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gadget gift guide

Wires leading from your ears to your listening devices are so last year. Improved Bluetooth technology means you don't need to be lashed to your smartphone or tablet to be able to listen to podcasts or take calls. And because every music celebrity and professional athlete seems to have their own line of headphones these days, there is great competition out there for your ears, which means cool innovation and reduced cost.

BackBeat Pro headphones from Plantronics ($300)

Best headphones for planes, trains, but probably not automobiles

The active-noise-cancelling BackBeat Pro headphones from Plantronics are superior in so many ways. To begin with, they are also wireless. With a 24-hour battery life, they can get you through a long commuter day or trans-Atlantic flight. They also connect to more than one device at a time, so you can be watching a movie on your tablet and still take a call on your phone – by simply tapping the right ear cup – and the BackBeats know when to pause, when to play. A sensor knows when you’ve taken them off, too, so they go into standby to save you power. And if you run out of power, simply plug them in. You can push a button to turn off the active noise cancelling, if you don’t need it, and if you do, the BackBeats have a dial so you can allow some outside environmental noise in, perfect for when you need to listen to the airplane captain announce that you’ll be circling the airport for another hour before landing.

The Woojer ($99 (U.S.); woojer.com)

Best wearable"subwoofer"

If you don’t mind being connected to cables, and you like to really feel the music, then you need a Woojer. A little larger than a matchbox, this is a silent subwoofer that you wear close to your body, against your chest or at the small of your back, for example. It requires cables to your headphones and your audio source, and operates by turning the lower sound frequencies into vibrations. You haven’t felt bass like this without standing in front of concert speakers. Woojer comes in four colours, and you can also get a sport strap to keep it close to your chest.

Sony MDR-10RBT over-the-ear headphones ($250)

Best headphones for high-res audio

Sony’s already got us all making the move to higher than high-definition video. Isn’t it time that your audio got the high-res treatment? Among its high-res audio products are the Sony MDR-10RBT over-the-ear headphones. These use Bluetooth wireless, so you’ll sacrifice a bit of audio quality in getting rid of cords, but they are light, they are ultra-comfortable and they provide outstanding sound quality. The built-in microphone is also among the best available. You get 17 hours of battery on a charge, and can always plug in with a mic-enabled cord if you need to.

Beats Solo 2 ($220)

Best headphones if you need to be plugged in

When you’re wearing Beats, everyone knows you’re wearing Beats because of the stylized “b” on the ear cups. Thankfully, the Beats Solo 2 on-ear headphones deliver a quality of sound that is much improved over earlier products from the brand. Available in six vivid colours, these also fold up to fit a backpack and include a mic-enabled cable for taking calls without taking your smartphone out of your pocket.

Orcas from Outdoor Tech ($100)

Best headphones for exercising 

There are so many issues to deal with when listening to the opera when working out. The difficulty of keeping earbuds in while you’re jumping around and sweating. The tendency sweat has to dissolve anything it touches. The danger of tripping over or getting tangled up in a cord. You need a pair of Orcas, from Outdoor Tech. They have “fins” which help keep the earpieces in your canals, they use materials that are resistant to sweat, and they are Bluetooth wireless, giving you 150 hours of standby and six hours of talk time before you need to plug them in to an outlet. If you like getting into the snow, Outdoor Tech also has Bluetooth speakers that mount inside ski and snowboard helmets.

SMS Audio Sport Sync by 50 ($170 (U.S.))

Best headphones to get noticed in the gym

The “nano” and rubberized coating on these on-ear headphones make the SMS Audio Sport Sync by 50 (as in the musician 50 Cent) ideal for wearing in the gym, and the flashy fluorescent colours – blue, yellow, and pink – will ensure everyone knows you’re there. The Bluetooth headphones can be easily operated while on the treadmill using the controls on the outside of the right ear cup. The washable ear cushions are oval, not round, and are made of memory foam for maximum comfort. And when you’re done, they nicely fold up to fit in your gym bag.

Synchros Reflect BT earbuds from JBL ($119)

Best headphones for running at night

There’s nothing like going for a jog at night. It always seems like you run faster, even if you’re not being chased by a bear or a zombie. And now, if you wear the Synchros Reflect BT earbuds from JBL, at least you’ll be seen by the motor vehicles when you cross the street thanks to the reflective cable that connects the two ears. The Bluetooth buds are also sweat-proof and have magnets in their base, so when you’re not using them they can be worn around your neck like a chain.

JBL’s Synchros E50BT ($179)

Best headphones to get for sharing tunes

Once upon a time, if you wanted to share the music from your iPod you needed to get a splitter, so that you could plug two headphones into one headphone jack. With the Synchros E50BTs it’s so much easier. These over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones have large, 50 mm drivers, come in five different colours, and feature JBL’s “share me” technology, so anything one person is listening to can be streamed wirelessly to another pair of “share me” equipped JBL headphones.

Philips SHP2600 ($40)

Best budget headphones

You don’t have to spend more to get decent sound out of headphones, and the Philips SHP2600 prove the point. They aren’t wireless. They don’t come with an in-line microphone. They also aren’t endorsed by a flavour-of-the-month celebrity. What they do is provide amazing sound at a low price.

Philips SHK1000 ($20)

Best headphones for kids

When you’re looking for headphones for children, you don’t want to spend a lot of money, because you know they are going to be tossed, stepped on, sat on and broken in short order. And you don’t want the little rockers to ruin their hearing before they reach puberty. That’s what makes the Philips SHK1000 series so great. They’re cheap, without sacrificing sound quality, and they have a maximum volume limit of 85 dB.

HyperX Cloud from Kingston ($100)

Best headphones for playing video games

The HyperX Cloud headphones from Kingston are white, just like a cloud, and these Swedish-designed cups will float on your head for hours. You can use them with your computer, too, if you want, and the microphone can be detached if you want to use them with your tablet or smartphone. And they come with both “leatherette” and “velour” ear cushions, so you can pick the ones that suit your ears best.