23 work-from-home tech products that will level up your office

Making the switch from the office to working from home has become the new normal, but some users might feel like their setup is not as well-appointed or productive as at the office. It’s time to change that. With the proper equipment and gear, you can turn your boring-old home setup into a workstation powerhouse — ensuring you’ll never need to return to the office.

At PCWorld, we’ve had to adjust to remote work just like the rest of the world. Our staff has spent countless hours testing and reviewing hardware, which means we’ve been lucky enough to find the best gear and accessories available. Below you’ll find our favorite work-from-home essentials.

Look sharp during Zoom meetings: Logitech C920e Business Webcam








Logitech

Logitech


Logitech

Working from home means you’ll have video meetings. Lots of them. And those low-quality webcams that ship with most laptops won’t show your brightest side. So opt for a new webcam with high-quality resolution such as the Logitech C920e Business Webcam. It captures 1080p HD resolutions, a 78-degree field of view, and comes with great perks such as autofocus and light correction.

Get the Logitech C920e Business Webcam for $61.99 at Amazon

Bring stability and comfort with a laptop stand: Lamicall Adjustable Laptop Stand








Lamicall

Lamicall


Lamicall

A good laptop stand will do wonders for your comfort and health. Not only can a stand keep you in a good ergonomic position, but it will keep your laptop safe and secure on your desk. Plus, a stand makes using a mouse and keyboard with your laptop a lot easier.

You don’t need to drop a ton of money on anything expensive, either. A solid lightweight aluminum stand such as the well-liked Lamicall Adjustable Laptop stand will do just fine. It’ll support almost any laptop, from 10 inches up to 17.3 inches. It allows you to adjust both tilt and height and comes with ventilation holes to help dissipate heat from your laptop.

Get the Lamicall Adjustable Laptop Stand for $35.99 at Amazon

Block out background noise to help you focus: Wyze Noise-Cancelling Headphones








Wyze Labs

Wyze Labs


Wyze Labs

While products from the likes of Bose and Sony are great, they are also incredibly expensive. Enter Wyze Labs. The company has created a good pair of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones for a surprisingly affordable price. While the audio quality might not be able to compete with the more expensive brands, the noise-cancelling is still top-notch. If you’re looking to block out background noise at your home office or while working in a busy café, these headphones will do the trick just fine.

Get the Wyze Noise-Cancelling Headphones for $72.98 at Amazon

Get every answer with a smart display: Google Nest Hub








Google

Google


Google

Marrying Google’s ever-helpful voice assistant to a 7-inch touchscreen, the Nest Hub smart display is much more than a device to control your music playlist or play ambient white noise (though both use cases can make working from home more pleasant). You can also use the Nest Hub to run fact-checks (“When did Musk become the CEO of Twitter?”); get direct spellings of words that elude spellcheck; verify the dates of important trade shows and other events; set workday alarms and reminders; and pretty much search everything on Google hands-free, receiving both audio and video results on a separate, independent display. Once you start exploring the work-from-home benefits of a smart display, you’ll never stop.

Get the Google Nest Hub Smart Display for $99.99 at BestBuy

Protect your devices with a surge protector: TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip








TP-Link

TP-Link


TP-Link

Many people take for granted the vulnerability of their electronic devices to power spikes. Unfortunately, after your equipment gets fried is the worst time to realize your mistake. By purchasing a surge protector, you’re only paying a little amount of money to help ensure the safety of your much more expensive electronics. The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip goes above and beyond a normal everyday surge protector by offering six outlets that can all be controlled and scheduled individually with a mobile app or voice commands, and three USB charging ports. The scheduling system is robust and allows for ultimate flexibility in choosing when to power your devices on and off automatically for any kind of routine or travel need.

Get the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip at Amazon for $44.99

Create a full-on workstation: Kensington SD5500T Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station








Mark Hachman / IDG

Mark Hachman / IDG


Mark Hachman / IDG

Your ultraportable laptop may be perfect for commuting to and from the office, but when you’re working from home you want a dedicated workstation with the ability to connect all of your peripherals. A Thunderbolt dock will help you expand your laptop’s capabilities and allow you to connect to a larger monitor and a full-sized keyboard. You’ll increase your productivity and your body will thank you for the ergonomic upgrade. We’ve tested a ton of Thunderbolt docks and the Kensington SD5500T is our favorite. It gives you the reliable Thunderbolt 3 standard, a pair of DisplayPort ports, and 60W of laptop charging power all for a relatively affordable price.

