals. The bass hasn't been forgotten about either, though. It may not have the fullness or raw thump of the Klipsch iGroove HG or KitSound Boom Dock, but it's nicely balanced with the rest of the sound. This is the most versatile offering here.

Test results

Test two: Extra features

Wherever you look here, there's a sprinkling of extras to tempt you. While these shouldn't be the only things you consider, if you're torn between two or more docks after our sound quality tests, these could help you make up your mind over which to go for.

A 3.5mm aux input is standard across the range (except on the Boom Dock, which has red and white RCA phono inputs), with the Klipsch iGroove HG providing an interesting take: for devices without a dock connector (very old iPods, say), there's a cradle that sits over the speaker's dock connector with a short lead attached, meaning you can stand your device in the dock position, even though it's connected using the aux-in. A nice touch.

The Logic3 i-Station SoundBar has RCA inputs, as well as composite and component video out, and the Klipsch iGroove SXT has an S-video output, making these two docks potential complements to your home A/V system - especially the wall-mountable Logic3 model.

A couple include radios as well: the View Quest Retro Radio has a DAB tuner, offering the full range of digital stations, and the KitSound Boom Dock and Logic3 i-Station SoundBar have traditional FM/AM radios.

These three all have built-in clocks, too; the Retro Radio and KitSound Boom Dock can double up as radio alarm clocks, if you're so inclined. If portability's your thing, the internal batteries in both Logitech docks and the Sony RDP-M15iP will appeal. The View Quest Retro Radio can also run off four C-size batteries, though we always find built-in rechargeables more convenient, even if they do add weight.

Test results

And the winner is… Logitech S715i - £99

Before we get on to why we've awarded our Editor's Choice gong to the S715i, an honourable mention for the Klipsch iGroove HG. It's almost a third cheaper than the winning Logitech model, but listening to it, you wouldn't think it.

In fact, if you're into the sort of music that benefits from lots of full, punchy bass, we'd probably recommend it over the S715i. Even if you're not, it's worth a look if you don't fancy spending just shy of £100 on the Logitech S715i.

The Logic3 i-Station SoundBar is also a very respectable offering: its variety of audio inputs and video outputs mean it could sit (or hang) under your home TV to provide the soundtrack. The LCD does detract from the appearance a bit, though.

The coveted award for this sub-£100 category goes to the £99 Logitech S715i for one key reason: its versatility. Its sound attributes do justice to just about any kind of music you throw at it: rock sounds crisp yet powerful; pop is punchy; dance sounds deep and full but doesn't lose the top end; and classical sounds nice and clean.

The key thing is its ability to produce those crystal-clear treble sounds, but the bass is by no means left behind. There's an almost tactile thump to the sound when it's cranked up. It's not going to shake the floor like the KitSound Boom Dock or the Klipsch iGroove HG, but its all-round sound is better.

Its versatility goes beyond its audio prowess, too. As long as you keep it charged, the internal battery allows you to take the dock anywhere in your house and beyond to provide the soundtrack to your life.

iPod and iPhone speaker docks £100 - £150

Test one: Sound quality

We're moving well past impulse-buy territory here; as the price edges over that £100 mark, you want to be sure you're getting a good product for your cash. So let's first of all strike one of these off the bill, since it sounds, quite frankly, dreadful compared to the others.

We're talking about the Gear4 HouseParty AirWave. While it boasts plenty of extra features, the sound's about as flat as a open bottle of Coke that's been sitting in the fridge for two weeks.

The Soundfreaq Sound Step Recharge also failed to excite us. The whole picture was just a bit, well, meh, especially for £150. There's some treble clarity but not much, little in the way of bass, and vocals sound a bit constrained. Like with the Gear4 HouseParty AirWave, your money's paying for the added features, rather than pure audio quality.

The Panasonic SC-HC05 also left us disappointed with its lack of attention to detail at the treble end. There's bass aplenty - which makes dance tracks sound good - but with the top end so weak, you lose a dimension from most other styles.

Might makes right

Now, the giant Lenco iPT-2. You can feel the testosterone oozing from its imposing form even before you dock your iPhone in it. And when you do, Lenco is keen for you to know about its audio might, especially the thumpingly powerful subwoofer. It's the kind of bass you feel deep in your bones, and it goes loud enough to fill a reasonably sized room.

The caveat is that it's light on the treble. It does have a two-band EQ you can alter to taste, turning down the bass and boosting the treble if you wish, but even when you crank the latter right up, there's not the clarity that others offer. Decent for dance and R&B, but we'd recommend one of the other docks for some added sophistication.

The JVC UX-SG5B, with its separate speakers, produces the sort of stereo separation and spatial sound that you just can't get with a one-piece dock; big thumbs up, in our eyes (or should that be ears?). Its overall sound is solid and fairly balanced, if unspectacular. The bass isn't as full as you get with the Lenco iPT-2 or Altec Lansing Octiv 650, and the treble isn't as clean, but vocals come to the fore nicely. And because they're separate speakers, there's always the option to hook up different ones.

Moving to the understated Sony RDPX60iP, we at last get some of that treble crispness that's been missing so far. Songs that sounded flat on all bar the TEAC SR80iDAB and Altec Lansing's Octiv 650 suddenly have a sparkle about them. The bass won't pound in the same way as with the Lenco iPT-2, but it's adequate if you're just listening at lower volumes, especially with the Mega Bass setting.

TEAC's SR80iDAB impressed us, thanks to its excellent balancing of the different parts of our music. The treble's clean but not tinny, the bass is well-defined (if a bit weak for bassy pop and dance anthems) but the vocals stand out beautifully.

Finally, there's the Altec Lansing Octiv 650. We've always been in two minds about this one. It'll produce beautifully clean treble, creating a bright and detailed sound picture. Then there's its subwoofer, which - even when dialled right down using the built-in EQ - is constantly thumping away, just in case you forget it's there. We don't mind this, since it undoubtedly adds depth and fullness to your music, but some may find it too much. And if you push the bass EQ the other way, it'll shake your floors.

Test results

Test two: extra features

Plenty of good added features here: all eight have remote controls, and we especially liked the more substantial one that comes with the TEAC SR80iDAB. Those provided by Lenco, JVC and Altec Lansing give a good amount of control, too.

And speaking of wirelessness, the Soundfreaq Sound Step Recharge, Panasonic SC-HC05 and Sony RDP-X60iP let you send audio to them over Bluetooth, meaning your device needn't be docked, and the Sound Step Recharge has a built-in battery too, so doesn't even have to be plugged into the mains. Thumbs up.

Video outputs are also popular, with composite sockets on the models from Soundfreaq, Lenco, TEAC, and Altec Lansing. The latter also offers component video out. This feature is useful if you keep lots of videos on your iPhone or iPod and want to watch them on your TV, but remember that composite quality is low.

Good input

All eight have additional audio inputs for greater versatility. The Lenco iPT-2 and TEAC SR80iDAB have RCA (red and white phono connectors), with the rest all having 3.5mm aux input sockets. The iPT-2 also has an SD/MMC slot, while the systems from TEAC and JVC have USB ports for sound input.

While we're on the topic of the JVC UX-SG5B, it even has a CD player and FM radio. You'll also find FM and DAB radios in the TEAC SR80iDAB and Gear4 HouseParty AirWave. The latter dock even boasts a built-in internet radio receiver. Add to this the clock and alarms and it seems like the perfect bedside dock, but the control buttons are tricky to press.

Test results

And the winner is… Altec Lansing Octiv 650 £129

The importance of choosing a dock to suit your needs is highlighted here more than it ever has been. Our gong goes to the Altec Lansing Octiv 650, for reasons we'll get to shortly, but take a moment to consider the Sony RDP-X60iP and TEAC SR80iDAB.

At £120, the RDP-X60iP makes an excellent audio system for in a small room, such as your study, student hall or bedroom. It's relatively small and the sound that emanates from its speakers is balanced.

We also like the TEAC SR80iDAB, primarily for its ability to provide a nicely balanced sound picture where it picks out the vocals well. But we just felt its bass was a tad on the weak side to do justice to styles of music that require a bit of extra depth.

So our winner is the Octiv 650. Ultimately, speaker docks must fulfil one key purpose: to help you get as much enjoyment as possible out of your favourite music. And whatever genre we chose, the 650 delivered. The bass can be overpowering, we don't dispute that. We found ourselves turning it right down and boosting the treble using the built-in EQ to get the sound picture we wanted for a lot of genres.

