Moving into a dorm can be a daunting task, whether it’s your first year in college or your final year living on campus. It’s easy to overpack and still forget the important stuff. So what exactly do you need to make your year-long stay in that petite, tile-floored room, actually enjoyable? Proper storage, bedding, and decorations aside, you’ll need some new gadgets to help make your dorm living a little more like home. Check out our list of tech essentials every college student needs to master the school year.

If you’re less than thrilled that school is starting back up, maybe we can help get you in the spirit! We are giving away a Caavo Home Theater Kit and a university t-shirt to help you get in the school spirit! What movie makes you nostalgic for school? Comment on our latest Facebook, Twitter or Instagram posts to enter!

Caavo Control Center

The Caavo Control Center universal remote is the perfect entertainment hub for your dorm room. Sync it to your TV to have control over all of your entertainment devices, from your gaming consoles to your streaming devices, with just one remote! Caavo automatically recognizes the device you connect, so all you have to do is push a button on your game controller and Caavo will automatically switch to your Xbox. Game on. If you ever have friends over for a movie night and aren’t sure what to watch, Caavo offers what-to-watch lists of themed movie suggestions from celebrity tastemakers and other users in the Caavo community. Get recs from an Emmy-winning TV music editor, a rock icon, a Shark Week host (and shark attack survivor), a cuddly Instagram star, and many others. 

Sonos Speaker

Sometimes you just need to zone out after class, and jamming to your favorite tracks is the best way to do that (not too loud though, don’t want that surly RA knocking at your door)! Sonos speakers are a great way to update your speaker game. Although you probably only need one for your dorm space for now, you can always add more speakers as you move out of the dorms and expand your living space. Sonos speakers connect together through WiFi, or an Ethernet cable if you don’t want to use the school WiFi, and still put out super high quality sound! Sonos also works with your Caavo Control Center, so you can see the album art of what’s playing on your TV. 

Color Changing Light Bulb & USB Lamp

Sometimes dorm rooms can be a little sterile, which does not aid in helping you feel motivated, creative or very relaxed when it’s time to wind down. Instead of getting a standard lamp and harsh light bulb, why not add some lighting that’ll do more than shed a little light? This Cozoo lamp can charge three devices at once and features two standard outlets; if you screw in an iLC color changing LED light bulb, you can turn your room into pretty hues of blue and red just with just a click of a button, creating a totally new atmosphere! 

Smart Home/Dorm Device

To totally raise the IQ of your dorm room, and maybe even help you with your homework, you’ll definitely need the help of Google Home or the Amazon Echo. Both Google Home and Amazon Echo utilize their super intelligent AI, Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, to set appointments for you, remind you to call your worried parents, or wake you up at 7am for your presentation. Your voice assistant can even help you find the perfect synonym for “conclude” as you write your final paper. They both also serve as bluetooth speakers, but it would be almost insulting to use their brain power to just play music. And when you’re feeling totally spent from cramming for finals, kick back and binge your favorite TV show, hands free. Just say “Alexa, tell Caavo to play Bachelor in Paradise.” 

Noise-Cancelling Headphones

For those days you just want peace and don’t want to hear your roommate watching their favorite anime show at maximum volume, a nice pair of noise cancelling headphones will be your best friend! Removing the outside noise so you can study or focus on your assignments is imperative as the semester really kicks into high gear. Bose makes great quality speakers and their noise-cancelling Quiet Comfort headphones are definitely top of the line as well. They also can connect to Amazon Alexa so you can talk to your trusty voice assistant through your headphones!

USB Bed Lifts

Dorm rooms aren’t always well laid out, with limited storage space and a lack of charging outlets, it can be challenging to make it a comfortable space that works for you. With the genius bed risers, you can kill two birds with one stone! The bed risers lift your bed a few inches off the ground so you can use that space underneath as extra storage, and they feature USB ports and outlets just in case there isn't one near your bed- meaning you can charge your phone and scroll without having to get up.