Best For Fitness
- Cubii JR1 Under Desk Elliptical Machine
Best For Productivity
- TRIO – Portable Dual & Triple Screen Laptop Monitor
Best UPS
- CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD battery backup
If you’ve got an office job, then it’s likely that during the pandemic, you had to spend at least some time working from home. Many people still work from home, be it because their company has fully embraced remote working or offered it as an option. Or is hesitant about bringing people back to the office after a few false starts. With all the time spent working from home, it’s a good idea to invest in your setup.
While your company may offer to pay for some things like chairs, keyboards, mice, etc., there are many things that you could get that they just won’t contribute towards. Considering these things you’re paying for to help you work, they have to be functional and have some distinct benefit.
To help you find some great gadgets for your home office set up at a reasonable price, we’ve drawn up a list of the best budget tech gadgets for the home office in 2022.
Key Features
- Allows for portable dual and triple monitor setups
- Can be rotated to portrait
- Magnetically clips to the back of a laptop
Specifications
- Size: 12.5 or 14.1 inches
- Resolution: 1080p
- Refresh rate: 60Hz
The TRIO – Portable Dual & Triple Screen Laptop Monitor is a mini-monitor designed to be clipped onto the back of a laptop. With the rail attached to the laptop, the monitor can swing out either side or both sides if you get two. It’s compatible with Windows, Mac, Android (with USB-On-The-Go), and even the Nintendo Switch. Extra screens are shown to positively improve productivity. With portable screens, now you don’t have to give up the screens when working away from the home office.
The screens can be rotated to sit vertical, though this works best with the optional kickstand. They can also be spun around to face a client for presentations. The screens have 1080p resolutions, a 60Hz refresh rate, and up to 300nits of brightness. The low brightness level is somewhat exacerbated by the highly reflective screen, making them difficult to use in bright environments. The screens also have relatively large bezels, which wastes potential screen space and looks a little old-fashioned. While it’s not cheap, the extra productivity can be worth it.
- Optional kickstand
- Can be spun to face away for presentations
- Great for productivity
- Glossy screen has lots of reflections
- Not very bright
- Large bezels
Key Features
- Under desk elliptical machine
- Whisper quiet
- Bluetooth connectivity
Specifications
- 250lb maximum rated weight
- 5Kg
- Comes in 2 colours
The Cubii JR1 Under Desk Elliptical Machine is designed to help you burn some extra calories. At the same time, you’re sitting at your desk. It’s been designed to be tough and whisper quiet. To help with that, it is pretty heavy, though this also helps to make it harder for it to slide while you use it. It features an LCD screen to show you some fitness tracking stats. It also has Bluetooth connectivity to connect to a community app.
If you don’t plan to use the Bluetooth functionality, a cheaper version without it is available. As with any under-desk fitness equipment, you will need clearance between your knees and the bottom of the desk, though the height movement is limited. Similarly, the extra force you need to spin it at higher resistances may push it on slippery hard surfaces. Or alternatively, you – if you’re in a wheeled chair that can move quickly.
- Cheaper Bluetooth free model is available
- LCD display
- Solid construction
- Needs some extra leg room under the desk
- Not ideal with wheeled chairs
- Can slide
Key Features
- Hexagonal timer
- Simple to set timers
- Visual and audible alarm
Specifications
- 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 25-, and 30-minute presets.
- Max time 99:59
- Magnetic base
The Ticktime – Physical Countdown Timer has a hexagonal design. It uses an accelerometer to determine which side is up, so it can set the timer to the preset indicated on the top side. The simple orientation-based preset timers make it easy to set a timer without losing focus on any task. The lights flash when the timer is up, and the speaker rings. However, if you don’t want an audible alarm, you can turn the volume off.
The timer can be configured to count up rather than down. The base is magnetic, allowing you to attach it to magnetic surfaces. However, the magnet is pretty weak. The screen showing the remaining time rotates, but only to the 3 and 30 minutes timer sides, making it awkward to view the remaining time at the other angles. There’s also no way to pause a timer, though you can reset it simply by placing the timer on its back.
- Good customer service
- Can mute the alarm
- Can set custom timers
- Weak magnet
- Only partially rotating screen
- Can’t pause timers
Key Features
- Can provide surge protection for ethernet
- Can provide surge protection for coax
- USB/serial control
Specifications
- 1000VA
- 600W
- 5UPS sockets, 4 surge protection sockets
The CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD battery backup is a small desktop UPS or Uninterruptable Power Supply. While it can be used for extended periods with low power draws, it’s designed to provide enough power to continue running a computer in a blackout for enough time to save everything. It can shut it down cleanly, preventing data loss. While this isn’t an issue with laptops as they have an internal battery, this can be really important for desktops.
This model has 5 UPS sockets and an additional four surge-protection-only sockets and can provide 600 Watts. Not o mention it can be placed upright or horizontal and allows you to permanently disable the beeps associated with power outages and flickers. One potentially important issue is that if the power goes out long enough to drain the battery, the unit won’t turn back on automatically when power is restored. Leaving connected devices unpowered.
- Can permanently disable the beeps
- It can be laid flat
- Doesn’t automatically turn back on when power is restored
- Only 5 actual UPS sockets
As shown above, that was our roundup of the best budget tech gadgets for the home office in 2022. Have you recently bought a budget tech gadget for your home office? What sold you on it, and what has your experience been with it so far? Let us know down below.
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