Tom's Guide Ultimate Home Office Awards
Tom'due south Guide Ultimate Home Part Awards
The past year has brought a lot of challenges, not the least of which has been finding the kind of gear that lets you be every bit productive working at dwelling every bit yous were in the office. Fortunately, there are PCs, peripherals and other gadgets platonic for remote work. And that's what our inaugural Ultimate Home Part Awards look to recognize.
We evaluated more than 90 products that were submitted for our Ultimate Home Office awards, which involved an entrance fee. And we judged based on several criteria, including quality, performance and what kind of value they delivered to the work-from-home experience. In the end, nosotros decided on 23 winners that can turn whatsoever home office into a lean, mean productivity machine.
If your piece of work schedule has yous working from habitation these days, these are the products y'all need to get more done. Run across our Ultimate Home Office Honor winners.
Best webcam: Logitech Brio
The Logitech Brio ($199) is the ultimate webcam for any home role, allowing your colleagues to meet you so clearly, you might likewise exist in the room with them. This powerful photographic camera allows upwardly to 4K video capture at xxx frames per second, delivering a brilliant, crisp picture that volition brand you fully present during important meetings. There'southward also an choice to capture at a smoother 60 fps at 1080p, should you demand to do some on-camera content cosmos for piece of work.
With upward to a xc-degree field of view and Rightlight 3 with HDR engineering science built in, the Brio tin can hands capture your entire home part while delivering a clear motion-picture show even in low calorie-free. Other key features include upwards to 5x digital zoom, congenital-in noise cancelling mics and infrared support for instant Windows Hello logins. Thanks to the robust Logitech Capture software, you can fine tune exactly how you want to expect on screen with a variety of filters and customization options for zoom and field of view. With its superb paradigm quality and rich characteristic set, the Logitech Brio is the ultimate home role webcam, and well worth its price. — Mike Andronico
Best mouse: Logitech MX Anywhere 3
If yous want to work quickly, efficiently and just about anyplace you tin can imagine, the Logitech MX Anywhere 3 ($79) is the correct mouse for the job. This $80 office peripheral combines the comfortable pattern of a gaming mouse with the straightforward functionality of an role mouse. Modest and sleek, the MX Anywhere 3 lives upwards to its name. Not but is it easy to ship, simply yous can as well connect it to four different devices at once: iii over Bluetooth and 1 via wireless USB dongle.
In addition to textured grips on each side,the MX Anywhere 3 features two programmable thumb buttons, a rigid scroll cycle and even a push to adjust its dots-per-inch (DPI) sensitivity — a rarity in function mice. With three available colors, 6 buttons and up to lxx days of battery life on a accuse (via USB-C, naturally), productivity mice don't get much meliorate than this. — Marshall Honorof
Best keyboard: Logitech MX Keys
Logitech has been making best-in-class keyboards since 2001, so it'due south no surprise that the Logitech MX Keys ($100) is currently the best office keyboard on the market. This total-size keyboard features robust membrane keys with comfortable spacing, two kinds of wireless connectivity (Bluetooth and USB dongle), and shortcuts for both PC and Mac applications. From a physical perspective, at that place's a tilted design for affect typists, and a metal plate in the chassis for a solid base.
Using the Logitech Options software, you lot can reprogram buttons, command individual app settings and monitor your battery status. Granted, you won't need to monitor the battery often, every bit you tin can get up to five months on a charge with the backlighting off. (With the backlighting on, you still become about x days, and recharging via USB-C takes only a few hours.)
If you need a high-end keyboard and mechanical models aren't your matter, the MX Keys is near every bit good as they become. — Marshall Honorof
Best USB-C dock: Plugable USBC-7IN1
Let'southward be honest — even the all-time laptops lack all the ports you lot need, which is why USB-C docks have go so popular. The Plugable USBC-7IN1 is a straightforward USB expansion hub that doesn't mess around. For $35, y'all get a USB-C hub with iii USB 3.0 ports, and HDMI port, an SD menu reader, and a microSD card reader. The USB ports are all 5Gbps with smooth transfer speed and the HDMI i.4 port will drive an external monitor up to 4K@30Hz with no problem!