But requiring you to adjust the sound to taste is no crime; different styles of music benefit from different settings, and the fact that you can tweak things here is a plus. And if you do want some pounding bass, the Octiv 650 will deliver it without fuss, without compromising treble clarity. The unit itself is fairly small and unobtrusive, and at £129, it's not prohibitively expensive either.

Best FM transmitters: Contenders and features

There are various in-car solutions for listening to your iPod while you drive, but by far the most convenient is the humble FM transmitter.

These handy little devices plug into the dock connector of your iPhone or iPod and create their own mini radio station, transmitting whatever's playing on your iPod app on an FM radio frequency that your car radio can then tune to, just as it does with normal radio stations.

This way, you get a convenient solution to in-car audio that doesn't need wires trailing all over your car, or require a new stereo system.

These FM transmitters can send your music over a range of about 10 metres, which is more than enough for in-car use. The only thing you need to make sure of is that you find an empty band on the spectrum, as otherwise you'll clash with broadcasts from commercial radio stations. This can be a pain when travelling long distances and moving in and out of the range of different local radio stations.

FM transmitters come in all shapes and sizes at different price points and with different features. Some have charging cables and even their own apps to help you select a clear frequency, while others are so simple they only have three buttons.

To help you choose the perfect FM transmitter, we've been on the road with five different devices from five different manufacturers, and put them all through the wringer.

1. Belkin TuneBase FM LIVE - £30

2. Griffin iTrip Auto - £32

3. KitSound MY FM - £16

4. Logic 3 FM Transmitter Charger - £24

5. Monster iCarPlay Wireless 300 - £25

Test one: Features

The basic things you want from an in-car FM transmitter are the ability to autoscan for a free frequency, the ability to manually change frequency without too much fuss, the ability to charge your iPhone, and the ability to add preset stations so you can save time. Not all the devices here have all these basic functions, while some exceed them by a long way.

Starting at the bottom end of the pricing scale, there's the KitSound MY FM, which has only an autoscan button and plus and minus buttons, but no preset ability. In contrast, the Monster iCarPlay Wireless 300 has three preset stations, but no ability to autoscan for a clear frequency, which makes it frustrating to use.

Both the Monster and the KitSound can charge, but don't come with cigarette lighter adapters for getting power. The Monster does come with a USB lead, just nothing to plug it into.

The Monster iCarPlay Wireless 300 is also particularly poor at changing frequency. In fact, it feels positively archaic to use compared to the other models.

The Logic 3 transmitter is interesting because it includes an in-car charger, but lacks autoscan and is compatible only with iPods. That's fine for people with an iPod touch, nano or classic, but if you've got an iPhone you'll hear a nasty background noise on the radio. If you're an iPhone owner, make sure the transmitter you go for is definitely compatible with iPhones as well as iPods to avoid this.

Next up is the Griffin iTrip Auto, which is positively dripping in features. The in-line controller has a little display and a menu button so you can cycle through different settings screens, such as preset stations and autoscan, and if that's not enough there's also a dedicated app you can download on your phone to do the autoscan and tweak sound options. There are also track controls on the in-line clicker and display unit.

Finally the Belkin TuneBase FM is the only transmitter here that comes with a stand. It plugs into your cigarette lighter, and a flexible arm positions your iPhone or iPod exactly as you'd like it. The Belkin also has its own app, but unlike the Griffin you have a few basic iPod track controls within the app as well, so you don't have to mess about switching apps to change frequency and control your music.

Like the Griffin, there are also physical buttons to control things like autoscan and presets, so you don't need to use the app if you'd rather just stick with controlling the unit directly.

Test results

Test two: Ease of use

By far the easiest of all the FM transmitters to use is the Belkin, purely because its stand puts your iPhone at eye level, so you only need to glance across at the dock and tap the screen when it's running the Belkin ClearScan LIVE app to change things. You don't even need to change to your iPod app to skip a track, which is a real blessing.

Having a convenient stand really does make a huge difference to how easy these devices are to use, especially when you're driving.

The Griffin takes second place thanks to having track controls and its own iPhone app, while the Monster comes last because of its old-fashioned display and frustrating control system. The KitSound lacks features, but it's pretty easy to use, as is the Logic 3 device.

Test results

Best FM transmitters: Performance and verdict

Test three: Performance

When testing the transmitters on the road, there didn't seem to be anything to choose between all the models we tested when it came to the quality of the sound they produced. Perhaps the Belkin sounded a fraction louder than the others, but it was too close to call.

Obviously, the Logic 3 didn't perform well when plugged into an iPhone rather than an iPod, but it does say it's meant for iPod only on the packaging, so won't judge it harshly. We didn't experience any signal drop with any unit, and none of them lost its station more frequently than any others, so in this respect we can't fault any of them.

The overall quality of sound has more to do with your car's stereo system than it does with which type of FM transmitter you use.

Test results

And the winner is… Belkin TuneBase FM LIVE - £30

Top quality for a great price. This has everything you'd want from an FM transmitter

We have to give this to the Belkin. It's got all the features we could ask for from an FM transmitter, and at a superb price, but most important is the convenience of having a stand for your iPhone or iPod when using it. Without a cradle to sit in, we can guarantee that at some point your precious iPhone will end up taking a hard knock on the floor as you brake sharply or take a tight corner and it flies off the passenger seat.

Inevitably, as you drive along you'll move into the range of new local radio stations, which can interfere with the frequency you've chosen, so you'll need to change frequency, and without a stand you'll have to hold your iPhone or mess about with buttons on the transmitter to do this, which isn't exactly safe driving. With the Belkin, you only need to give its app a little glance and tap the screen to change frequency, minimising distractions.

The only downside is that your iPhone being so accessible tempts you to do more with it while you're driving, such as texting, which is not only stupid and dangerous, but also illegal. We're sure you'll use it responsibly, though.

The Griffin iTrip Auto is a strong second place in our group test. It's a nice product, and we should note that Griffin also do a RoadTrip HandsFree that has the same benefits of the Belkin model on test here and costs £65, although at time of writing Amazon were doing it half price.

If you're after a budget FM transmitter, the cheeky little KitSound MY FM gets our vote. Sure, it's a strictly no-frills product that lacks the option for having any preset stations, but it's got a very readable display, autoscans for frequencies and it just works. In contrast, it makes the Monster iCarPlay Wireless (which does have presets, but no autoscan), with its '80s clock radio style LED display and fiddly control system, look very long in the tooth.

We should note that the Logic 3 is the only transmitter at the lower end of the price scale that includes all the bits you need to actually charge your device in your car; it's just a shame they don't do a charging version that supports the iPhone.

Note that Logic 3 also sells an FM transmitter that looks exactly the same as the KitSound MY FM, just with different logos on it; we'd imagine this performs exactly like the KitSound, since it's essentially identical.

Beats by Dre, the expensive headphone company started by expensive rapper Dr Dre and expensive lead company Monster, is considering a UK store in London's trendy Shoreditch.

According to our friends at T3, Omar Johnson, Beats' US head of marketing, said that the company was looking to establish a UK presence.

"We've been looking at the Shoreditch area of London," said Johnson. "We're very excited about how much the UK has embraced Beats."

Christmas rapping

The company is set to launch its first store in Lower Manhattan, New York over the Christmas period - just in time to fill up little Jimmy's stockings with some overpriced earphones.

"It's going to be about experiencing Beats the way you should experience it," Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine told T3. "We're going to make sure there's the right demonstrations. We want people to feel it right."

Beats' distinctive red-cabled headphones are becoming more ubiquitous, while HTC has released a number of phones featuring Dre-approved audio processing.

But our hands (ears?) on with a set of Beats headphones left us a little cold, the worst problem being that they "get tangled up in your hair and make you look like an idiot".

Sports headphones

We've all been guilty of it at some point - buying a high end portable music player and then not getting some decent headphones to make the most of it.

And with most phones now pumping out a decent audio experience, relying on the in-box buds is almost a crime giving the pathetic levels of sound exuded by most - you need the best iPhone headphones or the best Android headphones.

So if you've chosen from our list of the best mobile phones and found the phones that's right for you, think about investing a little more and getting a quality pair of earbuds or over-ear options to make the most out of your music or videos.

We've trawled through loads of different options and styles of headphones designed to be used with smartphones, so whether it be music or movies that you use your handset for check out our list of the best headphones for phones.

Jabra Sport

Price: £99

One of the worst things about having headphones for sports is the fact most of them still come with wires. It's great then that Jabra has managed to do away with cables (apart from the one that links the two earphone heads together) with the Jabra Sport. It does this by hooking up to you handset through the magic of Bluetooth.

