The best dorm room essentials for college students

I resisted a smart speaker until a few months ago. After getting an Echo Dot, I now use Alexa to set alarms, play focus music, remind me about stuff and keep tabs on the weather — all of which would have been very helpful back in school. Sure, your phone can do most of that, but anything that helps you pick up your phone less is a productivity booster in itself. Plus, the Dot works with all major music services and the sound quality is surprisingly good for its size. There's more than enough punch here to entertain a dorm room and do justice to your study beats. — Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter

Comfort is key to dorm living, which is why we recommend an oversized reading pillow like this one from Linenspa. It helps change up your seating position so you're not in your desk chair all the time, and it's definitely a lot more comfortable than just piling up bed pillows against the wall. The pillow is filled with shredded memory foam so it won't put a lot of stress on your back, plus it comes with a soft velour cover. That posture support makes it great for reading, playing games or watching TV. As a bonus, there's also a handle on the top that makes it easy to carry around. — Nicole Lee, Former Commerce Writer

If you like retreating to your corner of the dorm room to watch shows on your tablet, the HoverBar Duo 2 can make the viewing experience a lot more comfortable. The first-gen model easily made the list of our favorite iPad accessories, and the new generation improves upon that model with a quick-switch tab to swap out the weighted base for a clamp. It'll work with just about any tablet-sized slab from five to 8.68 inches — so ereaders and even smartphones should fit.

The handy accessory can turn your desk or bed into a mini home theater (just add earbuds when the roommates are around). The arm is adjustable, too, so you can get just the right viewing angle, and I was impressed how firmly it holds a tablet once you get it into position. It's not a terribly complicated add-on, but it makes for far more comfortable viewing than trying to hold up your screen through multiple episodes. — A.S.

A good set of noise-canceling headphones can help you get some peace and quiet anytime you need to work or want to escape the rowdiness of your fellow dormmates. You don't need to spend a ton to find a quality pair, either: The Anker Soundcore Space A40 delivers effective active noise cancellation, eight to 10 hours of battery life per charge, a transparency mode, IPX4-rated water resistance and solid audio quality for less than $100 (and even less than $80 often times when on sale). If you don't like their bassy default sound, you can also customize the profile through a useful companion app. Just note that these are earbuds; if you'd prefer an over-ear pair, try the Anker Soundcore Life Q30. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter

Dorms may limit the number and types of kitchen appliances you can have, but most are fine with a simple electric kettle like this one. Zwilling's Electric Kettle boils water eerily fast and doesn't have an exposed heating element, which some housing regulations don't allow. It also looks lovely and, in our experiments, boiled 16 ounces of water in two minutes flat. Sure, it can help you make tea or coffee, but it's also worth it so you can stock up on instant cup foods for morning oatmeal, midnight Cup Noodles and the cravings in between. — A.S.

Just because one could fill their dorm room or small student apartment with music using their phone doesn't mean they should. If you know a student who likes to keep the tunes going all day along, get them the UE Wonderboom 4. It's a compact, 360-degree speaker that's one of our favorites thanks to its cute barrel shape, IP67-rated design, USB-C charging port and 14-hour battery life. While there's no app connectivity, that's arguably better for those who just want a simple Bluetooth speaker that can keep the party (or study sesh) going for as long as they want. — Valentina Palladino, Deputy Editor

Look, roommates are great. It's awesome to start off a new chapter in your new life with a guaranteed buddy. But even the most ride-or-die roommateship can be hell if your sleep cycles don't sync up. If your roommate is still studying, playing League or chatting with their long-distance lover while you're trying to sleep, a sleep mask is the perfect solution. This eyemask from MZOO uses raised cushions to keep the pressure off your eyes while effectively sealing out the light — sort of like how swimming goggles keep out water, but much more comfortable. It's a bit pricey at $20, but in college, you can't put a price on a good night's sleep. — Sam Chapman, Senior Reporter

A good surge protector certainly isn't the sexiest tech you can buy, but it's still good to have around: Not only will it give you enough outlets to plug in all of your devices, but, unlike a simple power strip, it'll protect them from damaging power surges. The Tripp Lite TLP1208TEL should do the job: It's on the larger side, but it packs 12 outlets — with four well-spaced plugs on one side and a row of eight on the other — plus an eight-foot power cord. (There's a few landline phone ports as well, but we doubt you'll use those.) Tripp Lite advertises 2,160 joules of protection, which should be plenty, and the device is formally listed by the UL, so it should keep your gear safe for the long run. When it does wear down, it'll automatically shut off. And on the off chance something goes wrong, Tripp Lite backs it with a lifetime warranty and a $150,000 equipment protection policy. — J.D.

