11 Best Tools for Your Home Office Setup
Our home offices used to be places to grab a few minutes of work in the evenings or Saturday morning. But today, we spend more time in our home offices than anywhere else. That’s why you need the most efficient, happy sigh-inducing setup you can put together
Take a walk through this list of the best home office tools on the planet, and set yourself up for success, ergonomics, maximum comfort, and an efficient and productive workday. We’ve personally road-tested most of the home office tools below for thousands of hours each.
Here’s our roundup of the best home office setup tools and accessories available.
1. Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700
Essential for working from home with max focus when you share your space with dogs, kids, and other distractions, it’s hard to beat the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700. They’re super light and comfortable with flawless sound quality, and they use active noise canceling to minimize outside distractions.
Pair the headphones with a little looped white noise, and the kids can play full-contact Jumanji behind you while you write a presentation or create a crucial spreadsheet. Need to keep one ear out for the doorbell? Switch to ambient sound mode to keep tabs on your surroundings. Enjoy a 30-hour battery life to work for days without a charge.
2. Dual monitor setup
Squinting, leaning, over-zooming, and tab-switching are fine when you’re sitting on a park bench, but not in your home office. You deserve a dual monitor setup that’s easy on the eyes, like the Dual HP M24f Full High Definition (FHD) monitor bundle. You’ll enjoy twice the real estate for a low price, and you’ll feel like Tony Stark in full work mode.
Keep the web open on one monitor and your go-to apps on another for an ergonomic boost. Plus, with FHD resolution and IPS technology for richer colors, you’ll like your home office better than your real one. The 178-degree ultra-wide viewing angle lets you move around in your home office setup and still see what’s on your screen as crisp and clear as a wall-hung work of art.
3. HP USB-C dock
It’s astounding how much time you can save with something as simple as a USB dock. The HP USB-C dock makes it easy to go from the couch to the office and back again without a lot of stressful fiddling with cords. Just keep it plugged into peripherals like monitors, external keyboards, and pointers, and you’re in full office mode thanks to one quick plug.
This is the Cadillac of USB docks. It clears up clutter with a USB-C port and cable, 4 USB 3.0 charging ports, 2 DisplayPorts, plus an HDMI 2.0 port, combo audio jack, and an RJ45 port for hardwired Ethernet. There’s even a standard lock slot to secure your valuable gear.
4. Sensyne ring light
When you’re on a Zoom call and you look like someone from a horror movie, your daunting silhouette may be distracting to your teammates. Banish the ghoulish look with a ring light that provides studio-quality lighting at a fraction of the cost. It’s a must for a great home office setup.
The Sensyne ring light augments natural light to help you look your best in video meetings. It comes with a 50-inch tripod stand and a phone holder in case you want to tune in from the back lawn or the beach. This light can deliver 50% more brightness than other models, but a handy remote lets you dim it to your desired level.
5. Kinesis Freestyle 2 split keyboard
You’ll eventually develop wrist and shoulder pain if you do enough typing. It can take some time to learn the cause of shoulder problems, but one of them is poor ergonomics from long sessions on a standard keyboard. Save yourself from healthcare visits with an ergonomic keyboard that separates your hands to a more comfortable width.
The Kinesis Freestyle 2 split keyboard is brilliantly designed. It’s flat to keep your wrists from over-flexing and separated enough to put your arms into a natural position. The key action is pleasingly mechanical. Buy the 20-inch separation model (not the 9-inch) and place your paper notebook, laptop, or phone keyboard in the space between the halves.
6. Omoton Bluetooth keyboard for phone or tablet
Speaking of phone keyboards, no matter how fast your thumbs are, switching to a Bluetooth keyboard for your phone and tablet can up your ergonomics game. The Omoton Bluetooth keyboard connects in a flash and runs on two AAA batteries for a month or more.
When you receive a WhatsApp message within your home office setup, you can fire back a response in seconds with a surprisingly full-featured keyboard. The chiclet keys aren’t quite as comfy as a full keyboard and there’s no number pad, but it beats thumb-wrestling your phone screen. It’s also super inexpensive and portable.
7. HP Instant Ink
Once you’ve tried HP Instant Ink for your home office, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. It will change your life as you watch your printing costs drop to just a few dollars a month while you gain the peace of mind that comes with never running out of ink. This is a powerful addition to any work-from-home setup.
All you do is sign up for a plan and then print as needed while your printer monitors its levels and orders more ink in the background. Your ink cartridges show up on your doorstep several days before you need them.
Then you pop the old ones in a prepaid mailer for worry-free recycling.
8. HP All-in-One printer
To complement your convenient HP Instant Ink plan, consider the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e All-in-One printer. It’s a wireless printer, scanner, fax, and photo printer, offering full functionality for all your office needs.
You and your family can print from connected devices and pick them up without interruption to your home office setup. It prints at a zippy 22 pages per minute with automatic two-sided printing and a hefty 250-sheet paper tray.
9. Ergonomic wireless mouse
The Lekvey wireless rechargeable ergonomic mouse can help you avoid repetitive stress injuries to your hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders by putting your hand at a natural, side-facing angle. It connects easily, with left and right buttons and a wheel for smoother scrolling.
One charge lasts for several weeks, and it’s affordable enough that even if you knock it off the desktop and it breaks, you won’t break your budget when you buy a new one. It’s also ideal for gaming, and it's compatible across a range of Windows and Apple products.
10. Steelcase Gesture ergonomic chair
You sit in your home office for long periods of time, so a folding chair or kitchen chair is a poor long-term selection. You need a durable, ergonomic chair to save your back and other moving parts. If you can afford it, spring for a Steelcase Gesture. It’s fully adjustable for all-day comfort and one of the market’s most highly rated office chairs.
The Steelcase Gesture office chair is pricey, but the warranty will keep you happy for 10 years of dependable operation and beyond. You can even find good used ones at a lower price reduction that still have a few years of warranty attached.
If you’re on a budget and you’d rather buy new, try the Gabrylly ergonomic mesh office chair. But be warned that many reviewers don’t find it as durable or comfortable as the Steelcase for their home office setup.
11. Blue light blocking glasses
There’s no scientific proof that blue light-blocking glasses help protect your eyes, but they may, and they certainly add comfort and peace of mind. This model is a well-made, long-lasting pair that comes in a sturdy clamshell case to keep them safe while you’re on the go. The lenses are durable plastic with a tough blue-block coating that stands up to years of cleaning.
This pair of glasses is comfortable and attractive enough to wear during video calls. Preliminary research even suggests that glasses like this may help your sleep by preventing your monitor from switching up your circadian rhythms. They’re also very affordable and great for gaming as well as office work.
Other best work from home setup tools
Any home office setup also needs accessories like an ergonomic desk (or standing desk), laptop stand, and the best WiFi connection you can get. If you live off the grid or you’re just fed up with rising internet provider prices, Starlink is an excellent, budget-friendly option.
You should also consider a quality surge protector or power strips, Bluetooth speaker, and a water bottle that’s easy to clean and saves on trips to the kitchen.
Summary
The best work-from-home setup is the center of your productivity, so it pays to dress it up and make it as convenient as possible. The home office essentials in this list are all affordable and on the edge of necessary.
From an ergonomic keyboard and mouse to powerstrips and more, these tools will take your home office to the next level.
About the Author: Tom Gerencer is a contributing writer for HP Tech Takes. Tom is an ASJA journalist, career expert at Zety.com, and a regular contributor to Boys' Life and Scouting magazines. His work is featured in Costco Connection, FastCompany, and many more.