The hub also has a USB-C pass-through changing port, and so you tin can plug in your laptop'southward USB-C charger to proceed the power flowing without losing all those extra ports. And it'due south completely plug-n-play with Windows, Mac and Linux organization — no drivers to install or worry about. You lot become all that in a light, sturdy aluminum beat out that can slide right into your pocket. — Mike Williams
All-time microphone: Shure MV5C
The Shure MV5C ($99) is a killer value, ensuring that you'll be heard loud and clear during conference calls without having to pay up for the privilege. This quality condenser microphone is compact every bit information technology is powerful, with a cracking spherical design that comes with an attachable base. Shure'southward microphone is besides extremely portable for when yous demand to switch locations.
While the Shure MV5C is tiny, this mic will capture your phonation with plenty of volume and particular, complete with a Speech Enhancement Manner that volition boost your audio while dampening whatsoever unwanted groundwork noise.
With both USB-A and USB-C cables included, the MV5C will piece of work instantly with just about any PC or Mac. Its sleek, simple and modest design will fit seamlessly into whatsoever home function setup, and it includes a headphone jack for better hearing your calls. Plus, at $79, it'south ane of the more affordable USB microphones out there at this quality level. If y'all want a clear, no-nonsense mic for being heard during of import meetings, the Shure MV5C is the best value out there. — Mike Andronico
Best standing desk: Vari Electrical Standing Desk
It'due south entirely too easy to sit at a desk all day and only get upwards for lunch and when the day is washed. But that'southward definitely bad for your health. The Vari Electric Standing Desk ($550) is a cinch to gather and comes with iv presets and then you tin can become from your favorite custom sitting position to standing with but the push button of a button. The build quality is incredibly sturdy, and the lifting and lowering movement is polish and fairly placidity.
The Vari desk gives yous a wide range of heights to choose from, ranging from 25 inches all the way upward to 50.5 inches. Everything on your desk-bound volition stay exactly where information technology is while in motion — my MacBook Pro, keyboard, mouse, mic, docking station and monitor with webcam fastened never moved when I adapted the desk. I'g partial to the butcher block laminated terminate, just you lot tin can also choose from reclaimed wood, white, black and dark forest. The only thing missing is drawers, but the optional cable management tray comes in really handy for storing a surge protector and other cards. — Marking Spoonauer
Best overall laptop: Dell XPS 13
When it'southward time to build the ultimate dwelling house role, you start with the heart — which in nigh cases is a great laptop. And those who desire a neat overall laptop (we've got iv other picks for other kinds of great laptops to organize your desk around) should start with the Dell XPS xiii ($999). Newly updated with 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPUs, the all-time overall laptop got better in 2020. No matter if you connect your laptop to an external monitor or not, y'all'll love the XPS 13's InfinityEdge display, which shed the chunky lesser bezel down for a 91.5% screen-to-trunk ratio.
Those sparse bezels play an important part — they allow the XPS thirteen's super-vivid (469 nits) panel to really stand out. Just later you're done streaming Netflix on the XPS thirteen during your lunch pause and information technology's time to get downwards to business organisation, yous'll be glad you lot chose this laptop: as nosotros found in our Dell XPS 13 (2020, 11th Gen) review, it'due south got a peachy keyboard. Oh, and since you're non going to be living entirely out of that home office forever, you'll be happy to hear it's got pretty good battery life — lasting 11 hours and vii minutes on our battery test. — Henry T. Casey
All-time business organization laptop: HP Elite Dragonfly
Execs and ladder-climbing workaholics alike will feel skillful nearly their decision to pick upward the HP Aristocracy Dragonfly ($1,779). Offset with the unique blue magnesium chassis, which will draw optics and brand yous feel like you've invested well. The HP Elite Dragonfly has a durable design that passed 19 of the MIL-STD-810 ruggedness tests — that means it will withstand plenty of things that would ordinarily practice some damage, including drops, blasts of sand and other small particles and even endure extreme temperatures. So when your dog tackles you every bit you're carrying the Dragonfly from the living room to your domicile function, you won't need to worry virtually the laptop landing on your floor.
