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The best electric skateboards for getting around campus
Depending on the size of your college campus, you might have a long commute to your next class and not much time to get there. Bikes are maybe a little too bulky for a packed quad, but you won't seem out of place on a skateboard. And, because this is 2018, you no longer need to push with your foot when electric skateboards exist. To that end, we've rounded up some of the best powered decks on the market in our back-to-school guide, with picks from from Boosted, Inboard and Riptide. Oh, and about those bikes: We didn't include any electric models because we couldn't agree on any that we absolutely loved. Disagree? Let us know in the comments which you'd recommend.
The apps and services we recommend for students
So you bought a laptop and phone to take with you to college. But hardware is only as useful as the software it runs, right? Included in our 2018 back-to-school guide are the apps and services that will make students' lives a bit easier. There's Dropbox, a perennial favorite, for accessing important documents on any device. If you need to access your notes across devices, Evernote is a particularly flexible option: It can sync typed text with audio recordings and even scan text in photos of, say, books and other class materials, to make them searchable. Artsy majors should consider subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud for Students to get the company's editing suite at a discount. Apple's GarageBand app, meanwhile, is a great entry into creating music and podcasts. When it's time to decompress and unwind, fire up Spotify for some relaxing tunes or Hulu for comedies like Parks & Rec and timely originals like The Handmaid's Tale. Here's a tip: you can get both for $5 a month with a student discount. But a list of dorm-friendly entertainment apps wouldn't be complete without Netflix and its expansive list of originals on offer. That said, if you're a film fanatic then the Disney Movies Anywhere app might be more up your alley, and it has the added benefit of connecting to other movie stores like iTunes and Amazon, allowing you to store all your purchases in one place. Finally, don't forget to practice self-care even if your heavy course load is keeping you extremely busy. The guided meditation app Headspace can help you sleep when you feel stressed, while MyFitnessPal can be your staunchest ally when it comes to avoiding the Freshman 15. Find all of our picks in our back-to-school guide and while you're there, check out our picks in a dozen-plus other categories.
The PC games and accessories we recommend to students
Once you've got your classes and living situation squared away, it's time to plan out the next crucial part of your academic year: gaming. If you've opted to play on PC, you face a daunting flood of titles, peripherals and components. And most likely, you're going to gravitate toward options that won't break the bank. Lucky for you, we've picked out the right stuff to kit out your gaming rig. Battle royale games are all the rage, so if you haven't already, try out PUBG or the free-to-play Fortnite. Since tracking enemy footsteps is a big way to stay alive in those games, pick up a pair of Astro A20s for budget-friendly surround-sound. Whether it's Dorito crumbs or spilled soda, the durable Razer Black Widow Ultimate keyboard will put up with whatever happens in your dorm. And for you serious desktop PC players, we'll point out the best qualities of AMD and NVIDIA's midrange GPUs. (All told, we recommend three laptops in our guide.) It's gonna be a great year for study breaks. Find all that and lots more in our full selection of picks.
Ask Engadget: Where can I find tech deals for students?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. We truly value the time and detail you all spend in responding to questions from your fellow tech-obsessed commenters, which is why we've decided to bring back the much-missed "Ask Engadget" column. This week's question comes to us from a student looking to find the best discounts and deals on hardware and software. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! As a student, I am obviously looking to get the most tech for my money. I know that Microsoft offers some student discounts. What other tech companies offer deals for students (on either hardware or software)? Is there a list somewhere or do you have any suggestions on where to start?
