Anyone dismissing the Sony MDR-X10 headphones as simply yet another bombastic, over-the-top, celebrity-designed fashion statement for teenage bass junkies would be wrong. Easily forgiven, but wrong.

While most of those descriptive terms ring true — the big, lurid cans apparently received design input from none other than big, lurid entertainment personality Simon Cowell, and they’re definitely aimed toward the bass-obsessed — the X10s differ significantly from their brethren, and actually stand out prominently against an ocean of boom.

In other words, if you’re looking for bass-heavy headphones, this is your first stop; but even if you’re not, the X10s are so good they might win you over anyway.

The Starck-designed Parrot Zik.

It has the technological sophistication of a sonic screwdriver. Its design elements look as if pulled straight out of another dimension. And there may not be another set of headphones on this planet — or any other — baked with as many ingredients as the Parrot Zik.

But we were curious — would all this tech work? And how would the Ziks sound? So we poked them with a stick, and here’s what we discovered. Allons-y!

This battery pack certainly packs a punch.

The Wi-Stor Wizard could potentially be considered the mother of all battery packs as it acts as a Wi-Fi router, wireless storage platform, sharing medium and power bank.

The Wi-Stor isn’t particularly good-looking, nor is it lightweight, but it does have one very appealing feature — an 8,800mAh battery, capable of charging any tablet or smartphone from 0% to 100% in a matter of hours.

Prior to its unveiling back in March, the Samsung Galaxy S4 was one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2013. It has big boots to fill after following the hugely successful Galaxy S III, and to do that it’s been equipped with a new 5-inch 1080p display, a quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, and an entire plethora of software features you won’t find anywhere else.

But is the Galaxy S4 worth the upgrade if you already have a Galaxy S III, and does this device have what it takes to stay one step ahead of its competitors? I’ve been using it for the past few weeks to find out.

Announced back in early January, the Sony Xperia Z was the first Android flagship of 2013, and one of the first smartphones to go global with a 1080p display. It’s also one of the very few that boasts a dust- and water-resistant form factor, which means accidental spills aren’t an issue here.

Inside that form factor, you’ll find a ton of high-end specifications that include a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, Adreno 320 graphics, 2GB of RAM, and LTE connectivity. Like a lot of high-end Sony smartphones, the Xperia Z also has cutting-edge cameras, with a 13-megapixel Exmor RS snapper on its back, and a 2.2-megapixel camera on its front.

The Xperia Z will be battling it out with the likes of the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4 this year, and Sony will be hoping that the device can finally earn it some sizable market share in a cut-throat smartphone market. But does the handset have what it takes? I’ve been testing it for two weeks to find out.