Tom's Guide Awards 2022: The best products for working from home
Tom'south Guide Awards 2021: The best products for working from dwelling
Over the past yr millions have been working from home nigh exclusively, and even as people start to return to offices many will continue to be home a couple of days a calendar week. The mode we piece of work has changed, and technology has thankfully avant-garde to meet our needs, with sharper webcams, clearer microphones and Wi-Fi mesh routers that eliminate any expressionless zones.
We've tested dozens of keen products to help people work improve from home over the past yr, and the Tom's Guide Awards is here to celebrate the best of the all-time devices and services to make you lot as productive (and comfy) as possible.
Best webcam: Logitech C920
For the home office, there's no better webcam that balances functioning and price than the Logitech C920. It delivers a 1080p prototype at 30 fps, vibrant colors, and stereo mics. And, adaptive lighting technology helps ensure you await your best no matter the conditions. At $lxx, it won't stretch your upkeep, either.
The 78-degree field of view offered past the C920 volition make sure yous and your infinite fits in the frame well, and the Capture app gives y'all all sorts of settings for customizing your stream and for capturing content.
Highly Recommended: Logitech Brio
The ultimate webcam when it comes to image quality, the Brio has a 4K camera, loftier dynamic range, and an adjustable field of view.
Best ring light: Nanlite Halo 16C Bicolor
Band lights are increasingly essential products for the world'southward remote workers, and the Nanlite Halo 16C Bicolor and Turnable RGB 16-Inch LED Ring Light is the all-time out there.
This wonderfully versatile device gives you almost complete command: you can adjust color temperature, hue and brightness, or enter an RGB value, to ensure your prototype is perfectly illuminated. Plus, the settings are all intuitively input via a pair of touchpads — though we'd likewise recommend buying the optional two.4GHz Remote Control so you can dial in really precise settings.
It'southward besides solidly built and comes with a smartphone bracket and a built-in mirror, then y'all tin check your advent before that important video call.
Highly Recommended: Inkeltech 21-inch Ring Light with Tripod
This easy-to-utilise and keen value ring light comes with a large tripod, ii remotes and a carrying instance — and all for $85. Information technology's also larger than near rivals, at 21 inches.
Best microphone: JLab Talk
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the JLab Talk isn't one of JLab'southward first-e'er USB microphones, considering how skillful it sounds, how well-designed information technology is and how like shooting fish in a barrel information technology is to use. You can just plug it in and instantly get a clarity boost for all your remote meetings and VoIP calls, but the recording quality is high plenty that it'southward fifty-fifty suitable for piece of work that requires voiceovers or commentary. All that, for less than $100, is hard to crush.
Highly Recommended: Movo UM700
The Movo UM700 is a dependable, multipurpose USB mic; it sounds practiced enough for streaming and podcasting, and is well-congenital for the money.
Highly Recommended: EPOS B20
The EPOS B20 sounds articulate and detailed on its own, but add EPOS' desktop app and yous can tweak its recording quality to an impressively fine caste.
Best headset: HyperX Deject 2 Wireless
Yes, the HyperX Cloud Ii Wireless is a gaming headset rather than an office-spec model, but its benefits are too proficient to pass upwards. The earcups are quite comfortable, to assist you sit through those long meetings, and the flexible mic captures your voice with sharp detail. Sound output is great too, and there'south enough bombardment life to last several days before you'll demand to recharge.
Highly Recommended: Bose 700
This Bose 700 is mainly known for its noise cancellation performance, just its born microphones are best in the business likewise.
Highly Recommended: Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds is substantially the Bose 700 in wireless earbud course: outstanding microphone clarity, combined with ANC that will aid yous concentrate on piece of work and meetings.
All-time mouse: Logitech MX Anywhere 3
The Logitech MX Anywhere three is a productivity mouse that lives upward to its name. This compact part mouse combines the sleek, ergonomic pattern of a gaming mouse with software that'southward optimized to help you get piece of work done. It'due south comfortable to hold, thanks to its depression profile and textured grips, just the large draw is the electromagnetic curl wheel. You can ringlet through a document slowly and precisely, or blast through thousands of lines at a time simply by clicking a button.
The software even comes with pre-programmed profiles for popular programs similar Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop and Google Chrome, although you can also program your own selections if you lot need to work with more specialized apps.
Highly Recommended: Razer Pro Click
Razer's foray into productivity mice has been promising then far, with excellent peripherals like the Razer Pro Click offering comfortable grips and office-optimized features.
Highly Recommended: Microsoft Bluetooth Ergonomic Wireless Mouse
The Microsoft Bluetooth Ergonomic Wireless Mouse combines effortless wireless connectivity with a solid grip and great operation.
Best keyboard: Logitech MX Keys
The Logitech MX Keys remains the best part keyboard for well-nigh users. That's because this productivity peripheral is slim, stylish and puts nada friction between you lot and your piece of work. The MX Keys features indented keycaps, detached media keys and an inclined profile: perfect for experienced bear upon typists. Amend still: the MX Keys tin last for months on a single charge, and it offers both USB and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. That means you can connect the MX Keys to Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android or iOS machines.
Highly Recommended: Razer Pro Type
The Razer Pro Blazon feels similar to one of the manufacturer'southward gaming keyboards, simply with a much more professional aesthetic. It's as well a wireless mechanical productivity keyboard, which is a rare combination.
Highly Recommended: Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard
The Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard is extremely comfortable to type on, and stands apart from most of its competitors based on design lonely.
