AEDLE VK-1

These retro-styled minimalist headphones are about as sleek as cans come. Made from aircraft-grade aluminium and handsewn lambskin leather, they’ll be comfortable and hardwearing, too.
And inside? A neodymium magnet and titanium diaphragm make sweet love to your lug holes. There’s even a microphone for making the nattiest handsfree calls in town.

IPHONE 5

It’s still riding high, despite being under attack from more impressive competition than ever before. iOS 6.1 lets you download individual songs from iCloud for iTunes Match, though we still can’t order cinema tickets through Siri, like our American cousins.
That 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5 looks a little small now compared to bigger Android rivals, but it’s the software that many can’t live without.

KINDLE PAPERWHITE

Amazon’s first ebook reader with a light-up screen is perfect for reading in the dark. The Kindle Paperwhite screen has 62% more pixels, and 25% better contrast, meaning text is clearer than ever.
Wi-Fi lets you download on the go, or opt for the 3G version (£60 more) to snaffle tomes wherever you are. Even with the light on, the battery will last eight weeks too, and it’ll hold 1,100 ebooks, which should satisfy even the keenest of bookworms.

GOOGLE CHROMEBOOK PIXEL

Featuring a stark, all-aluminium body and light-sensing backlit keyboard, the Pixel is undoubtedly a wonderful piece of engineering. Chief among it's most beautiful features is a Retina Display-beating, 2560x1700, 12.85-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen.
As for power, a 1.8GHz dualcore i5 and 4GB RAM are more than sufficient to run Chrome’s stripped-down OS, which naturally provides easy access to Google Mail, YouTube, Google Drive and even Google+, on the off-chance that humanity decides to use it.

BLACKBERRY Z10

With 4G and one of the best on-screen keyboards to date, the BlackBerry Z10 is one hell of a start for the new operating system. The 4.2-inch screen dwarfs the iPhone 5’s, and BBM has been given a makeover, making it better than ever.
The only downside is a lack of apps compared to iOS and Android, but we’re sure that’ll change. The OS also means you’ll be doing a lot less jumping back to the homescreen, instead opening new apps from within others, which speeds things up considerably

SONOS PLAYBAR

This Sonos Playbar sits below your telly, and connects to your Sonos network as well as your home cinema system, so it can soundtrack your movies or be on musical duties for the lounge part of your party.
It has nine speakers in all: six mid-woofers and three tweeters, so explosions should be suitably tie-blown-over-the-shoulder. You can control it with the app on your iOS or Android device.

NOKIA LUMIA 920

The top Windows Phone 8 handset from the Finnish mobile maker has a cradle for wireless charging, just like an electric toothbrush. The Nokia Lumia 920 uses the same PureView imaging tech as the 808, though with a more modest 8.7-megapixel sensor. City Lens highlights points of interest as you take pictures, and you should be able to fit plenty on-screen on that 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ display.