Built for use when running, the Jabra Sport range has been given ear hooks but these are rather chunky. This is understandable given that they need to house the Bluetooth tech and also have an FM tuner built in, but it does mean that it will take you a while to hook them around your ears. It was lucky, then, that they were rather secure and didn't fall out mid-exercise – even when covered in sweat.

Surprisingly the sound was decent, even though it has been squeezed through a Bluetooth signal.

We did find that linking the earphones up (digitally) to our handset did take longer than expected but this was a one-off thing. Once your phone remembers the headphones, it takes seconds for them to match.

Verdict

A decent stab at sports earphones, with the added bonus of being wireless. Although the Jabra Sport hooks are a tad too chunky, they sit great on the ear and can easily get you through prolonged exercise.

Philips SHQ3017

Price: £40

The issue of sports headphones is pretty easy for some people: if there's no hook, then the music dispensers will fall out of your ears at the earliest twinkling of perspiration.

So these SHQs should solve that, with the large, rubberised hook and pseudo-adjustable tips to sit easily in your ear.

However, while they'll never desert you on a run and are immune to degrading from sweat, they will let you down if your perspiration levels get too high, as the buds will slip form your canals and refuse to sit back in there.

The sound quality is tinny too - these are running headphones, and won't stand up to being used day to day, although the upgraded models with inline microphone do sound better than their original counterparts.

Verdict

A decent pair of hook-style headphones will keep you in tunes and won't fall apart, but don't offer good enough levels of sound quality for the price.

Sennheiser PMX 680i

Price: £45

These loop-style headphones are a comfortable fit for both running and the gym, and the sweat-resistant nature of the materials used means they won't fall apart after a few months.

However, these options simply sit on top of the ear canals, and often in quite an uncomfortable manner - and if you start sweating profusely, the moisture can create a muffling seal between the audio and your ear.

The inbuilt volume control is handy but can get a bit bulky - make sure you clip it onto your clothes firmly before beginning.

The sound quality is fine - it needs to be up there with the best given the way these sit on the ears, and it just about passes, although you can forget about quality bass reproduction.

Verdict

Great for those that want the loop style, and the inline remote is large enough so you'll always be heard through the panting, but these won't suit for use when you're heart rate is racing.

Sennheiser CX 680i

Price: £55

Similar to their neckband-shod brothers, the CX680i's offer up a partnership with Adidas and a day-glo yellow wire for a more 'sporty' look.

And again like their looped brother, the headphones pack a fairly meaty inline remote on too, which you'll need to clip securely to clothing to avoid it flapping around when you're charging around the park - although the volume wheel is a really useful tool.

While we were initially sceptical of the EarFin, a small upwards hook that holds the headphones into the ear, we quickly fell in love with the twist lock system when no matter how hard we flapped our head around when running (yes, as ridiculous as it sounds... don't say we don't put ourselves out for our readers) they failed to come loose, while maintaining the comfort of buds.

The sound quality was impressive throughout, thanks to the well-fitting fin and in-ear design - it's nothing market leading, but thankfully not as tinny as most other sports headphones on the market and more than adequate.

Verdict

Our favourite sports headphones on test - a decent audio experience coupled with well-fitting buds make them an easy choice, despite the price. However, the fins might not be as comfortable for everyone, so if you get the chance to try before you buy we suggest you do.

Klipsch S5i Rugged

Price: £80

Klipsch headphones might not be your first thought for sport options, but these buds perform much better than you'd expect, even at the higher price.

The large and easy-to-find inline remote has huge buttons for pausing or skipping tracks and controlling volume on iPhones, and the range of tips to choose from is impressively wide.

The fit is snug enough to not need extra hooks on a long run - they stay in the ear pretty well, although if you find yourself sweating profusely they can start to slide around a little. However, the angled design helps them sit in the ear well, giving a comfortable fit.

Sound quality is up there with the best for voice, offering crystal clarity and a decent range for audio too.

Verdict

Perhaps not the most rugged-looking headphones, but if you're trying to up the quality of your exercise tunes these are worth a look.

Etymotics MC3

Price: £70 (plus £70 for custom tips)

These are the little brothers to the HF3's, and while not strictly sport headphones, we've decided to include them here for a couple of reasons.

1 - Etymotics has developed an application to monitor noise levels, meaning if a certain noise level (like a vehicle honking) is reached, the app will disable the music so you can deal with it... for instance, not get run over.

2 - If you invest in some custom tips, then they'll stay in your ears without an issue even over a marathon - plus the seal is tight enough to block out sweat.

Sonically we could really hear the difference between these and the HF3's, as they buck the trend of a lot of more expensive headphones to offer up a relatively bass-free experience. Not to the point of sounding tinny, but it does detract from the richness.

Verdict

With a lower build quality than their higher-end brother's, the MC3's are a nice enough pair of headphones with a decent microphone that can be heard even when running.

However, for the price you might want to think about investing that extra £50 for the HF3's as the sonic difference is marked and the overall performance worth the extra cash.

Over-ear headphones

Philips O'Neill The Stretch

Price: £110

Recently rebooted to incorporate an inline remote, the Philips O'Neill The Stretch headphones offer a new black and gold design along with a durable yet flexible frame.

While at the pricier end of the scale, the collaboration with O'Neill means tweaks to make the headphones helpful for all things gnarly - with the detachable tangle-free cord making it easy to plug the headphones in with a phone secreted inside a large snowboard jacket.

The plush pads offer a really snug fit, and while the sound output is pretty bass-heavy, it's a dominant audio experience that directs all the music into your ears.

The inline remote is the only downside in our eyes - people found it a little hard to hear us even when lifting it close to our mouth, and the sliding volume control can sometimes lose connection.

Verdict

A fair whack to shell out, but for sound quality and a comfortable fit, these cans get a big tick from us.

Philips Bluetooth SBH 9000

Price: £100

Bluetooth headphones have seemed like such a good idea for what seems like decades, but only now are they becoming genuine alternatives to wired cans.

These options are among the most robust we've seen, ticking the boxes in nearly every category - skipping tracks, pausing on the go, changing the volume, and all from touching one of the ear pads.

The fact they're Bluetooth means the track skipping will even work on non-iPhones, which is a real plus, and the cushioned pads sit nicely on the ears without much in the way of sound leaking.

The only downside is they're pretty bass-heavy and lose some of the higher end sounds, but for general music playback or movie watching, cutting the cords with these is a superb experience.

Verdict

Great battery life and an extra 3.5mm wire in the box means you won't have to worry about a lack of sound with these long-lasting headphones.

Sennheiser HD238i

Price: £70

These open ear style cans might not be the most portable (despite the presence of a carry case) but offer up decent sound quality and bass that really packs a wallop.

Like so many options out there, the higher end sound is a little distorted, but not so much we couldn't bear to use them - it was more in comparison to the bassy rumbles hip-hop tunes offered up and never sound too sharp.

The inline remote is a little stiff and can be hard to double tap to change tracks - but the comfort and build quality of these cans more than makes up for it.

Verdict

Not really a stand out pair of headphones in any way, but the Sennheiser sound quality is apparent and we were really impressed by the construction too.

Pioneer HDJ-500-K

Price: £80

We were surprised to find a set of Pioneer cans in our test for mobile phone-related headphones, but these options have made the leap from the DJ booth to the wider world.

Actually, that's not strictly true, as there are actually two cords in the box: one with a coiled standard plug for general DJ-ing-y stuff, and one with an inline microphone attached.

The latter is actually pretty good considering, and we couldn't notice any difference in audio quality between the two - although the build quality of the coiled cord did feel a little higher, making it decent for PC use as well.

The sound quality matches the build detail too - we noticed a larger range of more impressive sound from the deeper bass to the higher end sound with little distortion - although lower quality MP3s were punished by the HDJ-500s more than by other cans on test.

Verdict

The best cans for those that don't always want an inline remote on the go - options are good, and for less than £100, these perform admirably.

In ear headphones

Marshall Minor

Price: £45

The brand known for its amplifiers dives into our headphones run down with a set of odd-looking buds - the Minors are by far the largest buds on test.

The fit is achieved by twisting the unit into the ear using a range of tips that slot into the various extrusions on your ears, and while this is novel, it can quickly get uncomfortable.

It also lets a lot of noise leak in, so unless you're dead against in-ear options, these might get tiresome after a while.

That said, for the price the sound quality is immense - the drivers we assume are stuffed into those large frames are certainly pumping out crystal clear sound and the inline microphone is also one of the most audible to those on the other line on test.