The best consoles and games to play in the dorm
The last thing you want to do after spending hours staring at your laptop studying is spend more time staring at your laptop when you want to play a game or watch a movie. That's where game consoles come in. The Xbox One S starts at $244 on Amazon, while Microsoft regularly marks down the price of its entry-level system to around $200. In addition to being the place to play Halo and Gears of War, it's also an incredibly capable media machine thanks to its built-in UHD Blu-ray drive and support for HDR video. Plus, you might not have to spend any money on games for it: If you had a huge collection of digital games on the Xbox 360, Microsoft has made a swath of them playable on the One. It also means there are tons of used disc-based titles that will perform and play better on the Xbox as well. Specifically, the Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition is the best example of what an old game can look like on new hardware. If you opt for the new route, it'll only set you back $20. When you consider how much there is to see and do Rockstar's open-world take on the Old West, it's a veritable circus of value. And really, what better way is there to get ready for the sequel which comes out in late October? If you're in the PlayStation camp but somehow still haven't picked up a PlayStation 4, give the $300 PS4 Slim a look. It's sleeker and quieter overall compared to the 2013 model, and it's the only place you can play this fall's incredibly promising Spider-man game. The new Greatest Hits program slashed the price on some of the system's best games, which can make your gaming dollar stretch even further. As good as those two consoles are, playing them between classes requires a trip back to your dorm. That's not the case with the Nintendo Switch. It's small and light enough to toss into your bag before leaving that you might not even feel it. Plus, it starts up and powers off quickly, making it easy to get back to the field you were clearing in Stardew Valley before English 256 started. By the time you get home for the day, you can slide the hybrid console into its dock and watch a few episodes of The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu before nodding off to sleep to your TV. Find all of our picks for console in our 2018 back-to-school guide and while you're there, check out our 100-plus picks in 13 other categories.
The VR headsets (and games) that we recommend to students
After long days of lectures, quizzes and research papers, you deserve to take your mind off school for a bit. What better way to decompress than by jacking into virtual reality for a few minutes of tranquility? It doesn't have to break the bank, either. The 32GB Oculus Go will only set you back $200 and it offers the most convenient mobile VR experience you can get. Unlike the Gear VR or Google Cardboard, you don't need a phone to power the Go -- just pop the headset on and that's it. If you have some extra cash to spare (gotta love financial aid overages), you could pick up the headset responsible for starting the modern VR renaissance, the Oculus Rift. The flagship device is available as a bundle with a pair of Touch motion-control-wands and two motion sensors for $400. Sure, it costs twice as much as a Go, but if you want full-on AAA game experiences in VR it's the best option, assuming you have a capable PC. Choosing this over an HTC Vive will also save you $100, which leaves plenty of money to grab a few games. Speaking of, Downward Spiral: Horus Station should definitely be on your list. A space-thriller at heart -- you're exploring a derelict orbital station -- it should fill the gap between late-night viewings of Event Horizon and Alien quite nicely. Maybe best of all, it makes use of the Rift's built-in 360-degree soundfield incredibly well. If you were bummed that Nintendo didn't include Duck Hunt with the NES Classic Edition, there's a VR game called Duck Season with your name written all over it. Ostensibly, it's a tribute to the light-gun game of yore. There's an anthropomorphic dog, and he eagerly runs into the weeds when you've shot a duck out of the sky. Then the game takes a turn for the macabre. He returns, mouth frozen in a ghastly smile, holding the fowl by its limp neck. As the narrative progresses, it only gets creepier. Bet you didn't expect this would be a horror game, did you? It's the type of thing you should definitely bring out next time your friends are over. The downside of Duck Season's chills is your hands and face are likely to be clammy when you pass the headset. To help prevent the spread of communicable disease on campus, pick up a VR Cover starter pack. The kit comes with a detachable padded ring for the eye-side of your headset, and a generous amount of disposable liners. Humans are gross, but sharing a VR headset with people from your floor doesn't have to be. Find all of our picks for virtual reality in our 2018 back-to-school guide and while you're there, find 100-some odd picks in 13 other categories.
The nine headphones that made our back-to-school guide
So you're headed off to college in the fall. What are you going to use to help you focus when you're on deadline? To tune out the rowdy partiers down the hall? Whether you need a pair of earbuds, a set of sound-cancelling cans or just a pair of budget headphones that don't suck, our annual back-to-school guide has you covered. If you can only afford one pair, Jabra's Elite 65t wireless earbuds are our go-to recommendation. Athletes will appreciate the Jaybird Run earbuds or perhaps the wired Beats X 'buds, while market leader Bose remains our top pick in the noise-canceling category. (Go with the QuietComfort QC35 II.) And if you're looking for an over-the-ear-style headset, we have picks from Audeze, Blue, TMA-2, Corsair and Even, including a few models designed for gamers. Find all that and all our other picks in Engadget's full back-to-school guide.
