The 5 essential gadgets you need for your room at university

What tech do you need for your room at university? We’ve covered the personal tech that’ll improve your student years and the best apps for students, but what about the appliances and devices that’ll make your room comfortable and cosy?

We’ve come up with a list of the essentials to bring with you to university, along with the best, budget-friendly models to buy.

Before you buy

Before you buy anything, check with your university which items they allow. They’ll send you guidance or direct you to information online. Make sure that anything you take is in good working order and, if you’re in the UK, that it has a CE mark.

1. A pod coffee machine

If you can afford something a bit better than a jar of instant, invest in a budget-friendly capsule coffee maker and reap the benefits of better quality wake-up juice. Many can also make tea, as you’ll see in our recommendations below.

In most universities, kettles are banned in rooms. However, you’ll probably be allowed a small capsule coffee maker.

There are lots of options, but remember that the model you buy will limit you to compatible pods. We’ve got three recommendations, depending on the type of hot drinks you most enjoy.

If you like sweet, milky coffee and hot chocolate, we’d recommend the De’Longhi Nescafe Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS machine, which is £34.99 from Amazon. It’s very compact, mess-free, straightforward to use and it brews a coffee in seconds. It doesn’t dispense the correct amount of water for each drink automatically, as the Tassimo Finesse does (see below), But it does mean that you have a bit more control over how you prefer your drinks.

You can find out more about it in our review but the short version is that you can use it to make a variety of coffee drinks (cappuccinos, lattes, espressos and more) and you won’t need to add milk separately, as the blended drinks come with milk pods, making it ideal to keep in your room. You can also buy Dolce Gusto tea pods.

Another very versatile pod machine is the Bosch Tassimo Finesse, which is currently £44.99 from Amazon.

Like the Dolce Gusto machines, it can make a variety of teas, coffee and hot chocolates – milk pods included. The Finesse comes in a variety of colours and is an easy-to-use automatic machine with an internal barcode reader, so it automatically dispenses the correct amount of water for whichever drink you’re making.

If you’re a straightforward black espresso drinker, we’d recommend a Lavazza machine. There’s none more suitable for a student bedroom than the Lavazza A Modo Mio Tiny, £59 from Amazon. Unlike the coffee machines mentioned above, it only makes black coffee, but it’s among the best pod espresso you can get.

2. A mini fridge

Depending on your halls, you may be allowed to bring a mini fridge to keep and use in your room. If you’re allowed, the maximum permitted dimensions will be approximately 515mm high by 500mm wide.

If you only want a tiny fridge, to keep a couple of drinks and a sandwich cool, we’d recommend the Russell Hobbs 4 litre portable mini cooler, which is £32.99 from Amazon.

Its dimensions are just 18(D) x 24(W) x 25.2(H) cm, so you can literally park it on your desk. It has enough space to hold six 330ml drinks cans.

It’s also a good option if you need to store medication in your room. However, if your university won’t allow you to bring your own fridge and you need one, they should provide one for your use if you contact them in advance.

3. A desk fan

A desk fan is really useful to have, not only for keeping you cool and airing out your room but for helping you stay awake and feel refreshed when you’re studying for long periods.

We’d recommend the Meaco 6-inch desk fan, available for £34.99. It’s cordless and charges via a standard USB port.

It has a footprint of only 14cm, so it won’t take up half of your desk space. It’s efficient and unobtrusive and also has a night light. The fan has four speeds and it’ll run for up to 14 hours on a single charge.

An even smaller option is the John Lewis portable hand fan, which we’ve tested and love. It costs just £12 from John Lewis, charges via USB but has a battery life of up to 9 hours and can fold into a desk fan. You can read our review to find out more.

4. A clothes steamer

Are you going to iron your clothes at university? I can pretty much guarantee you won’t. For a start, you won’t be allowed to bring an iron with you, and second – life is short. But there’s a good chance that some of the clothes you brought with you will be unwearably lined and creased by the time you unpack them.

The solution: a handheld garment steamer. They’re light and portable and very easy to use.

But they’re not only useful for getting the creases out of clothing. You can also use one to freshen up clothes you’ve already worn, as the steam will kill off odours and bacteria.

Using a steamer is a good way of getting another wear out of a shirt that’s not quite ready for the wash. (And that kind of economy is basically the essence of university.) You can also use them on pillows and hand towels and to disinfect items.

You can buy the Swan garment steamer from Amazon for £20.99 at the time of writing. What’s nice about this device is that you can use it on flat clothes like you would an iron, as well as on hanging garments. Just fill it up with water and go.

5. A light alarm

A light alarm will wake you gently, rather than terrifying you into action, the way a traditional alarm does. Plus, it’ll help you wake up naturally in the dark winter months. A light alarm works by gradually increasing the level of light in the room, so you wake up feeling refreshed, rather than bleary.

We’ve tested some of the best light alarms available and some are pricey buys, but the Groov-e Curve is an absolute bargain. You can buy it from Amazon for £16.99.

As well as the light alarm function, it has a sunset setting to help you to settle down for sleep, and eight different alarm sounds – just in case you’re worried that the light won’t be enough to wake you up.

And don’t forget to pack…

Alongside your electrical items, you’ll need a way to charge them or plug them in. If you want to give your dumb appliances some smart features, like turning your lamp or fan on and off on a schedule or remotely, have a look at our round-up of the best smart plugs we’ve tested. You can get one for as little as a tenner.

You should also buy an extension lead. A four-socket with a long lead like this one, from Amazon (£6.99) should do the trick.

You may have a shared bathroom or one of your own. In either case, don’t count on having a two-pin shaving outlet. If you’re bringing in bathroom gadgets that charge at a shaving socket, like an electric toothbrush or shaver, you should bring a converter so you can charge them at a three-pin plug if you need to. This two-pack of converters costs £7.49 from Amazon UK.

Have you got your audio set-up sorted? A portable, budget-friendly Bluetooth speaker is a bedroom must-have. Have a look at our round-up of the best cheap Bluetooth speakers available.

For everything else you need for the autumn, check out our complete back to school hub, with deals, tips and essential buys.