Verdict

They look weird, but sound great - but beware, unless you're fine with a lack of noise isolation and slightly uncomfortable fits, these might not be the best for you.

Jabra Rhythm

Price: £18

Sometimes you don't want to spend thousands of pennies on new headphones - although technically you still would be for the Jabra Rhythms, at least its fewer coins you'll need.

Jabra promises to have tuned each pair of ear buds especially for different types of music, and while none of them really hit anything approaching a really impressive sonic performance, the Rhythms are the most acceptable of the lot.

The buds fit relatively well, although we had issue getting a tip that really fitted well from the three on offer - and the inline microphone really works much better than you'd expect from the price.

There are loads of headphones in electronics shops for around £20 that offer a really substandard performance - so in that mini league, the Jabra Rhythms are clear winners.

Verdict

Headphones that don't sound terrible, and won't make you cry tears of frustrated anger should you lose or break them - the Rhythms are decent quality and super cheap too.

Sennheiser IE8i

Price: £200

If you're fed up with the mountains of cash festooned about your person, or want a pair of headphones that, you know, are actually quite good, then these iPhone upgrades to Sennheiser's powerful IE8's are a decent option,

They'll work with most phones as a hands free too, although like most the volume buttons won't function, and certainly offer a deep and tight sonic experience, with solid, and more importantly rich, bass levels combined with a much stronger performance at the high end than most headphones on test here.

You can even tune the headphones using a small screw - although we found that unless you're desperate for swathes of bass you'll be better off holding this at the mid-to-low setting.

You also get a whopping 10 tips to experiment with for your cash, so you'll always find something to fit in your ear - and while the plastic casing doesn't feel in the least bit premium, it's lightweight and handy for making the headphones portable.

Verdict

A quality pair of headphones that are really only worth considering if you've got a lot of cash to spend - the sonic range is impressive and the range of tips are really helpful in finding the right fit, although be warned: the speaker section that sits in your ear is a bit larger than others on the market.

Sennheiser MM50

Price: £40

A pseudo-successor to the insanely popular CX300 set, Sennheiser is looking to corner the market in inexpensive upgrades to your bundled headphones.

The MM50s are what you'd expect from such a purchase, with a snug fit in the ear and a decent level of clarity for the cash - bass heavy if we're being critical, but not terribly so.

The quality of the headphone cord is average and feels a little spindly - we didn't have any trouble with it breaking or cracking in our tests, but don't pull on the wire too heavily when yanking them out a bag.

Verdict

For the price, this is a decent upgrade to the inbox headphones you get in the box - audio clarity outstrips the value for sure.

Klipsch X10i

Price: £170

The X10i's from Klipsch represent a real investment in your listening experience, as even with a recent price drop they're still a pretty costly affair.

However, unlike most of the anonymous black buds on offer, these come with a cool stylised aluminium 'tail', which is designed to be an acoustic dampener.

We could chat for ages about the audio quality - the best way to describe it would be 'natural sounding' - giving a wide range of sonic ability without needing to overcompensate for any track. In terms of a set of buds for all occasions, you can't go wrong with these.

But it's the fit in the ear that we love. Not just because of the ridiculously light 10g weight, but the smaller dimensions and angled frame means they sit almost perfectly in the ear and, while not the most adept at noise isolation, feel the most comfortable for long-term use.

Verdict

Slightly pricey, but not out of the price range of most - and the sleek and easy to find inline microphone is among the better we've seen on test.

Etymotics HF5

Price: £135 (plus £70 for custom tips)

In a world dominated by background noise, there's only one thing that can save our music - custom earbud tips.

That's right - while the HF3 range is sonically one of our favourite on test, nothing beats the fact you can get your own set of customised earbuds and never have to worry about the sound of the tube disturbing your listening experience again.

We fully recommend getting the custom tips as while you might have to pay nearly £200, it properly realises the power of these strong and lightweight buds. With the inbuilt tips, sound is generally quite good; but with the silicon moulded options, the entire range could be felt and more importantly the bass was improved no end.

Verdict

If money was no object, we'd recommend these headphones above all else on test, and not just because of the option for customised buds.

With a well positioned microphone and strong build quality, there's a lot to love here, even for the price.

Denon AH-C 560R

Price: £60

We weren't sure what to expect when we picked up the Denon options, and we have to say that what we were given didn't exactly blow us away.

In fact, it's hard to say anything particularly unique about the Denon 560R's, as while we weren't upset by the bass or high levels, the sound quality was just a bit... average. Roughly what you'd expect for a £60 pair of headphones, but without the wow-factor others have managed to deliver.

The fit was snug enough though, and you'll find these among the more comfortable to wear - the range of ear buds was impressive and offered good noise isolation - although we did experience a fair level of noise leakage.

Verdict

One of the big problems we did have with these buds is the microphone - the buttons are easy to hit, but it was nigh-on useless as a hands on microphone on the street. One to stay away from if you want something with pizzazz and to actually use it as a hands free kit.

5 best over-ear headphones for iPhone

Sometimes, what you want is a simple, dedicated bit of kit that does one thing, and does it well.

These headphones aren't packed with fripperies that push up the price. We wanted to test nice big cans that simply played your music as well as can possible. Not only that, but we wanted to set a realistic budget so that you're not thinking about dropping hundreds of pounds just to listen to [insert cool band you like here].

We went for big over- or on-ear headphones this time round; they're comfortable to wear for hours at a time, and there's plenty of space for chunky drivers that are usually inexpensive (and bassier) compared to the miniature marvels used for in-ear headphones.

The good news is that we've found the perfect set of audio-focussed headphones - and they don't break the bank. Which ones? Read on…

How we selected...

Usually, we're very careful to select stuff that's specifically built for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch; with headphones, this often means in-line remotes and mics. Here, though, we just wanted pure 'phones focussed on music. We set the target price point at around £75 from an online retailer.

What we tested...

JVC HA-NC250 - £79

Philips SHO9560/10 - £70

Sennheiser HD 518 - £84

Shure SRH550DJ - £59

Sony MDR-ZX700 - £70

Headphones tested and scored

Test one: Audio quality

These headphones don't have any bells and whistles; they're all about just playing music as best they can. ('Listening to bells and whistles', you might say.) So audio quality is the most important thing to consider when we're picking our winner and you're deciding which to buy.

Breaking news! The headphones that cost the most sound the best! Yes, Sennheiser's HD 518s are undoubtedly the best choice if your budget stretches that far, and if you're making your choice on audio quality alone. (Spoiler: look below and you'll see they win overall anyway.)

But that said, it's not like the others don't put up a fight. In fact, the only set here that we actively disliked came from JVC. Now, you'll hear us say this kind of thing often: if we were to hand you a set of JVC's HA-NC250s, and you listened to them with no frame of reference, you might think they sound fine - and you wouldn't be wrong.

When you compare them directly to other headphones in this group test, however - even to those that cost significantly less - it becomes clear that the JVCs are underperforming. And so the litany of complaints begins: overall, the sound is muddy, and different frequencies are distinctly indistinct. The bass, which initially impresses especially if you listen to drum and bass or dance music, is criminally lacking in clarity.

Perhaps worse - yes! - than all this, though, is that music lacks any sort of drama, and not in a laudable neutral way, but in the same way that a studio album can feel flat compared to a gig or a live recording. They're irritatingly quiet too, though switching on the noise reduction circuitry does seem to boost the volume, saturation and overall appeal of the sound. That's enough negativity.

Let's pop the Sennheisers back on and be a bit more upbeat. Mmmm, Sennheiser. These really are a treat for the ears, and they wouldn't fare badly in a group test of headphones costing twice as much.

One caveat: while there's a decent amount of bass - and, uniquely among this group of headphones, it's bass that is crisp and well-defined - its restraint and control means that the bass here isn't as big and full as some might like. To our ears, it's a better sacrifice, and you can always tweak the EQ, but be aware. Otherwise, these sound just lovely, with no obvious holes in the frequency spread and plenty of definition to separate instruments.

Special in their own way

The other three sounded competent; better than the set from JVC, and not as good as the model from Sennheiser, but all for different reasons. Philips' 'The Stretch' set sounded warm and resonant - but, we felt, tipped over into too warm and resonant. All tracks felt like they were echoing around your ears inside the driver cups in a way that reminded us of an acoustic guitar's resonant cavity. It's not… bad, but it might not be to your taste.

