Our favorite home office essentials in 2021
After working from home went mainstream in the spring, many of our favorite home office essentials became impossible to buy online. But now many of those items have come back into stock — and for the first time in a long time, our favorite webcams, monitors and USB mics are once again available. These peripherals, accessories and services can upgrade the remote work experience and elevate your home office setup.
Watch this:
Gifts to make working from home easier
5:05
The must-haves for a remote worker are obvious: A full-size keyboard, a wireless mouse and an external monitor. But there’s a handful of other gear — from a proper desk to blue-light-blocking glasses to a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones — that can make your workday less frustrating, more productive and quite comfortable. Our recommendations for the ultimate home office essentials are below. We’ll update this list periodically as we review new products.
More stuff to make WFH go smoothly
David Carnoy/CNET
Logitech’s new-for-2020 mouse is ostensibly geared for travel, but it’s really just a good all-around mouse for anyone who finds the step-up Logitech MX Master 3 to be overkill. From the scrollwheel to the programmable side buttons, this mouse can handle any pointing task. It charges via USB-C, and interfaces with devices via the included USB-A Unifying dongle or Bluetooth. There’s also an Apple-centric model available for the same price.
Amazon
If space is tight but you need to print shipping labels, shopping lists or homework assignments a few times a month, this is your machine. The HP LaserJet Pro M15w is a great fit for practical, nonfussy tasks and its tiny footprint, measuring about 8 inches deep and 14 inches wide, fits perfectly on a bookshelf or filing cabinet. And it connects via Wi-Fi to nearly any device, which means you can print from your phone. If the students in your family can live without a scanner — after all, phone cameras can handle most scanning jobs now — and color output, the LaserJet Pro M15w is a great choice for under $120. Just make sure you stock up on printer paper too.
Joshua Goldman/CNET
It’s not my favorite webcam — that would be Logitech’s StreamCam, which has been hard to find in recent months — but the C920S will get the job done. The image quality and sound pickup are pretty good and the clip-on design makes it suitable for an external monitor or laptop computer. The physical privacy shutter is a nice, confidence-inspiring flourish that promises to protect you and your office space from prying eyes.
If it’s sold out, you can use a tripod and your phone’s HD camera for video chatting. Here’s how to do it. And if you’re looking for other gear to help enhance your meetings online, we’ve got a roundup of gear for video chats.
…