The best budget-friendly gadgets every student needs

published 5 September 2023

The new school term has begun for many, which means whether you’re heading back to school, kicking off the first year of college or on your way to university, it’s the perfect time to refresh your kit and invest in new devices to improve your life as a student.

You might choose to go old school and write your notes with a pen and notebook, keep tabs on your timetable with a traditional watch and research using regular books rather than e-books.

But some of the best gadgets on this list will elevate your life by making learning more fun, 9am lectures easier to handle and keeping you focused on health and fitness during the day as you hit the fresher’s parties on a night.

It would be easy to spend a small fortune on gadgets for student living, splashing out on the best earbuds money can buy and the top smartwatches on the market right now.

But we know that regardless of which level of education you’re entering there’s one thing most students have in common: you don’t have a big budget. That’s why every pick in our list of the best gadgets every student needs is available for under £100/$100.

Best budget-friendly gadgets

With all the stress of moving to a new city, or just starting a fresh school year, you might lose track of your belongings more than usual. But that no longer has to be a disaster.There are a bunch of Bluetooth devices to choose from these days that will help you manage your things. But we recommend you invest in an Apple Airtag to help you keep track of your stuff. You can attach one of these tiny discs to your keys, or pop one in a bag, and then you’ll see exactly where everything is in your Find My app on your phone.

Upgrade the way you juice up your phone with a charging stand like this one from Anker. Not only is it easier to pop your phone on a stand like this one rather than dig out a cable, but it works vertically and horizontally, which means you can watch TikTok videos or binge TV shows in the perfect position, too.This Anker stand also delivers optimised charging, which means it adapts depending on how much battery your phone already has left. It also has a bunch of other cool safety features, like temperature control and short circuit protection.

Make those early morning seminars easier to handle with a sunrise alarm clock. The thinking is that by simulating a natural sunrise your body will wake up more calmly and naturally, leaving you feeling more energised and ready for the day. At least it beats a really annoying alarm and the disappointing feeling of opening your curtains to another day of clouds and rain.There are plenty of sunrise alarm clocks to choose from, but this one from hOmeLabs is a budget pick that combines a digital clock with a lamp packed with different colours and effects, as well as an FM Radio. It has a handy touch control, a snooze function and even plays natural sounds to help further ease you into the day.

Nothing throws your day off balance quite like your phone running out of battery. Ensure that never happens by keeping a compact and reliable power bank with you at all times.We like this power bank from Anker with a beefy 20000mAh battery that works with most iPhones, iPads and Samsung phones (although do check for specific compatibility) – it’ll even juice up most Bluetooth earbuds and speakers. It delivers power to your phone right away, and has Quick Charge tech built-in to get your device up-and-running again in no time.

A portable Bluetooth speaker is an essential piece of kit to immediately feel more at home in a new space and to get the party started on a night. There are plenty of small speakers on the market, but if you’re looking for the best value sound in a teeny tiny package, you can’t beat Tribit's Stormbox Micro 2.This speaker delivers quality audio and hefty bass, which is surprising considering it weighs only 315g. You can take it into the bathroom with you – and even the shower – thanks to IP67 protection, and it works up to 120 ft away from your phone. If you’re looking for a budget speaker that ticks all of the boxes, this is the one for you.

There are plenty of books and journals and research papers you’ll need to access directly from a library, but for the rest, an e-book reader will give you a much simpler way to catch up on course reading.There are so many options to choose from these days from several brands and even our favourite, Amazon’s Kindle, has a bunch of different models now, too. But the original Kindle that was refreshed in 2022 is now available for an affordable £84.99. It has a high-resolution display that’s glare-free and looks just like paper, storage space for literally thousands of books and a battery life of around 6 weeks.

There are so many true wireless earbuds on the market these days it can be difficult to find the best ones for you. You can go for an expensive pair that ticks all of the boxes, bringing you high quality audio, noise cancellation and exceptional battery life. But you don’t have to splash the cash for the basics.We like the Sony WF-C700N true wireless earbuds because they deliver some seriously impressive audio, they’re comfortable to wear and have a fantastic app. Pretty good considering they’ll cost you just under £100/$100 – and less if you hunt around for a bargain, as they’re reduced in a lot of retailers at the moment.

The best way to take notes these days is with a stylus and a tablet, that way you can keep them digitally and don’t have to leaf through pages and pages of a notebook. If you need a stylus for use with a phone or tablet and can’t justify an Apple Pencil, then this option from Logitech is a good alternative – and works flawlessly with iPads.You can use it to take notes, mark-up documents, draw, create art, and so much more. We like the cute design, which also has flat sides to stop it from rolling off your desk, and a tethered cap so it never gets lost.

If you can’t afford to deck out your house share or student accommodation with the latest smart home tech, get an Echo Dot. These little smart powerhouses from Amazon bring Alexa into any room. You can then ask the smart assistant anything you like, set alarms and reminders and hook up all kinds of apps.Although you can get a regular Echo Dot, we recommend the one that comes with a clock display to make sure you’re always on time for your next lecture. Because, sure, you could simply ask Alexa what time it is, but there’s nothing quite as convenient as an always-on clock display like this one.

The focus at the start of any new school term tends to be getting to all of your classes on time and meeting new people. This means even students with the best health and fitness habits might not prioritise them come September.A simple fitness tracker like the Fitbit Inspire 3 is a great way to nudge you into healthier choices, like hitting your step goal and improving your sleep score, without being too pushy about it. You can, of course, spend a small fortune on a fancy smartwatch or more advanced tracker, but this one will do just fine for most people and goes with almost anything looks-wise.

Great free software for students that rivals the premium stuff

Becca has been writing about tech, science and the future for nearly ten years. She loves fitness tech, science fiction movies and spending way too much time in virtual reality.