CAO 2024: Here are the five best gadgets that will make your college life easier

HEADPHONES

JLab HBuds Lux ANC (109 EUR)

There are so many noise-cancelling headphones on the market that it’s hard to choose just one model to recommend. Basically, they should be comfortable, fairly lightweight, have good battery life and good sound, as well as useful noise cancellation to cut out the noise around you.

Budget models usually come with some major compromises. Either the sound quality is average, the active noise cancellation (ANC) is poor, or they aren’t particularly well-made or comfortable. But these new Lux ANC headphones are simply the best at delivering decent performance across the board for half the price (or less) of comparable headphones with similar performance. They’re closer to the mid-range or even higher-end Sennheisers or Sonys.

They are the best-made €100 headphones on the market, with large leather ear cups and a padded inner head cushion. They also fold up, making them handy for travel or regular commutes.

The battery life is excellent, at least 40 hours of playback, and the battery also charges quickly – after 10 minutes of charging you can enjoy several hours of playback.

BUDS

Samsung Buds FE (€109)

These are Samsung’s entry-level noise-cancelling earbuds. While they don’t have all the bells and whistles of the flagship Galaxy Buds Pro, they’re tight, secure, have useful noise cancellation, and are relatively high-spec for mid-priced earbuds.

I chose the noise-canceling model because it’s simply a great option for students in in-ear headphones; there are almost no pairs at this price that have this reliable feature. There are few touch controls on the outside of the headphones. The design of the Galaxy Buds FE tablet case is good and unobtrusive, and the battery life is more than reasonable at around four to five hours per tablet case charge.

LAPTOP

MacBook Air M2 (€1,029); Acer Aspire 5 (€719)

When it comes to a student laptop, the trick is to choose something that is not just any old-fashioned and cheap, but also – let’s hope – something that we can afford.

There are two ways to go: Mac or Windows PC. If you go the MacBook route, you’ll get a durable, powerful laptop that you’ll probably like a lot, but you won’t get it for under €1,000. If your budget stretches to that, the best value for money option right now is the 13-inch MacBook Air M2, currently €200 cheaper than Apple’s regular price at Curry’s and Harvey Norman (the sale price is €1,029).

But if that seems too much, then you’re looking at something from a brand like Acer. A very good value model is the Aspire 5 (16GB RAM, Intel i7 processor, 1TB storage) for €719 at Curry’s. You can get a slightly less powerful model from Acer for about €200 less from the same retailer.

PHONE

Nothing 2A phone (from €329)

If you’re looking for a nicely designed, reasonably powerful smartphone at an affordable price, it’s hard to beat this good-quality unit from Nothing, one of the hottest new smartphone manufacturers out there. Almost everything about the Phone 2A is nice. The 120Hz screen, Gorilla Glass 5, HDR are all excellent. The 5,000mAh battery is also great. And the phone’s cameras are a relative delight for a phone at this price.

What sets the Nothing phones apart, beyond their good specs for the money, is their quirky “glyph” design. These are light strips – or glyphs – that can be configured to indicate things like who exactly is calling by the way they light up; or to tell you what kind of notification you’re getting; or even to act as a timer. They’re a bargain and a great buy.

PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE SPEAKER

Onesonic Megamaus (60 EUR)

Whether they’re moving out or staying home, college students can use an inexpensive, versatile speaker. Or, ideally, two to get a nice stereo effect in their room. A good option is the Megamaus speaker from OneSonic (Ireland-owned).

It’s compact, waterproof and designed to fit in a corner, on a shelf or in your bag.

Once paired, you get decent stereo sound, which is more than adequate for a small to medium-sized room. There’s also a microphone, meaning you can use them as a hands-free speaker. You can also use them with Siri or Google Assistant.

When it comes to outdoor conditions, they are quite durable. The IX7 rating means that not only are they resistant to rain and showers, but they can withstand being submerged to a depth of one metre for up to 30 minutes.