Whether you’ve just started college or you’re knee-deep in a Master’s program, your life could always be a little easier. These gadgets will help you with your schoolwork, boost your entertainment, and make cooking less of a chore.
Don’t worry; we’re not just listing the best internet-connected pencils, or whatever. Most of these gadgets are technically “non-essential” items that exist solely for your comfort or entertainment. The thing is, it’s important to find a balance between work and relaxation in college. It’s better to have a few essentials for the sake of comfort than to burn yourself out with homework.
But hey, there’s no reason to drag things out. You’re probably procrastinating right now, anyway. Here are 26 gadgets that can help you get through college.
The Essential Gadgets for Students
Every college student needs a few essentials. Of course, we’re not talking about toothbrushes and underwear (if you don’t have underwear, buy some). We’re talking about the essential devices that make it possible to survive the day-to-day of college life.
Here are the essential gadgets for all college students:
- AmazonBasics 8-Outlet Surge Protector: Everybody needs a surge protector. Skip the $20 6-outlet surge protectors and grab this 8-outlet power strip for less.
- VOOE 24800mAh Portable Charger: A long day on campus can drain your phone’s battery. If you want to make the most of it, you’ll need a good portable charger. This VOOE battery has a capacity of 24800mAh, and it should charge your phone about five or six times.
- Extra Charging Cables: There’s nothing worse than losing your only phone cable. Grab a few extras—there are plenty of cheap Lightning, USB-C, and Micro USB cables on Amazon.
- BLACK+DECKER Coffee Maker: Skip Starbucks and save your money. A cheap coffee maker won’t make a fancy latte, but it’ll help you get through those late-night study sessions.
Seems pretty basic, right? There’s a good chance that you already have a coffeemaker, some charging cables, and a surge protector, so it’s time to move onto something more interesting.
A Good Laptop and External Storage
Every college student needs a laptop. How else will you tackle your mountains of homework, or quietly browse the internet during class?
In all honesty, you should try to buy a laptop with your student discount. But if you’re in a rush, these laptops will get the job done just fine:
- Samsung Chromebook 3: Chromebooks are inexpensive, wonderful little laptops. They’re super fast, and they work perfectly with Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, etc.). Just keep in mind that they can’t run professional software, like Photoshop.
- HP EliteBook 840 G2: If you need a cheap Windows computer, just make sure it has some decent specs. The HP EliteBook 840 G2 has a decent CPU, an SSD, and 8GB of RAM, so you can trust it to be reliable and run relatively fast.
- MacBook Air: Are you an Apple fan? The new MacBook Air is a wonderful little machine, and it’s perfect for light entertainment or time-consuming assignments.
- Surface Pro 6: If you want a laptop that doubles as a tablet, get the Surface Pro. It runs Windows 10 and is fully capable of running professional software, like Photoshop or ProTools.
Since you’re using a laptop, it’s worth carrying around an external storage device. Your college may offer a cloud storage solution (like OneDrive or Dropbox) for free, but you can’t always trust cloud storage to quickly transfer important documents (especially if you’re on the go).