Sony's MDR-ZX700s sound good if you're listening to mellow noodling, but there's an unfortunate tendency - perhaps to fight against the flabbiness endemic in so many similar headphones - to oversharpen percussion; it felt sometimes like you were being stabbed in the ear with a snare drum. The fact that this is clearly impossible didn't assuage the sensation.

Finally, Shure. Again, perfectly competent sound, but they're an uneasy mix of the audio signatures of the models from Sennheiser and Sony. At first listen, we thought we'd found the perfect balance: as crisp as the Sennheisers, but replacing their neutrality with a bit more fun and bombast. An Alfa Romeo rather than an BMW, if you will.

The longer we listened, though, especially when comparing with the HD 518s, the more we started to notice rough edges. Like the model from Sony, sharp percussion sometimes has an unpleasantly stabby quality, and actually the overall signature was disappointingly compressed and flattened. Still: it bears repeating that of the five headphones here, only JVC's HA-NC250s fall below our threshold of acceptability.

Test two: comfort

Without a shadow of doubt, the comfiest headphones here are Philips' SHO9560/10s. It's not just the big over-ear cans or the clever one-size-fits-all stretchy headband, but the fabric covered cord (which can split apart if you snag it - though with more resistance than we'd like) also gets tangled much less.

The models from Sennheiser (which felt a little more comfortable with the left/right cups switched; weird) and Sony also fit over your ears, so are comfy for long periods of wear.

We had hoped the Sennheisers' unique-here fabric cups might generate a little less, erm, sweat build-up, but no.

The JVCs feel light and not grippy enough, and the Shure's massive pads might not be to everyone's taste.

Test three: Features

The only set of headphones here to have an extra feature as such is the one from JVC: its active noise reduction circuitry, powered by a single AAA battery. Yet while this gives audio some welcome saturation and volume, it's not as good at actually cutting out noise as we'd hoped.

The HA-NC250s are also the only set here that include a proper case. The models from Sennheiser and Philips have a removable cable - thumbs up, as it means easier, cheaper repairs when this weakest component breaks.

The set from Sony has an extension cable. Cleverly, the 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter that comes in the Shure box is threaded, great if you also use it for DJing - and the cups can rotate by 90° for one-ear listening.

And the winner is… Sennheiser HD 518 - £84

You buy headphones like these because you want high-fidelity audio - so buy the Sennheisers

Despite looking good on paper - active noise cancelling, carry case, a sensible enough price tag - the JVC NA-NC250s are out of the running here. Where it really matters - the audio playback - they sound manky next to the rest of the group. And despite sterling efforts from Philips, Shure and Sony, there's no doubt that the best set of cans here came from Sennheiser.

They're just so much more disciplined and balanced than the others, but that doesn't mean that they sound soulless. The sound has real warmth and richness to it, but without compromising on the clarity and definition of the music.

There are, mind you, a couple of caveats. The first is the price. They're the most expensive set, and next to the model from Shure, which we found online for under 60 quid, there's no doubt they look pricey. They're worth it, but £84 is a fair chunk of money. The Shures are worth a look if you're on a budget.

The second caveat is that these are the only set here to have an open-back design. This is good news for the sound, and doubtless contributes to its crispness, but it does mean that they leak a lot noise.

There's one more wrinkle. While the HD 518s are definitely the best headphones here, we kept finding ourselves reaching for the Philips set from the five laid out on the desk. Yes, their sound is a bit muffled and boomy, but they're just so comfortable to wear.

Though it seems like a small thing, the tough fabric cable rather than a snaggy plastic is most welcome. If we let our heart decide, they'd probably win. But we have to be sensible; the head says Sennheiser.

5 of the best portable iPhone speakers

Whether you're planning to go down to the park for a picnic with friends and family, or are having some people round for a barbecue, it's nice to add to the ambiance with a bit of background music.

We've picked five portable sound systems and put them through their paces to see which makes the best outdoor companion. They're all battery powered and are designed to be portable, so many come with a carry case, strap or handle.

But each has its own strengths that may make it perfect for you, so just because we pick a single winner, don't simply ignore the others - we've chosen these five in particular from a long list of possible contenders, so they're all worth your consideration.

Battery-powered docks aren't your only option, of course. You can get speakers that draw their power from your iOS device, such as the £25 Griffin Travel Speaker.

Then there are several passive iPhone holders available, which boost the sound coming from its built-in speaker without the need for batteries. However, passive amplifiers have the disadvantage that the sound they're boosting isn't great in the first place - not a patch on the audio you'll get from a proper speaker dock like these. Oh, and if the great British weather doesn't hold for you, none of these are waterproof…

Altec Lansing Orbit MP3 IM227 - £25

Gear4 Explorer-SP - £50

Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 - £80

Logitech S715i - £95

Sony RDP-X80iP - £120

The five on test are all battery powered, four from internal cells you charge from the mains, the last on three AAAs. This, along with the fact that we've chosen them with portability in mind, means you can easily take them out of the house and power up your tunes.

Portable iPhone speakers tested

Test one: Sound quality

While it's important that these speakers are easy to carry around, you don't want something that makes your music sound rubbish. The good news is that none of these five commits crimes against music. But the old adage of getting what you pay for rings true, with the costlier speakers pushing out the best sound.

At the top end of our price range, the Sony is our joint favourite for the audio it produces. The bass really complements the crisp mid and high ranges, giving a depth to your songs without overpowering things.

Better still, there's a built-in equaliser with five presets you can use to tweak the sound, and it'll go plenty loud enough to provide the soundtrack to your picnic or garden party.

Cheaper sounds

If you're not keen on shelling out £120 for the Sony, you can come down the price scale here without sacrificing too much in the way of sound quality. The cheaper Logitech S715i is equally impressive, providing a detailed overall picture with nicely defined bass plus clarity at the higher end.

Pushing up the volume isn't a problem for it, either. There's no built-in EQ, but don't forget you can still use your iPhone or iPod's presets.

Coming down to the cheaper of the two Logitechs, the sound does take a knock, the treble being noticeably muddier in comparison to the S715i, though the bass remains well-defined.

So for the £80 price tag, you're still getting a very good sound system - remember you're not going to be listening to both in quick succession like we have, which serves to highlight such differences. It's got a 3D sound option too, which does a reasonably good job of giving the audio more depth, at the cost of some clarity. And like the Sony and Logitech S715i, it's plenty loud enough.

Likewise, the Gear4's got the power to go nice and loud, though we noticed that the bass did start to distort as you got the higher volumes. At normal listening levels, however, the overall picture is nicely balanced. We found it was improved by switching on the 3D setting, which helps pick out the treble a bit better.

And finally we come to the little Altec Lansing Orbit speaker. We have to admit that we thought long and hard about whether it was fair to include such a dramatically different product alongside some of these audio heavyweights, but as soon as we heard it, we knew it deserved its place in this group test.

Okay, something this small is never going to be able to go all that loud (though you'd be surprised by how much noise it can produce), and you aren't going to get any real bass of note, but the overall picture you get is far more detailed than we'd expected from such a small speaker, and spoken word is clean and crisp, making this a great choice if you want to listen to a sports match while you're in the park.

Verdict

Test two: Portability

Three things matter here: size, weight and robustness. The smaller and lighter the dock is, the less of a pain it's going to be to lug around the place.

The Sony is both big and heavy - far from ideal for taking to the park or beach, but fine for in the garden. Ditto the Logitech S715i.

The Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 and Gear4 strike a good balance between size and weight, but the Logitech wins.

Without question, the most portable here is the Altec Lansing, though we were concerned the cable grip could damage the wire over time and that the power switch could get pressed in your bag rather too easily. The plastic grilles behind the Gear4's material mesh feel a bit flimsy - not a dealbreaker, but less robust than all the others.

Verdict

Test three: Extra features

Because these speaker docks are all portable, they come with helpful extras to aid you when taking them out and about.

When you buy the Gear4 or either Logitech model, you get a soft carry pouch in the box, which protects the dock to a certain extent when you're flinging it carelessly into your bag as you're rushing out the door. They're simple, and reasonably effective at protecting the dock from scrapes, but don't have carry handles to speak of.

One nice touch of the Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 is that its power adapter is designed to fit in the docking bay inside the pouch while you're transporting it. The tiny Altec Lansing doesn't bother with a case and makes do with just a wrist strap for carrying it, while Sony has gone for a grip handle cutout in the back of the dock, making it easy to pick up quickly.

All bar the Altec Lansing have some form of on-board controls, from the Logitech S715i's basic volume buttons to the Sony's more sophisticated touch controls for your music. To complement these buttons, all except the Altec Lansing have remote controls.

