Whether you have just finished your sixth form courses and you’re looking forward to entering the wonderful world of life at university or if you are a seasoned student, you are going to want to stay up to date with the best student gadgets. You need cheap, useful and funky pieces of kit to help aid your studying and ease the hectic lifestyle.
That’s where we come in! Garnering a combo of personal experience and scouring the web, we have come up with a list of the most useful AND cool gadgets for students so they not only impress their lecturers, but also their coursemates and flatmates. Being a student is all about a work-play balance after all, right?
You don’t want to be starting the new semester without (at least some) of these technological masterpieces which will help you soar through even the darkest days of assignment writing. So let’s have a look at the best student gadgets of 2020.
Chromebook
Essential for any student to research, write and surf they can sometimes have a heavy price tag attached to them. You guessed it, I’m talking about laptops! Laptops have opened up a whole new world for students. No longer do you need to trek to the library to use a computer or books. You have everything you need at your fingertips, whether it be using the calendar, to-do lists, reading articles or constructing essays, your laptop covers it.
The best option for students is the Acer Chromebook 15. It actually looks just as good as a Macbook, but is half the price. It boasts a 17 hour battery life, perfect for long nights in the library, afternoons in a coffee shop or streaming a film in the house without the hassle of searching for your charger. Chromebooks offer Microsoft packages and due to their nature of being more simple operating on a Google Chrome system, they are easily one of the best student gadgets. Whether it’s for working on the web to grab research or for typing up notes in a lecture these nifty numbers will sort you out – after all, you don’t need a deep learning workstation on you at all times do you?
Rocketbook
For the more traditional amongst us, writing notes is the preferred option in lectures and seminars. Indeed, it has actually been scientifically proven that writing notes leads the learner to absorb more information than those typing. But it can be a slog; hurting that hand and converting the paper trail into an electronic essay. The Rocketbook does just this.
Easily one of the most useful and coolest gadgets I have come across for students, these notebooks transfer your written notes in the Rocketbook to the digital stratosphere via a mere scan of the page using the app. This means you can now optimise your notes within a digital platform and incorporate them into things such as dropbox or google docs. With a cheap enough price tag this piece of kit can easily revolutionise your note-taking at uni!
Lamp/Alarm Clock
Perhaps you have had a big night, but you still need to get up for an important lecture? Or you are fed up with your alarm shaking you awake at the ungodly hours in pure darkness during a long winter? A sunrise lamp is the answer to all your morning woes. Unbelievable gadgets for students, they are both useful, cool and can have a real positive impact on people.
These lamps work by creating light to wake you up progressively and more peacefully with a sunrise effect. This is known to improve mood and mental health whilst also just being much better for the soul than being pierced by a shuddering white noise first thing in the morning.
Lumie body clocks are the best on the market, but could set you back a fair bit, instead there are numerous cheap options across the web which will do much the same job. These lamps are one of the best gadgets for any college student and act as not only alarms in the morning, but lamps at night, saving you buying another one for your room. Win-Win!
Insulated Water Bottles
It’s not glamorous, it’s not groundbreaking technology, it’s not going to revolutionise your student experience, but how could you live without one? Insulated water bottles are a must for any student and a forgotten gem. Acting as one of the best student ‘gadgets’, whether you are wanting a hot or cold drink the bottle will sort you out.
They work particularly well for long library sessions, where you can fill those bad boys up to the brim with homemade coffee (rather than that beanie water you get out the vending machines) or some soothing tea to take you into the early hours with some grueling essay. Keeping the beverage warm for hours after. It saves the planet too, bringing that plastic waste down.
These bottles were trending with the likes of Chilly’s and Corkcicle who set the bar high. The branded bottles come in at a fairly cheap price regardless and look very aesthetically appealing, but there are other cheaper alternatives should you want to save some extra pennies.
For those wanting to use planet friendly products, we recommend using the reusable Moon Bottles that you can take anywhere and everywhere. The premium stainless-steel Moon Bottles are double walled, vacuum insulated and guaranteed to keep fluids cold for the full 24 hours and hot for up to 12 hours. Personalise a Moon Bottle with your name, Instagram handle or message and it’ll be engraved by a high precision laser and come in biodegradable packaging.
A great reusable gift for any occasion. One million plastic bottles are sold very minute. A personalised, reusable bottle with a lifetime guarantee, you’ll only need one.
Portable Speaker
By far the most handy thing I ever had at university was a portable speaker; that may say more about me than anything else… What can I say? If Abba ain’t on, I aint having a good time. Easily one of the best gadgets for students, portable speakers mean you can bring your tunes with you wherever you go. Whether it’s a pre-drinks; BBQ in the park; a long-deep-thought provoking shower; movie night with flatmates or the soundtrack to your studies, portable speakers are your best mate at university.
You can easily break the bank and get a top of the range speaker in this department, but you can also easily find cheaper alternatives that are just as great for a fraction of the price. Your best bet is to have a look at JBL who do a fantastic range from top to bottom, or else filter your BOSE search from price low to high which will find some really good options there too. The more savings in your pocket means the more nights out you can have after all.
Google Chromecast
Perfect in any household, but easily one of the best student gadgets for a shared flat or dorm, the Google Chromecast is going to revolutionise your TV experience. These dainty pieces of kit are cheap and cheerful. Students, notorious for their lack of money, tend not to invest in the latest Virgin or Sky package and are left hooking their laptop up to the TV with a hdmi lead and some sort of buffering stream.
The chromecast allows anyone to ‘cast’ from their phone straight to the TV avoiding any unwanted palaver with connections. Functioning on both Chrome internet browser and also all the big streaming platforms from BBC iplayer to Netflix, the chromecast changes the way you can watch TV without the option of live TV. I would recommend this to any student as it is so useful. You are meant to be studying, but let’s face it, it’s important to binge some Netflix every now and again too.
Conclusion
Studying can be really hard. Juggling deadlines, reading and maintaining a social life is not an easy task. But you can make life a whole lot easier with the introduction of just a few, if not all, of these technological revelations. We found these to be the best student gadgets. They remain cool, new pieces of technology whilst also being useful and staying to a cheap budget for those strapped for cash students!