MIL-STD approval is institute in plenty of laptops, but nosotros have to give HP credit for putting that immovability in such a light laptop: the Aristocracy Dragonfly weighs a mere 2.5 pounds. And somehow inside of this thin and light laptop, HP managed to put a large plenty battery that lasts almost 12.5 hours on a single charge.
Speaking of big things in small packages, our HP Aristocracy Dragonfly review raves about the laptop'southward screen, thanks to its solid color output (117%) and brightness (373 nits) numbers. On top of that, yous get a speedy vPro-equipped Intel Core i3 to i7 processors, a must for many corporate workers, every bit vPro enables your Information technology squad to remotely log into your laptop. And for that day in the hopefully-near future when travel is the norm and not a rarity, the Elite Dragonfly's support for 5G and Tile tracking will assist you stay mobile and terminate yourself from losing this luxurious laptop. — Henry T. Casey
All-time Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 713
Information technology'due south finally fourth dimension to throw abroad your preconceived notions that Chromebooks are just for kids. If your piece of work can live in Chrome (and benefit from Android app back up), the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 ($629) is a not bad pick for the next brain of your home office. It starts with its elegant 2-in-i design that looks far more developed than your kid'south rubber-bumper-clad school-issued laptop. And the Spin 713'southward tenth Gen Core i5 processor means you're going to be blazing through piece of work, and not worrying well-nigh going back to Windows 10 or macOS. Plus, the Chromebook'due south 13.5-inch, 2256 x 1504-pixel screen gets pretty brilliant, so all of your work will be crystal articulate.
And, aye, nosotros're recommending Chromebooks for the dwelling role for one large reason. They let you just focus on your work. ChromeOS handles updates so quietly in the background, and has stellar antivirus protection, that you won't ever need to worry nigh a bad update, or if you're protected or not. — Henry T. Casey
Best laptop for creators: Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel
You've probably never seen a laptop quite similar the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel. It's the kind of unique laptop that may misfile yous at get-go, simply one time yous become information technology in your easily, the ConceptD seven Ezel makes perfect sense. Touchscreen display laptops are cool, only their screens are so far abroad that it's hard to naturally experience artistic. That'south where creators volition love the easel-based hinge that allows y'all to bring the display closer to you. This strong hinge doesn't flex under pressure level, and the laptop's display hides a stylus quite subtly, for easy admission. For anyone who'due south going to utilize a stylus a lot in their work, this nimble laptop'south hinged brandish will be a godsend.
You'll pay a pretty penny for the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel, which is $1,279. (The model I tested rocks an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080, 2TB of NVMe storage and an octo-core Intel i7-10875H processor, which brings its cost to around $3,999.) There's a reason why we call this the Ultimate Dwelling Office Awards, though. — Henry T. Casey
Best 2-in-1 laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga
When y'all shop for a fantastic convertible laptop, you're looking for 2 things: a fast performing laptop and a great screen worthy of being a giant tablet. For operation, get the 5th-gen ThinkPad X1 Yoga with a Core i7 processor ($1,377), which brings the thunder for all the productivity you demand.
The X1 Yoga'due south PCIe SSD will also impress, as information technology did on our file transfer examination, posting speeds of 759.6 MBps. You lot get long battery life no affair if you cull the 4K model, which posted a respectable fourth dimension of vii hours and 28 minutes, or the 1080p X1 (xi:30). And the X1 Yoga'south got a great keyboard, with bouncy, responsive keys that volition enable tons of speedy, comfortable typing.
