12 Fun Mini Gadgets For Your Home Office Desk - SlashGear
Working from home usually means one thing — your desk is where everything happens. Here are the 12 mini gadgets you should consider for your home office desk. You can even get a second one, pair it up, and they will go on about their business as you work.
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Working from home usually means one thing — your desk is where everything happens. It can get a bit monotonous or even stressful in some cases. One of the ways you can remove these negative feelings is by investing in items that give more life to your rectangular working space. It could be a device that keeps things tidy, a toy that you can play with to blow off some steam, or simply a gadget that will upgrade your home office.
Of course, such gadgets have to be within the constraints of desk real estate. For this reason, we've scoured the web for interesting small gadgets you can buy and inject some life into your workspace. To ensure you end up with worthwhile products, each selection has some sort of utility, even if it's a toy. Here are the 12 mini gadgets you should consider for your home office desk.
If you live alone, working from home definitely gets lonely if you're the social kind of person. The Energize Lab Eilik Desktop Companion seeks to solve this problem, especially if living with a live pet isn't in the cards. This is a robot companion that fits on your desk, built to react with different emotions and expressions depending on how you interact with it. It features head and hand movements and will respond when you touch its head, belly, or back. You can also set it up to play games or even set alarms for you with everything, including facial expressions, showing up on its digital face.
What makes the Eilik Desktop Companion one of the coolest robotic gadgets is that you can just turn it on and have it go on about its business without your input. You can even get a second one, pair it up, and they will go on about their business as you work. It's one of the best ways to bring life into your working space without having to turn on a screen or podcast. If you have a kid around, this can also double up as their toy to play and interact with as you work on a report or something.
The Ugreen Uno 100W GaN Charger is just a wall charger, but it ticks both utility and fun design boxes. It manages to squeeze one USB-A and three USB-C ports into a compact body, which means you could power your laptop alongside other devices without worrying about an extra power brick or hunting for free outlets. Two of the USB-C ports deliver up to 100W each, which should suffice for most of your devices. There's a slightly cheaper version of the same charger, but it outputs a maximum of 65W, which is one of the best Amazon gadgets you can get for under $50.
That aside, what really sells this charger as a fun desk gadget is the quirky robotic form factor. Instead of a mundane block, it features an emotive display which cycles through little emojis while charging. For instance, the charger will look pleased, surprised, or cool when your devices finish topping up. When not in use, it has a sheath in the form of tiny little boots that cover its prongs, allowing you to stand it up on your desk as a decorative robot.
The Tribit Stormbox Micro 3 is marketed as an outdoor speaker, but it would still be a great addition if you need a quality compact speaker in your office. It's palm-sized, which should be tiny enough not to crowd your keyboard or monitor stand. Despite the small form factor, it sounds impressively full, and you may never need a larger sound system if you're keen on working with a tiny speaker.
One thing that stands out about the Stormbox Micro 3 in a home office setup is the flexibility it offers. Besides playing your favorite focus playlist, it can also double up as a speakerphone if conferencing is part of your workflow or even a charger for your phone and smaller accessories. The battery can last you more than 20 hours of continuous music listening, which should see you through several days of use without chagrin if you only use it for a couple of hours as you work.
It also has a magnetic base, meaning you can stick it up against any available metallic surface, leaving more room in your working area. At just $67, this would be a great buy and can still come in handy whenever you're out hiking or something. The Stormbox Micro 3 is still built for the outdoors after all, and it should bring the fun outside too.
The Odistar Mini Desk Vacuum Cleaner is one of those gadgets you never really think about, but it comes in handy for cleaning up your working surface. It's a tiny but mighty palm-sized vacuum that you can neatly fit into your workspace without looking like cleaning equipment. You can use it to pick up stuff like eraser shavings, dust, and any other unwanted debris from your desk or keyboard.
It takes little effort to use and is available in several different colors to choose from, and you can buy one of two versions — battery-powered or rechargeable. What makes this mini gadget fun is the fact that you won't have to lug around a full-size vacuum whenever you just want to tidy up your desk. The Odistar desk vacuum works surprisingly well, and it's one of the most underrated office gadgets we recommend you try out if you have $13 to spare.
The TinyCircuits TinyTV 2 Portable Retro Mini TV is more of a desk decoration that also doubles up as old-school TV nostalgia. At just 1.14 inches, it's a bite-sized recreation of a classic CRT TV set — complete with a little remote and rotary knobs to simulate real channel switching in the tiny form factor. It ships with stock videos to get you up and running, but you can always load your favorite MP4 footage via USB-C and turn it into little fun channels.
To make your experience with this little toy even better, it also features a front-facing speaker — so it's not just a fancy silent prop. You get 8GB worth of storage to guarantee hours of video, powered by a battery that should last you several hours between USB-C charges. If retro tech is your cup of tea, the TinyTV 2 should take you back to the boxy TVs of old during your work breaks.
Speaking of work breaks, the TK3 Pomodoro Timer Cube is a critical tool in ensuring you time yourself accurately during tasks and breaks. This simple gadget offers a physical ritual to signal the start of work or a task. Being physical means it can be more satisfying than having to reach for your phone timer app all the time.
The device is a true Pomodoro timer which comes with a 25-minute work session and 5-minute break presets. The presets automatically run four full cycles without you having to configure anything right out of the box. You simply set it up, start the countdown, and wait for the gentle alert to let you know it's time to move or take a break. It lets you switch through the different preset timers by simply flipping the whole cube to a given side.
