HIPSTER'S DELIGHT: URBANEARS ZINKEN

    The Play-Doh-like finish on the Zinken looks great and swivelling earcups mean they fold away for easy storage, or assist you in rinsing it DJ-style. A 6.3mm input lets you hook up to a mixer, but there's also a phone-friendly, 3.5mm plug.

    The partially coiled wire means that there's plenty of room to stretch and while Urbanears makes no claims about noise-cancelling, the well-fitted earcups do block out a fair bit of background noise, while also making for decent bass performance. Your ears will get a little warm after an hour or so, but to quote Tom Jones, that's not unusual.

Striking design and punchy, bass-loaded audio

£120, URBANEARS.COM

BUDGET BRILLIANCE: SENNHEISER CX495

    The cheapest 'phones on test, Sennheiser's in-ears don't have any fancy gimmicks — no earclips, no noise cancelling, no inline remote — and the design is pretty pedestrian, but they really deliver on sound quality, which is, you know, reasonably important for earphones.
    The sonics are noticeably superior to similarly-priced rivals, while comfort is good and they stay in your ears as long so you don't exert yourself overly. So cheap you won't care if you lose them, great-sounding and ideally suited to lying down and chilling the hell out, these are ideal holiday cans.

Budget 'phones offer few frills but plenty of thrills 

£35, SENNHEISER.CO.UK

POOLSIDE PAL: PANASONIC RP-HSC200

These sporty in-ears have flexible lug hooks that help keep them in place — obviously that's more useful when you're jogging back in Blighty than when you're lying by a far-away pool, sipping pina coladas. Adding to the pool-friendliness the HSC200s are also water resistant — don't submerge them, but a bit of playful splashing is fine.

Comfortable, rugged and water-resistant — a bargain

Perhaps not surprisingly the audio is the worst on test. However it's not bad as such, and these get bonus points for comfort, durability and the fact they're available in a range of garish colours to match your beach towel.

£41, PANASONIC.CO.UK

FIRST-CLASS PHONES: Bowers and Wilkins P3

    The silver detailing, the oblong earcups with neatly rounded edges and the pleasingly smooth adjustable headband; everything about these exudes class. Sound quality doesn't disappoint — we reckon it's crisper than B&W's pricier P5 cans. The use of lightweight fabric rather than leather on the foldable earcups means they're also more breathable so you don't end up with sweaty ears, though they do grip in a slightly vice-like manner.
    At 170 notes these are less ideal for hostels and backpacking, but there's no doubt the P3s offer proper, five-star entertainment.

Lightweight and stylish, super sounding. We love 'em.

£170, BOWERS-WILKINS.CO.UK

AEROPLANE ESSENTIAL: SONY MDR-NC13

    These active noise-cancelling in-ears give you 100 hours of playback from a single AAA battery — more than enough for a series of long-haul flights — and will work without the noise-cancelling tech when that runs out.
    There's no denying the clean audio quality and the NC13s really do block out background noise, although whether that's due more to their in-ear design or the electronics is open to question. The chunky in-line controller needs to be clipped to your clothes or it will weigh down the cable and rip the buds from your ears. That aside, decent value.

A solid, budget noise cancelling option

£50, SONY.CO.UK

DenonAH-NCW500: PUMP UP THE VOLVO-UME

Alltoo often when a gadgufacturer tries to make products 'retro' they end up looking like Sputnik satellites with a sideline in panini-making. But Denon has crafted a pair of high-end, noise-cancelling headphones that hark back to the true golden age of transport — Dad's car, c.1987. With a look that's part boombox, part Volvo 340, these 40mm-driver, Bluetooth 3.0 babies are built for comfort, have a 'control wheel' on the side for playback, volume and talk control, and boast sound-deadening tech to silence annoying aircraft noise — or annoying kids begging for a toilet break. Now for some Phil Collins...

As hot as...driving a Ford Capri with Jenny Agutter

£400 | denon.co.uk