Christmas gift buying can be tricky for some people on the list, but we’ve put together a gathering of gadget goodies that will, we’re sure, be well received come the big day. 

Marshall Major IV Headphones
£130

Marshall is a name that any audiophile will be familiar with, so having it emblazoned on the side of these on-ear Headphones will be a good selling point for some. This, the fourth iteration of its Major headphones, has a great retro look that harks back to the brand’s heritage.

There has been a move away from on-ear headphones over recent years, with many favouring the comfort and convenience of in-ear versions. These might be more cumbersome than pocket-sized rivals, but they are pretty comfortable — they’re lightweight, well-cushioned and aren’t clamped too tightly to your ears, so there are no niggling pressure points while being worn.

They’re wireless, connecting to your smartphone via Bluetooth, and they can be wirelessly charged by sitting the back of the ear cup onto the charging pad. The battery life is excellent, though, so if you’re out and about, you’ll likely not need to charge anyway, with up to 80 hours of playtime from a full charge. If you do miscalculate, just 15 minutes of charging will give you another 15 hours of play time.

Controlling the headphones is nice and easy — there is a single brass coloured knob on the right ear cup, which allows you to control the volume, skip tracks back and forth, and answer mobile phone calls, all by either pressing, twisting or pushing back or forward, a little like a mini joystick.

The big question is, are they any good? There are good and bad points here. They aren’t noise cancelling, so if you’re travelling on public transport, you’ll still hear the hubbub around you unless you crank up the volume, at which point your fellow passengers may roll their eyes at you. If you’re walking or running with them on, then the lack of Noise Cancellation could be a benefit, so you’re aware of traffic and others around you, making your journey safer.

Sound quality is decent — the bass is a little weak, so some tracks lack a little depth, but for most genres of music, they cope fairly well. If you push the volume up too far, the high frequencies can get a little tiresome, but drop it down a touch, and they perform perfectly well.

These will make an excellent and affordable option for those wanting something lightweight and comfortable for a short commute or teenagers wanting to avoid parental conversation on a car journey.

Soundcore Space One by Anker
£90

A good range of on-ear headphones are available at the lower end of the pricing market, but few have decent noise cancellation. Enter Space One.

Available in three different colour options, these headphones offer a good amount of bang for their buck, with features galore via the associated app. They are well padded, both around the ear cups and the headband, making them comfortable to wear but a little bulky for some tastes.

They’re wireless, so easy to use on the go, and the active noise cancellation makes them a good option for travelling or commuting. One impressive feature is that you can set the headphones up so that a gentle tap to the side of the ear cup will pause the noise cancellation, allowing you to hear what’s happening around you and then tap again to reactivate it.

Another neat feature is wear detection. If you take the headphones off for a moment for any reason, rather than continuing to play and running down the battery, play will pause until you place them back into position over your ears. It’s never going to be a make-or-break feature for buying Space One, but it’s a helpful feature all the same.

There are controls on the headphones, which means you can adjust the volume, change tracks or activate the noise cancellation. With some controls on each ear cup, it’ll take a few uses to get the hang of which are where, but that won’t take long.

Battery life isn’t too shabby. From a full charge, you should be able to get around 40 hours of playtime with the noise cancellation turned on, rising to 55 hours without it. A full charge will take around three hours, but a 15-minute top-up will provide an extra four hours or so, giving you plenty of leeway until you can plug in for a complete recharge.

The sound quality from Space One is impressively good straight out of the box, with the sound remaining fairly clean and clear at mid-level volumes, with crisp vocals. The good news is that in the app, you can customise the sound to suit your personal tastes or chosen genre of music so that you get the same listening experience every time you put them on.

It’s a good option for those looking for quality headphones with noise cancellation without breaking the bank, and they look great, too.

Marshall Willen Compact Speaker
£100

What this compact speaker lacks in stature, it makes up for in style. With that Marshall amp retro rock and roll vibe, it looks great — and it doesn’t sound bad, either!

Let’s be honest: with a speaker this small (10x10cm), you’re not expecting to be able to power a party, but for a group of friends at the beach or having a picnic, or to play some relaxing music while you’re in the garden, the Willen is a decent choice.

The speaker connects via Bluetooth to a phone-based app, which allows you to wirelessly stream your audio up to a range of 10 metres. The speaker itself has a control knob for turning it on and off, and volume adjustment.

It has a built-in microphone, so you can use it hands-free to chat, should a call come in while you’re streaming music.

One of the selling points of this particular model is its rugged nature. With an IP67 rating, it’s dust-proof and water-resistant, so there is no need to be precious about where you use it, just throw it in your bag or pocket, and off you go.

The battery life is pretty impressive — from a full charge (which takes around three hours from empty), you should get 15 hours of playtime. If you need a quick top-up, plugging in for 20 minutes will give another three hours or so of playback.

The sound quality is reasonable, given the small size, but the bass is a little lacklustre. It can be boosted, though, using the three different EQ presets in the app, but that will tweak things rather than transform them.

The Marshall Willen is a nice little thing that will work well for a fun gathering, but it’s not about to tear up the stage. For some extra punch, multiple Willen speakers can be tethered together, making the mono sound stereo.

Loewe We.Hear Speaker
£99

German AV brand Loewe has been creating audio equipment for 100 years, so you’d hope it’s learned a thing or two in that time. What it has learned is how to put together a stylish portable speaker in the form of the We.Hear 1.

Available in three different colours, the We.Hear 1 has a distinctive tubular look. It’s lightweight at 740g and, at 22cm tall, compact enough to slip into a bag for a day trip or hang from a tent on a camping trip. It’s also splash-proof, so if the weather does turn on you, there is no immediate panic, but don’t leave it sitting out there too long.

Battery life is decent, with up to 14 hours of playtime from one charge, and a recharge time of under three hours from empty. There isn’t a rapid top-up charge option, though, so if it runs out, you will need a few hours to get things back on track.

Connect your phone to We.Hear via Bluetooth to stream your chosen tracks, but there’s no app to allow customisation or sound balancing — what you hear is what you get. There are physical buttons along the length of the speaker for volume up and down, as well as pause and play, but no ability to skip tracks; for that, you’ll need to fiddle with your phone.

The sound quality is generally good, but don’t push the volume too high, or you’ll lose some clarity. The bass could be a little stronger, but on the whole it performs well, but despite the speaker’s appearance, it doesn’t transmit the sound particularly far. It will work well for a small gathering with the speaker on a picnic table or at home, but it won’t cut it for much more than background music for a larger space.

ASUS Zenphone 10 Android Smartphone
£720

Smartphones went through a phase where each new model got larger than the last. That trend seems to have paused now, but only because everybody seems to be pushing folding phones instead. It’s refreshing to see that Asus has eschewed that trend with its Zenfone 10, which packs a hell of a punch into a pleasingly compact body.

It’s not short of specs, with a Snapdragon 8 Gen processor providing plenty of muscle — in tests, it’s quicker than a Google Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy S23 — backed up by 8Gb of RAM. The 4,300mAh battery will keep it running all day, too.

A 50-megapixel primary camera takes impressive pictures, although it’s not quite the best on the market. The 5.9-inch screen also lacks a little contrast, but the 144Hz refresh rate keeps games running buttery smooth.

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