In a home office setup, this simple tiny cube can help you build a very productive ritual. Using the TK3 Pomodoro timer means fewer chances of wandering off into notifications on your phone or computer if you decide to use the timer app. If you like habit-based productivity, this cube is a must-have as it makes your work routine tangible without all the bells and whistles.
A device like the Infinity Cube Sensory Fidget Toy can be a nice way of letting off some steam when stress kicks in while you're working. You must have at least one hand free to be able to play with this toy — it's a small 1.5-inch cube comprising eight hinged blocks that fold and unfold in different directions. It's light enough to flip one-handed without hitting your desk and lets you continuously transform it while maintaining focus on your monitor.
Another potential use case for the Infinity Cube could be keeping you engaged during a long work-related call, especially if you want to avoid drifting into more distracting habits. Your fingers will be quietly busy rather than clicking pens or tapping on your desk, and once you get into a rhythm, the continuous folding and unfolding of the fidget toy may start to feel oddly satisfying. When not in use, this tiny cube can live beside your mouse or in your drawer, ready for whenever you need a quick sensory reset.
If your work involves any kind of video streaming, the Elgato Stream Deck Mini should be a must-have. It's a compact keypad with six customizable LCD buttons that can each trigger different actions on your computer. For instance, you could use it to launch apps, mute your mic, or switch between different scenes in streaming software like OBS Studio.
The Stream Deck Mini has been around for a while (since 2018), but it's still relevant today, even outside of streaming, where it still comes in handy for many other everyday tasks. You can set buttons to control Zoom calls, replace complex keyboard shortcuts, control music, among many other everyday computer tasks. The physical keys with tiny color displays that show the respective app icon make it game-like — turning mundane workflows a little more fun.
The only pain point you might experience with this device is setting it up for the first time. Once you get that done, everything else should be a breeze, and working should quickly be ingrained in your muscle memory. There are much larger Stream Deck models with more buttons, but the mini is the sweet spot that should comfortably fit next to your keyboard for everyday repetitive tasks.
A good old-fashioned calculator might be the most effective tool in hand if your workflow involves a lot of number crunching. The Canon LS-82Z Calculator is one such calculator, and besides helping you manually balance the books, it always feels great pushing those buttons. It includes basic math functions plus useful touches like a square root and a floating decimal system. That should suffice for everyday calculations, and the simplicity eliminates time wasted navigating through modes or second-function keys you will rarely need.
The LS-82Z is dual-powered by a small battery and solar power, meaning you might use your calculator for at least a couple of years before thinking about swapping cells. It's compact with an angled display to keep digits clearly visible when using it on a desk. Despite the small size, the buttons are large enough for comfortable everyday use, and it's much more efficient than having to use your phone's or computer's calculator. Precision is another benefit you'll get when pressing physical buttons on a dedicated device like this calculator.
The Remarkable Paper Pure is one of the few larger items here, but it earns its place as a digital notebook that replaces bulkier physical paper books. The tablet features a 10.3-inch e-paper display and a battery that should last you at least a couple of weeks. In our hands-on with the Paper Pure, we found the textured screen and stylus nib to be close enough to actual pen and paper. This matters a lot if taking long-handwritten notes is part of your workflow. It brings out the perfect blend between that analog feel and digital convenience.
To ensure you never miss a beat, all your handwritten notes can be saved to your favorite cloud service. You can even go further and convert your handwriting to text and search through past pages, but you'll need a Remarkable Connect plan to be able to do so. All things considered, the Paper Pure can live flat on your desk as an enjoyable dedicated note-taking or sketching tablet while completely eliminating paper clutter.
If reaching for your cup of coffee and finding it lukewarm or cold irks you, the iKago coffee warmer set is a small luxury you can have on your desk to solve this problem. It includes a plate-style warmer paired with a compatible mug that continuously heats up your coffee or tea whenever you put it down. This is ideal for deep focus sessions or work meetings that in most cases will keep you from sipping regularly.
The iKago unit blends in and is compact enough to fit right next to your mouse or notebook without looking like a kitchen appliance. It also includes a lid that helps improve heating efficiency and will automatically shut off if it detects no cup for 15 minutes, which is a critical safety feature for this kind of gadget. You also don't have to use the mug the set comes with — you can use your own as long as it fits on the heating pad and is ceramic. This set is a must-have if you're a coffee person, and always finding your mug hot during a long work session will definitely improve your mood.
It's always good to know how questionable or good your working space's conditions are, and the TempPro TempAir Digital Hygrometer Indoor Thermometer is one of the gadgets that can help you detect that. This device lets you see the current temperature and humidity on a compact LCD screen with large digits without crowding out your space. On top of the raw numbers, it includes a humidity comfort indicator with icons showing whether the air is dry, comfortable, or wet. This is much easier to read than actual numbers, especially when in the middle of work.
Readings refresh every 10 seconds, so there's no chance of finding yourself staring at stale data when conditions change. The TempAir runs on a single AAA battery that should last you up to 18 months, with one included in the box. For your home office, the tabletop stand it comes with should be the best placement, but it includes two extra mounting options — a hanging hole and a magnetic back for more flexibility.
We chose these items first based on compactness to qualify for the mini description and their ability to make your office space a little bit more enjoyable or engaging. Some of them are outright playful, though each one is useful at the same time. We further qualified each recommendation based on the experience of professional reviewers like those at SlashGear and other trusted outlets. For quality assurance, we only included those with at least 4 stars from at least 100 ratings (except the relatively new Remarkable Paper Pure at the time of writing).