I tried six different ways to listen to music and this is what you need to know

If you are looking for a great Christmas gift, headphones or earphones could be the ideal purchase. But with so many on the market, which ones are the best to choose?

I listen to music every day, over the course of the year, I have tried out six different headphones and earphones. And it is safe to say, there is a lot of variety out there to match you with your perfect way to listen to your favourite songs and podcasts.

If you are looking to treat yourself or perhaps for a gift for someone special here is my advice on price, comfort and sound quality so you can pick the right fit for what you need.

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Baseus Bowie 30 Max Headphones - £65.99

• Best for: Music nerds

• Battery life: Promises 65 hours of playback time

• Sound quality: Excellent. You can customise the sound to your preferences and music genre

• Price: They have been reduced from £109.99 to what I think is a competitive price for the quality

• Bluetooth capability: Yes

• Can you take calls with them on: Yes, and the quality is very good

• Foldable or include a case: They do fold, but only a little from the ear piece, so you will need space in your bag for the whole headband

• Aux cable: Yes, standard 3.5mm

• Fit and adjustability: They do adjust to accommodate, but they are the heaviest on the list

If you have a music nerd in the family, or perhaps you are one yourself, these are the headphones to consider. While I hate having to download yet another app, the Baseus app means you can adjust the sound output to your liking and to the genre.

The basic settings didn't have enough bass for me, but with a tap of the app, I could get lost in the low, deep bass sounds. I love that the on button is one you can flick up and down as with other headphones I worry I may not have actually switched them off, but no ambiguity here.

But I think they are heavy to wear and quite a big shape. The square earpieces are also a little uncomfortable compared to oval ones, but I guess you need the weight for the sound quality, maybe? A music buff will love these and the noise cancelling is one of the best I have tried.

OpenRock X Open-Ear Headphones - £282.29 on Amazon or £169.99 on the OpenRock website

• Best for: Sporty and/or techy people

• Battery life: Promises 48 hours and 12 hours of playback time - I found this to be more than true, immense battery life

• Sound quality: Excellent with "BassDirect" direct technology which I found added a booming richness to the sound

• Price: On the luxury end of the headphone world

• Bluetooth capability: Yes

• Can you take calls with them on: Yes, and the quality of the microphone is good, nice and clear compared with others

• Foldable or include a case: Excellent, sleek, portable case, they are not getting lost or damaged in this

• Aux cable: No

• Fit and adjustability: They have a unique open-ear fit that can be adjusted to sit on the ear at the perfect angle

There are the most expensive headphones I have ever tried and I really enjoyed the innovative design, I really like the novel way of projecting sound. They charge so fast and sit great on the ears. Looks good, like technology jewellery.

However, if you have long hair and glasses, sometimes the wire over the top of the ear can be a little annoying, and I think my ears may be a little small to feel the full benefit of the fit.

That said, I enjoyed wearing them even with really low volume to give kind of a background music or ambiance, as it is a different kind of sound. The magnetic connection and charging box feels good to put them in and slide shut. The sounds quality is rich and immersive once you position them correctly and at lower volumes the design allows you to tune in to a conversation if you need to.

Rebocico Bluetooth Over Ear Headphones - £14.29

• Best for: Older kids, teens or if you just want a cheap option

• Battery life: Promises 65 hours of playback time, and I think it gets really close, you don't have to charge these for days

• Sound quality: OK at quieter volumes but can become distorted if you want them louder

• Price: Excellent price for the quality and they are often reduced in sales from their usual £22

• Bluetooth capability: Yes

• Can you take calls with them on: You can, but I didn't tend to as the sound quality wasn't that great

• Foldable or include a case: You can easily fold them for storing in a bag

• Aux cable: Yes, standard 3.5mm

• Fit and adjustability: They are super light so I found them really comfortable and you can adjust them to make the headband bigger if needed

I bought the Rebocico Bluetooth Headphones Over Ear headphones after reading about them from my colleague. Now obviously, you compromise a little on sound quality when you go down in price, but as long as you don’t try and listen to music at a high volume (which is bad for your ears anyway) the sound is good for the price.

Skullcandy Dime Evo earbuds - £31.99

• Best for: Emos, metal heads and under 35s

• Battery life: Promise 36 hours off from a full charge

• Sound quality: Nice clean sound, with a good bass

• Price: They are currently on sale, down from £39.99 earlier this year to £31.99

• Bluetooth capability: Yes

• Can you take calls with them on: Yes

• Foldable or include a case: Very cute, light case with a carabiner on to add to keys or bag

• Aux cable: No

• Fit and adjustability: They come with a couple of additional rubber ear pieces to help you get a good fit

If you are looking for something a little more discreet, Skullcandy might have the answer for you. The sound was clean and crisp with a good bass and because they fit so well in the ear, they have a noise-reducing quality to them allowing you to relax into the sound without interruption, this is the ‘noise isolating fit’ Skullcandy promises.

The controls are great, but do take some getting used to, tapping the Dime Evo earbuds for different lengths of time for different commands, but to quickly pause was super easy and you can still take calls.

Mixx Streamq C4 Noise Cancelling Headphones - £49.99

• Best for: Parents with noisy kids and commuters

• Battery life: They promise 40 hours of playback time

• Sound quality: Option to put noise cancelling on, good round sound for the price

• Price: Decent mid-level price, you can get the C3s for £24.99

• Bluetooth capability: Yes

• Can you take calls with them on: Yes, sound is fine, but sometimes they struggled to hear me, could have been the background noise however

• Foldable or include a case: They do fold down to fit in your bag

• Aux cable: Yes

• Fit and adjustability: You can adjust the band and tilt the ear pieces to fit

These headphones were so good that I used them without listening to anything. I live in a house of boys, or ‘disturbers of the peace’ as I sometimes call them, so it can get pretty overwhelming for me.

The Mixx headphones have an active noise cancelling feature that you can enable to block out outside sounds. But you can still turn this on when nothing is playing, which effectively dampens the noise being created by a gang of boys roughhousing two feet away.

They were also great for when my four-year-old gets overwhelmed in supermarkets and parties. But they are also obviously amazing for music and podcasts too.

They have a really good rounded sound quality to them that remains clear even at an elevated volume. These are compact and light, great for commuting on public transport to work or college/university.

Sennheiser MX 365 In-Ear Headphones - £13.14

• Best for: A solid backup pair, or for people who don't want to use Bluetooth

• Battery life: N/A

• Sound quality: Good, but no noise cancelling

• Price: One of the cheapest out there

• Bluetooth capability: No

• Can you take calls with them on: No

• Foldable or include a case: No case

• Aux wire: They are only available with wire

• Fit and adjustability: They are a flat ear muffler design

The Sennheiser MX 365 In-Ear Headphones are my old faithful. I have bought many pairs over the years and always have a set in my bag for when I forget my headphones or they run out of battery. The sound quality is good for in-ear headphones, it has a good bass to it and while they are not noise cancelling, you can get lost in the music very easily.

The comfort design is good, which is why I have loved them for so long. Some may find the ear piece does fall out and they are probably not suitable for anyone doing vigorous exercise, but for the commute to work and around the house, they are fine.