Then, in that location'south the display. Both the 1080p (404 nits) and 4K (488 nits) Yoga screens go plenty bright, and their sRGB color spectrum scores (1080p: 102%, 4K: 133%) are besides impressive. No thing which position you put the ThinkPad X1 Yoga in, you're gonna get a great laptop that adjusts for yous. It's fifty-fifty got a hidden stylus that stows in its side, for when it's fourth dimension to draw on its touchscreen brandish. — Henry T. Casey
Home part must-have: WeBoost Home MultiRoom bespeak booster
Staying productive ways staying connected, and if your home function lacks a reliable, consistent connectedness to your cellular provider'south network, that tin can hamper your ability to get things done. The ultimate prepare to that problem is the WeBoost Home MultiRoom signal booster ($549), which can provide a stable cellular connection with just a little bit of DIY know-how.
You install the WeBoost MultiRoom yourself, and it's a fairly straightforward process if you know your way effectually a drill and you're willing to accept the time to properly adjust the device's outdoor antenna for the all-time signal. Because the WeBoost MultiRoom is carrier doubter, you can get a amend signal from multiple carriers — ideal if your habitation role hosts multiple workers all with their own cellular service.
Don't expect a dramatic increment in the speed of your wireless connexion, just you will see a noticeably more stable connection if you had trouble getting cellular bars before turning to the WeBoost MultiRoom. If yous're happy with your cellular connectivity, this is one piece of gear you can skip, but if your home office is off the beaten path, WeBoost'south cell bespeak booster tin can be your lifeline back to the rest of the earth. — Jeffery Battersby
Domicile office must-have: Fluidstance The Level
I personally can't get on lath with the whole cycling-under-your-desk thing, merely I tin can get on board with the FluidStance Level ($249). This residual board for continuing desks is designed to help yous fire near twenty% more than calories than sitting while also increasing your heart rate. Because The Level is designed to help you lot make micro-movements throughout the day, which not only keeps you more alert but helps yous burn calories while potentially alleviating stiff joints or dorsum pain.
If yous want to have things to the next (ahem) level, there's an included Claiming Cap that attaches to the lesser of the board to increment the balance point and give you more of a workout. Information technology's really similar skateboarding without the need for a helmet, which can assistance break upwards your day while making yous a little bit healthier. — Mark Spoonauer
All-time 4K monitor: BenQ EW3280U
There are a lot of things to consider in a home function monitor, but the 2 nearly essential requirements are screen size and resolution. With a 32-inch 4K IPS panel offering 10-bit colour and HDR back up, the BenQ EW3280U ($799) fits the nib while bringing much more to the tabular array.
We were peculiarly impressed by the BenQ'southward superb color quality, which combines loftier accurateness with a huge color gamut that exceeds some of the well-nigh premium competitors for color range and quality. And BenQ's 4K brandish offers one-cable connectivity over USB-C for dead-simple use with current laptops.
Features like congenital-in speakers and a subwoofer provide keen sound for everything from movies to Zoom calls, and a bundled IR remote command is a great inclusion when you want to kick dorsum and enjoy a show. Intelligent brightness control and HDRi track the ambient effulgence of the room, adjusting the color and backlight intensity on the brandish for the best view at all times. For a 4K monitor that gives you enough of screen existent estate for work and entertainment-friendly features for when the day is done, the BenQ EW3280U is the clear pick as the best domicile office 4K monitor we've seen. — Brian Westover
Best display for graphics pros: Acer ConceptD CP7271K
If you're a graphics professional person outfitting your home part now that your part is closed, you've noticed that color accuracy on even the best consumer monitors can be hitting-and-miss. For reference-level colour accuracy and a ton of built-in features purely for professionals, the Acer ConceptD CP7271K ($2,199) is the best brandish we've seen for graphics pros.
Aside from 4K resolution, a huge color gamut and expansive HDR back up, the Acer ConceptD CP7271K offers some features that just pros will actually demand, like a congenital-in sunshade and automatic light sensor that keeps true-to-life colors even equally the room'southward lighting changes. This display is suited to nonetheless media and video alike, with 144Hz refresh rate and Pantone-validated color accuracy, along with Nvidia G-Sync Ultimate support for adding HDR capability aslope adaptive refresh rates for tear-free gaming.
