Has the rugged, lightweight titanium of the iPhone 15 Pro caught your eye? We understand. But even the pinnacle of smartphone cool needs help sometimes.

Here are the gadgets that will help you get the best from your tech.

Earphones

The smartphone is the ultimate handheld companion. We don’t just use them to stay in touch anymore – even the most budget smartphone is a photo-taking, multimedia consuming, website surfing superdevice.

But even with all of that, they still can’t do everything. For instance, listening to music: Even the best phone speakers aren’t quite up to the task of delivering truly excellent audio quality. Besides, it’s not always possible (or polite) to listen to music or watch a movie through the speakers, especially if you’re in public. That’s why there’s a whole array of audio solutions for your smartphone, and a lot of them do more than just pump good tunes into your skull.

Apple Airpods

Still thinking about that titanium iPhone? Then you’re going to want some Airpods. Apple’s range of premium earphones and headphones are designed as part of an ecosystem, making them the ideal pairing with your Apple phone.

On the budget-friendly end, the Airpods 2 are wireless earphones that come with a dedicated charging case, and deliver high-quality audio, hands-free talking, and even access to Siri.

On the top end, the ultra-premium Airpods Max come in a larger over-the-ear format. This makes them more comfortable for long listening sessions, but more importantly has allowed Apple to pack them with all sorts of high fidelity audio goodness and tech smarts. You can expect better spatial audio and noise cancelling, touch controls, full voice control and up to 20 hours of battery life (compared to five for the Airpods 2).

Samsung Buds

Prefer stargazing to fruit? If you’re into Samsung’s Galaxy range, then you’ll have your own dedicated audio playground to explore. Like Apple, these products are designed to work seamlessly with their smartphone counterparts.

The bean-shaped Galaxy Buds Live were a bit of an oddball when first released, marking a bit of a departure from previous Samsung wireless audio efforts – but it turned out to be a worthwhile one. Not only do they look neat, the shape means they stay well anchored in your ears, so you can do more without worrying about losing one. And all with excellent, bassy audio, and six hours of playtime.

The Galaxy Buds Pro 2 are a creature of a different stripe. Here you’ll get upgraded active noise cancelling, as well as built-in microphones for all your hands-free needs. These earbuds are also capable of delivering 24 bit audio, meaning you’ll get more detail and better sounds when listening to music or watching videos.

Gaming

Do you like to get lost in virtual worlds? Are you a dedicated Playstation fanboy, or an Xbox acolyte? Or maybe you prefer the versatility and whimsy of the Nintendo Switch. Wherever your park your gaming loyalties, there are oodles of addons for taking your gaming sessions up a few notches.

Playstation

The current king of the gaming landscape, Playstation has dominated the market ever since the Playstation 2 peaked at a still-unbeaten 155 million units sold. The tech giant has more-or-less cornered the market with powerful tech and story-driven exclusives like The Last of Us and God of War.

Sony’s best selling console comes with plenty of peripherals to make your gaming experience just a little better. Which is good, because if you’ve just opened your shiny new PS5, you’ll have noticed there’s only one controller in the box.

So your first stop is to pick up a second Dualsense controller, which you’ll want for its incredible haptics, pinpoint accuracy, and dynamic adaptive triggers – but also for those weekend couch co-op sessions in EAFC (AKA Fifa). While you’re at it, grab the Dualsense charging station, to make sure your gaming sessions are never interrupted by a low battery notification ever again.

Xbox

Microsoft’s latest console generation represents both its biggest play for larger market share, and also its largest departure from the strategy that has defined the console market in previous generations. 

Where previous generations were fought on specs and exclusive games, Xbox has forged a new path by dedicating itself to services. This is best exemplified by the Xbox Series S: a more affordable entrypoint, but also a less powerful one. 

It’s not the console itself that defines Microsoft’s new direction – it’s Xbox Game Pass. This subscription offers an all-access pass to an enormous library of digital games, and even includes new releases from Xbox-owned studios from day one. Want to play the latest from the developers behind Skyrim and Fall Out? It’s on Game Pass, the same day as it hits shelves in stores. 

But there are still crucial extras you’ll want to add to your Xbox. Like with Playstation, you’ll want an extra controller for those co-op sessions. Xbox’s controller has seen a lot of evolution since the big Duke controller of Microsoft’s first console, and the latest effort offers sleek, comfortable gaming with offset sticks.

If the latest generation of Xbox controllers have one flaw, it’s that they’re battery powered. This offers a degree of convenience, of course – just pop in new battery’s when you’re out of power – but a better solution by far is to invest in Microsoft’s own rechargeable battery packs for Xbox controllers.

Better Together

The nice thing about tech pairings is that there’s one for every gadget and person. No matter your needs, there’s probably something out there that will make your tech experience that little bit better.

And when you find that perfect pairing, you’ll have a Rentoza subscription waiting to put it in your hands.