Smart RGB lights are just a natural fit for dorm rooms: They add functional lighting, personal flare and they dance to music when it's time to let off steam. Govee has long been one of our favorite "fun" lighting brands and I recently bought this Smart Neon Rope Light for a high school grad in my life who's heading off to further education. It was well-received to say the least. The lights come with either nine, 16 or 32 feet of rope made from a flexible silicone, along with bendable clips to hold it in the shape you want. It sticks to the wall with adhesive, not nails, so you won't anger your dorm manager by poking holes in the drywall.

The rope gives off millions of colors and combinations, all programmable and customizable with Govee's app. There are also plenty of presets that work with a shape-recognition feature to automatically set the color scheme — helpful if you don't feel like fussing with it too much. Govee lights are also Matter-, Alexa- and Google Assistant-compatible so you can tell your lights it's time to pass out just by talking to your smart speaker. — A.S.

When you're just too lazy to sit at your actual desk, a lap desk like the LapGear Designer can make working from the bed or couch more comfortable. The Designer is softly padded and lightweight, with an easy-to-clean top that's large enough to fit a 15-inch laptop. A stopper at the bottom helps keep things from slipping off when you're sitting at an angle, plus there's a slot for holding a phone and a handle for carrying the whole thing around. — J.D.

The Hulken is a big rolling tote bag that should make it easier to schlep large laundry or grocery hauls to and from the dorm. It's not cheap, but it's durable and it has a few handy straps and handles that make it easier to lift up stairs and roll around campus. Hulken says it can hold up to 66 pounds in total, with a large version capable of holding four or five grocery bags and a medium version able to transport two or three. It can also fold up when you aren't using it, so it shouldn't eat up too much space in a cramped room. — J.D.

Many dorms lack air conditioning, so having a fan that's powerful enough to keep you cool during the late-summer months is crucial. The Vornado 630 should do the job, as it moves air around a room powerfully yet takes up little room on a tabletop or larger window sill. It doesn't oscillate, but you can tilt its head vertically, and the way it circulates air allows it to send a breeze through most of a room. A simple dial lets you swap between three speed settings, while the sturdy plastic frame is easy to clean and keeps the thing relatively quiet when it's on. If you're moving into a particularly large dorm room, the Vornado 660 is a stronger alternative. — J.D.

College life is stressful and we could all use a hug sometimes. If you'd like that sensation without the whole "other person" part of it, a good weighted blanket can be a soothing substitute. There are plenty of decent blankies that could work best depending on how you sleep, but the Baloo Weighted Blanket is a good one to consider. It's available in throw, full/queen or king sizes that range from 12 to 25 pounds. Each is filled with pockets of glass microbeads that gently compress without feeling overly hot, and they all have a slim and smooth covering that's sharp-looking and machine-washable. It's not a magic cure-all for sleep issues and anxiety, of course, but if you've wanted to try a heavier blanket, this one should be particularly easy to keep comfy. — J.D.

Even if they've got comfort covered in the dorm room itself, lots of new college students neglect what they'll need for the bathroom. Sharing a bathroom is enough of an adjustment as it is, so it's worth making it something you'll look forward to — this two-pack of towels from Utopia is the best way to start. Absorbent, affordable and frankly gigantic at 35 by 70 inches, they're even available in 20 different colors. They also stay reliably fluffy after several wash cycles, and they're so comfy that I sprang for the eight-pack after using mine for the first time. — S.C.

Bananagrams is a quick game with nearly infinite replay value, wrapped in a cute and compact banana-shaped package. You can learn the rules in less than a minute. Every player takes tiles and builds them into their own personal Scrabble-like board as quickly as possible. The first person to use all their tiles shouts "Peel!" Then everyone has to take another tile, even if they still have unused letters. The winner is the first to use all their letters after all tiles are gone from the center. It's fast, fun and great at luring in passers-by to help you break the ice with new dormmates. — S.C.

Playing casual board games is a great way to socialize at gatherings without the need to engage in small talk. A really popular one is called Codenames, a party game that pits two teams of spies against each other. Each "spymaster" has to get their teammates to guess hidden words (which are plotted out on a grid) using only one-word clues and a number. For example, if you wanted your team to guess the words "costume," "web," and "spider," you might say "Peter, 3" to indicate that there are three clues on the board that match that word. There are also clues you have to avoid, which makes the game a little harder. The game is easy to explain and it encourages communication, which helps break the ice. — N.L.

If you want a game that's more light-hearted, we recommend Herd Mentality. It accommodates four to 20 players, which makes it perfect for parties. In it, you simply take turns flipping over a question and trying to write down what you think everyone else will answer as well. For example, if the question is "What is the best way to cook an egg?" you write "scrambled" and it turns out that is what most other players answered as well, you will get points. But beware of giving the answer that's the odd one out, because you'll get the dreaded Pink Cow and be in danger of losing the game – unless you can somehow trick someone else into getting it instead. — N.L.