The screen also boasts anti-glare technology that won't disrupt the essential sharpness or color accurateness, and it's in-depth colour menu lets you lot dial in exactly what y'all need for your projects. It's expensive, to be sure, but if you need professional grade color accuracy and visual support, the Acer ConceptD CP7271K is the best around. — Brian Westover
Best monitor for multitasking: Dell UltraSharp 34 Curved USB-C Monitor U3419W
If your main business concern with home office monitors is getting stuff done, so it's hard to ignore the Dell UltraSharp 34 Curved USB-C Monitor U3419W ($1,059), which offers an ultrawide WQHD brandish featuring 3440 10 1440 resolution. You also get a built-in KVM switch for switching between two different systems -- similar a laptop and desktop -- without having to disconnect your monitor, keyboard and mouse. The USB-C connectivity is a high-performance convenience, especially thanks to the 90-watts of ability it provides for keeping laptop batteries topped up.
The U3419W too has a curved screen, a feature we find indispensable for ultra-wide monitors, since they bring the farthest edges of the screen closer to you for clearer, more immersive viewing. The monitor's 60Hz refresh charge per unit may not entreatment to competitive gamers, simply the combination of excellent accuracy, decent colour gamut and resolution with flicker-gratuitous, anti-glare brandish, will entreatment to pretty much anybody else.
The U3419W is a fantastic all-around monitor, only information technology's worth recommending this productivity fauna for getting serious work done from your home office. — Brian Westover
Best concern mini PC: Lenovo ThinkCentre M90n Nano
Want a total-featured desktop without all of the space that a full belfry takes up? The Lenovo ThinkCentre M90n Nano ($447) is the work organisation for you, with a compact design that'due south smaller than merely about annihilation. Measuring 7.one 10 3.5 ten 0.87 inches, the aptly named M90n Nano may exist small, but with an Intel Cadre i5-8365U inside along with 8GB of RAM and 500GB of HDD storage, you go a powerful desktop that's small enough to slip into a pocket.
The little PC can be stashed in a drawer, mounted under a desk or table, and even docked on the back of a monitor. Neat for bringing your work system dwelling with you lot, the tiny footprint of the ThinkCentre M90n Nano gives you your total work PC in a size that won't have over your habitation office. And with plenty of ports – from total-size DisplayPort to HDMI over USB-C, and five USB ports for connecting storage and peripherals – you'll never feel like the characteristic ready falls short. — Brian Westover
All-time business all-in-1 desktop: Lenovo ThinkCentre M90 All-in-One
Designed for both business HQ and the domicile office, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90a ($839) is an all-in-one desktop that blends solid functioning with features and then professional, they'll make yous feel like putting on a necktie. The PC has the usual collection of components, with an Intel Cadre i5-10500 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it comes with a very good wired keyboard and mouse. From the performance to the design, it's a arrangement designed to let you get things done.
Simply it's in the details that the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90a shines equally an role desktop, with built-in cable management that routes cables through its stand and a cover that pivots out of the fashion for connecting power and peripherals, then locks into place to hide all those unsightly connectors. Smart USB ports assist keep out unauthorized uploads, and an optional PrivacyGuard display panel not just keeps those next to you from reading your screen on the sly, it tin fifty-fifty blur the screen when your eyes leave the monitor, ensuring that just you see sensitive information. Combine all of this with excellent security from names similar McAfee and Norton as well as Intel'due south TPM security module, and you lot've got a capable business machine that protects your data and lets y'all get a ton done. — Brian Westover
All-time home part printer: Canon Pixma G6020 MegaTank
The Canon Pixma G6020 ($270) is a peachy value for a printer with refillable ink tanks — especially considering that it comes with two extra bottles of black ink ($18 each), rated to print an additional vii,700 pages each. The ink tanks keep printing costs extremely depression, at just 0.two cents for text and 0.viii cents for colour pages.
