The 10 Best earphones

With sound quality to compete with heavy-duty headphones, here’s our pick of the finest in-ear buds on the market...

1. Shure Se315

£194, shure.co.uk

Shure's reputation comes from its heritage in microphones. It makes great headphones too. These feature optimised bass to improve the low definition sounds of MP3s.

2. Skullcandy Fix

£59.99, skullcandy.co.uk

At the (slightly) cheaper end of a pricey gadget sector, Skullcandy earphones fit well with the extreme-sports audience. They offer heavy bass and a hard trebly noise.

3. Philips Earhook

£40.85, philips.co.uk

Having to grab hold of a bouncing earbud on a morning run is annoying. Philips' Earhooks are customisable to the shape of your ear and feature comfy silicone caps.

4. Atomic Floyd Superdarts

£199, atomicfloyd.com

SuperDarts have had rave reviews, and with good reason. They feature a beautiful stainless-steel remote and noise-isolation. Their USP is two dual speakers in each earphone.

5. Beats Tour

£139.99, store.universal-music.co.uk

Beats are big in the headphone market but they can compete in-ear too. The Beats Tour feature the bass-heavy sound, so good for hip-hop.

6. Apple EarPods

£25, store.apple.com/uk

The EarPods are due to replace Apple's previous terrible earphones. With a distinctive curved look, they improve on bass sound and offer a decent overall performance.

7. Bose SIE2i

£129.95, bose.co.uk

Bose is doing well to fend off challenges from Beats et al. Made for exercising, the SIE2i's offer voice control for iPhones along with a sound quality that is deep and rich.

8. SoundMagic E10

£35, advancedmp3players.co.uk

Perhaps a new name to UK earphone aficionados, but this Chinese brand's offering has gone down well, with What Hifi calling them your best bet for under £40.

9. Bowers and Wilkins C5

£150, bowers-wilkins.co.uk

B&W offers another premium in-ear experience with its C5s. They have a distinctive groove and tight silver loop keep them in your ears.

10. Klipsch S4i rugged

£89.99, klipsch.co.uk

The S4is may look like tiny hair-dryers but they're plenty tough enough. Perhaps their key feature is the on-wire remote control.