To maintain office productivity and gain a competitive edge, small businesses often invest in must-have new technology and top-rated office equipment. Home offices can benefit from tech optimization, too. The good news is that you can get many of the top office gadgets without breaking the bank.
Looking for simple, fun office gadgets you can brand with your logo? Inkhead offers a variety of brandable office goodies, including flash drives, power banks, earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, laptop sleeves, and more. Check out the over 25 categories of products you could stamp with your business logo for gifts to your employees or as cool swag for clients.
Here are the top 40 office gadgets and desk tech must-haves for 2021:
Computer-Related Technology and Peripherals
1. AirBar
AirBar is a sleek, lightweight device that instantly turns your regular laptop into a touch screen, making it a top contender for the top cool office gadgets. Simply attach the bar to the bottom of your laptop display via magnets, plug in via USB, and use anything from a paintbrush to a gloved finger to interact with your screen. It is compatible with both Windows 10 laptops (in sizes 13.3”, 14”, and 15.6”) and Macs. Small businesses, and even home offices, can invest in an AirBar to use on laptops to improve interactivity in video conferences, meetings, and client presentations.
AirBar models range in price from $79 to $92, and you can find other brands of touch-screen adapters in the $50–$60 range.
2. VoIP Phone System
If you haven’t yet made the switch to a VoIP phone system, now’s the time. VoIP phone systems, like those from Nextiva, work off your business internet connection instead of a traditional landline. They are less expensive than landlines and offer additional features, such as portability (make calls from your phone, desktop, or mobile device) and integrations with other business software. This isn’t the shiniest of office gadgets, but it’s essential for integrating your workspace.
VoIP services typically cost around $20–$30 per month.
3. USB 3.0 Docking Station
The Plugable USB 3.0 Docking Station makes connecting your laptop to your office workstation a breeze, and it takes only one cable to connect everything to your laptop. You can connect multiple monitors, keyboard, mouse, headphones, and network access (and some other stuff) to the docking station, which then connects to the laptop. This frees up desk or table space from a mess of cluttered cords, and it solves the problem of not having enough ports built into your computer.
The Plugable USB 3.0 Docking Station supports 2 HD monitors, wired Gigabit Ethernet, and headphones and microphones. It features two USB 3.0 jacks and four USB 2.0 jacks. This cool office gadget costs about $100.
4. Multidevice Keyboard
Bluetooth technology gets even better with the multidevice keyboard. Logitech’s design makes use of a normal size keyboard for desktops, tablets, and smartphones to do various tasks from answering text messages to replying to emails. It has a cradle built in the keyboard to dock your mobile device and a dial that lets you choose which tool your keyboard is typing into. It’s compatible with Windows, Mac, Chrome, iOS, and Android with built-in shortcuts that make for an overall more productive working experience.
Logitech’s Bluetooth multidevice keyboard costs $35 and lets you easily switch between up to three different devices.
5. Hardware-Encrypted HDDs and SSDs
Hardware-encrypted hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) provide high-capacity, secure portable storage. These office gadgets are great for businesses that collect sensitive data and then need to transport it. HDDs can save more data, but SSDs are considered to be more durable. iStorage’s HDDs and SSDs are pin-authenticated and perfect for those needing to keep their data secure and protected.
Encrypted HDDs and SSDs can run from $50 into the hundreds, depending on the capacity and features you need.
6. Portable Laptop Monitor
Having additional screens means being able to do more and be more productive while using your computer or laptop. Office tech like multiscreens was previously limited to desktop setups, but with more and more people working on their laptops inside the office, portable laptop monitors have started to pick up popularity as cool office gadgets. Different sizes and resolutions are available, and these monitors are designed to be compatible with most laptop brands and operating software.
The SideTrak Swivel monitor costs $330 and can swivel, mirror, and rotate to make it easy to show your screen.
7. Phone Projector
This little projector makes it easy to share from your phone. As common as it is to share presentations from a computer, we do a lot of our work on our phones and on the go. This TOPVISION 4000LUX Outdoor Movie Projector, which costs $89, streamlines the process of sharing and presenting by letting you skip the stage of downloading your work onto your laptop.
8. BrightLink Interactive Displays
Epson’s BrightLink Interactive Displays are projectors that can link and share information from multiple sources in the form of a digital whiteboard or a video conferencing display. They can also be a giant tablet when connected to your computer and provide an innovative solution to optimize productivity in today’s modern meeting rooms.
The BrightLink Pro on Amazon is priced at $2,000 and may be worth every penny for its ability to interact with the display and turn any surface into a SMART Board.