Well-suited to a home role, the G6020 has a compact trunk and offers ii newspaper trays that tin can concur a total of 350 sheets. This allows you lot to keep two media types at the set up. The G6020 delivers solid performance, including fast black-and-white copying. It besides delivers competitive print and scanning speeds. Outfitted with a duplexer for making two-sided prints, the G6020's output is simply every bit sharp as its one-sided prints (a drawback for some rival printers). With really low ink costs and top-of-the-line impress, copy and scan quality, you win big with the G6020. — Eric Butterfield
Best dwelling office mesh kit: Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8)
In a earth awash in mesh router kits, the Asus ZenWiFi AX XT8 ($450) stands out as an excellent value that not simply delivers good performance merely can protect your dwelling house office from malware and hackers. And it looks practiced in the process — bachelor in blackness or white, the ZenWiFi'south oval towers are the rare pieces of networking gear that you won't want to hibernate.
Based on the Wi-Fi 6 protocol, the XT8 uses a streamlined tri-band design with a dedicated backhaul channel to efficiently move information back and forth. Rated at covering up to 5,500 square feet, the kit's two mesh devices should be plenty for filling even the largest home office with wireless data. It's not the fastest mesh router around, though its 701.0 Mbps of throughput at 15-anxiety should be plenty.
The XT8's two-year warranty is double what routers provide and the XT8's AiProtection Pro software can provide a abode function with extra layers of security. In addition to blocking malicious Web sites and stopping viral infections, the XT8 defends your data. — Brian Nadel
All-time antivirus software: Norton 360 Deluxe
Norton 360 Palatial ($104 annually) excels at defending your PCs, Macs and smartphones against malware, with unbeaten scores in third-party malware-detection tests. But information technology's then much more than antivirus software: Norton 360 Palatial also includes an unlimited password manager, unlimited VPN service for upward to five devices, top-notch parental controls, fill-in software and 50 GB of online storage.
Norton 360 Palatial too monitors the "dark web" for signs that your identity may take been stolen. For full-fledged identity-theft protection, you lot can bundle in any of 3 unlike tiers of LifeLock for an additional discounted fee. Each LifeLock program gives you credit monitoring, extra online storage and reimbursement of lost funds and expenses if your identity is stolen. — Paul Wagenseil
All-time password manager: LastPass Premium
LastPass ($36 annually) offers everything y'all'd want from a password manager at an affordable price. Its free version is the best password manager you can go for nothing, with syncing across all your devices, no affair what the operating system, support for face and fingerprint logins, and an unlimited storage vault. For many people, the gratis version of LastPass will be all the countersign manager they'll demand.
Paying the $3 monthly fee (or $4 for a family plan of upwardly to half-dozen users) gets you professional services: premium tech support, a Windows desktop awarding that can salvage passwords for other apps (the Mac one is available to free users), the ability to apply physical two-factor-hallmark keys and monitoring of cybercrime marketplaces to see if your usernames and passwords are up for sale. — Paul Wagenseil
All-time headphones: Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones
We may not exist flying on airplanes or commuting in noisy public transportation, but a pair of noise-cancelling headphones is still an essential part of any home office setup to block out noisy kids and other in-habitation distractions. The Sony WH-1000XM4 are the all-time at this, with 20 levels of ambience sound detection and an NC optimizer that measures your caput size to create the best listening environment. The WH-1000XM4 can connect to two devices at the same fourth dimension, and so you lot tin switch between voice calls on your phone to Zoom calls on your laptop with ease. Bluetooth v.0 gives you an excellent range, and the headphone can concluding up to 30 hours with active noise counterfoil turned on.
Just as of import, these headphones were comfortable to vesture for hours on end, which is just as critical if y'all're working all day in a noisy environment. Other niceties include touch controls, Atmospheric Pressure level Optimization, and advanced sound betoken processing. Oh, and they audio awesome, too. — Mike Prospero
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/ultimate-home-office-awards
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