Ask Engadget: Do I buy, build... or both?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. We truly value the time and detail you all spend in responding to questions from your fellow tech-obsessed commenters, which is why we've decided to bring back the much-missed "Ask Engadget" column. This week's question comes to us from a high school senior with a dead laptop and a need for a solid school laptop and a gaming machine. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! Would it be worth the money to build myself a PC (for gaming and other activities such as basic coding), and get myself a notebook to take to school? Note that I am going to be a high school senior this upcoming school year, and am deciding on either going to a nearby university or community college or a nearby trade school. My current laptop is pretty much dead. Please help!
The best TVs for dorm rooms
At the end of the school day, you'll probably want to wind down and watch a movie or show, but sooner or later, your laptop screen just won't cut it. There are lots of choices when shopping for TVs, so here are the best options that fit a variety of dorms and apartments. For the purposes of our back-to-school guide, we focused on models that came in at $500 or less. While there are even less expensive models out there, we recommend spending a bit more for a 4K TV, as there's now more content available for it. Samsung's 43-inch NU7100 Smart 4K UHD is a solid choice that won't take up too much space. If you're not short on room, consider Vizio's 50-inch E-series 4K HDR, or even going for the less feature-heavy but lower-priced Hisense 55-inch 4K UHD. Any of these will be welcome choices that are likely to hold up for years -- well past graduation, even.
The nine speakers we recommend in our back-to-school guide
Though our back-to-school guide includes plenty of headphones, we threw in just as many speakers. Whether you intend to host a few parties or just want the convenience of a smart speaker, we found a number of models that we feel earn their space in your dorm. As you might expect, our list of nine picks include plenty of smart speakers, including usual suspects like the Apple HomePod, Google Home and Sonos One. Our feeling is, if you're going to invest in bookshelf or desktop speakers, you may as well have the option of using voice commands. That said, nearly half of our recommendations are portable, with highlights from JBL, Bang & Olufsen and the category leader, UE. As a warning, not everything on this list is cheap (we're looking at you, Klipsch), but some, like the UE Wonderboom are much cheaper, with a street price of around $70. Find all that and more (plus those headphone picks we mentioned) in our complete guide.
The best media streamers for dorm rooms
If you've decided having a TV in your dorm room is worth it to you, the next logical step is to hook up all your streaming services. Unless you've sprung for a smart television, you'll want to pick up a device that will let you watch media from your Netflix, HBO, Hulu and other subscription accounts. Lucky for your student budget, they're relatively inexpensive and almost all of the options are good ones.
Ask Engadget: What's the best laptop for music production?
First tip, avoid 'u' CPUs, as they're typically designed for mobile or low power usage (and can be more aggressive in their throttling, thereby causing dropouts).
The best smart 'home' stuff for a dorm
Aside from the library, your dorm is where you'll spend most of your time on campus. Why not make it a little more inviting? That's why, for this year's back-to-school guide, we thought it was high time we introduce a section on smart home (er, dorm) gadgets. Having people over for an all-night study session, for instance, will be a lot easier with something like the Powramid Air from Accell. Essentially, it's a six-outlet, circular strip plug with a pair of USB ports and a skid-resistant base -- perfect for making new friends the night before your first paper is due. If you're the type who relies on muscle memory from taking notes by hand, but you also want to go digital, maybe try the Rocketbook Wave. Its companion app scans your missives and saves them to a PDF but the coolest trick is how you clean it. No, you don't rip the pages out, you toss the whole thing in the microwave. Seriously. The last notebook you may ever need costing $22 sweetens the pot. Space is going to be limited whether or not you have a roommate. Campus dining options get boring and expensive quickly, so why not spend $100 on a cooking tool you can use day in and day out instead? In function, the three-quart Instant Pot Duo Plus Mini is a modern crockpot. Meaning you can cook just about anything in it. And because it's a pressure cooker, it does it in half the time a crockpot would. And if you're really looking to cut costs, skip the campus Starbucks and pick up Hamilton Beach's 12-cup programmable coffeemaker. Depending on how much coffee you drink, it could pay for itself before pumpkin spice latte season starts. That's in addition to saving you time and sanity among the Ugg-boot crowd each morning. Find all of our picks for tricking out your dorm in our 2018 back-to-school guide and while you're there, find 100-some odd picks in 13 other categories.
