Back to School Tech 2022
Picking out technologies for your upcoming courses or term can be difficult as these will be your workhorse for the entire duration of your course. The back-to-school technologies have been selected to last beyond your course duration.
Laptops
Picking the latest specs will help to ensure your laptop can withstand the demands of the future you may have when you graduate. You may find the selected laptops are a bit pricey however do keep in mind that these laptops will be an investment to last between 5-6 years. Although the price now will be a bit pricey it will save you a bit of a headache in the end. Many will choose the cheapest laptop but find within the first year that the laptop starts to slow down.
Dell XPS 15
Price: £1,949
The Dell XPS range has been a leading laptop range for a while with the XPS line-up providing high-quality laptops with the latest technologies. Equipped with the 12th Generation i7 processor, 16GB RAM, Dedicated graphics card and 1TB SSD hard drive; this laptop will be able to power through any tasks you throw at it. The aluminium build keeps the laptop light and slim allowing you to slip the laptop into most student backpacks. If you are on a course that requires heavy graphics rendering tasks, the dedicated 4GB graphics card will be able to handle graphic demanding tasks.
ASUS Vivobook 15 X515EA
Price: £599.99
If you are looking for a budget-friendly laptop with good specifications then the ASUS Vivobook 15 will be a good choice. Equipped with last year’s 11th Gen i7 processor, you still get the benefit of a high-tier processor paired with 16GB RAM to run those tasks. The 512GB SSD is slightly less but you can purchase an external hard drive to give you more room. With a lack of a dedicated graphics card, it won’t be able to crunch through graphic demanding tasks with ease.
Apple MacBook Pro 13
Price: £1,549
Ever since Apple has started building processors that are more efficient than Intel and AMD processors. MacBooks look to be more of a bargain for what you get. When purchasing an Apple laptop you will get a high-quality build and quick operating system as Apple can design an operating system that best utilises the hardware. The MacBook Pro 13 is equipped with Apple’s newest generation of M2 processor that has an 8-Core CPU, 10-Core GPU, 8GB Unified Memory, and 512GB SSD. The MacBook Pro 13 will be able to handle any tasks due to high-efficient processor.
Smartphone
The smartphone will be a hub of your social life whether it’s making calls to friends and family, taking pictures, texting friends, or managing your finances. Wherever you go your smartphone is only a short distance away. Choosing the right all-around smartphone that can handle any situation will make your life easier.
Samsung S22
Price: £769.00
The Samsung S22 is a great all-around smartphone for android users. With a 6.1 AMOLED display with an in-built fingerprint scanner. The S22 is paired with 8GB RAM, 128GB internal storage and a 3700mAh battery. To suit your photography needs the S22 has a 50MP main camera, 12MPl ultra-wide, and 10MPtelephoto camera. On the front, you will see a 10megapixel selfie camera.
Google Pixel 6a
Price: £399
The Google Pixel 6a provides a budget-friendly smartphone that will give you a pure android experience. The 6.1-inch OLED display will provide ample real estate to consume content. Powered by Google’s Tensor chip, 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage; the Google Pixel 6a should provide sufficient power and storage. On the rear, you will find a 12.2mp dual pixel camera, and 12MP ultra-wide camera meanwhile on the front you will see a single 8MP camera. You will find 4,10mAh battery powers the Pixel 6a.
iPhone 13
Price: £779
The iPhone 13 provides a perfect balance of size and power in a compact all-around Apple smartphone. You will find on the front Apple’s 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display and a 12MP camera. On the rear, you will find a dual 12MP system with wide and ultra-wide cameras. The iPhone 13 is equipped with the A15 processor, 128GB internal storage, and 4GB RAM with all of this powered by the 3,240mAH battery. The iPhone 13 will continue to receive updates for many years allowing the smartphone to be used for several years futureproofing your needs.
Tablets
Tablets over the years have continued to become more powerful as some are now able to render high-quality videos in no time. They have started to become the perfect travel companion when you need to do some high-productivity work tasks without the need to bring your laptop along.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8
Price: £649
In the android tablet space, there is not much choice as Samsung tablets dominate due to their high-quality build and high-end specs dominating it. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is a great student choice for content consumption and note-taking in classes. The 11-inch display LCD panel should be sufficient to make while not being oversized to put in your backpack. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 line-up has a stylus for writing or sketching with little delay between the stylus pen and screen. The Tab S8 comes with 128GB Internal (Expandable with microSDXC) and 8GB RAM. The main camera is a 13MP camera while on the front there is a 12MP camera. The tablet has a 4-speaker setup to provide a surround sound experience.
iPad Pro 11-inch
Price: £749
The iPad Pro line-up provides a lot more power than its smaller variants with the Pro line-up designed to provide the processing power for power users. Equipped with the M1 chip, the same M1 chip used on the MacBook Air; the iPad Pro has enough power to run applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom with ease. Many YouTubers have rendered 4K videos from the iPad Pro. Sporting an 11-inch Liquid Retina display, 12MP wide, 10MP ultra-wide camera, 12MP ultra-wide front-facing camera, 4 speakers, and 128GB internal storage the iPad Pro is a great travel companion when you ever need to do some productivity tasks.
Accessories
Whether you are studying in the library, dorm or back at your parents. Some accessories will help you to be more productive.
14 in 1 USB-C Docking Station
Price: £65.99
A lot of laptops these days are fewer USB ports as manufacturers look to slim down their designs. One way to do this is by removing ports. Having a USB-C dock on hand will expand your port selection and enable you to connect to multiple monitors as well as have a micro SD port and Ethernet port.
1TB Portable External Hard Drive
Price: £47.50
During your studies, you will have accumulated a lot of documents and photos that have taken a lot of hard drive space. An external hard drive provides an alternative storage option to free up your laptop storage. A portable external hard drive can be slipped into a backpack and doesn’t take up a lot of space. Western Digital provides a wide variety of portable external hard drives with a number of different storage capacities.
Logitech MX Anywhere 2S Wireless Mouse
Price: £42.50
To improve productivity, adding a wireless mouse will definitively do that for you. A simple addition of a wireless mouse will enable you to scroll and navigate through pages with ease. If you are a graphic designer then a wireless mouse will be needed for those detailed touch-ups. Logitech is the number 1 provider of high-quality computer peripherals.
Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Headphones
Price: £270.01
Leaving in student dorms you may find it difficult to find a quiet place to study. Having noise-cancelling headphones on hand will enable you to find that quiet place anywhere. The Sony WH-100XM4 has a 30-hour battery life with noise cancelling, voice assistant, and hands-free calling.
Lencent USB Plug Charger UK with 1 Type C and 3 USB Ports
Price: £16.99
Having any electronic devices you will need a lot of USB plugs to charge them. You can get a USB Plug extension which will enable a plug to charge multiple USB devices.