9. Wall-Mounted TV Dashboard
Get your office into shape with a wall-mounted TV dashboard. Display your business performance to the entire office by combining a web dashboard tool with a casting device like Airtame, Rise Vision, or Chromecast. It looks cool and is an innovation that promotes a culture of data transparency.
To use a wall-mounted dashboard, you will simply choose the wall-mounted TV screen of your preference, and then connect to a subscription service that will keep your data and metrics displayed in real time. Klipfolio offers these services at prices from $50–$400 per month, depending on your data and user/device connectivity needs.
10. Color 3D Printer
You know you want one—even if just to serve as a distraction from preparing your quarterly sales report. This da Vinci Color mini printer uses standard CMY inkjet technology to create 3D models in color. It’s wireless, offers millions of options, and comes with 3D modeling software able to print office gadgets approximately 5 inches in size. Starting at about $200, it’s perfect for making a tiny product prototype or creating a 3D version of your logo to toss around the office.
11. Access Control System
This access control system gives your office the high-tech feel of a professional security system, providing access only to those you authorize to enter. The DX Series Four Door TCP/IP Web Server Controller can provide security entrance points for up to four doors so that you’ll know when someone enters or exits your building. You can connect additional boards to control more than four doors, to secure as many doors as you need to.
Productivity and Other Tools
12. Charging Station
You can’t do better fitting a lot of chargers in a small space (such as on the restaurant host’s stand or when setting up an office space) than by purchasing a Hercules Tuff Charging Station. Your servers can keep their menu tablets charged between guests. Don’t have a restaurant? Bring it home, and charge all the kids’ devices where you can clearly see them at bedtime. At around $40, this is an office gadget worth considering.
13. Solar Power Bank
You can forget about running out of your cellphone battery at work. You also don’t have to worry about incurring extra utility expenses from constant cellphone battery charging by your employees. This solar power bank is designed to catch energy from the sunlight outside your window and capable of saving enough energy to recharge a mobile device. It’s relatively small (roughly 5.5 x 3 inches), requires no installation, and can be kept inside drawers when it’s not needed. It will run you about $30.
14. Portable Power Station
Small power ports are great, but sometimes you need to be able to plug in something bigger than a USB drive. Enter the portable power station. These cool office gadgets aren’t just for camping! They also let you take your mobile office wherever you want to work—at a coffee shop (even if all the coveted power outlet tables are being used), at the park, or in the mechanic’s waiting room while you’re getting your oil changed. This portable power station, which is just under $100, is small and lightweight, making it easy to throw in a laptop bag.
15. Wireless Charging Tray
The Courant CATCH:3 wireless phone charger and accessory tray, which costs about $175, is a desk gadget that serves as a drop zone for your things. It can even let your staff members keep their mobile devices charged. Consider placing one at your reception desk or in your company break room.
16. Universal Travel Adapter
Perfect for people who travel for work, or for free-spirited entrepreneurs who work online anywhere they can get service, the Passport II Pro universal travel adapter replaces your bag full of international power adapters for all your devices. This cool office gadget costs $70 and features a built-in fuse, so you won’t ruin your devices with too high a power supply.
17. Label Writers
Small businesses may trust their label workload to the DYMO LabelWriter 4XL, a fast, cost-effective label printing solution. This wide-format label printer accommodates the entire line of DYMO LabelWriter labels for maximum flexibility and is compatible with a variety of popular online selling platforms and shipping carriers. You can use this nifty office gadget to print shipping labels, warehouse labels, barcode and identification labels, bulk mailing labels, custom labels, and more.
The DYMO LabelWriter 4XL costs $220. If you don’t need to print extra-large labels, you can save significant money with a thermal printer (not extra-large), which costs $90.
18. Smart Postage Meter
The SendPro C-Series is the next-generation office mailing solution. It is a digital multicarrier platform that enables offices of all sizes to easily select the ideal sending option for every parcel, letter, and flat package they send. It also provides full tracking and delivering savings across carriers and up to 39% off USPS retail shipping rates.
Businesses can now securely access package shipping, mailing services, and related applications from a laptop, mobile device, or the integrated Android tablet. There is nothing else on the market right now that marries shipping and mailing into a digitally connected sending device.
19. Automated Letter Opener
If you get a lot of fan mail, bills, payments, or any other kind of envelope, why pay an hourly wage to a smart human to wield a letter opener, risk paper cuts, and burn out? Instead, plop all your envelopes into this automated letter opener to be opened at once.
It’s not cheap at close to $2,000, but it’s much less costly than having to replace your mailroom clerk every six months once they’ve died of boredom. This letter opener can handle 17,500 envelopes per hour. For lower-volume letter opening needs, you can get automated letter openers for as low as $40.
