Top 5 Coolest Gadgets That Make College Life Better for 2020

If you live with people anywhere nearby or even just spend time with others while enjoying music, movies, and games, you need headphones. The first rule of entertainment is that it’s your entertainment, and not everybody in the world necessarily wants to share it with you. So whether on your phone while commuting or using your computer or mini portable projector, headphones are a must. In addition to stopping you from bothering others, headphones likewise shield you from auditory reality while you’re trying to concentrate hard on schoolwork.

While earbuds offer the most private and isolating design, they’re also not very comfortable. The best type of headphones for extended study or entertainment sessions are over ear cans. Those offer the greatest comfort as they don’t sit inside your ear canals or on the outside of your ears. Active noise canceling would be another excellent feature to consider, as it helps eliminate various sounds many people find annoying, like chatting, air conditioner hum, and street traffic. Make sure your headphones have a closed back build. That means the outside of each earcup consists of solid material rather than an open back. Headphones with open backs allow a lot of sound to escape into the environment, so your roommates may hear whatever you’re listening to even with your door closed. A proper closed back design blocks most sound so you can crank the volume up without harassing anyone. Just don’t damage your hearing.

Dormitories and even off campus housing typically mean limited space and small rooms. Unless you’re fortunate enough to reside in a mansion next to your school, we’d wager you can’t even fit a big screen TV into your abode. Portable projectors to the rescue! These days you can get projectors that weigh very little and easily fit in your bag. Mini portable projectors offer full HD image quality and have wireless connectivity so they work with Wi-Fi wherever you go. You can enjoy huge displays on folding screens that tuck away neatly like yoga mats and can be deployed for movie night whenever needed, or you may even showcase onto a wall. Unlike the fixed design of TVs, portable projectors revolve around flexibility.

We mentioned connectivity, and it’s important to reiterate that you should get a portable projector that has Wi-Fi and preferably Bluetooth. With those onboard, the portable projector easily connects to streaming services like Netflix and can pair with your iPhone or Android.

Because portable projectors are so light and compact they work great not just in your dorm but also outside for study sessions. For example, most Starbucks locations have rooms you can ask to use for a couple of hours as a study area for you and your friends. A portable projector proves very handy in that kind of situation. Quickly set it up and you have your own little class going on in no time at all.

Without succumbing to stereotypes, we have to admit college life may not be complete without some solid gaming and the occasional binging. There’s so much choice now, with Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, and many others offering a gateway to essentially boundless content and entertainment. While a big smart TV won’t fit very well with your collegiate phase, consoles and set top streaming boxes are compact and have even more features.

They also work extra well with portable projectors, what do you know! An increasing number of portable projectors include HDMI anyway, so connecting to consoles and media boxes is a snap. Also, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can help in that regard. In any case, adding a projector to your console or streaming setup is super simple and works great whether you’re going solo or having a group gaming/viewing/chilling out session. There’s no reason to squint at a tiny screen or huddle around a laptop. Put up a 100” folding screen, fire up the console or set top box and projector, and enjoy. OK, it doesn’t have to be 100”, you have our blessing to go with 80”. Try doing that with a rigid TV. We didn’t think so.

While we encourage you to always remain respectful of others and use headphones, sometimes it’s OK or even necessary to listen as a group. Perhaps at that Starbucks study hall session we mentioned above. Whatever the case may be, there will be the odd times when you’ll want to share audio. Bluetooth speakers work best because they spare you the messy cables and cumbersome setup.

Bluetooth speakers pair with your phone or laptop as well as a host of other devices, offering instant access to music, TV audio, lecture recordings, and a lot more. If your portable projector has Bluetooth that’s even better because then it too can be paired to the speakers. However, do keep things civil. No crazy volume or playing music at night. House rules, you know.

Sure, we get the charm of paper. But retro only goes so far when faced with the reality of lugging heaps of course work and required reading like a ton of bricks. Technology once more flies in to save the day. Tablets like your friendly neighborhood Amazon Kindle or Apple iPad have gradually become accepted as learning tools, with many schools offering entire curriculums in digital form. With tablets, books become far more accessible and less intrusive. Content lasts longer as there’s no risk of leaving books on the train or a dog eating your biology 101 manifesto, as all content is stored in the cloud.

Tablets do a lot more than just school books, though. If you love reading they’re extremely helpful, with millions of books and publications readily available at the touch of the screen. We encourage you to read more, and for reading in this day and age tablets offer the only practical and sensible solution.

And before you ask, yes, tablets do work with portable projectors. Between HDMI, USB, and Wi-Fi, you’ll figure it out. After all, you’re the college person!

We hope this short list of essential college life devices proves useful to you as you set on your higher education adventure, or continue it as the case may be. Each and every one of the items we mentioned offers joy, fun, and utility. Making the most of your college years consists of a combination of enjoyment and hard work. You’ll need these tools to maximize the experience, because honestly, you’re only a college kid once.