BuddyCompany takes a look at the best home office gadgets in 2021, from practical products that drive productivity to ingenious devices that spark inspiration.
Now that we’re on the brink of a remote working revolution, it’s important to kit out your home office with the right equipment.
So, ditch the wonky desk, bargain-basement earbuds, and average speed WiFi, and take your home workspace to the next level with BuddyCompany’s list of favorite home office gadgets available in 2021 – from simple gear that drives productivity to ingenious devices that spark inspiration.
The Poly Studio P15 uses next-level noise reduction technology to enable users to block out unwanted background noise, making sure the mic only picks up their voice. So, your colleagues won’t pick up your dog barking or your kids screaming in the background – just your very own dulcet tones.
You create your own acoustic fence, specifying the area in which you want the microphone to pick up sound. Anything outside the fence is automatically muted. In addition, the Poly Studio’s patented NoiseBlock AI technology recognizes sounds that aren’t necessary, a rustling crisp packet or scratching of clothing for instance, and cancels them out. Aside from the incredible sound, the 4K camera comes with a privacy shutter and the speaker quality is crystal clear.
It’s the kind of gadget that makes you excited about the potential of remote working technology. And it’s simple to set up – with just a straightforward single USB connector.
Nothing highlights the transition to a new way of working quite like a high-quality standing desk. Their benefits have been well-known for some time now and, for remote workers creating their own workspace at home, a standing desk is definitely a worthy investment.
Perhaps the all-around best on the market at the moment is the Flytta Standing desk. Dual motors adjust the desk height with a quick, smooth motion, accessed via a small control panel on the front, while collision-detection technology prevents accidents when the desk is being lowered. The Flytta can recall up to four preset heights, for optimal comfort and ergonomics.
Lift capacity supports up to 120kg of weight, ideal for even the heaviest of computers. All-in-all, its beauty lies in its simple functionality. This is Swedish minimalism at its best.
With remote working – or at least hybrid working – set to become the future standard, network security is more important than ever. Google’s Titan Security Key bundle comprises two devices that add an extra level of security to your online accounts, protecting both you, the user and your company.
The two devices are a slim USB key and a Bluetooth-powered fob, each containing a cryptographic code that helps to protect you from password theft and phishing scams. This means that even if somebody manages to crack your passwords, they won’t be able to access your online accounts or emails without having the key.
While it may not be the most exciting gadget out there, it’s an essential tool for ensuring personal and corporate cybersecurity in a home office or remote work environment.
A simple Pomodoro timer that looks a little like a 12-sided dice, the TimeFlip 2 is perfect for the home office worker who needs to bring an extra level of focus and flow to their working day.
The idea is that it breaks your work time up into concise sessions when you can create a fast burst of hyper-focused work, broken up by intermittent periods of rest and recuperation. It’s a method that’s been shown to lead to fewer distractions and a superior level of productivity.
Simple, affordable, and perfectly suited to remote workers, the TimeFlip 2 also features an integrated app that helps you analyze and optimize your performance using captured data.
This one is for those who like to bring some old-school authenticity to their gadgets. The Rocketbook enables traditional handwriting via a reusable whiteboard-like surface for those moments when inspiration strikes.
You can then upload those notes, sketches, and ingenious ideas into the digital realm with ease: just take a picture of the page via the Rocketbook app, and it will be uploaded automatically and in no-time to your predefined destination, be it Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote or else.
It’s one of the few gadgets out there that effectively makes that bridge between the charm of a time-honored skill like writing by hand – which has been proven to improve thinking and learning – with technological innovation. So, you can scribble and scrawl until you strike gold, all without turning your desk into a mountain range of paper.
For those making the permanent switch to home office work, upgrading connectivity seems like a no-brainer. Faster speeds and a more secure signal are more important than ever – signal loss during that important virtual meeting or at the exact moment when inspiration strikes just aren’t an option when you’re working from home.
In the same way, ‘dead zones’ or areas of low connectivity are not conducive to remote working. That’s why a mesh WiFi system is such an important piece of technology to keep the workday flowing. With a series of nodes strategically placed around the home, mesh WiFi can intelligently route your connection, depending on where you are in the home, to get optimal signal speed and coverage.
Google Nest WiFi is one of the best nest WiFi systems on the market, with super-fast top speeds and a signal cover of up to 408m², all for an affordable price. It’s also incredibly easy to set up – you can have it up and running in 10 minutes, or have a Buddy help out – while each node acts like a smart speaker, with Google Assistant integration as standard.
One of the major drawbacks of working from home is the potential for distraction. For those who need to shut out the noise and zone in on the task at hand, noise-canceling earbuds are the way to go.
And they don’t get much better than Sony’s latest offering. There are only a handful of truly wireless earbuds on the market that offer active noise-cancelation, and these little buds bring next-level technology and great comfort.
Tiny onboard microphones pick up ambient noise and then create an inverse sound to ‘cancel out’ exterior sound, leaving you free to focus on the sound coming from your earbuds. It’s a relatively new technology that’s improving all the time, and Sony’s True Wireless Earbuds are a major leap forward.
They offer great functionality too – just place your finger over an earbud to turn the volume down and let in ambient sound in an instant. You can also make calls using either or both buds, and each bud has a sensor that will automatically pause music when you remove them.
Let there be light! And let it be smart.
Getting the lighting of your home workspace right is crucial. Not only is it important for your eye-health and concentration to have the right amount of light, but it can also affect how you approach your work. Creating a distinct feel in contrast to the other rooms in your home can help put you into a productive headspace, helping you to hit the ground running at the start of the day.
When it comes to smart lighting, Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance is the brightest bulb in the room. With 16 million different colors to choose from, you can change the look and atmosphere of your workspace in an instant. Save your favorite settings and pre-program them to change at certain points of the day – start with cool white in the morning and re-energize in the afternoon with bright-white daylight, for example. You can even connect the Hue smart light to your Google calendar, turning the light a certain color to let others know when you’re busy.
Of course, it’s all controlled via home assistant integrated voice commands, so you can tweak your lighting à la Jean Luc Picard, all without having to lift a finger or break your flow.
Okay, so these incredible AR smart glasses, unveiled at CES 2021, might be out of reach for all except the most hardcore tech-nerd. And they’re not set to drop until mid-2021 at the earliest. Still, the Lenovo Thinkreality A3 is the perfect showcase of the next generation of remote working technology that’s set to completely reinvent the way we work.
Much more than a pair of standard smart glasses, the Lenovo Thinkreality A3 enables the user to see and interact with up to five virtual screens at any given time, in addition to the physical screen in front of them. Users can view multiple documents, visualize 3D digital models and collaborate with team members all at once, and all in crystal-clear resolution.
While Lenovo has an eye on these glasses transforming the retail and factory spaces, it’s the potential of the Thinkreality A3 to break new ground and add a completely new dimension to the home office that makes them so exciting!
Recently made the switch to remote working and need help setting up your home office workspace? Contact BuddyCompany today and get set for the home working revolution!
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