10 must-have smart gadgets for your smart home office

Working from the cosiness of your home in your home office can be amazing but in reality, you might encounter some challenges keeping you away from being productive and without distractions. To help overcome this, there are many devices in the market that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine which will make some tasks much easier and more convenient. As smart devices and gadget are becoming more and more popular, there is a wide variety of them that are offered. These products range from smartpen that helps you take notes on the paper and your computer simultaneously to smart internet security firewalls that will protect your data and communication safe from hackers. Here is our list of 10 smart gadgets and devices you might want to consider.

 

Smart speaker

First thing we must mention is the addition of a smart speaker to your home office. Most popular ones being offered by Google and Amazon as well as Apple, smart speakers are wireless speakers that work through voice-control and have AI built into each of them. Getting this device would be like getting a very compact personal assistant that can perform tasks you request from it. You can create to-do lists, add reminders, book appointments and many other tasks as well as connect your smart speaker to other smart devices in your office and through it even change room temperature, dimming of the light etc.

Smartpen

Using a smartpen can help you with taking notes during meetings. There are many different smart pens that work by using specific pen and paper to write notes but get them written down digitally as well. Livescribe Echo is this type of pen and it contains a microphone and a mini camera in the pen itself so while you write with it on the paper, it can simultaneously record audio related to what you are writing at that moment. It offers the option of taping on the notes and replaying that note-specific audio from the pen, as well as connecting it to your computer. From there, you can replay the audio, see all the notes and also organise them in “notebooks”. Besides this, this smartpen offers you to search all your handwritten notes or transcribe them into typed text which you can copy and further work with.

 

Smart light bulb

One of the devices that will improve the quality of your home office environment is the smart light bulb. These light bulbs connect to an app through which you can control them from your smartphone, as well as your smart speaker if you happen to have one, making them simple to use. One of the characteristics of smart light bulbs is that you can schedule them when to be on or off. Besides this, you can use the app to dim the lights without having a pre-installed dimmer switch. Some brands provide you with an option of changing the color of the light between millions of shades. Most of the brands that produce the smart light bulbs offer you a hub that help you sync all the lights together and control them from one common app. Some smart light bulbs even offer an option of playing music for you in the background while you work.

 

Smart plug

To help you control office devices, you can use a smart plug. It is a specific type of a wall outlet which you can plug into your wall and, using an app, control any device that is plugged into it. Many of the brands offered on the market are compatible with the smart speakers so you can also give out commands to your smart plugs through your personal assistant. Not only will you be able to turn on and off devices in your office no matter where you are, you can also set schedules for each outlet. On top of this, depending on the brand you choose, you might be able to plug in several devices into one smart plug or even get energy consumption information.

 

Smart thermostat

Another device that can improve your home office is a smart thermostat. What makes this product so different from the regular thermostat is that, besides providing you with easy control over your AC or heating system, it also “learns” from your behaviour and adapts to your preferences over time and even takes in consideration the humidity of your space. As many other smart devices, you can connect to them to your smart speaker and control it through your personal assistant. And, of course, you can schedule your smart thermostat while you are away to prepare the room temperature for when you come back. Some brands even show you the time needed for a wanted change in the temperature.

Indoor security camera

Working from home office can be difficult especially if you have pets or children because you cannot keep track of them while you are busy. Getting a smart camera can help you know what is going on in the rest of the house from your home office. Whichever one you choose to add to your home, they all store the footage on the device itself in full quality and some can even save it to your cloud as well. They also provide night-vision mode and will alert you by sending you a notification to your smartphone if they detect something unusual. There are many different security cameras offered on the market, so you need to do a research on which is most compatible to your needs as some provide features such as facial recognition, two-way communication, higher definition etc. while others do not.

 

Smart earbuds

Another addition to your home office could be smart earbuds. Besides being wireless, they provide many amazing features that can improve your work. The technology used in them provides excellent sound while still protecting your hearing by isolating and cancelling background noise when you need more silence around you. Smart earbuds use Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone or computer. Because they have microphones built in as well as the speakers, they are compatible to work with your virtual assistants such as Siri or Alexa and also allow you to answer calls, listen to news or voice messages. You can even upload music on the earbuds themselves. Some models such as Bragi The Dash Pro provide gesture recognition such as nodding your head or specific tapping on the earbuds.

 

Google cloud print

In case you are using both smartphones and computers at work, being able to print whatever you want from whichever device you want would make your job much easier and more convenient. Google Cloud Print requires you only to have a Google account, smartphone or a computer and finally, a Cloud-enabled printer to be able to do this. If you don’t have such version of a printer, you will still need a computer that is on and connected to your printer, but the good side of investing in a Cloud-enabled printer is that it allows you to directly print from Google Apps. You can also share the printer with colleagues that often have to send you physical documents.

 

Smart internet security firewall

Working from your home office means that you lose the benefits the company offers when it comes to internet security systems that are often too expensive to implement at home. If you wish to have more security besides just an anti-virus software, you might want to consider getting a smart internet security firewall. One such device is Cujo Smart Firewall which serves to protect all data and devices that are connected to the network from hackers. It connects to your phone so you will get a notification in case it detects a threat which it then blocks. The device has its database of malicious sites and will stop you from browsing on to an unsafe website by showing you a block screen. One of the best sides of getting a smart internet security firewall is that the devices learn from each other through shared database making them more up to date with new threats.

 

Smart curtains

The last thing on our list of products that can improve your home office is smart curtains. Slide smart curtains are actually a wireless modular mounting system that is attached to curtains you already have in your office and it allows you to control them from your smartphone. You can open and close them and even set a timer that if you wish. At the same time, you can move them manually and the app detects it so that you can always continue and change their position from your smartphone. Another Slide feature is that it can automatically close the curtains when you leave your office or when you are gone for holidays. You can team it up with other smart devices and control them together for specific settings and moods.

 

Smart devices and gadgets can significantly improve your experience of working from your home office. Consider adding at least some from the list to yours, starting with the smart speaker that has multiple functions and can work well together with other smart gadgets and devices, and then building up your smart home office by adding ones that fit your needs the best.

 

Read also: Turn your speaker set into a smart home sound system easily