1. iPhone 5s
The 5s is without doubt the finest smartphone Apple has ever made. Game changers like the new ‘Touch ID’ fingerprint recognition ring and M7 motion co-processor sit alongside the nuts and bolts of the A7 chip, which provides more than enough power to make this a seamless experience.
Price: £549 (16GB), £629 (32GB), £709 (64GB) | Apple
2. HTC One
A hard, shining diamond in the midst of a bewildering array of dull, plastic clones, the HTC One is up there with the iPhone 4 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 as one of the most stylish smartphones ever. Beautifully shorn from a solid hunk of aluminium, it admittedly takes cues from Apple’s design ethos but actually improves on it with a look that’s minimal, industrial and chic.
Price: £479 | HTC
3. Canon EOS 700D
It lacks the bells and whistles of a true, professional-grade DSLR, but for anyone looking for their first digital SLR the 700D is a great choice. The 18 megapixel APS-C sensor delivers stunningly good performance that justifies the price tag, and the built quality is excellent, giving the camera a satisfying heft to it.
Price: £750 | Canon
4. Samsung NX300
Samsung’s Wi-Fi equipped NX300 hits all the right spots - beautiful retro styling, a host of connectivity options and DSLR-like performance, thanks to a large 20.3 megapixel APS-C sensor. If you already own other Samsung mobile devices, the NX300 will play nicely with all of them.
Price: £600 | Samsung
5. Apple MacBook Air 2013
An incremental upgrade really, but the latest MacBook Air remains a pinnacle of laptop design. It’s not just a pretty face though - Intel’s Haswell processor comes as standard and you can have it specced out to run a 1.7GHz i7 processor along with 4GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.
Price: From £849 | Apple
6. Cambridge Audio Minx Air 100
With wireless speakers being all the rage in 2013, you had to be pretty special to be worthy of consideration. The Minx Air is just that, bursting at the seams with Airplay, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and dedicated Android and iOS apps too. And as you’d expect from Cambridge Audio, it sounds fantastic.
Price: £329 | Cambridge Audio
7. Denon Ceol Piccolo
Denon’s network music system is a fully realised, next-gen super-system now with AirPlay as standard. The main unit integrates an amp, CD, web radio/streamer, iPod dock and FM tuner. Your iOS device pops into a concealed roof-top dock, but with Wi-Fi, DLNA, AirPlay and Flac support all built in, the Ceol also does a great job as a music streamer. Audio quality is light and creamy, propelled by a punchy, 65W amp. It’s pretty much perfect for its price.
Price: £260 | Denon
8. Sennheiser Momentum
Sennheiser’s latest entry into the portable headphone market is a winner. They don’t fold, but the robust construction and super-soft waterproof earcups more than makes up for that. If you’re after something comfy, with a warm, bassy sound, you won’t go wrong with these.
Price: £170 | Sennheiser
9. Focal Nomad Spirit One Headphones
Now, if you aren't aware of Focal's eccentrically brilliant Grande Utopia floor standers then a) check them out and b) bear in mind how serious this lot are about audio when reading about its new headphones. The Spirit One cans sport an around-ear, closed-back design with a boasted sound insulation of 20db. In layman’s terms, they clamp around your lughole like a limpet, blocking out all background noise leaving just your heartbeat thumping away. Sound quality is exceptional, as it should be for a pair of cans costing around £200.
Price: £190 | Focal
10. Bodum Bistro hand mixer
Help mum whip up meringues and mousses in style with this five-speed mixer. The plastic chassis is durable, wipe-clean and available in numerous sexy colours.
Price: £44 | Bodum
11. Samsung UE46F8000ST
At just 35mm thick with a tiny 5mm bezel, the UE46F8000 is easily the skinniest 46-inch TV around. The image quality is the best we’ve seen from an LED TV, and it’s packed full of features from gesture control to face recognition, all powered by a spritely quad-core processor.
Price: £1800 | Samsung
12. Sky+ HD 2TB
This Amstrad-built box features a 2TB hard disk drive with room for 350 hours of HD Sky+ recordings. The storage is fantastic, but it’s the access to Sky’s huge range of channels, on-demand services and HD content that make the HD 2TB box the TV recording king of 2013.
Price: £149 | Sky
13. Kindle Paperwhite 2013
The Paperwhite display on this Kindle is great for reading in all conditions, whether it be day or night, thanks to front-lighting tech. It keeps the same design style as other Kindle models, though goes touchscreen only; bad luck if you’re a fan of page-turn buttons. It also ditches the speakers that powered the text-to-speech function, so that’s gone too. The high-res display is sharp and text looks great in all situations, plus as it’s a Kindle there’s access to all the Prime benefits, along with their vast store.
14. Panasonic TX-P60ZT65
Unquestionably the best Full HD TV you can buy right now, with extreme fine detail, punchy dynamics and vibrant hues. It also offers fantastic internet options. The My Home Screen interface is versatile and easy to live with; the set even does a good job as a media streamer. This is a 1080p panel with no peers.
Price: £3650 | Panasonic
15. Sony KD-65X9005A
T3’s 2013 TV of the Year winner is a marvel of engineering, from the stunning design to that unbelievable 65-inch 4K resolution panel. It still looks fantastic when you’re not watching 4K content, and with a wealth of internet-connected features and on demand options, the X9 is ushering in the future.