You might wonder why you'd want to take a remote on a picnic to zap a dock that's only a few feet away from you, but they do give more control options than what's on the docks themselves. They're also good when you're having a barbecue, so that you can skip songs playing through your device on the terrace when you're cooking down the bottom of the garden.

And don't forget that these speakers aren't just for use outdoors - when you bring them inside, the remote's a nice addition if you don't want to get up from the sofa.

Lastly, none of these speakers are limited to iOS devices either. All have standard 3.5mm aux-in capability so you can plug in other phones or MP3 players, though in most cases you'll need your own cabling.

Verdict

And the best portable iPhone speakers are...

Gear4 Explorer-SP - £50

As we said right at the start, these five docks all have their strengths and are worthy of your consideration. Which you decide to spend your money on has to depend on where you plan to use it.

If you're just after something you can fling in a bag and take with you everywhere so that you can enjoy your tunes whenever you fancy, look no further than the Altec Lansing. It won't weigh you down or take up much room in your bag, and because it's so cheap, you'll likely be less worried about it getting damaged or stolen.

But sound-wise, we wanted more than you can get from such a small box. On that front, there's little to choose between the Sony and the Logitech S715i, both of which do a sterling job. But equally, we mustn't forget we're testing picnic speakers, which can't be too heavy, given all the other paraphernalia you're likely to want to take along with you. The Logitech S715i and the Sony are too heavy for us to recommend as true picnic speakers.

However, for something around the house, we can't recommend either of these highly enough. In fact, the S715i is now in our Tap! Top 10 list of accessories for your device.

And so we're left with the cheaper (and, crucially, lighter) of the two Logitechs and the even cheaper, if slightly heavier, Gear4. On a pure audio basis, we felt the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 picked out the bass better, but then we loved the crispness of the treble coming from the Gear4, especially in 3D mode.

Not a great deal to choose between them there, then. But because these speakers are going to be taken out and about, you don't want one that's so expensive you're going to be worrying about it constantly.

Ultimately, then, for summer picnics and barbeques, the Gear4 balances portability, sound quality and price.

Best iPhone Bluetooth headset

Here's an amazing thing that you may not be aware of: your iPhone is not just a fully functioning internet device that can handle browsing the web and your email, as well as running any number of powerful apps. And, while it serves well as a handy portable repository for all the photos, video and audio you might want to carry around with you, it can do even more.

Believe it or not, your iPhone can also be used to make and receive telephone calls! And it does it using the very same 3G network that you get your fancy internet connection from. Now, is that astonishing or what?

If you're planning on making a lot of calls with it, though, you might not want to be holding it against the side of your head for a long time. Ergonomically that sort of pose is bit of a non-starter. Plus, if you can't resist making phone calls when you're driving or performing delicate keyhole surgery, you're going to need some kind of extra headset. Perhaps one of those Bluetooth ones?

Now, we know what you're thinking. Bluetooth headsets? Aren't they the dominion of sales reps and estate agents and the sort of hipster type who just ran you off the pavement on one of their stupid fixie bikes? Well, maybe. But are you the sort of person to be put off getting something that you might find really useful just because of a small image problem, though? Of course you're not. You're a far better type of person.

With that in mind, we put five Bluetooth headsets together and tested them in ways that really matter - how they sound, how comfortable they are, and how they're designed - while making sure that no-one saw us doing it. Which one's for you? Read through our thorough reviews for the final verdict.

Aliph Jawbone Era - £74

Etymotic EtyBlu2 - £80

GameCom P90 - £16

Jabra Wave - £38

Nokia BH-609 - £40

iPhone Bluetooth headset reviews

Test one: Audio quality

When it comes to everyday indoor use, you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between calls made on any of our five headsets. They all do their jobs perfectly well within the majority of the standard Bluetooth 10-metre range. You might want to think twice about putting a wall between yourself and your iPhone if you don't want your audio cutting out, but for the most part they're fine.

It's when you take them outside or into noisy environments that they show their various strengths. The GameCom P90, though, is meant to be used inside, and while it features a degree of noise reduction, it doesn't feature the advanced wind-silencing features of the other headsets.

Putting the P90 aside, the best of the bunch is undoubtedly the EtyBlu2. It's built with call quality in mind, from the flexible boom mic to the noise-isolating earpiece that, with the right eartip, blocks out an impressive amount of noise. If call clarity is your priority then read no further; nothing touches the EtyBlu2.

That said, the Jawbone Era isn't far off, with its military-grade noise reduction systems. NoiseAssassin 3.0 - its catchily named noise-cancellation tech - was developed for use by tank commanders and helicopter pilots, and it does a great job, so much so that the fiddly way of adjusting the earpiece volume doesn't bother us.

Both the Nokia BH-609 and Jabra Wave perform just as well in adverse conditions, each with their own special ways of dealing with unwanted noise. The Nokia packs two microphones for noise reduction, while the Wave has three-layer noise protection as well as digital signal processing.

The general upshot is that between these two and the Jawbone there's really not a lot to differentiate them, audio-wise, and unless you work with a pneumatic drill you're unlikely to run into situations where you can't hear or be heard.

Test results

Test two: Comfort

Comfort's such a subjective thing, isn't it? Thankfully, none of the headsets here actually hurts to wear, although the GameCom P90 is just a little on the snug side; we can envision chaffing after a long session.

Interestingly, the EtyBlu2 feels the least stable thanks to its long microphone boom; we wouldn't want to wear it without an earloop, and its deep in-ear fit is a little unsettling.

The Nokia similarly needs an earloop to avoid droop, while the Jabra Wave's over-the-ear design and rounded frame make it sit nicely around the ear.

However, the chunky but featherweight Jawbone Era wins out definitively here; we've found it to be the only one that can sit happily in the ear without earloop support and remain in place.

Test results

Test three: Design and features

The most striking of our five headsets is the EtyBlu2, with a functional, almost industrial design clearly aimed at sustained use.

Its most notable features are splendid examples of form following function; the long and flexible boom microphone serves to catch your voice more effectively, while the earphone is designed to be wedged right into your ear and block out background noise, and sounds accordingly great. Its one multi-function button (there are volume controls, too) feels a little stiff, but once you've taken a couple of seconds to learn how long to press it to do what, it works just fine.

The Jabra Wave has a similarly stand-out design; it's built to curve round your ear and, once there, it stays in quite happily. You do all your call-taking and hanging up functions with a squeeze of the button built into the microphone, while power and volume controls sit on the main body of the headset, behind the ear and easy to reach.

The other three headsets are similar compact earpiece designs. The GameCom P90 is by far the cheapest of the three and it shows. It's very plastic and feels flimsy, but remember that it's meant for teenagers calling each other unrepeatable names while playing Call of Duty online, not for CEOs putting in a call to head office on the way home because they forgot to fire Perkins. And despite feeling like something you might win in a cracker, the P90 works well, with a multi-function button and volume controls that click nicely.

The Nokia BH-609's a longer, more slimline design that doesn't feel especially solid; we have it marked down as the most likely to come to a crunchy end if you accidentally step on it. As well as the standard multi-function button, it also comes with an extra 'My own key' that you can load with up to three special functions; or at least you could if you were using it with a Nokia phone, so for our purposes it's dead weight.

Which leaves us with the Jawbone Era, the only one that you can look at and believe that someone made an effort to create something nice to look at. Its textured faceplate, its accelerometer-powered functionality (tap it to answer and hang up, shake it to pair it with your phone), its voice messages and its apps; none of it is strictly necessary but all of it works, resulting in a headset that even we're happy to show to people without any sense of shame. It's pretty and light and balanced and a bit mental as well. Hooray!

Test results

And the best iPhone Bluetooth headset is… Jawbone Era - £74

Look, we have this sneaking suspicion that technically the best bit of Bluetoothery in our round-up is the EtyBlu2. It's just so professional, with its flexible boom microphone and deep fitting. It features an intimidating horde of technologies aimed at delivering sound and eliminating noise and, frankly, it's boring.

Do a Google image search for 'professional' and you'll see a load of stock photography of the sort of person the EtyBlu2 is meant for. And that's all fine for them. If you are a serious business person along those lines, we thoroughly recommend it.

But if we're going to nail our colours to the Bluetooth headset mast, we simply have to go for the Jawbone Era, because it's a perfectly decent headset and because it's utterly preposterous, from the very moment that it starts up and tells you that it's making a startup noise. Even if you only pair it the once, won't you feel better by shaking the Era rather than holding down a button for five seconds? Of course you will.