The best fitness devices for students
If you want to avoid the Freshman 15 (or the every-year-of-college 15, in many cases), tracking your workouts and walks around campus is a good place to start. There are plenty of devices out there that can accomplish just that, as well as help motivate you to exercise and get yourself moving when you've been studying for too long. We've rounded up several of our favorite fitness devices that will help you achieve your exercise goals within your budget, from smartwatches like the multifunction Apple Watch Series 3 and Fitbit Versa to apps like the Nike+ Run Club app. Find all that and much more in our complete 2018 back-to-school guide.
The best desktops for students
For some of you, picking up a MacBook like the rest of your peers just won't do. If you're willing to trade portability for power, desktop computers are the way to go. Since it's probably the biggest-ticket item you'll buy for your apartment throughout college, it's important to choose the right one for your needs (and budget). This goes double for those of you spending a little more on a machine that will get you through graduate studies and beyond.
Ask Engadget: Do I need a TV for my dorm room?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. We truly value the time and detail you all spend in responding to questions from your fellow tech-obsessed commenters, which is why we've decided to bring back the much-missed "Ask Engadget" column. This week's question asks how necessary it is for students to have televisions in their dorm rooms. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! Do I really need a TV in my dorm room? And if I do go buy one, which would be good for a student on a budget?
The best laptops for students
There's no way around it: You're bringing a computer to school, and unless you're a serious gamer or in training for some sort of creative field, you're probably looking at a new laptop. The Dell XPS 13 continues to be one of the best Windows laptops your money can buy -- it looks good, has an almost bezel-less display, a comfortable keyboard and, most importantly, it's lightweight and portable. Microsoft's Surface Laptop is another well-built and all-around good choice if you can live with Windows 10 S, the company's stripped-down OS designed largely with schools in mind.
The best mobile devices for students
There's no negotiating on this: You need a smartphone at college. Powerful flagships like the iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S9 promise speedy performance, but even more affordable options like the Xperia XZ2 Compact and OnePlus 6 offer an impressive amount of bang for your buck. Though not necessary, you might also want a tablet for book-reading, or a smartwatch that double as a fitness tracker. While the Apple Watch is the most obvious choice for an iPhone user, other brands have offerings that are just as stylish -- stuff you won't be ashamed of wearing around campus. As for tablets, Apple's 9.7-inch iPad doesn't break the bank (at least before you add on accessories) and is now compatible with the Apple Pencil -- a tool once reserved for the higher-end iPad Pro line. Meanwhile, the Microsoft Surface Pro offers laptop-grade power, though we recommend paying extra for the accompanying keyboard. Lastly, you'll also find a Kindle on our list, mainly because its e-paper screen can be much easier on the eyes than a phone or a tablet. Find all our picks in our 2018 back-to-school guide and while you're there, check out the other 13 categories we covered.
Check out Engadget's 2018 back-to-school guide!
You know the drill: We spend all year reviewing and writing about the latest and greatest in tech, and then twice a year we drop a ton of buying advice in the form of shopping guides. It's July, so this one is for all of you who are going to school this fall, or shopping for someone who is. (Don't worry, we'll be back later this year with a separate but equally big gift guide for the holiday season. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.) As ever, our back-to-school guide includes a mix of items for the dorm, classroom and social scene -- computers, smartphones, smartwatches, headphones, apps, games and accessories. This year, we've added a section on electric skateboards for the first time. (Feel free to sound off on your favorite e-bikes, though we couldn't agree on one we loved enough to include in the guide.) You'll also find more smart home (make that dorm) items, including a cheap coffee maker and everyone's cult-favorite cooking gadget, the Instant Pot. You'll also see more smart speakers in our guide this year, which makes sense, as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant are more ubiquitous than ever, and more sophisticated, too. Our full guide is live today, and we'll be following up over the next month with buying guides and advice columns geared toward students.