20. ScanSnap
The ScanSnap Evernote Edition can scan a full-page document, photo, or business card at the touch of a button and then automatically send the results to your Evernote inbox for easy tagging and organization. It is a simple and easy to use office gadget and compact enough to fit on a shelf. It costs $860 and can handle up to 25 double-sided pages per minute.
21. Dashcam
Delivery businesses, couriers, and service providers can certainly benefit by having a dashcam that comes with a hands-free navigation system. While this isn’t something you’d use at your desk, it’s an important office gadget for anyone who works on the go. The Garmin Speak Plus with Amazon Alexa and built-in dashcam is the ticket. In fact, using the hands-free device can save you from getting a ticket in many states that ban the use of handheld devices while driving. See what I did there?
It will run you $180, so you can listen to music or news, or do anything else you can do with Alexa, as well as providing lane departure and forward collision warnings. It even tells you when the light turns green!
22. Video Doorbell
Due to budget constraints, small businesses may not be located in a large office building with their own security. Ring Video Doorbell is an innovative security gadget that allows you to see who’s at the door. It also gives you the choice to allow or deny access remotely through your phone app. It has a 1080p camera with a motion sensor and night vision to help you easily recognize and even take a record of who’s trying to enter your office.
Amazon Ring costs $99 and could be worth every penny for the connectivity and robust support that Amazon provides.
23. Office Handy Multitool
Make sure you have a multitool in the office. Screws will come loose, nuts will need to be tightened, wires will have to be stripped, and packages will have to be opened. And perhaps an adult beverage or two will need to be opened to share on a celebratory occasion. When there’s no room (or budget) for a full-on toolbox for the office, a multitool offers a great office gadget option. Check out the SOG Q3 Baton. It’s easy to fold up and put into a desk drawer but has enough tools to get a vast number of small jobs done.
SOG multitools range in price from $22 to $50.
24. KeySmart Keychain
When you’re moving around a lot as a business owner, it’s easy to misplace your keys. Since your keys are so important to managing your company operations, why not invest in a KeySmart Max keychain for yourself and your managers? It can geo-locate lost keys. Isn’t this cool office gadget safer than hiding extra business keys under your work vehicle and office doormat?
The KeySmart Max clocks in at $80 and features built-in Tile technology (which enables users to track and ring their keyholders), a flashlight, and the ability to hold 14 keys.
25. Bttn
In an office environment, Bttns are used as a shortcut to products or services or to trigger entire workflows. This product lets you complete most office tasks like reordering office supplies, ordering a call-back from tech support, booking a vacant meeting room, and marking time sheets at a press of a button. Bttn comes with stand-alone connectivity for easy deployment, as well as integration tools.
For a more thorough explanation of how Bttn works, check out this video.
26. Sphero Mini Robot Ball
The Sphero Mini robot ball, which costs $50, is an app-controlled desk gadget that can help make your workplace friendly to those with disability issues. It can also keep your clients’ kids occupied. It comes in several options, and you can program it to drive with nothing more than your facial movements. While designed as a game tool or coding practice robot, it can also be used to help those with limited mobility participate in group activities or video games.
Ergonomic Products
27. Adjustable Standing Desk
An adjustable standing desk allows you to easily switch between standing and sitting when you are working. Oversitting can cause back pain and various health issues, and many users report that these problems go away after they buy a standing desk and start standing at work. Once you switch to a standing desk, it is almost impossible to go back. A standing desk is definitely a cool office gadget and a great addition to your office workspace or home office setup.
Standing desks range in price from under $100 to nearly $1,000, and the features they include are as varied as the prices.
28. Under Desk Elliptical Machine
Sitting all day can cause many health problems. This Cubii JR1 Seated Under Desk Elliptical Machine is a cool office gadget that helps keep you active during the workday, even when you are at your computer. In addition to getting your heart rate elevated and your blood pumping, physical movement helps many people focus better and be more productive. It’s a low-impact workout you can do when you’re feeling the afternoon slump. This elliptical machine is $250 and features a whisper-quiet motor so that you don’t disturb your co-workers.
29. Ergonomic Office Chair
You spend a lot of time at your desk, and your back deserves a break. New York Magazine lists the Herman Miller Aeron as the best ergonomic office chair currently on the market. At $1,000, this office gadget is certainly an investment, but consider the savings on chiropractic visits.
Office Environment Gadgets
30. Earbuds
A good pair of headphones or earbuds is an essential office gadget. Apple AirPods are great because of how simply they connect to and switch between devices like your iPhone and MacBook. They sound great and because they aren’t noise-canceling, they let in just enough outside sound to keep you engaged with your surroundings.
They’re also perfect for quickly making phone calls either from your iPhone or VoIP software on a computer. The fact that you can pop them in their charging case and easily fit them in a pocket to take anywhere is a nice bonus. In fact, using Inkhead, you can order earbuds for your team branded with your company logo.