Same goes for answering and hanging up just by tapping on it. It's like being in Star Trek. It's also the only one that offers A2DP, meaning it'll handle audio other than phone calls, and while you'd be a fool to listen to music with it, it's brilliant as a little in-ear speaker for your iPhone, just right for when all you want is a little auditory feedback for games and don't really want to wear earphones.

Oh, and while all our headsets will gladly pair with an iPod touch or iPad, the Era's the only one that'll do anything at all once paired.

Crucially, it's really tiny, light and comfortable; we're not sure you'd ever forget that you're actually wearing it, but you're a lot more likely than with the other headsets.

The Jabra Wave comes close in that regard with its clever behind-the-ear design, and we have quite a soft spot for it. It's cheaper than both the Era and EtyBlu2, features decent audio technology and, appearance-wise, it's pleasantly understated and relaxed. If you go down the headset shop and they've run out of Jawbones, you won't feel bad about making do with the Jabra Wave.

The mostly great Nokia BH-609, with its super-special extra button that doesn't work on the iPhone, is simply not for us, we suspect.

And as for the GameCom P90… it's not brilliant, but then it's not designed to be an all-round Bluetooth headset; it's designed primarily to be used with a games console and it's £16. Honestly, if you're not sure that you actually need a Bluetooth headset, then £16 for the P90's a steal.

The Pure One Classic Series II has had a lick of paint and a bit of an upgrade with new 'Listen Later' functionality added to the DAB radio.

The play/pause button can be used to pause live radio as well as having the ability to schedule a recording – be it a one-off or a recurring show – using the clock programming function.

There isn't much memory on the radio, so you can only store one recording at a time and the length of the programme you can record depends on the bit rate of the station broadcasting it (but it's generally somewhere between 30 and 180 minutes).

EPG-less

Safe to say, if you're looking for something that uses an electronic programme guide (EPG) to schedule multiple recordings, this isn't the radio for you.

But it's not a bad little DAB for what it is; you can use batteries or the mains to power it (or an optional rechargeable pack from Pure that will set you back £30), and its LCD screen offers all the usual information.

There's also an MP3 input jack, clock-timer, space for 30 station presets and comes in black and white finishes.

If this tickles your fancy, the Pure One Classic Series II hits the shops this month, with a UK price tag of £64.99.

Parisian music streaming service Deezer is set to launch in the UK in September, with premium packages starting at £4.99 a month.

The service is huge in France and already boasts 20 million users, as well as 12 genre-based and 30,000 artist-based radio channels.

Deezer will be available on PC and Mac, as well as mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, IP TVs and sound systems such as Sonos and Logitech Squeezebox.

Unlike current streaming darling Spotify, Deezer offers a web-based service on top of its desktop and mobile app, which means you can access your favourite tunes from any internet-enabled device.

Deezer prides itself on its editorial content, too, with a dedicated team providing recommendations and exclusive content.

Disc-overy

Price plans have also been announced for the service. "Discovery mode" is completely free, and lets you listen to radio channels and music on demand in 30-sec clips.

"Premium" costs £4.99 and allows unlimited streaming on PC and Mac in enhanced sound quality, while "Premium+" adds mobile streaming and offline playback for £9.99 a month.

Mark Foster, managing director of Deezer UK, said: "We're extremely excited to be launching Deezer here in the UK. With easy access everywhere music fans will be able to enjoy music anywhere they like, at any time, and be able to share their music with their friends, easily and legally."

Deezer seems to sit somewhere between Spotify's awesomely large music catalogue, and last.fm's incredible recommendation algorithyms.

That said, we've previously criticised Deezer for its tendency to play "horrible French rap music", but a fully-fledged UK launch could put an end to l'hip hop Français.

While everyone and their dog rushes to make speakers for iPod and Airplay, Android devices have been a tad neglected on the docking front; but Philips looks to redress the balance at IFA 2011 with its new Fidelio docking speakers for Android.

But Android connectors are all in different places on the handsets, we hear you cry – ah yes but Philips noticed that too, so it made a unique connector design that can hold any phone in both portrait and landscape positions.

It means the docks aren't quite as sleek and classy-looking as the uniform iPod hardware, but the range does come with an app which pairs the handset with the docking station via Bluetooth.

Junior

The AS111 is the most junior-looking of the range, with a circular clock-radio style form with a dock in the middle, it looks a little UFO-esque, which fits with the Android theme, we suppose.

The 360 degree speakers mean you get omni-directional sound, and it comes with a soft glow night light for sleepytime. Aww.

Onwards and upwards, and the AS351 is a little more kitchen-friendly with a mature look. It can be powered by battery or AC as well as letting you charge a second Android device via USB.

The AS351 comes with two 3-inch full range woofers and "superb gaming sound effects" as well.

Sensual

Finally, the AS851 is the daddy of the lot, with what Philips describes as a "sensually" curved design. It offers digital sound processing (DSP) to bring you "lifelike, distortion-less music".

The range is based on the same speaker systems as the Fidelio for Apple line-up so you can be sure of the same tip top sound quality.

No word from Philips on the UK release date or pricing of the Android Fidelio line-up, but we've no doubt it will be out in time to make it into your Christmas stocking.

Pure has revealed a new personal DAB radio, the Move 2500, which offers 14 hours of digital radio life from the confines of your pocket.

The new gizmo builds on the successful PocketDAB 1500, which we reviewed way back in 2007, and Pure reckons it has upped the audio quality on the new model, with equaliser settings so you can tweak the levels.

It may look a lot like a chunky iPod classic, but the Move 2500 is much lighter than its style icon, and svelter than the PocketDAB 1500.

Tune in

The other new feature on the Move 2500 is that it offers DAB+; this means you can tune in to digital stations in countries where they transmit DAB+, but is no great shakes to UK dwellers who won't be taking their radio on holiday with them.

The Move 2500 has an FM tuner as well, with the silicon-tipped noise isolating earphones acting as the radio antenna, so you can try plugging speakers into the 3.5mm headphone jack for communal listening, but Pure points out that it hasn't tested this and therefore can't recommend it.

That's a bit of a pain for anyone rushing out to buy the Move 2500 imminently, but Pure says it has a range of dedicated accessories, including speakers, on the way.

The Move 2500 also offers 14 hours of listening per charge and its UK release date is set for 3 August, with UK pricing coming in at £89.99.

Sony hasn't been resting on its Walkman laurels, having been beavering away on a bunch of new MP3 players, including the Sony Walkman NWZ-A860 and NWZ-S760 which offer wireless Bluetooth streaming.

The NWZ-A860 (or, for ease, the A-Series) may look have a new smartphone-esque look with its 2.8-inch LCD touchscreen and boisterous home button, but it is just a humble MP3 player.

As well as offering high-class sound quality thanks to its S-Master MX digital amplifier, it comes with a video player and photo viewer on a "big, bright screen" and 16GB of storage space.

Dance the Bluetooth blues

Both the A-Series and the Walkman NWZ-S760 come with the Bluetooth streaming option, which means you can use wireless headphones, car audio units and Bluetooth-friendly docks for wireless music fun.

As well as the Bluetooth functionality, the NWZ-S760 (S-Series) boasts 50 hours of continuous music listening from one battery charge and "legendary sound" thanks to its Clear Audio tech.

The cheerfully bright Walkman NWZ-E560 (E-Series) "sounds as good as it looks", according to Sony, which obviously hopes that you'll appreciate its cheap and cheerful stylings, available in black, red, blue, green and pink.

You can pick it up in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB versions, with a 2-inch QVGA screen and FM tuner.

Appless

All the new Walkmans ship with SenseMe, software that categorises your music into different channels, karaoke mode and MediaGo for drag-and-drop music transfer.

Sadly there is no mention of connectivity or the A-word in Sony's release (that's apps, friends) so we're assuming that the new batch of MP3 players don't offer any additional software or web browsing.

The new range of Walkmen will be hitting the shops from the end of August 2011, with UK pricing to be announced.

When Apple releases the iPod touch 5th generation or iPod touch 5G later this year – as tradition suggests it will – how does the company go about improving an already stellar media player-cum portable internet and gaming device?

Best iPhone speaker dock

Shopping for a speaker dock has to be one of the most daunting choices any music lover has to make. There are thousands: big ones, small ones, weird ones, blue ones... It's enough to make you want to stick with headphones. But cordoned off behind a velvet rope at the back of the shop are the special ones.

These audiophile iPhone speaker docks are a select bunch, full of high-class brand names, and they come with high price tags to match. What makes them different is that sound quality is their prime consideration, not just an adjunct to an iPod battery charger and some funny flashing lights.