Price: £6000 | Sony
16. Sony KDL-40W905A
If you're looking for the best possible picture from your next telly, the KDL-40W905A is a smart choice. It’s certainly leading the way in terms of motion handling, and in the depth and authenticity of its colours. And Sony’s streamlined Smart TV portal has boatloads of on-demand content too.
Price: £1400 | Sony
17. Emperor 1510 Gaming Environment
Luxe gaming chair resembles something from an implausible Hollywood film about hackers and includes a Bose 2.1 sound system, adjustable seat and huge array of connections. Just add your own PC or console and monitors.
Price: £7,500 | Firebox
18. Gnarboard Trail Rider
This “gnarly” – their word, not ours – electric skateboard packs four-wheel drive, all-terrain tyres and a terrifying 28mph top speed. One for older kids or, more realistically, you.
Price: $4,000 | Gnarboards
19. Lakeland electric yoghurt maker
As the inexplicable rise of Pinkberry attests, frozen yoghurt is big business, but, as The Daily Mail’s front page screamed recently, is it A CON? Your mum can confirm one way or another with this, one litre at a time.
Price: £20 | Lakeland
20. Lomo Diana Baby 110
Pint-sized version of Lomo’s celebrated retrocam, which celebrated its fifth birthday this year. It takes good ol’ 110 film and fits a tweenie’s grip.
Price: £39 | Lomography
21. Uniform Wares 100 Series
Features a precision quartz movement, chunky 37mm case made of anodised aluminium and mineral crystal and is water- and gravyresistant. The battery lasts for four Christmases.
Price: £120 | Uniform Wares
22. JL built-in wine cooler
Mum’s stuck with a small kitchen? Her Chardonnay can still be chilled, courtesy of this single-temperature, no-frost, quiet (36dB), seven-bottle cabinet.
Price: £180 | John Lewis
23. Timex Weekender
Avoid flashy watches unless you want to appear as if you have something to apologise for. This simple, understated piece with stainless steel face and cotton strap is a better option.
Price: £50 | Timex
24. Cobra Amp Cell driver
MyFly tech allows your putting pa to select six different trajectory settings from one club. Your colour choice, sir: “directoire blue”, “Barbados red”, “vibrant orange” or, er, silver.
Price: £249 | Cobra Golf
25. Bobble Bottle
Keeping your sister healthy is important. This bottle, which fi lters tap water as she drinks for better taste and fewer additives, fits the bill.
Price: £10 | Water Bobble
26. Speedo Aquabeat 2 4GB
Take your tunes into the depths of the local lido with this underwater music player, which fastens to your goggles or swimwear, or just fl oats.
Price: £100 | Speedo
27. Eva Solo standing bird feeder
Put it in the ground or flip it 180º and hang from something, then fill it with bird seed and wait. Alternatively, pretend it’s a big cutlass and stab nosy neighbours with it whilst bellowing, “Avast!”
Price: £89 | Made in Design
28. U-Boat U-51 Chimera Bronze
This chunky statement piece has a solid bronze case and dial. The strap is also made from bronze. No, that’s a lie: it’s leather.
Price: £5,900 | U-Boat Watch
29. Bodum Bean tea press
This spill proof “tea cafetiére” – or “thétiére”, logically – comes in four colours. We favour this Christmassy black option.
Price: £40 | Bodum
30. Krups XL-2000 Milk Frother
If you like your coffee frothy but can’t be bothered messing around with a jug and a steamer spout, then this Krups Milk Frother is a must have. Whack in a cup’s worth of cow juice, hit one of three settings: cappuccino, latte or straight hot milk and moments later you’ve got yourself the perfect cuppa. It’s easy to clean too but the real killer blow is the hidden bonus feature. Chuck in chunks of milk chocolate, hit any of the three settings and before you can say “do want Baileys in that?” you’ve got the perfect frothy hot chocolate.
Price: £99 | Krups
31. Menu wine breather
Achingly cool carafe from Denmark aerates and then dispenses wine, in achingly cool manner.
Price: £50 | Menu
32. ST Dupont cigar cutter
Treat a fine Cubana with the respect it deserves, by chopping off its end with this chrome and lacquer finished, guillotine, which smuggles into any smoking jacket pocket.
Price: £95 | St-Dupont
33. Robert Welch Signature carving knife
The knife he’s used on the turkey every year since 1981 is so blunt you might as well use your arm. Swap it for this stainless steel carver.
Price: £40 | Robert Welch
34. Koubachi outdoor
IPX4-protected and with greater Wi-Fi reach than its houseplant sibling, this notifies you via iOS or Android app should your potatoes or tulips be under-watered.
Price: £99 | Koubachi
35. Black & Decker Gyro Driver
The electric screwdriver is the underrated Prince of Tools, screwing where cordless drills fear – or are too big – to tread. This one’s patented gyroscopic tech lets you change speed with the twist of your wrist.
Price: £40 | Black & Decker
36. Fender Vintage
’58 Telecaster Fender’s other icon, with a staggered bridge pickup for that authentic 50s sound. The maple neck, “D” shaped profile and gorgeous sunburst finish make this the classic axe – strats are just so common.
Price: £1,699 | Fender
Merry Christmas! And a happy new year!
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