Apple AirPods run from $150 to $550, depending on what style you want. (The over-ear AirPods Max look really nifty.) If you’re afraid of shelling out a couple of hundred dollars for something you might lose, you can also get Bluetooth headphones for as low as $20. You get what you pay for, though, in terms of both sound quality and features.
31. Noise-Canceling Headphones
Work from home is becoming increasingly popular, and many people are reluctant to go back to the office after the pandemic is over. Noise-canceling headphones are an essential part of the work from home office, since you can’t always control the noise around you in the home office. Whether you have loud neighbors, kids, or just annoying people talking loudly in the coffee shop, noise-canceling headphones can help you zone out and focus on your work, distraction-free.
These headphones from Sony have high ratings for sound quality and active noise canceling. They make it so that you can hear your music or phone calls clearly, no matter how loud the environment is. They include a microphone for phone calls, and a wearing detection feature that pauses playback automatically when you take them off.
32. USB Coffee Warmer
For anyone who drinks coffee or tea, a USB coffee warmer is an essential desk accessory. It keeps your cup at the perfect temperature, so you can enjoy your coffee even after you’ve been in a long meeting. The cup warmer is an interesting office gadget that, while not really replacing insulated bottles, makes a nice piece for small talk. Prices for USB coffee warmers run anywhere from $15–$30, on average.
33. Desk Lamp With Wireless Charger
You need a desk lamp and you need a phone charger. Here’s a twofer. This ChargeWorx desk lamp with wireless charging fits the bill. It prevents your device-issued phone charger from walking out the door of your office in the hands of someone who needs to “borrow it for a second.” And at $25, it’s an office gadget price point that won’t break your decorating budget.
34. Desk Organizer
This all-in-one desk organizer offers sliding sections so that you can adjust it to accommodate your changing pile of business files and office stuff. We found this top-rated office desk gadget that costs under $25 on Amazon. Why not outfit your entire staff with one of these to help improve their desktop organization and productivity?
35. Cellphone Holder
Having a stable way to keep our cellphone off our desktop and viewable is crucial for those of us who eat, drink, and talk with our hands. The OMOTON C2 Aluminum cellphone holder prevents your phone from being hidden under desktop documents and provides holes for your charger to fit through. At less than $15, this is an office gadget you almost can’t afford not to have.
36. Phone Sanitizer
As one of the germiest items in your home or office, your phone needs a bath. While you can’t toss it in the breakroom dishwasher, you can clean and sanitize it with PhoneSoap. It’s a UV sanitizer that cleans the bacteria off your phone. Your in-office germaphobes will celebrate a desk gadget like this. As a bonus, it also serves as a backup charger. In a post-COVID-19 world, this isn’t so much a cool office gadget as an absolute necessity.
PhoneSoap offers phone disinfectors ranging in price from $50 to over $100.
37. Air Purifier
This top-rated compact KOIOS Air Purifier uses HEPA filtration to keep you breathing easier in your office cubicle. It has a single on/off button, three-stage filtration, and a three-year warranty. Breathing cleaner air means fewer days calling in sick. Who doesn’t want that? At $45, this air purifier is a bargain.
38. Self-Changing Trash Can
This trash takes itself out! You have a lot to think about in your home office or workplace, and it’s easy to forget about your trash can until it’s overflowing or flies are buzzing around yesterday’s lunch remnants. This smart trash can seals itself and changes the bag. You don’t have to touch anything gross to take the trash out. The only thing it doesn’t do is walk itself out to the dumpster. At $117, this office gadget is significantly more expensive than your standard home improvement store trash can, but the benefits are worth it.
39. Personal Desk Heater
This ceramic personal desk heater comes in lots of cool colors, costs just $20 bucks, and turns off automatically if tipped over (your insurance agent will appreciate that). End the in-office thermostat wars and get one of these office gadgets for each of your cool-natured team members.
40. Portable Air Conditioner
Whether you’re in an office or at home, keeping your space at the right temperature can be a challenge. This small portable air conditioner lets you stay comfortable and cool without freezing the whole office out or shelling out too much money for power bills. This air conditioner is $37 and is rechargeable, so you can use it even if you don’t have a plug.
Bottom Line
By now, you’re probably thinking that it’s time for an office tech upgrade! Some of these office gadgets save time, others add to your cool office vibe, and the most valuable make your office a little more of a great place to work. Give our list of top office gadgets a try.
Don’t forget to check out Inkhead, which offers tons of brandable office gadgets for your employees and customers. In fact, if you’re going to splurge for cool office tech, why not make it memorable for those you share it with? Shop the Inkhead catalog now.
All images in this article were sourced from Amazon.
