Ignore standing desks and mini desk fans. Instead, read on for seven of the best actually useful office gadgets every worker would love to have.
As a remote-working freelancer, I separate my office tech into two distinct categories. The first is tech that I need to remain online and able to work at all times regardless of internet connectivity or blackouts, which I covered two weeks ago for GadgetAdvisor.
The second is tech that makes sedentary office life more enjoyable. It’s worth remembering that most office workers are spending eight hours per day, five days per week, sitting at their desk.
A little comfort is no bad thing. Having said that, there’s no standing desks or stress balls in this list — rather, these are seven office gadgets that actually make the working day that little bit easier.
7 actually useful office gadgets
1. My favourite office gadget is my FOPO 12-inch triple portable monitor. The monitor boasts two separate screens positioned on either side of a clamp-on frame. While there are many brands offering triple monitors, FOPO is one of the best as it’s made from high-quality aluminium designed to ensure that your monitor will not get scratched.
The monitor allows me to conduct work for three separate clients on one computer, with a physical barrier between each screen. This leaves enough practical space for working and at £300 is a far better solution than WINDOWS — ALT — ARROW.
2. My second unmissable office gadget is the Logitech MX Master 3wireless mouse, available for circa £100. Like many things in life, most people only upgrade their mouse when their factory-shipped one breaks down. Once you upgrade, you will never go back.
This Logitech mouse is 90% faster, 87% more precise, and ultra-quiet for those frequently in thinking mode. You can set up app-specific buttons for ease of use, and the gadget has nearly 15,000 five-star reviews on Amazon.
3. There is a well-known proverb that you should spend serious money on objects which keep you off the ground. Fighting gravity is no easy task, and consumers are best served spending more on decent shoes, tyres, and mattresses which prevent injury, rather than dealing with fixing their damaged bodies in old age.
I have gone through several office chairs and feel this is a personal decision based on trial-and-error, but one unmissable addition is the Everlasting Comfort lumbar support and office chair combo, which will set you back circa £70. Premium gel, ventilation holes, and a U-shaped cutout to prevent tailbone pain all make this gadget a good addition to any office set-up.
4. To go with your new mouse, consider the FutureCharger extended wireless charging mousepad for just another £120. The pad is large enough to rest most keyboards on, and the wireless charger works for both mice and phones which prevents you leaving the office without a decent charge.
Combining this charger with rechargeable batteries means you will only need to change keyboard and mouse batteries after about two years of continual use.
5. While this brand offers all sorts of extremely expensive upgrades, the entry-level ECOFLOW RIVER 2 portable power station has a 600W output, enough to run 5 appliances simultaneously for hours at a time. The electric generator gets to full charge in 3 hours with a 100W solar input, or less than an hour from the mains.
And boasting 10 years of regular use, the 3.5kg generator is portable enough both to act as a back-up in case there’s a blackout, and better yet to take outside on sunny days when you want to work in the garden. It’s priced at only £269, no more than a weekend in Eastern Europe.
6. The Air Omni charging station is yet another must-have for the tech-obsessed office worker. For around £150, the station will wirelessly charge up to six items at once, including USB-C and Lightning port products, meaning both your iPhone and Android are compatible.
The station comes with a smartwatch charging module, a hidden drawer to hide personal items, and even allows you to charge your tablet both horizontally and vertically meaning you can use any app in its optimized landscape while charging. The whole thing comes in a handy travel pouch and can make your workstation a personal hub for everyone who has forgotten their charger.
7. At roughly £35, Ticktime is an absolute creative gem. This little cube functions as a productivity timer, with six preset timing intervals from five to 30 minutes. All you need to do is flip the cube to the correct face to start the countdown, and the cube can either count down or count up.
The cube has a clear display, adjustable alarm volume, comes with a rechargeable lithium battery, and weighs just 52g. As somebody with a full calendar and a habit of procrastinating, it works to keep me in work mode when a deadline is coming — which in my line of work occurs multiple times every day.