Best Wi-Fi router: Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500
The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 delivers everything you lot could want in a router, from new technology and category leading performance to sleek blueprint and excellent features. Using the same sci-fi/stingray looks as other Nighthawk routers, the Nighthawk RAXE500 adds Wi-Fi 6e to the mix, using an additional 6GHz band to supercharge in-domicile Wi-Fi. With an AX11000 rating, the tri-band router moves most 2.5Gbps of real-world data.
The Nighthawk not only speeds past Wi-Fi 6 routers but is the fastest router on the planet and sets a new standard for loftier-functioning Wi-Fi. The combination of established design and features with cut border technology get in the best router of the yr.
Highly Recommended: Asus RT-AX86U router
The Asus RT-AX86U delivers a design that mixes mainstream and gaming features with splendid Wi-Fi 6 performance and a relatively affordable price.
Best mesh router: Linksys Velop AX4200
There are a lot of great mesh routers on the market these days, only our favorite is the Linksys Velop AX4200. Whether it'south the unmarried-unit of measurement Velop MX4200 or the 3-pack Velop MX12600, the latest Linksys Velop offers like shooting fish in a barrel setup, coverage that can expand out to the largest of homes, and solid performance that should keep anybody connected and happy.
In a time when in-dwelling house Wi-Fi has to handle everything from remote piece of work and online classes to streaming Netflix and Disney+, the three-pack Linksys Velop AX4200 is one of the best bargains in mesh networking, offering a relatively inexpensive fashion to gear up a wide-ranging Wi-Fi network in a big house. Plus, it's got built-in USB connectivity for attaching storage or other devices to the network (even on ane of the satellite nodes), and a best-in-class three-year warranty. For Wi-Fi 6 networking throughout the firm, The Linksys Velop AX4200 is the all-time of the twelvemonth.
Highly Recommended: TP-Link Deco X20
The TP-Link Deco X20 offers Wi-Fi 6 mesh networking, only emphasizes convenience and affordability over functioning. For something easy that gets the whole home connected, it'due south a great selection.
Best printer: Canon Pixma G6020 MegaTank
With a refillable ink tank design, the Canon Pixma G6020 MegaTank delivers super low ink costs, and even with its fairly affordable price the printer comes with plenty ink to print an estimated 12,000 pages of black and white text. It follows what is arguably the best trend in press this decade, the switch from expensive and wasteful ink cartridges to high-capacity designs that salve money without a lot of hassle.
Across cheap printing, the Pixma G6020 offers tiptop-of-the-line print quality, fantabulous copying and scanning, and features similar dual paper trays and a duplexer for automatic ii-sided printing, delivering superb operation and convenience alongside the money saving ink. That's a whole lot of value for the price, and that makes the Canon Pixma G6020 MegaTank the best printer of the twelvemonth.
Highly Recommended: Epson EcoTank ET-4760
An all-in-1 inkjet with high-capacity ink tanks, the Epson EcoTank ET-4760 keeps printing costs depression, but backs information technology up with workhorse performance and plenty of handy features, making information technology a great choice for the abode role.
Highly Recommended: Catechism Pixma TR8620
For a more traditional printer, the Canon Pixma TR8620 not but uses regular ink cartridges, it uses 5 of them, using a 5-ink arrangement to evangelize excellent photo prints. It delivers office-friendly features and speedy performance.
Best antivirus software: Kaspersky Total Security
Kaspersky Full Security wins the Tom'south Guide Honor for best antivirus software for the 2d year in a row, thanks to its virtually flawless malware protection, moderately light organisation load and breadth of features.
Kaspersky Total Security ($100/year for 5 devices, one-half off for the first year) has about everything we'd want in an antivirus suite, including a password manager, parental controls, webcam protection, file shredder, secure browser, fill-in software and new stalkerware protection. The only catch is that the VPN usage is express unless you pay for a split subscription, although that $30 yearly cost is fairly inexpensive.
Kaspersky is also unparalleled at catching and blocking malware, matching almost-perfect detection rates with a very low rate of false-positive misidentifications, indicating a well-tuned malware engine. It's too easy to use, with a well-planned screen layout. Overall, Kaspersky Total Security is the best antivirus software you lot can purchase today.
Highly Recommended: Bitdefender Full Security
Bitdefender Full Security offers excellent malware protection and an easy-to-use interface along with a password manager, parental controls and an included VPN in its top-tier packet.
Best password managing director: LastPass Premium
LastPass wins the Tom'due south Guide Award for Best Password Director for the second year in a row, due to its breadth of features and ease of use. LastPass Premium ($36/year for an individual, $48/yr for a family of up to six) runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS, with desktop users interacting with information technology via a website interface or full-featured browser extensions. The service can also salve notes, addresses and credit-card and bank-account numbers, all in encrypted form.
The LastPass Security Dashboard tells you how strong your saved passwords are and which email accounts have been compromised in data breaches. You can generate new, strong passwords correct in the interface, and generate ane-time temporary passcodes with the complimentary LastPass Authenticator mobile app. Premium users tin can share passwords with other LastPass users, provide emergency access to family members and use a broad variety of two-cistron-hallmark methods.
Highly Recommended: 1Password
1Password has a unique characteristic that makes it a must-have for international travelers. Travel Mode lets you identify sensitive data in a special binder that y'all tin can erase from your laptop or smartphone when you lot cantankerous a border. When you're on safe ground once again, tap a push button and the "deleted" information will be restored.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/tomsguide-awards-2021-working-from-home
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