Get the Kensington SD5500T Docking Station for $289.99 at Walmart

Or opt for a less expensive USB-C hub: Hiearcool USB-C Hub








YEOLIBO

YEOLIBO


YEOLIBO

If you don’t want to drop the cash on a Thunderbolt dock, you should at least consider getting a USB-C hub. Modern laptops tend to lack all of the ports you need to connect peripherals and that’s where a USB-C hub comes in. They are cheap and they allow you to significantly expand your port options. We recommend the Hiearcool USB-C Hub as it gives you a variety of USB-A as well as USB-C ports and microSD and SD card slots, all for around $25.

Get the Yeolib 9-in-1 USB-C Hub for $24.99 at Amazon

Clean up your act: Simplehuman Cleanstation phone sanitizer








Jon Phillips

Jon Phillips


Jon Phillips

Your phone is dirty. That’s because your hands are dirty, your keyboard is dirty, and the poop bag you handled on your 10am dog walk is dirty. All our WFH germs get on our phone case, so that’s why our editor keeps the Simplehuman Cleanstation on his home office desk. Just drop your phone into this gadget and 30 high-intensity UV-C LED lights will kill 99.9 percent of the phone’s surface germs in less than 30 seconds.

Get the Simplehuman Cleanstation Phone Sanitizer for $199.99 at Walmart

Don’t skimp on your screen: Asus ProArt PA348CGV








Matt Smith

Matt Smith


Matt Smith

Working from home is all about productivity, and one of the best pieces of hardware to boost productivity is a great monitor. The Asus ProArt PA348CGV is an ultrawide monitor with plenty of horizontal screen space so you can view all of your apps and documents spread out at the same time. It sports excellent image quality, a wide color gamut, and good connectivity options.

There are a ton of great monitors out there, but the Asus ProArt PA348CGV has an excellent mix of features for anyone who has basic needs but wants a premium experience.

Get the Asus ProArt PA348CGV for $777.36 at Amazon

Upgrade that new screen’s ergonomics: Ergotron LX Premium Monitor Arm








Matt Smith/Foundry

Matt Smith/Foundry


Matt Smith/Foundry

A good monitor arm is one of the best upgrades you can make to your home office setup. It’ll open up way more options to move and position your display around your desk and it frees up precious desktop space as well.

The Ergotron LX Premium Monitor Arm is our favorite monitor arm for a reason. It’s sturdy, practical, and can pair with almost any monitor around. The LX Premium is designated as an “entry-level” model, but it comes with specs that you’d expect from something much more expensive. It can support monitors up to 25 pounds and comes with 75 degrees of tilt, plus 360 degrees of rotation and pan.

Get the Ergotron LX Premium Monitor Arm for $209.00 at amazon

Consider ergonomics: Logitech Lift & Keychron Q8 keyboard








Foundry

Foundry


Foundry

If you’re working from home all day, you need to be comfortable and a standard mouse and keyboard just won’t cut it. Focusing on ergonomics, the Logitech Lift mouse and Keychron Q8 keyboard were built to help keep your hands and wrists in a more comfortable and less injury-prone position.








Michael Crider/IDG

Michael Crider/IDG


Michael Crider/IDG

The Lift mouse can be purchased for either left or right hands and comes in a variety of colors. It’s also wireless, which helps you minimize desktop clutter. The Keychron Q8 keyboard is a bit pricey, but gives you the satisfying feel and dependability of a mechanical keyboard while the curved design allows your wrists to rest in a more natural and comfortable position while typing.

Get the Logitech Lift Mouse for $60.00 at Amazon

Get the Keychron Q8 Keyboard for $199.00 at Keychron

Go wireless: Logitech MK540 Advanced Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo















If you don’t want to spend big on a mouse and keyboard, you can find a more affordable alternative in the Logitech MK540 Advanced Wireless Keyboard and Mouse combo. Coming in at an affordable $50, the keyboard is surprisingly snappy and has a pleasant tactile experience without too much noise. The mouse provides smooth and reliable use and has a few programmable gestures you can set for your convenience. Both are wireless, so you can do away with all of those annoying cables cluttering your desktop.

Get the Logitech MK540 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse for $44.99 at Amazon

Backup software is a must: iDrive Online Cloud Backup















Many people neglect to consider backup when working from home, but if your IT department isn’t covering you and your data, it’s something that needs to be addressed. Luckily there are relatively inexpensive services such as iDrive Online Cloud Backup that make it simple to do. iDrive is comprehensive and versatile and allows you to set up and use the backup service without any fuss. It’s a one-stop shop to help keep your valuable data safe and secure.

Get iDrive for $69.65 at iDrive

So is a robust PDF editor: Adobe Acrobat Pro DC