Top Gadgets For University Students
Uni life can get pretty hectic, which is why students need all the support they can get. The good news is that there’s a plethora of gadgets to choose from that can help to make life go that little bit smoother, especially if it’s your first time living away from home.
To narrow down the options, the Switched On team has come up with a list of top gadget suggestions for your consideration to help you get prepped ready for the start of the new academic year.
A Laptop
A laptop is a must have for every student. You can complete your assignments anywhere and take it with you to lectures to make note-taking easier. Since most universities require students to submit their coursework online, doing it on a laptop is far easier than heading to the university library and hoping a computer is available when you get there. Having a laptop also means that you’ll have 24/7 access to eBooks and other digital resources, as well as providing easy access to your student portal which will provide you with lecture and exam timetables, university events, announcements, and your student email. Another plus point of having a laptop is that if you’re at a university that’s miles away from your home, or you have friends spread across the country, you can easily keep in touch using sites such as Skype and Zoom as well as via instant messaging.
Portable Charger
It’s important for students to keep devices charged, especially when they’re in use all day long, but it’s easy enough to forget to do this with everything that’s going on. Many students have gone through the stress of completing an assignment on a laptop with low battery life because they forgot their charger. So don’t get caught out – portable chargers are lightweight and easy to carry around, and most have multiple outputs, so you can charge all of your devices at once and not have to wait to charge them one after the other. Since they’re so compact, portable chargers are also handy to have on your long journey home at the end of term or if you’re travelling during your summer break.
External Hard Drive
There’s nothing worse than that feeling of when your computer has crashed just before the deadline of an essay or dissertation that’s due in. Losing that amount of work can really set you back, and lecturers aren’t too lenient when it comes to giving out deadline extensions. That’s why backing up your work frequently is so important. An external hard drive can be used for more than backing up work. You can use it for gaming, saving the pictures you’ve taken to document your university adventure, and storing the notes on that novel you plan to write in your spare time.
Heated Travel Mug
With all the coursework, research, and exams you’ll have to do, having a hot drink to hand to help get you through the day will be a blessing. If you don’t have time to enjoy a drink when you get up, having a good heated travel mug will mean you can enjoy it ‘on the go’, while its still hot. The airtight lids mean that you can leave the travel mug in your bag without worrying about your drink spilling on your lecture notes. And unlike normal travel mugs, which rely solely on insulation to heat your drink, heated travel mugs are charged through a standard charger or a charging coaster. They even give you the option to control the temperature of your drink, which is displayed on an LCD screen, while some can even be controlled by an app on your phone. A heated travel mug is great for the on-the-go student and another bonus is you won’t have to overpay for coffee at the student shop on campus either.
Portable Speaker
Everyone needs a bit of down time, and listening to your favourite music on a portable speaker is a great way to relax after a long week of hard work. While some units are small in size this doesn’t mean the quality of the sound output is impacted so you can enjoy some music say while you study in your room, when you have friends round for pre-drinks, or take it with you on a trip to the park.
If you’re off to Uni you’ve got enough to be thinking about, so why not give yourself total peace of mind by protecting your gadgets with Switched On’s dedicated Student Phone and Gadget Insurance. That way should anything happen you’ve got someone to call on to help sort out the issue and get you back up and running quickly and easily! Cover starts from just £3.75 per month and covers your gadgets whether you’re at Uni, at home or travelling abroad for up to 120 days per year. Plus you can cancel at any time and make a claim 24/7 via our online claims portal.