The £499 Arcam rCube is our first port of call. It took the audio experts at A&R Cambridge three years to develop this little black box, and it's packed with amazing features: from its clever handle recess to the fact that you can stream music to up to four rCubes located in different rooms around your home.

Its arch-rival is the identically priced B&W Zeppelin Air: a heavily revamped version of the original Zeppelin with improved electronics and speaker drive units for an even better sound - it now features Apple's wireless speaker technology, AirPlay.

Moving up the price band a tad at £549 are our next two: the Geneva Lab Model 8 and Bose SoundDock 10. Both are rather ordinary looking when compared to the Arcam rCube or B&W Zeppelin Air, but they promise great sound aplenty.

Then finally comes the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8, a speaker dock that looks like it was beamed down from another planet - and costs the Earth to own at £895. Is it worth the money? Let's find out in our best iPhone speak dock test!

Audio quality

There's really only one way to test high-end speaker docks like these, and that's to load up your iPod, iPad or iPhone with some Apple Lossless tracks with a side order of 256kbps iTunes downloads. You then have to subject each dock to some rigorous testing with a wide variety of music from stirring, soaring classical to bass-heavy rock and Disco Stu-style, erm, disco.

First off the blocks is the Arcam rCube, which manages to pack in two side-mounted mid/bass drive units and two high-frequency tweeters into its tiny frame.

To get the best sound out of it, you'll need to stick it in a corner at a 45° angle, although Arcam has also included a bass boost button which beefs up low frequencies so you can place the rCube in open space, away from the bass-enhancing properties of walls and corners.

Sound quality's very good, with crisp, clean mids and highs that really let your music sing, although the bass is a little warm and lacking in low-end grunt.

Sadly for fans of wacky stereo effects, the rCube's soundstage isn't huge - although that's something that all the docks on test suffer from to a great or lesser extent: it's hard to get real stereo separation when your speakers are packed so close together. The Arcam rCube's volume levels aren't enormous either.

The Arcam rCube's closest rival in terms of sound quality and cash money is the B&W Zeppelin Air - essentially a revamped version of the original Zeppelin that should boast improved sound quality thanks to its jazzed-up speakers and electronics. These changes are immediately impressive, with the Zeppelin Air delivering a meaty, beaty, big and bouncy sound that instantly makes you want to get up and dance around the room. Even to classical.

This is no doubt down to the Zeppelin Air's 2.1 speaker arrangement, which delivers prodigious amounts of deep bass, but the speakers can do subtle, too.

In fact, it sounds great with almost anything. What we really like about it is how grown-up it sounds; not so much a speaker dock on steroids as a proper hi-fi wrapped in an exquisitely designed shell.

Next up is the most expensive unit in our test: the £895 Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8: a speaker dock that's centred on a wide bar of aluminium and plastic with two enormous cones at either end.

Peel off the removable grilles from each one and you'll find a tweeter and mid/bass driver - but you're better off keeping them on. Ugly isn't a strong enough word.

However, we're happy to say that the BeoSound 8 more than makes up for it with a sound that puts it within spitting distance of the Arcam and B&W. Its big, bold presentation practically begs you to keep it playing, and you soon find yourself spinning through your music collection to find out what hidden secrets its sound will reveal. The BeoSound 8's biggest problems really lie elsewhere, but we'll come to those.

After the BeoSound 8 comes Bose and its SoundDock 10 - a surprisingly compact, yet heavy speaker dock that promises high quality. As a performer, however, it's strangely unengaging. You find yourself admiring its technique without feeling the mark of inspiration.

That could be because the SoundDock is so well behaved; it'll handle virtually any kind of music that you throw its way, but only rarely makes you sit up and take notice. As a music system, it's more suited to background listening - an ideal accompaniment to a dinner party.

Finally we come to the Geneva Lab Model M, another big and brassy speaker dock that also boasts a built-in FM tuner.

Looks-wise, it's nothing much to shout about, but its sound quality is something else; it offers a crisp, clean and coherent presentation, matched with plenty of bass, but it's a little too clinical with dance and rock - something that can make it hard work to listen to for extended periods.

The Geneva Lab Model M fares much better with classical music and vocal recordings, its room-filling sound being both thrilling and enjoyable to hear.

Design and build quality

Design

The Arcam rCube has it made if the best things do come in small packages. It's the dock that feels the most considered in terms of design. The downside is that some features cost extra, such as the rWand (£70) and rWave (£79) dongles, which enable you to stream music from an iPod or Mac.

Only the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 is physically capable of accommodating the iPad, although its low-slung docking brace doesn't reassure.

Of the rest, the B&W Zeppelin Air offers the most flexibility thanks to Apple's AirPlay, but setup can be tricky, while the Bose SoundDock 10 is let down by an indifferent remote and a lack of on-board controls.

The Geneva Lab Model M fares better; its controls include an iPod-like scroll wheel.

Build quality

When you're paying a princely sum for a speaker dock, you expect its build to be top notch. That's true of the models here, save for the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8, which is not only the most expensive, it also feels the least robust.

We've already mentioned the fact that its removable grilles reveal a rather unlovely - and vulnerable - set of drive units, but behind its brushed aluminium front lurk poor-quality plastics and a flimsy panel that hides the power socket, audio inputs and mini-USB port. Even the remote feels cheap in the hand, its back pockmarked with screws that reveal a lack of attention to detail.

Apple would never get away with something this shoddy, so why B&O thinks it can on a £895 product is a mystery.

The best iPhone speaker dock is...

B&W Zeppelin Air

Let's get one thing straight right away: compared to your average run-of-the-mill, cheapie speaker dock, every one of our five is a revelation. It's hard to believe how great your music can sound when you team it with a machine that will do it justice.

All those naysayers who criticise Apple's devices as audio sources have it wrong; as long as you feed them with good quality AAC or Apple Lossless files, these speaker docks are an inspiration, as you'd expect from the premium pricetags that they command.

But since we have to decide between them, here we go.

First to fall are the Bose SoundDock 10, Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 and the Geneva Lab Model M. None are bad, per se, but all disappoint in slightly different ways.

The Bose SoundDock 10 fares worse because it simply fails to set your pulse racing in the way that an audiophile speaker dock should. It's like someone's put in all the ingredients for a fabulous dinner and then forgotten to add the seasoning.

The Bang & Olufsen fails because of its indifferent build quality and high price tag, while the Geneva Lab Model M falls short on its limited appeal - its aesthetics (or lack of them) won't please everyone, and it's really only suited to classical or vocal/easy listening.

Compared to these three, the Arcam rCube and B&W Zeppelin Air are in a different league entirely.

The Arcam's clever packaging, great sound quality and attention to detail are both inspiring and inspired, but it's pipped to the post by the rollicking B&W Zeppelin Air.

It does very little wrong, sounds fantastic with any kind of music, looks absolutely awesome and offers a fair degree of future-proofing and flexibility to boot. It's also great value for money at £499.

Overall scores

Arcam rCube: 4/5
B&W Zeppelin Air: 5/5
Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8: 3/5
Bose SoundDock 10: 3/5
Geneva Lab Model M: 3/5

Sony has unveiled its latest Walkman, the Sony NWZ-W260, a wireless MP3 playing headset intended for athletes and the very forgetful, seeing as it can go with you into your post-workout shower.

Well, it can, says Sony's press release, but it probably shouldn't given that the headset shouldn't be immersed or come into continuous contact with water, or shampoo, conditioner, face wash and soap. So… the shower is probably best avoided.

The all-in-one Walkman comes with Zappin song search for aurally browsing music libraries by previewing each track rather than squinting at a tiny screen – which is just as well, because there isn't one.

The Running Man

A three-minute charge can provide enough power for an hour's worth of listening, and you can get up to eight hours of music out of a fully charged battery – that's not quite enough for an ultramarathon, but should see regular marathon runners right.

The headsets come in gloss white or black and with the seal of approval from sprint athlete Marlon Devonish who Sony is also sponsoring at the Olympics next year.

"The Sports Walkman keeps me going through all of my workouts in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games," he said.

"The sound is amazingly clear and helps get me 'in the zone' when I'm training, and I love that it's both wireless and water-resistant so I never interrupt a training session."

Good to know, because it was the fact that our training sessions were forever interrupted by rogue wires and iPods getting wet that put an end to TechRadar's Olympic dreams.

The Sony Walkman NWZ-W260 UK release date is set for the end of July, no word yet on pricing.